How to reduce the risk of stomach bleeding occasionally caused by regular aspirin use

A new study  has found that the risk of stomach bleeding caused by using aspirin long-term can be reduced with a short course of antibiotics, potentially improving the safety of aspirin when used to prevent heart attacks, strokes and possibly some cancers.

The results of the HEAT (Helicobacter pylori Eradication Aspirin) trial  are published in The Lancet.

Aspirin in low doses is a very useful preventative drug in people at high risk of strokes or heart attacks. However, on rare occasions, it can provoke internal ulcer bleeding. By thinning the blood, aspirin makes ulcers in the stomach bleed. These ulcers may be caused by a particular type of bacteria, Helicobacter pylori.

The HEAT (Helicobacter pylori Eradication Aspirin) Trial was a large trial conducted in 1,208 UK general practices. It was a real-life study that used clinical data routinely stored in general practitioner and hospital records, instead of bringing patients back for follow-up trial visits.

The team wrote to 188,875 patients who were taking aspirin, and 30,166 volunteered and took part in the study. Those who tested positive for H. pylori were randomized to receive antibiotics or placebos (dummy tablets) and were followed for up to 7 years.

Over the first two and a half years, those who had antibiotic treatment were less likely to be admitted to hospital because of ulcer bleeding than those who had dummy tablets (6 versus 17). Protection occurred rapidly: with those who received placebos (dummy treatment), the first hospitalization for ulcer bleeding occurred after 6 days, compared to 525 days following antibiotic treatment.

Over a longer time period, protection appeared to wane. However, the overall rate of hospitalization for ulcer bleeding was lower than expected and this in line with other evidence that ulcer disease is on the decline. Risks for people already on aspirin are low. Risks are higher when people first start aspirin, when searching for H. pylori and treating it is probably worthwhile.

Helicobacter pylori eradication for primary prevention of peptic ulcer bleeding in older patients prescribed aspirin in primary care (HEAT): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, The Lancet (2022). www.thelancet.com/journals/lan … (22)01843-8/fulltext

Researchers cure man who had COVID for 411 days

Researchers announced recently they have cured a man who was continually infected with COVID for 411 days by analyzing the genetic code of his particular virus to find the right treatment.

Persistent COVID infection—which is different to long COVID or repeated bouts of the disease—occurs in a small number of patients with already weakened immune systems. These patients can test positive for months or even years with the infection "rumbling along the whole time".

The infections can pose a serious threat because around half of patients also have persistent symptoms such as lung inflammation but much remains unknown about the condition.

Now thanks to scientists, this  59-year-old man finally overcame his infection after more than 13 months.

The man, who has a weakened immune system due to a kidney transplant, caught COVID in December 2020 and continued to test positive until January this year.

To discover whether he had contracted COVID numerous times or if it was one persistent infection, the researchers used a rapid genetic analysis with nanopore sequencing technology.

The test, which can deliver results in as little as 24 hours, showed the man had an early B.1 variant which was dominant in late 2020 but has since been replaced by newer strains.

Because he had this early variant, the researchers gave him a combination of the casirivimab and imdevimab monoclonal antibodies from Regeneron.

Like most other antibody treatments, the treatment is no longer widely used because it is ineffective against newer variants such as Omicron.

But it successfully cured the man because he was battling a variant from an earlier phase of the pandemic.

The very new variants that are increasing in prevalence now are resistant to all the antibodies available in most developed countries.

The researchers used several such treatments to try to save a seriously ill 60-year-old man in August this year who had been infected since April.

However none worked.

So the team crushed up two antiviral treatments not previously used together—Paxlovid and remdesivir—and administered them to the unconscious patient via a nasal tube, according to a non-peer-reviewed preprint study on the website ResearchSquare.

Miraculously he cleared and perhaps this is now the avenue for how we treat these very difficult persistent infections.

At the ECCMID conference in April, the team announced the longest-known persistent infection in a man who tested positive for 505 days before his death.

But now now there are treatment options available.

 Real-time whole genome sequencing to guide patient-tailored therapy of SARS-CoV-2 infectionб Clinical Infectious Diseases (2022). DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciac864 , academic.oup.com/cid/advance-a … /cid/ciac864/6785897

Fire in the Amazon is associated more with agricultural burning and...

A Brazilian study shows that the number of fires detected in the entire Amazon region between 2003 and 2020 was influenced more by uncontrolled human use of fire than by drought. According to the researchers, burning of vegetation to prepare areas for pasture and deforestation rather than extreme water deficits were the main cause of fire in most years with large numbers of fires.

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Egg whites can be transformed into a material capable of filtering ...

Researchers at Princeton Engineering have found a way to turn your breakfast food into a new material that can cheaply remove salt and microplastics from seawater.

Ultraprocessed foods linked to premature deaths

Ultraprocessed foods (UPFs), ready-to-eat-or-heat industrial formulations made with ingredients extracted from foods or synthesized in laboratories, have gradually been replacing traditional foods and meals made from fresh and minimally processed ingredients in many countries. A new study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine has found that increased consumption of these foods was associated with more than 10% of all-cause premature, preventable deaths in Brazil in 2019, although Brazilians consume far less of these products than countries with high incomes.

Ultraprocessed foods (UPFs), ready-to-eat-or-heat industrial formulations made with ingredients extracted from foods or synthesized in laboratories, have gradually been replacing traditional foods and meals made from fresh and minimally processed ingredients in many countries. A new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine has found that increased consumption of these foods was associated with more than 10% of all-cause premature, preventable deaths in Brazil in 2019, although Brazilians consume far less of these products than countries with high incomes.

 Premature Deaths Attributable to the Consumption of Ultraprocessed Foods in Brazil, American Journal of Preventive Medicine (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2022.08.013

Our brains 'time-stamp' sounds to process the words we hear

Our brains "time-stamp" the order of incoming sounds, allowing us to correctly process the words that we hear, shows a new study by a team of psychology and linguistics researchers. Its findings, which appear in the journal Nature Communications, offer new insights into the intricacies of neurological function.

To understand speech, your brain needs to accurately interpret both the speech sounds identity and the order that they were uttered to correctly recognize the words being said.

This new work shows how the brain achieves this feat: Different sounds are responded to with different neural populations. And, each sound is time-stamped with how much time has gone by since it entered the ear. This allows the listener to know both the order and the identity of the sounds that someone is saying to correctly figure out what words the person is saying.

Part 1

The scientists aimed to understand how the brain processes the identity and order of speech sounds, given that they unfold so quickly. This is significant because your brain needs to accurately interpret both the speech sounds' identity (e.g., l-e-m-o-n) and the order that they were uttered (e.g., 1-2-3-4-5) to correctly recognize the words being said (e.g. "lemon" and not "melon").

To do so, they recorded the brain activity of more than 20 human subjects—all native English speakers—while these subjects listened to two hours of an audiobook. Specifically, the researchers correlated the subjects' brain activity in relation to the properties of the speech sounds that distinguish one sound from another (e.g. "m" vs "n").

The researchers found that the brain processes speech using a buffer, thereby maintaining a running representation—i.e., time-stamping—of the past three speech sounds. The results also showed that the brain processes multiple sounds at the same time without mixing up the identity of each sound by passing information between neurons in the auditory cortex.

They  found that each speech sound initiates a cascade of neurons firing in different places in the auditory cortex. 

This means that the information about each individual sound in the phonetic word 'k-a-t' gets passed between different neural populations in a predictable way, which serves to time-stamp each sound with its relative order.

