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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 1, 2021 at 10:04am

Mouse study: Gabapentin prevents harmful structural changes in spin...

Research led by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine found that the widely prescribed pain-relief drug gabapentin can prevent harmful structural changes in the injured spinal cords of mice, and also block cardiovascular changes and immune suppression caused by spinal cord injury.

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Study provides insight into how the brain may have evolved

Researchers from The University of Western Australia have uncovered evidence of an important genetic step in the evolution of the brain. The finding highlights how genetic events that took place in our fish-like ancestors play crucial roles in human brain biology today.

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How vitamins, steroids and potential antivirals might affect SARS-C...

Evidence is emerging that vitamin D—and possibly vitamins K and A—might help combat COVID-19. A new study from the University of Bristol published in the journal of the German Chemical Society Angewandte Chemie has shown how they—and other antiviral drugs—might work. The research indicates that these dietary supplements and compounds could bind to the viral spike protein and so might reduce SARS-CoV-2 infectivity. In contrast, cholesterol may increase infectivity, which could explain why having high cholesterol is considered a risk factor for serious disease.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 1, 2021 at 10:02am

Geological phenomenon widening the Atlantic Ocean

An upsurge of matter from deep beneath the Earth's crust could be pushing the continents of North and South America further apart from Europe and Africa, new research has found.

The plates attached to the Americas are moving apart from those attached to Europe and Africa by four centimetres per year. In between these continents lies the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a site where new plates are formed and a dividing line between plates moving to the west and those moving to the east; beneath this ridge, material rises to replace the space left by the plates as they move apart.

Now a team of  seismologists  have found evidence of an upwelling in the mantle—the material between the Earth's crust and its core—from depths of more than 600 kilometres beneath the Mid Atlantic ridge, which could be pushing the plates from below, causing the continents to move further apart. Upwellings beneath ridges are typically thought to originate from much shallower depths of around 60 km.

The findings, published in the journal Nature provide a greater understanding of plate tectonics which causes many natural disasters around the world, including earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions.

A thin mantle transition zone beneath the equatorial Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Nature (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-03139-x , www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-03139-x

https://phys.org/news/2021-01-geological-phenomenon-widening-atlant...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 31, 2021 at 1:11pm

The physics behind tumor growth

Researchers at Duke University have developed a predictive theory for tumor growth that approaches the subject from a new point of view. Rather than focusing on the biological mechanisms of cellular growth, the researchers instead use thermodynamics and the physical space the tumor is expanding into to predict its evolution from a single cell to a complex cancerous mass.

The results appeared Jan. 15 in the journal Biosystems.

The new work is based on the constructal law, which Bejan penned in 1996, that states that for a system to survive, it must evolve to increase its access to flow. For example, the human vascular system has evolved to provide blood flow through a network of a few large arteries and many small capillaries. River systems, tree branches and modern highway and road networks all reflect the same forces at work.

In the paper researchers demonstrate how a tumor’s growth and internal reorganization as it grows are directly tied to its need to create greater access to flowing nutrients as well as conduits for removing refuse. They use these insights to predict the growth of cell clusters as a function of structure, and also to predict the critical cluster sizes that mark the transitions from one distinct configuration to the next.

To validate their theory, the researchers compared their predictions with the measurements of several independent studies of cancerous and non-cancerous tumor growth patterns. The results show that their work provides a unifying perspective on the growth of cell clusters on the smallest scales as well as the large-scale dynamics of proliferating cells as described in phenomenological models.

As the tumor grows, the flow systems get large enough to create visible currents through the vascularization of the tumor. The new theory reveals the physics behind these sorts of dramatic transitions and predict when they should happen.

https://pratt.duke.edu/about/news/physics-tumor-growth

“Cell and Extracellular Matrix Growth Theory and its Implications for Tumorigenesis,” T.J. Sauer, E. Samei, A. Bejan. Biosystems, Jan. 15, 2021. DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2020.104331

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 31, 2021 at 1:07pm

Wireless linkage of brains may soon go to human testing

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 31, 2021 at 12:26pm

A protein that can melt tumors discovered at Vanderbilt
 For the second time, cancer researchers at Vanderbilt have discovered a protein that when genetically manipulated to impede it from interacting with a gene responsible for cancer genesis effectively melts tumors in days. The article, MYC regulates ribosome biogenesis and mitochondrial gene expression programs through interaction with Host Cell Factor-1, was published in the journal eLIFE on Jan. 8.

https://researchnews.cc/news/4842/A-protein-that-can-melt-tumors-di...