Laura Gwilliams et al, Neural dynamics of phoneme sequences reveal position-invariant code for content and order, Nature Communications (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-34326-1

Part 2

Is DNA the Future of Data Storage?

Could the future of data storage be DNA? It’s the original format after all, storing the information needed to build every living thing. and it has a handful of qualities that would make it perfect to store all the digital information in our world. With recent advances in DNA sequencing and DNA printing, it’s technically possible. But there are a few obstacles to overcome before this sci-fi sounding tech can become a household reality.

Fertilizers limit pollination by changing how bumblebees sense flowers

Pollinators are less likely to land on flowers sprayed with fertilizers or pesticides as they can detect electric field changes around the flower, researchers have found.

The study, published in PNAS Nexus recently, shows that chemical sprays alter the electric field around flowers for up to 25 minutes after exposure. This impact lasts substantially longer than natural fluctuations, such as those caused by wind, and causes a reduction in bee feeding effort in nature.

The researchers  noted that fertilizers did not affect vision and smell, and set out to mimic the electrical changes caused by fertilizers and pesticides in the field by electrically manipulating flowers. This showed that bumblebees were able to detect and discriminate against the small and dynamic electric field alterations that are caused by the chemicals.

Flowers have a range of cues that attract bees to promote feeding and pollination. For instance, bees use cues like flower odor and color, but they also use electric fields to identify plants.

A big issue is thus—agrochemical application can distort floral cues and modify behavior in pollinators like bees.

Furthermore, various other airborne particles such as nanoparticles, exhaust gases, nano-plastics, and viral particles may have similar impacts, affecting a wide array of organisms that use the electric fields that are virtually everywhere in the environment.

It's the first known example of anthropogenic 'noise' interfering with a terrestrial animal's electrical sense. It's much like motorboat noise that hinders the ability of fish to detect their predators, or artificial light at night that confuses moths; the fertilizers are a source of noise to bees trying to detect floral electrical cues.

This widens our understanding of the multifaceted ways in which human activity is negatively impacting the natural world. 

Synthetic fertilizers alter floral biophysical cues and bumblebee foraging behavior, PNAS Nexus (2022). DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac230. academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/art … 93/pnasnexus/pgac230

A new nanoparticle to act at the heart of cells

How can a drug be delivered exactly where it is needed, while limiting the risk of side effects? The use of nanoparticles to encapsulate a drug to protect it and the body until it reaches its point of action is being increasingly studied. However, this requires identifying the right nanoparticle for each drug according to a series of precise parameters.

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Physical theory describes movements of micro-hairs

They are only very simple structures, but without them we could not survive: Countless tiny hairs (cilia) are found on the outer wall of some cells, for example in our lungs or in our brain. When these micrometer-sized hairs coordinate their movement and produce wave-like movements together, they can cause currents on a microscale and thus pump fluid from one place to another. Paramecia—unicellular organisms with numerous cilia—also use such effects to move around.

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Greenwashing: ‘the sham must end’

A United Nations-backed report has called out businesses and financial institutions whose net-zero commitments have “loopholes wide enough to drive a diesel truck through”. The group points to those who continue to invest in fossil fuels, offset emissions with shoddy ca... to undermine ambitious government climate policies. It also calls for public reporting and regulation to ensure companies are doing what they claim. "We must have zero tolerance for net-zero greenwashing,” said UN secretary-general António Guterres. “The sham must end.”

Starved yeast poisons clones

Yeast is not the simple single-celled microorganism we once thought, but a competitive killer. When starved of glucose, yeast releases a toxin that will poison other microorganisms that have entered its surrounding habitat, even its own clones. This venomous phenomenon was previously unknown and contributes to our understanding of unicellular microorganism behavior, the evolution of unicellular to multicellular organisms, as well as having potentially useful applications for the food industry.

In the critical survival situation of glucose starvation, yeasts release toxins into their habitat which kill other microorganisms while the yeast itself acquires resistance.

 The toxins produced by yeasts can also kill their nonadapted clones, so they are at risk of killing not only invading microorganisms but also their own offspring. Such seemingly risky and almost suicidal behavior had not previously been found in a single-celled organism or even considered to exist.

Although cooperative forms of behavior are well known in many bacteria and fungi, this research is the first prominent finding of competitiveness occurring in clonal cells in unicellular organisms. This has important implications for our understanding of the ecology of microorganisms, as well as why some specific microorganisms grow during fermentation while others do not. 

Arisa H. Oda, Miki Tamura, Kunihiko Kaneko, Kunihiro Ohta, Tetsuhiro S. Hatakeyama. Autotoxin-mediated latecomer killing in yeast communities. PLOS Biology, 2022; 20 (11): e3001844 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001844

Scientists identify neurons that restore walking after paralysis

A new study by scientists at the .NeuroRestore research center has identified the type of neuron that is activated and remodeled by spinal cord stimulation, allowing patients to stand up, walk and rebuild their muscles – thus improving their quality of life. This discovery, made in nine patients, marks a fundamental, clinical breakthrough. The study was published in Nature on Nov 9, 2022.

Rare, deadly genetic disease successfully treated in utero for first time

Physicians have successfully treated a fetus with a devastating genetic disorder for the first time, and the child is now thriving as a toddler, a case study in the New England Journal of Medicine reports.

This treatment expands the repertoire of fetal therapies in a new direction. As new treatments become available for children with genetic conditions, researchers and doctors are developing protocols to apply them before birth.

The child's disorder, infantile-onset Pompe disease, is one of several lysosomal storage diseases that begin to cause severe damage to major organs, such as the heart, before birth. By initiating enzyme replacement therapy during fetal development, physicians aimed for better outcomes than are typical with post-birth treatment—outcomes that can include death in early childhood, very low muscle tone or ventilator dependency.

After six prenatal enzyme replacement treatments at The Ottawa Hospital, the child, Ayla, was born at term. She is receiving postnatal enzyme therapy at CHEO (a pediatric hospital and research center in Ottawa, Canada), and doing well at 16 months of age. She has normal cardiac and motor function and is meeting developmental milestones.

The successful treatment is a feat of collaboration between UCSF, where an ongoing clinical trial on the treatment is based; CHEO and The Ottawa Hospital, where the patient was diagnosed and treated; and Duke University, home to the world's top experts on Pompe disease.  

Jennifer L. Cohen et al, In Utero Enzyme-Replacement Therapy for Infantile-Onset Pompe's Disease, New England Journal of Medicine (2022). 10.1056/NEJMoa2200587. www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2200587

‘Most complicated therapy ever’ success

A small clinical trial has shown that CRISPR gene editing can alter immune cells so that they seek out an.... T cells, a type of white blood cell that patrols the body looking for errant cells, were modified to recognize the mutated proteins in tumours, which are different in every person. It is the first attempt to combine two hot areas of cancer research: gene editing to create personalized treatments, and the engineering of T cells to make them better at targeting tumours. “It is probably the most complicated therapy ever attempted in the clinic,” says study co-author Antoni Ribas, a cancer researcher and physician. “We’re trying to make an army out of a patient’s own T cells.”

CRISPR cancer trial success paves the way for personalized treatments

A microscopic video shows a virus (purple track) as it finds its way to the surface of human intestinal cells (green).

Researchers have captured the first real-time footage of viruses on the move, right before they hijack a cell.

Nanocrystals store light energy and drive chemical reactions

Chemistry is increasingly making use of the trick plants can do with photosynthesis: driving chemical reactions that run poorly or do not occur spontaneously at all with light energy. This requires suitable photocatalysts that capture light energy and make it available for the reaction. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, a Chinese research team has now introduced layered core/shell quantum dots that efficiently drive challenging organic transformations. Their low toxicity is a particular advantage.

Nanocrystals store light energy and drive chemical reactions

Chemistry is increasingly making use of the trick plants can do with photosynthesis: driving chemical reactions that run poorly or do not occur spontaneously at all with light energy. This requires suitable photocatalysts that capture light energy and make it available for the reaction. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, a  research team has now introduced layered core/shell quantum dots that efficiently drive challenging organic transformations. Their low toxicity is a particular advantage.

Quantum dots are finely dispersed nanoscopic crystals of inorganic semiconductors. They absorb strongly in an adjustable range of the spectrum and are easy to recycle. Until now, photocatalytic quantum dots have been based almost exclusively on the highly toxic elements cadmium and lead. This and their limited efficiency have been the main barriers to their broader use.

A research team  has now introduced novel quantum dots with very low toxicity and very high performance. They are activated by commercially available blue LEDs—the UV light that is usually required is not needed. The secret to their success lies in their core/shell structure and the variable coatings that can be used to "store" the light energy.

The quantum dots are only a few nanometers wide. Their core consists of zinc selenide (ZnSe) and is surrounded by a thin shell made of zinc sulfide (ZnS). Blue light raises the zinc selenide to an excited state in which it can easily give up electrons. The shell prevents the electrons from immediately being captured by so-called defects. The team equipped the surface of the shell with special benzophenone ligands that "suck up" the electrons from the quantum dots, store them, and make them available for organic reactions. For example, the team was able to carry out reductive dehalogenations of aryl chlorides and additive-free polymerizations of acrylates—important reactions that run poorly or not at all by conventional photocatalysts. A second version was made by coating the surface with biphenyl ligands that can directly absorb energy from excited quantum dots. This brings them into a long-lived, highly energetic triplet state. The triplet energy "stored" in this way can be transferred to specific organic molecules, which then also enter a triplet state. In this state, they can undergo chemical reactions that are not possible in their ground state. As a demonstration, the team carried out [2+2] homo-cycloadditions of styrene and cycloadditions of carbonyls with alkenes. These produce four-membered rings (cyclobutanes or oxetanes, respectively), which are substances that are important starting materials in areas such as pharmaceutical development.

 Chengming Nie et al, Low‐Toxicity ZnSe/ZnS Quantum Dots as Potent Photoreductants and Triplet Sensitizers for Organic Transformations, Angewandte Chemie International Edition (2022). DOI: 10.1002/anie.202213065

'Threat multiplier': How climate change affects health

Deadlier than COVID, or even rivalling cancer? Researchers have been increasingly attempting to calculate the effect climate change will have on health if the world does not act quickly to reduce carbon emissions.

The World Health Organization, which says climate change is the single biggest health threat facing humanity, has called for the issue to be "front and centre" in negotiations at the COP27 summit being held in Egypt.

But quantifying the overall impact is an extremely complicated task, experts told AFP, because global warming affects health in many different ways, from the immediate dangers of rising heat and extreme weather to longer-term food and water shortages, air pollution and disease.

The WHO estimates that climate change will cause 250,000 extra deaths a year from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress between 2030 and 2050.That is widely thought to be a "massively conservative estimate" of the true toll, partly because it only comes from four sources. And Climate change is a threat multiplier.

As climate change worsens, we're going to see the biggest threats to human health increase.Nearly 70 percent of all deaths worldwide are from diseases that could be made worse by global warming, according to a report this year from the IPCC, the United Nations' panel of climate experts.

Another major health threat comes from food shortages. Nearly 100 million additional people faced severe food insecurity in 2020 compared to 1981-2010, according to a report last month from The Lancet Countdown, a leading effort to quantify climate change's impact on health.

Extreme drought has increased by nearly a third over the last 50 years, it added, putting hundreds of millions at risk of lacking access to fresh water.

And air pollution contributed to 3.3 million deaths in 2020, 1.2 million of which were directly related to fossil fuel emissions, the report found.

Researchers have also been sounding the alarm that warmer temperatures are pushing virus-carrying animals like mosquitoes into new areas, increasing the spread of existing diseases—and raising the risk of new ones jumping across to humans.

The likelihood of dengue transmission rose by 12 percent over the last 50 years, while warming temperatures extended malaria season in parts of Africa by 14 percent, The Lancet Countdown report said.

Projecting into the future, a new platform launched last week by the United Nations Development Programme and the Climate Impact Lab warned that global warming could become deadlier than cancer in some parts of the world.

Under the modelling research's worst-case scenario in which fossil fuel emissions are not rapidly scaled back, climate change could cause death rates to increase by 53 deaths per 100,000 people worldwide by 2100—around double the current rate for lung cancer.

For the current global population, that would mean 4.2 million additional deaths a year, more than the official toll from COVID-19 in 2021.

Climate change will influence every aspect of public health in the future.

Source:  AFP

https://phys.org/news/2022-11-threat-climate-affects-health.html?ut...

First ever clinical trial of lab-grown red blood cell transfusion

Researchers are taking part in the world’s first clinical trial of red blood cells that have been grown in a laboratory for transfusion into another person.

Protected from a form of cell death, women are more resilient to kidney disease

In the battle of the sexes, women beat men in their ability to recover from kidney injury. Scientists now know why.

Females, it turns out, have an advantage at the molecular level that protects them from a form of cell death that occurs in injured kidneys. This protection could be exploited as a potential therapeutic.

 It is a form of cell death called ferroptosis, which 's only recently discovered. This form of cell death is dependent on iron and oxidative stress. It has been identified as a key player in kidney diseases.

Using genetic and single-cell RNA transcriptomic analysis in mice, the researchers found that being female confers striking protection against ferroptosis through a particular pathway called nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor 2, or NRF2.

In females, NRF2 is highly active, keeping cell death in check. In males, however, the sex hormone testosterone reduces the activity of NRF2, thus promoting ferroptosis and undermining cell resiliency in kidney injury.

Further experiments showed that chemically activating NRF2 protected male kidney cells from ferroptosis, demonstrating that NRF2 could be a potential therapeutic target to prevent failed renal repair after acute kidney injury.

Tomokazu Souma, Sex differences in resilience to ferroptosis underlie sexual dimorphism in kidney injury and repair, Cell Reports (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111610. www.cell.com/cell-reports/full … 2211-1247(22)01479-6

Making melanoma immortal: Scientists discover key genetic step in cancer's race to live forever

Scientists  have discovered the missing puzzle piece in the mystery of how melanoma tumors control their mortality.

In a paper published in Science last week, they described how they discovered the perfect combination of genetic alterations that tumors use to promote explosive growth and prevent their own demise, a development that could change the way oncologists understand and treat melanoma.

Telomeres, protective caps at the of the end of the chromosome, are required to prevent DNA from degrading. In healthy cells, telomeres become shorter with each cycle of replication until they become so short that the cell can no longer divide. Disruptions in maintenance of the length of the telomeres can lead to severe disease. Short telomere syndromes lead to premature aging and death, but extra-long telomeres are associated with cancer.

For years, scientists have observed strikingly long telomeres in melanoma tumors, especially in comparison with other cancer types.

There's some special link between melanoma and telomere maintenance. For a melanocyte to transform into cancer, one of the biggest hurdles is to immortalize itself. Once it can do that, it's well on its way to cancer.