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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 31, 2021 at 12:19pm

Scientists use a novel ink to 3D print ‘bone’ with living cells

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 31, 2021 at 12:15pm

Major discovery helps explain coral bleaching

Corals, like all animals, must eat to live. The problem is that most corals grow in tropical waters that are poor in nutrients, sort of like ocean deserts; it’s this lack of nutrients that makes the water around coral reefs so crystal clear. Because food is not readily available, corals have developed a remarkable feeding mechanism that involves a symbiotic relationship with single-celled algae. These algae grow inside the corals, using the coral tissue as shelter and absorbing the CO2 that the corals produce. In exchange, the algae provide corals with nutrients they produce through photosynthesis. These algae contain a variety of pigments, which give the coral reefs the colors they’re known for.

Over the past 35 years, tropical oceans have experienced multiple major heat waves. Scientists have observed that during these episodes, the algae – stressed by the warmer temperatures – release compounds that are toxic to the coral, prompting the coral to expel the algae from their tissue. That means the corals lose their color and their primary food source, and then begin to starve. This is the process of coral bleaching. And it has been occurring more and more frequently, threatening the survival of many reefs, including Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Bleached corals do not necessarily die; their symbiotic algae population can be reestablished if the conditions around a reef return to normal. But if the heat persists, or is aggravated by other factors like pollution, the coral becomes too weak to survive.

In a paper published in the prestigious PNAS on 26 January, an international team of scientists  reveals a major discovery related to how the symbiotic relationship ends between the coral and algae.  Theyshowed for the first time that the coral starts to suffer from hunger long before the algae are expelled. The algae apparently stop providing sufficient nutrients while they are still inside the coral tissue.

Scientists already knew that ocean warming is the main factor causing the symbiotic relationship to break down. But what the team now discovered was that the coral is already in a stressed state and lacking nutrients even before the algae begin releasing toxic compounds. The roots of the problem are much deeper than the scientists thought, and they involve an early breakdown of the metabolic exchanges in these fascinating organisms.

Based on these findings, researchers can determine which environmental conditions other than temperature (such as water quality) stress the corals in a reef, and use this information to predict whether the reef will bleach.

"Heat stress destabilizes symbiotic nutrient cycling in corals". Nils Rädecker, Claudia Pogoreutz, Hagen M. Gegner, Anny Cardenas, Florian Roth, Jeremy Bougoure, Paul Guagliardo, Christian Wild, Mathieu Pernice, Jean-Baptiste Raina, Anders Meibom, Christian R. Voolstra. PNAS, 26 January 2021.

https://actu.epfl.ch/news/major-discovery-helps-explain-coral-bleac...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 31, 2021 at 12:06pm

Scientists jump-start two people's brains after coma

In 2016, a team of researchers reported that a 25-year-old man recovering from a coma had made remarkable progress following a treatment to jump-start his brain using ultrasound.

Now they report that two more patients with severe brain injuries — both had been in what scientists call a long-term “minimally conscious state” — have made impressive progress thanks to the same technique. The results are published online in the journal Brain Stimulation.

The paper notes that, of three people who received the treatment, one — a 58-year-old man who had been in a car accident five-and-a-half years prior to treatment and was minimally conscious — did not benefit. However, the other two did.

One is a 56-year-old man who had suffered a stroke and had been in a minimally conscious state, unable to communicate, for more than 14 months. After the first of two treatments, he demonstrated, for the first time, the ability to consistently respond to two distinct commands — the ability to drop or grasp a ball, and the ability to look toward separate photographs of two of his relatives when their names were mentioned.

He also could nod or shake his head to indicate “yes” or “no” when asked questions such as “Is X your name?” and “Is Y your wife’s name?” In the days following the second treatment, he also demonstrated, for the first time since the stroke, the ability to use a pen on paper and to raise a bottle to his mouth, as well as to communicate and answer questions.

These behaviors are diagnostic markers of emergence from a disorder of consciousness.

The other patient who improved is a 50-year-old woman who had been in even less of a conscious state for more than two-and-a-half years following cardiac arrest. In the days after the first treatment, she was able, for the first time in years, according to her family, to recognize a pencil, a comb and other objects.

Both patients showed the ability to understand speech. What is remarkable is that both exhibited meaningful responses within just a few days of the intervention.