The telomerase protein is responsible for elongating telomeres, protecting them from damage and preventing cell death. Telomerase is inactive in most cells, but many types of cancers use mutations in the telomerase gene, TERT, that activate this protein and allow cells to continue growing. Melanoma is particularly well-known for doing just this.

About 75% of melanoma tumors contain mutations in the TERT gene that stimulate protein production and increase telomerase activity. Yet, when scientists mutated TERT in melanocytes, they weren't able to produce the same long telomeres seen in their patient's tumors. It turned out that TERT promoter mutations were just half of the story.

 To find the missing link between melanoma, TERT promoter mutations and long telomeres, scientists combed through cancer mutation databases. They had previously discovered a region in a telomere binding protein called TPP1, which was often mutated in melanoma tumors. They now found that the mutations in TPP1 were strikingly similar to those of TERT; they were located in the newly annotated promoter region of TPP1 and stimulated production of the protein. This was exciting to researchers because TPP1 has long been known to stimulate telomerase activity.

So they  added mutated TERT and TPP1 back to cells, the two proteins synergized to create the distinctively long telomeres seen in melanoma tumors. TPP1 was the missing factor scientists had been searching for, and it was hiding in plain sight all along.

This discovery has changed the way scientists understand the onset of melanoma, but it also has the potential to improve treatment. By identifying a telomere maintenance system that is unique to cancer, scientists have a new target for treatments.

Pattra Chun-On et al, TPP1 promoter mutations cooperate with TERT promoter mutations to lengthen telomeres in melanoma, Science (2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.abq0607. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abq0607

Oldest evidence of the controlled use of fire to cook food

The remains of a huge carp fish (2 meters/6.5 feet long), analyzed by researchers recently mark the earliest signs of cooking by prehistoric human to 780,000 years ago, predating the available data by some 600,000 years.

A close analysis of the remains of a carp-like fish found at the Gesher Benot Ya'aqov (GBY) archaeological site in Israel shows that the fish were cooked roughly 780,000 years ago. Cooking is defined as the ability to process food by controlling the temperature at which it is heated and includes a wide range of methods.

Until now, the earliest evidence of cooking dates to approximately 170,000 years ago. The question of when early man began using fire to cook food has been the subject of much scientific discussion for over a century. These findings shed new light on the matter and was published in Nature Ecology and Evolution.

Irit Zohar, Evidence for the cooking of fish 780,000 years ago at Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, Israel, Nature Ecology & Evolution (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41559-022-01910-z. www.nature.com/articles/s41559-022-01910-z

Treated wastewater can be more dependable and less toxic than commo...

Recycled wastewater is not only as safe to drink as conventional potable water, it may even be less toxic than many sources of water we already drink daily, Stanford University engineers have discovered.

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Global carbon emissions at record levels with no signs of shrinking...

Global carbon dioxide emissions from all human activities remain at record highs in 2022, and fossil fuel emissions have risen above pre-pandemic levels, according to a new analysis by an international body of scientists.

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Safety in space: Synthetic hibernation could provide protection fro...

It is still a glimpse into the future: Astronauts could be put into artificial hibernation and in this state be better protected from cosmic radiation. At present, there are already promising approaches to follow up such considerations.

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Climate change creates complications for concrete

Pennsylvania drivers know the effects that weather can have on paved roads—potholes, cracks and other pavement woes are a common occurrence. Climate change is accelerating the process, with devastating consequences for infrastructure.

X Chromosome Silenced in Some Cancers in Males

A study finds that XIST, the gene that shuts down one X chromosome in people who have two, is linked to cancer in males. 

Humans only need one active X chromosome, which means that people with two must shut one down to avoid doubling up on its protein products. The gene tasked with inactivating one X, called XIST, codes for a long noncoding RNA that coats and epigenetically silences the extra X chromosome early in the development of people with two X chromosomes. XIST has previously been linked to cancer in females, as well as to testicular cancer. Now, in a study published November 9 in Cell Systems, researchers have found XIST activity in cancers in various somatic tissues of males, too. 

Irregular XIST activity has been linked to testicular cancers, which arise from male germ cells. But in the new study, the researchers found high levels of XIST RNA in male somatic cells sampled from cancerous tissues. While the study doesn’t show a causal link been XIST expression and male cancers, it finds that XIST shuts down X chromosome gene expression in adult male somatic cells, which are thought to need the proteins encoded on the X chromosome. This silencing likely has deleterious effects, the researchers say. 

We’ve known about the testicular cancers having XIST, and we’ve probably suspected that there’s XIST in some other [cancers], but to actually do such a detailed study across all types of cancers and find out the details is really important.

https://www.cell.com/cell-systems/fulltext/S2405-4712(22)00403-3

Paracetamol: The Most Common Pain Relief Drug in The World Induces Risky Behavior, Study Shows

Acetaminophen, also known as paracetamol and sold widely under the brand names Tylenol and Panadol, also increases risk-taking, according to a study from 2020 that measured changes in people's behavior when under the influence of the common over-the-counter medication.

Acetaminophen seems to make people feel less negative emotion when they consider risky activities – they just don't feel as scared. This reduced risk perceptions and increased risk-taking could have important effects on society.

The findings add to a growing body of research suggesting that acetaminophen's effects on pain reduction also extend to various psychological processes, lowering people's receptivity to hurt feelings, experiencing reduced empathy, and even blunting cognitive functions.

The drug's apparent effects on risk-taking behavior could also be interpreted via other kinds of psychological processes, such as reduced anxiety

In a similar way, the research suggests people's affective ability to perceive and evaluate risks can be impaired when they take acetaminophen. While the effects might be slight, they're definitely worth noting, given acetaminophen is the most common drug ingredient , found in over 600 different kinds of over-the-counter and prescription medicines.

https://academic.oup.com/scan/article/15/7/725/5897711?login=false

Almost All 'Natural' Skincare Products Contain Allergens, Scientists Warn

Nearly 90 percent of the 1,651 personal skin care products studied – including lotions, soaps, and moisturizers – contained at least one of the top 100 most common allergens known to cause contact dermatitis.

Contact dermatitis is more than a fleeting irritation. It's a red, itchy rash that, at its worst, can blister, caused by exposure to substances that either irritate or inflame the skin. The latter is an allergic reaction that occurs once the skin becomes sensitized to an otherwise harmless substance.

According to some estimates, rates of contact dermatitis are on the rise worldwide, up almost three-fold in three decades since 1996.

The researchers say that this uptick in contact dermatitis, a rapidly growing skincare and beauty industry worth billions, and a lack of regulation on its marketing motivated the study.

Contact dermatitis is preventable, so long as you can navigate and interpret the long list of ingredients found in skincare products and know which ones might aggravate the skin. Easier said than done.

A typical skincare or cosmetic product may contain anywhere from 15 to 50 ingredients. Research suggests people could be applying over 500 different chemicals to their skin each day, depending on their skincare routine.

In other words, the more products you use, the more you expose your skin to potential allergens.

Many of the allergens identified in the study were fragrances – think lavender and other botanical extracts – which have become a leading cause of contact dermatitis.

On average, skincare products contained between four and five known allergens. In total, 73 different allergens were listed 7,487 times across the 1,651 products studied.

That's only based on product information available online, but it still gives you a sense of the scale of the problem.

In 2017, another US study found few moisturizers were free from allergens, and even 'fragrance-free' products sometimes contained fragrances, which can irritate the skin.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamadermatology/article-abstract/2...

How Secrets of the Arctic decoded

Babies born to mothers with preeclampsia found to be at increased risk of stroke and heart disease later in life

Preeclampsia is a condition involving blood pressure elevation and heightened levels of proteins in urine that can damage kidneys and sometimes other organs of pregnant women. Preeclampsia tends to occur later in pregnancy, though it can sometimes happen earlier. Preeclampsia has been found to stymie fetal growth if not properly treated by causing problems in the arteries that carry blood in the placenta. 

A team of researchers  has found evidence that suggests babies born to mothers with preeclampsia have an increased risk of a stroke and/or heart disease later in life. They also found that it can also lead to other health problems for the baby later in life.

The work involved obtaining and analyzing the medical records of 8.5 million babies born in the 1970s and 1980s and tracking instances of ischemic heart disease (IHD) or stroke in those babies for 40 years after they were born. They found that babies born to mothers experiencing preeclampsia were 33% more likely to develop IHD in later life than babies born to mothers without the condition. They also found a 34% increased risk of stroke. The researchers also found a small increase in risk for stroke in siblings of babies born to mothers with preeclampsia. The researchers suggest the large sample size ensures accuracy of the results and also allowed them to evaluate the role of preterm babies in increased risk of heart disease later on in life. They note also that theirs is the first study to find a link between babies born to mothers with preeclampsia and an increased risk of heart disease and/or stroke later on in life. The researchers note that the risk associations for preeclampsia were more notable in mothers who developed the condition later in their pregnancies than for those who developed it early.

Fen Yang et al, Association of Maternal Preeclampsia With Offspring Risks of Ischemic Heart Disease and Stroke in Nordic Countries, JAMA Network Open (2022). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.42064

Earth can regulate its own temperature over millennia, new study finds

The Earth's climate has undergone some big changes, from global volcanism to planet-cooling ice ages and dramatic shifts in solar radiation. And yet life, for the last 3.7 billion years, has kept on beating.

Now, a study by MIT researchers in Science Advances confirms that the planet harbors a "stabilizing feedback" mechanism that acts over hundreds of thousands of years to pull the climate back from the brink, keeping global temperatures within a steady, habitable range. Just how does it accomplish this? A likely mechanism is "silicate weathering"—a geological process by which the slow and steady weathering of silicate rocks involves chemical reactions that ultimately draw carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and into ocean sediments, trapping the gas in rocks. Scientists have long suspected that silicate weathering plays a major role in regulating the Earth's carbon cycle. The mechanism of silicate weathering could provide a geologically constant force in keeping carbon dioxide—and global temperatures—in check. But there's never been direct evidence for the continual operation of such a feedback, until now. The new findings are based on a study of paleoclimate data that record changes in average global temperatures over the last 66 million years. The MIT team applied a mathematical analysis to see whether the data revealed any patterns characteristic of stabilizing phenomena that reined in global temperatures on a geologic timescale. They found that indeed there appears to be a consistent pattern in which the Earth's temperature swings are dampened over timescales of hundreds of thousands of years. The duration of this effect is similar to the timescales over which silicate weathering is predicted to act. The results are the first to use actual data to confirm the existence of a stabilizing feedback, the mechanism of which is likely silicate weathering. This stabilizing feedback would explain how the Earth has remained habitable through dramatic climate events in the geologic past.

Constantin Arnscheidt, Presence or absence of stabilizing Earth system feedbacks on different timescales, Science Advances (2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adc9241

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Over a billion young people are potentially at risk of hearing loss from headphones, earbuds, loud music venues

More than 1 billion teens and young people are potentially at risk of hearing loss because of their use of headphones and earbuds and attendance at loud music venues, concludes a pooled data analysis of the available evidence, published in the open access journal BMJ Global Health.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over 430 million people worldwide currently have disabling hearing loss. Young people are particularly vulnerable because of their use of personal listening devices (PLDs), such as smartphones, headphones and earbuds, and attendance at loud music venues, amid poor regulatory enforcement. Previously published research suggests that PLD users often choose volumes as high as 105 dB while average sound levels at entertainment venues range from 104 to 112 dB, exceeding permissible levels (80 dB for adults; 75 dB for children) even if for very short periods of time.

A group of 33 studies, corresponding to data from 35 records and 19,046 participants, was included in this research work to come to this conclusion; 17 records focused on PLD use and 18 focused on loud entertainment venues .

The pooled data analysis indicates that the prevalence of unsafe listening practices from PLD use and attendance at loud entertainment venues is common worldwide—24% and 48%, respectively, among teens and young peopel.

Based on these figures, the researchers estimate that the global number of teens and young adults who could potentially be at risk of hearing loss as a result ranges from 0.67 to 1.35 billion.

The researchers acknowledge some limitations to their findings, including the varied study design—a particular feature of the studies on entertainment venues—and the absence of standardized methodology.

These findings   prompted the researchers to conclude, "There is an urgent need for governments, industry, and civil society to prioritize global hearing loss prevention by promoting safe listening practices."

Prevalence and global estimates of unsafe listening practices in adolescents and young adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis, BMJ Global Health (2022). DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2022-010501

Climate change: Increasing heat waves will threaten every child, says UNICEF report

A new report by UNICEF, supported by University of Southampton researchers, says 559 million children currently exposed to high heat waves could rise to 2.02 billion globally by the year 2050.

The report, produced in collaboration with The Data for Children Collaborative, underscores the urgent need to address the impacts of global warming to future generations and follows on from previous work identifying specific risk to children from climate change (Child Climate Risk Index, UNICEF, 2021).

It comes as world leaders meet to discuss climate action this month at the COP27 conference in Egypt.

The report estimates that by 2050, all of the world's 2.02 billion children are expected to be exposed to high heat wave frequency, regardless of whether:

• the world achieves a "low greenhouse gas emission scenario" with an estimated 1.7 degrees of warming, or;
• a "very high greenhouse gas emission scenario" with an estimated 2.4 degrees of warming.

The report found that specifically high heat wave duration currently impacts 538 million (23%) of children globally and by 2050 will rise to:

• 1.6 billion at 1.7 degrees warming or;
• 1.9 billion at 2.4 degrees warming.

Heat waves are especially damaging to children, as they are less able to regulate their body temperature compared to adults, with babies and young children being at greater risk of heat-related mortality.

Further exposure to heat waves can result in children developing health problems such as chronic respiratory conditions, asthma, and cardiovascular diseases.

Heat waves can also affect children's environments, their safety, nutrition and access to water, and their education and future livelihood.

At a minimum, governments must urgently limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and double adaptation funding by 2025.

"This is the only way to save children's lives and futures—and the future of the planet."

https://www.unicef.org/reports/coldest-year-rest-of-their-lives-chi...

Researchers discover how music could be used to trigger a deadly pathogen release

Researchers  have discovered that the safe operation of a negative pressure room—a space in a hospital or biological research laboratory designed to protect outside areas from exposure to deadly pathogens—can be disrupted by an attacker armed with little more than a smartphone.

According to UCI cyber-physical systems security experts, who shared their findings with attendees at the Association for Computing Machinery's recent Conference on Computer and Communications Security in Los Angeles, mechanisms that control airflow in and out of biocontainment facilities can be tricked into functioning irregularly by a sound of a particular frequency, possibly tucked surreptitiously into a popular song.

Someone could play a piece of music loaded on their smartphone or get it to transmit from a television or other audio device in or near a negative pressure room. If that music is embedded with a tone that matches the resonant frequency of the pressure controls of one of these spaces, it could cause a malfunction and a leak of deadly microbes.