The scientists used a technique called low-intensity focused ultrasound, which uses sonic stimulation to excite the neurons in the thalamus, an egg-shaped structure that serves as the brain’s central hub for processing. After a coma, thalamus function is typically weakened. Doctors use a device about the size of a saucer creates a small sphere of acoustic energy they can aim at different brain regions to excite brain tissue. The researchers placed the device by the side of each patient’s head and activated it 10 times for 30 seconds each in a 10-minute period. Each patient underwent two sessions, one week apart.

The treatment appears to be well tolerated; the researchers saw no changes to the patients’ blood pressure, heart rate or blood oxygen levels, and no other adverse events.

While the scientists are excited by the results, they emphasize that the technique is still experimental and likely will not be available to the public for at least a few years. 

https://www.brainstimjrnl.com/article/S1935-861X(21)00009-7/fulltext

https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/ucla-scientists-jump-start-brain...

https://researchnews.cc/news/4841/Scientists-jump-start-two-people-...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 30, 2021 at 9:26am

India's vaccine production capacity is best asset world has today, says UN chief

Calling for India to play a major role in global vaccination campaign, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently termed the vaccine production capacity of India as the "best asset" that the world has today.

India has gifted over 55 lakh doses of coronavirus vaccine to neighbouring countries. India plans to gift vaccines doses to Oman, CARICOM countries, Nicaragua, Pacific Island states.

New Delhi plans to supply 1 crore or 10 million vaccine doses to Africa and 10 lakh to United Nations health workers under GAVI's (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation) COVAX facility.

There is interest in many countries to access vaccine from India. India leads in democratisation of vaccines supplying to poor and developing countries unlike developed  countries.

From 20th January 2021 onward, India has gifted over 55 lakh doses of coronavirus vaccines to our neighbouring countries and in the extended neighbourhood--1.5 lakh to Bhutan, 1 lakh to Maldives, Mauritius and Bahrain, 10 lakhs to Nepal, 20 lakhs to Bangladesh, 15 lakhs to Myanmar, 50,000 to Seychelles, 5 lakh to Sri Lanka. In the coming days, it plans to gift further quantity to Oman that is of 1 lakh doses, 5 lakh doses to CARICOM countries. 2 lakh to Nicaragua, 2 lakh doses to the Pacific island state.

It also plans to commercially export coronavirus vaccine to Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Canada, Mongolia and other countries.

https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/indias-va...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 30, 2021 at 9:15am

Genes that dance to the circadian rhythm

Scientists  have made breakthrough discoveries on the circadian clock and how it affects gene expression. Some of the findings suggest a biological underpinning for different behaviors in people, such as morning people, nappers, evening people, night owls etc.

The study of circadian rhythms has grown into its own field: chronobiology. And given that a person's circadian rhythm seems to dictate when certain drugs must be taken in order to maximize their effects, a new branch of medicine has also emerged recently: chronopharmacology.

 Now scientists have carried out an extensive study using Drosophila to study how different genes in various tissues of the animal are regulated so that they "know" when to turn on and off during the course of a day, i.e. in function of the circadian clock.

The study revealed three major points about the circadian rhythm.

First, the scientists detected more than 1700 genes whose expression cycles under the control of the circadian clock, with only fourteen of those genes being the same across all tissues in the fruit fly.

"At least two of these fourteen were so far uncharacterized and significantly impact several locomotor activity rhythms parameters.

Second, that each individual may have its own circadian rhythm, which may explain the large range of human behaviors, such as morning people, nappers, evening people, night owls etc.

The physiological clock in about a third of Drosophila lines significantly deviates from the "natural" time by more than three hours. And most of the lines showed a circadian expression variation only in one or two tissues.

There seems to be an abundant, natural circadian asynchrony in molecular circadian rhythms between various tissues, which has to our knowledge not been observed before and which may have all kinds of physiological consequences in metabolic patterns, digestive fluctuations etc.

Finally, that a small genetic mutation can disrupt an individual's "photoentrainment," which refers to the aligning of the circadian rhythm to the pattern of light and dark in its environment.

"Extensive tissue-specific expression variation and novel regulators underlying circadian behavior" Science Advances, advances.sciencemag.org/lookup … .1126/sciadv.abc3781

https://phys.org/news/2021-01-genes-circadian-rhythm.html?utm_sourc...

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