Heating, ventilation and air conditioning infrastructure maintains the flow of fresh air into and contaminated air out of a given space. HVAC systems in scientific facilities typically include room pressure monitors, which in turn utilize differential pressure sensors that compare the atmospheres inside and outside rooms.

The researchers said that commonly used differential pressure sensors (DPSs) are vulnerable to remote manipulation, posing a previously unrealized threat to biosafety facilities. They tested their hypothesis on eight industry-standard DPSs from five manufacturers, demonstrating that all the devices operate with resonant frequencies in the audible range and are, therefore, subject to tampering.

When sound waves collide with the diaphragms inside a DPS, it starts vibrating with the same frequency. An informed attacker can use this technique to artificially displace the diaphragm, changing the pressure reading and causing the whole system to malfunction.

Attackers could thwart negative pressure room systems in a variety of ways. They could manipulate them wirelessly or pose as maintenance personnel to place an audio device inside or near such a room.A more sophisticated attack might involve perpetrators embedding sound-emitting technologies into a DPS before it's installed in a biocontainment facility.

In their conference presentation, the researchers suggested several countermeasures to prevent a musical assault on biosafety facilities. Sound dampening can be achieved by lengthening the sampling tube of a DPS's port by as much as 7 meters. The team also proposed enclosing the pressure port in a boxlike structure. Both these measures would reduce the sensitivity of the DPS.

Anomadarshi Barua et al, A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, Proceedings of the 2022 ACM SIGSAC Conference on Computer and Communications Security (2022). DOI: 10.1145/3548606.3560643

Full paper (arXiv preprint): A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Spreading Deadly Pathogens Under the Di...

New technology for growing printed tissues for transplantation

Researchers have developed an innovative technology for growing tissue for transplantation by printing it into a microgel bath as support material.

Tissue printing is an innovative approach for creating tissue for transplantation. In this technique, also called bio-printing, living cells are embedded in biological ink and printed layer upon layer. The printed tissue then undergoes growth for days or weeks until it is ready for printing.

This new work focused on preventing the uneven shrinkage of the printed tissue in the weeks after printing. The solution was found through changing the medium in which the tissue is printed and grown.

The new concept, print-and-grow, is based on an original medium developed by the researchers—an innovative microgel used as a support material in the process, CarGrow, which is a substance mainly composed of carrageenan (Carrageenan-K) and is produced from red algae. In fact, the new support bath preserves the size of the tissue after printing and prevents it from shrinking and losing its shape.

This process allows reliable and controlled production of functional tissue in the desired size and shape. Since this material is transparent, it makes it possible for the scientists to monitor the development of the tissue through imaging.

The Technion researchers hope the new method will lead to the development of new technologies for bio-printing. 

Majd Machour et al, Print‐and‐Grow within a Novel Support Material for 3D Bioprinting and Post‐Printing Tissue Growth, Advanced Science (2022). DOI: 10.1002/advs.202200882

Nanostructured ceramic coatings do not fatigue, finds study

Extremely thin ceramic coatings can completely change the properties of technical components. Coatings are used, for example, to increase the resistance of metals to heat or corrosion. Coating processes play a role for large turbine blades as well as for extremely stressed tools in production technology.

Researchers now investigated what determines the stability of such coatings. And the results, some of which were obtained at the DESY synchrotron in Hamburg, are quite surprising: the ceramic layers break down in a completely different way than metals. Material fatigue hardly plays a role; the decisive factor is the intensity of extreme load peaks (the so called stress intensity factor). This finding will change the method used to measure and further improve the resistance of thin films in the future.

 L. Zauner et al, Assessing the fracture and fatigue resistance of nanostructured thin films, Acta Materialia (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.actamat.2022.118260

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The offshoot of cells visualized in real time

In a study recently published in the Journal of Extracellular Vesicles, researchers from Kanazawa University use high-speed microscopy to capture the dynamics of nanosized sacs released from cells.

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Air pollution cools climate more than expected—this makes cutting c...

Air pollutants kill around 7 million people every year. Much of this pollution is tiny particles suspended in the air which, when inhaled, can cause people to develop heart and lung diseases, as well as cancer.

Study shows hundreds of thousands of tons of bacteria are being released by melting glaciers

A team of researchers affiliated with multiple institutions across Europe, the U.K. and Canada has found that hundreds of thousands of tons of bacteria are currently being released annually into the environment by melting glaciers in the northern latitudes. In their paper published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, the group describes sampling glacial runoff from multiple sites in Europe, North America and Greenland.

As climate change progresses, doomsday reports from around the world have proliferated. One alarming claim is that a virus or strain of bacteria will emerge from ancient ice that is impervious to the human immune system, killing off most, if not all, of humankind. In this new effort, the researchers have joined a growing effort to take samples of melting runoff from glaciers to learn more about their microbial ecosystems as a means to discover whether a threat exists, and if so, what sort.

The researchers did not study the bacteria individually, and thus did not spot any species that might pose a threat to human health. They did note that most of the bacteria were killed by the sun soon after exposure, suggesting that even if a human pathogen is among them, the chance of infection is slight. Bacteria in water samples, the researchers note, tend to have pigments that absorb sunlight, which further adds to warming in northern regions.

Ian T. Stevens et al, Spatially consistent microbial biomass and future cellular carbon release from melting Northern Hemisphere glacier surfaces, Communications Earth & Environment (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s43247-022-00609-0

How an Alzheimer’s gene ravages the brain

No gene variant is a bigger risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease than one called APOE4. But exactly how the gene spurs brain damage has been a mystery. A study has now linked APOE4 with faulty cholesterol processing in the brain, which in turn leads to defects in the insulating sheaths that surround nerve fibres and facilitate their electrical activity. Preliminary results hint that these changes could cause memory and learning deficits. And the work suggests that drugs that restore the brain’s cholesterol processing could treat the disease.

What is a 'Carbon Cage,' and why are you stuck in one right now?

This knowledge is extremely important
Our current carbon-heavy economic system creates bars around us that stop effective climate change action. Here's why: The world is too accustomed to the luxuries and privileges which depend on co2 emissions

A butterfly-stroke-like soft robotic swimmer that is fast and efficient

Earth now weighs six ronnagrams: New metric prefixes voted in

Say hello to ronnagrams and quettameters: International scientists gathered in France voted on Friday for new metric prefixes to express the world's largest and smallest measurements, prompted by an ever-growing amount of data.

It marks the first time in more than three decades that new prefixes have been added to the International System of Units (SI), the agreed global standard for the metric system.

Joining the ranks of well-known prefixes like kilo and milli are ronna and quetta for the largest numbers—and ronto and quecto for the smallest.

The change was voted on by scientists and government representatives from across the world attending the 27th General Conference on Weights and Measures, which governs the SI and meets roughly every four years at Versailles Palace, west of Paris.

The UK's National Physical Laboratory, which led the push for the new prefixes, confirmed that the resolution had passed in a statement.

The prefixes make it easier to express large amounts—for example, always referring to a kilometer as 1,000 meters or a millimeter as one thousandth of a meter would quickly become cumbersome.

Since the SI was established in 1960, scientific need has led to a growing number of prefixes. The last time was in 1991, when chemists wanting to express vast molecular quantities spurred the addition of zetta and yotta.

A yottameter is a one followed by 24 zeroes.

But even the mighty yotta is not enough to handle the world's voracious appetite for data.

So the Earth weighs approximately six ronnagrams,which is a six followed by 27 zeroes !

Jupiter, that's about two quettagrams—a two followed by 30 zeros.

Source: AFP

https://phys.org/news/2022-11-earth-ronnagrams-metric-prefixes-vote...

Down syndrome, like Alzheimer's, is a double-prion disorder

The brains of people with Down syndrome develop the same neurodegenerative tangles and plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease and frequently demonstrate signs of the neurodegenerative disorder in their forties or fifties. A new study from researchers shows that these tangles and plaques are driven by the same amyloid beta (Aß) and tau prions that they showed are behind Alzheimer's disease in 2019.

Prions begin as normal proteins that become misshapen and self-propagate. They spread through tissue like an infection by forcing normal proteins to adopt the same misfolded shape. In both Alzheimer's and Down syndrome, as Aß and tau prions accumulate in the brain, they cause neurological dysfunction that often manifests as dementia.

Tau tangles and Aß plaques are evident in most people with Down syndrome by age 40, according to the National Institute on Aging, with at least 50% of this population developing Alzheimer's as they age.

The new study, published Nov. 7, 2022, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, highlights how a better understanding of Down syndrome can lead to new insights about Alzheimer's, as well.

Carlo Condello et al, Aβ and tau prions feature in the neuropathogenesis of Down syndrome, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2212954119

Messel boa: Live birth in a 47-million-year-old snake

team of scientists, including Senckenberg’s Krister Smith, has discovered the world’s first fossil evidence of live birth in snakes. The fossil they examined came from the Hessian UNESCO World Heritage Site “Messel Pit.” In the study, published in the journal “The Science of Nature,” the researchers describe bones of snake embryos discovered in the mother’s body. The finding shows that viviparous snakes already existed at least 47 million years ago.

Most reptiles alive today lay eggs; this so-called oviparity is their most common mode of reproduction. But there are exceptions: Numerous species of lizards and snakes are known to deviate from the norm and give birth to their offspring alive – viviparously. Fossil preservation of reproductive events is generally very rare. In total, only two fossil records of viviparous land reptiles have been discovered to date. Scientists have now succeeded in describing the world’s first fossil evidence of a viviparous snake.

The fossil Messelophis variatus, from a family of boa-like snakes, is about 50 centimeters long, dates from the Eocene, and is related to modern-day dwarf boas from Central America. The species is among the most common snakes known from Messel. Nevertheless, this specimen,  is about 47 million years old.

It is a pregnant female with at least two embryos found in the posterior third of her trunk area. These bones were located quite a distance behind the stomach – if they were part of the snake’s prey, they would have already been digested this far back in the intestine and would no longer be recognizable. Thus, they must represent the boa’s embryos. The fact that the bones are from very young snakes, yet already further developed than in an unlaid egg, supports the assumption that scientists are dealing with a pregnant, viviparous female.

In live births, the young remain in the female’s body until they are viable – eliminating the need for a protective eggshell. This is considered an advantageous evolutionary strategy for reptiles in cold climates, as the temperature inside the female’s body is more stable and thus safer for their offspring. Therefore, many of today’s viviparous lizards and snakes have evolved in rather cooler climates. “During the Eocene, however, the Earth was dominated by a persistent greenhouse climate with warm temperatures, a high carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere, and ice-free poles. Around the Messel Lake, average temperatures at that time were about 20 degrees Celsius, and winter temperatures did not fall below freezing. Why the boas gave birth to live offspring 47 million years ago in spite of this fact is still unknown. Perhaps additional fossils from this unique site will help us solve this mystery!

Mariana Chuliver et al, Live birth in a 47-million-year-old snake, The Science of Nature (2022). DOI: 10.1007/s00114-022-01828-3

Making mosquitoes' love songs fall on deaf ears

A team of researchers  have developed a new method that may help control mosquito populations. The annoying buzzing sound that mosquitoes make when flying inspired this technique.

Mosquitoes are not just a nuisance to people sitting outside on warm summer evenings. They also spread deadly diseases that kill thousands of people every year, including dengue, malaria, and the Zika virus. Therefore, it is vital to reduce mosquito populations around the world. Unfortunately, commonly used insecticides have become less effective over time because mosquitoes have developed resistance. They also have a negative impact on the environment. Therefore, alternative methods are needed for mosquito control.

One promising method for controlling mosquitoes takes advantage of perhaps their most annoying feature—their high-pitched buzzing. Females create this sound as they fly around seeking sources of blood. Male mosquitoes listen specifically for this characteristic high-pitched noise. Shaped like antennas, male mosquito ears vibrate at the same frequency as the female mosquito's wings. When a female flies by, the male's ears detect this frequency and resonate, sending a signal to their brain that helps them identify a potential mate.

A team of researchers  tested whether they could control mosquito mating behavior by altering the frequency at which male mosquitoes listen. By making the male mosquitoes' ears go "out of tune," they sought to influence their mating behavior.

he team first identified the involvement of the major neurotransmitter serotonin in the auditory system of the insect. Serotonin plays an important role in nervous systems and brains of various animals', influencing a wide range of behaviors.

After demonstrating serotonin in the mosquito auditory system, the team's next step was to manipulate serotonin levels. To do this, they used a method called "laser doppler vibrometry." This involves using a laser as a highly sensitive measurement tool to detect changes in the nanoscale vibrations of mosquito ears after exposure to serotonin-related compounds.

The researchers discovered that after feeding mosquitoes a serotonin-inhibiting compound, the male ears' vibration frequency decreased. When they gave the mosquitoes glucose laced with a compound that inhibited serotonin, both the range of frequencies the mosquitoes responded to, and their response itself, were reduced.

The next step in the development of a potential auditory-based "birth control" will involve identifying the exact receptors responsible for tuning the ears of mosquitoes. This could enable researchers to administer targeted compounds to disrupt mating behavior. 

Yifeng Y. J. Xu, YuMin M. Loh, Tai-Ting Lee, Takuro S. Ohashi, Matthew P. Su, Azusa Kamikouchi. Serotonin modulation in the male Aedes aegypti ear influences hearing. Frontiers in Physiology, 2022; 13 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.931567

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Some Sugar Free Gummy Bears Are In Reality Laxatives! 

Why Scientists Are Listening to Coral Reefs

Lab mice fed processed food found to fare worse against flu than those eating grains

A team of researchers  has found that lab mice are more likely to survive a flu infection if they are fed grain-based foods rather than processed food. The paper is published in Cell Reports.

In recent years, medical researchers have reported evidence that diet plays a larger role in illness recovery than was thought. Some studies have shown, for example, that caloric density and the concentration of nutrients consumed while recovering from an infection can have a major impact on the severity of the infection. In this new effort, the researchers found evidence suggesting that other characteristics of food can also play a role in illness recovery, at least in mice.

In this new effort, the researchers were studying how mammals such as mice fight off influenza infections. As part of that effort, they inadvertently fed two groups of lab mice slightly different meals that were thought to be equivalent in nutritional value and hence unlikely to have an impact on disease recovery. More specifically, they fed one group of mice a diet consisting mostly of grains. The other mice were fed a highly processed diet.

Both groups were subsequently infected with the influenza virus and were kept on the same diets they had prior to being infected. The researchers note that prior studies had shown that mice fed either diet when not battling an infection displayed little difference in health or behavior. But when infected with influenza, the researchers found that all of those fed the highly processed diet died. They also found that those fed the highly processed diet failed to regain weight lost due to the illness. In sharp contrast, all of the mice on the grain-based diet began regaining weight within 10 days of initial infection, and all of them recovered.

The researchers note that the difference in survival was not due to differences in an immune response, but was instead due to recovery issues. They note that the mice on the highly processed food diet ate less than those given grains and wound up getting less nutrients. They also had cooler body cores. The researchers also found some evidence that suggested IFN-γ, a signaling protein, played a role in the outcomes for the mice.

Taylor A. Cootes et al, The quality of energy- and macronutrient-balanced diets regulates host susceptibility to influenza in mice, Cell Reports (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111638

Discovery reveals 'brain-like computing' at molecular level is possible

A discovery has revealed for the first time that unconventional brain-like computing at the tiniest scale of atoms and molecules is possible.

Researchers which consisted an international team of scientists  created a new type of organic material that learns from its past behaviour. The discovery of the "dynamic molecular switch" that emulates synaptic behavior is revealed in a new study in the journal Nature Materials.

The team developed a two-nanometer thick layer of molecules, which is 50,000 times thinner than a strand of hair and remembers its history as electrons pass through it. Switching probability and the values of the on/off states continually change in the molecular material, which provides a disruptive new alternative to conventional silicon-based digital switches that can only ever be either on or off.

The newly discovered dynamic organic switch displays all the mathematical logic functions necessary for deep learning, successfully emulating Pavlovian "call and response" synaptic brain-like behavior.

The researchers demonstrated the new materials properties using extensive experimental characterization and electrical measurements supported by multi-scale modeling spanning from predictive modeling of the molecular structures at the quantum level to analytical mathematical modeling of the electrical data.

Enrique del Barco, Dynamic molecular switches with hysteretic negative differential conductance emulating synaptic behaviour, Nature Materials (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41563-022-01402-2

https://phys.org/news/2022-11-discovery-reveals-brain-like-molecula...

A combination of ultrasound and nanobubbles allows cancerous tumors...

A new technology developed at Tel Aviv University makes it possible to destroy cancerous tumors in a targeted manner, via a combination of ultrasound and the injection of nanobubbles into the bloodstream. According to the research team, unlike invasive treatment methods or the injection of microbubbles into the tumor itself, this latest technology enables the destruction of the tumor in a non-invasive manner.

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Researchers develop a new type of light-sensitive nanoparticle to h...

Oregon State University scientists have produced a proof of concept for a new and better way of caring for women facing the life-threatening situation of ectopic pregnancy, which occurs when a fertilized egg implants somewhere other than the lining of the uterus.

Things that make  people feel more awake and alert during mornings and afternoons

A team of researchers affiliated with multiple institutions has isolated factors that they think have an impact on how awake and/or alert people feel during the day.

Prior research has shown that more people than ever are complaining of feeling tired, sleepy and unalert during the daytime. Such complaints have been connected to increases in motor vehicle and work accidents and also sloppy job performance. In this new effort, the researchers noted that little research has been conducted looking into the factors that contribute to daytime alertness. To rectify that problem, they conducted a study of their own.

The researchers recruited 833 volunteers (many of whom were either identical or fraternal twins) to undergo testing for two weeks. Each adhered to a prescribed diet and wore a watch that recorded their sleep and physical activity and also their glucose levels. They also recorded the food they ate using a custom phone app, which they also used to record their level of alertness. After the two-week period, the researchers found some patterns. For example, those people who slept longer reported feeling more alert the next day—no surprise there.

But they also found that it was not duration that led to an increase in alertness, but the time that they woke up—waking up later than normal, they found, made the volunteers feel more alert, at least during the morning, even if they did not go to bed late. They also found that the volunteers were more alert on days when they were physically active the day before. And they found that eating a high-carb breakfast, such as muffins, resulted in higher morning alertness.

Drinking pure glucose had them feeling even more alert. A high-protein breakfast, on the other hand, had the volunteers dragging in the morning. The researchers also found four factors that most contributed to daily variances for the volunteers: age, sleep, mood and frequency of eating—eating less often seemed to reduce next-day fatigue.

Raphael Vallat et al, How people wake up is associated with previous night's sleep together with physical activity and food intake, Nature Communications (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-34503-2

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Scientists unlock nature's secret to super-selective binding

 Researchers have discovered that it is not just molecular density, but also pattern and structural rigidity, that control super-selective binding interactions between nanomaterials and protein surfaces. The breakthrough could help optimize existing approaches to virus prevention and cancer detection.

So much of biology comes down to the biophysical process of binding: making a strong connection between one or more groups of atoms—known as ligands—to their corresponding receptor molecule on a surface. A binding event is the first fundamental process that allows a virus to infect a host, or chemotherapy to fight cancer. But binding interactions—at least, our understanding of them—have a "Goldilocks problem": too few ligands on one molecule makes it impossible for it to stably bind with the correct target, while too many can result in undesirable side-effects.

When binding is triggered by a threshold density of target receptors, scientists call this 'super-selective' binding, which is key to preventing random interactions that could dysregulate biological function. 

Since nature typically doesn't overcomplicate things, researchers wanted to know the minimum number of binding interactions that would still allow for super-selective binding to occur. They were also interested to know whether the pattern the ligand molecules are arranged in makes a difference in selectivity. As it turns out, it does.

They have recently published a study in the Journal of the American Chemical Society that identifies the optimal ligand number for super-selective binding: six. But they also found, to their excitement, that the arrangement of these ligands—in a line, circle, or triangle, for example—also significantly impacted binding efficacy. They have dubbed the phenomenon "multivalent pattern recognition" or MPR.

After engineering a series of ligand-receptor architectures to explore how density, geometry, and nano-spacing influenced binding super-selectivity, the team realized that rigidity was a key factor. The more flexible, the less precise.

Diagnostics and therapeutics such as chemotherapy could also benefit from super-selectivity, which could allow for more reliable binding with cancer cells, for which certain receptor molecules are known to have a higher density. In this case, healthy cells would remain undetected, drastically reducing side effects.

Finally, such selectivity engineering could offer key insights into complex interactions within the immune system.

Hale Bila et al, Multivalent Pattern Recognition through Control of Nano-Spacing in Low-Valency Super-Selective Materials, Journal of the American Chemical Society (2022). DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c08529

The interplay between epidemics, prevention information, and mass media

When an epidemic strikes, more than just infections spread. As cases mount, information about the disease, how to spot it, and how to prevent it propagates rapidly among people in affected areas as well. Relatively little is known, however, about the interplay between the course of epidemics and this diffusion of information to the public.

A pair of researchers developed a model that examines epidemics through two lenses—the spread of disease and the spread of information—to understand how reliable information can be better disseminated during these events. 

They report their two-layered model can predict the effects of mass media and infection prevention information on the epidemic threshold.

To tackle their question, the researchers' model compares the interactions between two layers of information. The first is the transmission of the disease itself, propagated through physical contact between people. The second occupies the information space of social networks, where different voices are sharing the do's and don'ts of infection prevention, called positive and negative information respectively. The model provides a set of equations that can be used to calculate the epidemic threshold using a technique called microscopic Markov chains. Central to this calculation is the time delay between becoming infected and recovering. The longer it takes for patients to recover from an infection, they found, the less likely a patient is cured, leading to a lower recovery rate and making it easier for a disease to break out. Disseminating effective prevention practices and using mass media, however, can increase the epidemic threshold, making it more difficult for the infection to spread. They simulate this by reducing the time delays related to recovery, which boosts recovery rates.

 The impact of positive and negative information on SIR-like epidemics in delayed multiplex networks, Chaos An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science (2022). DOI: 10.1063/5.0126799