Iron given through the vein found to correct anemia in pregnant women faster than iron taken orally

A sizable proportion of pregnant women in proceed to give birth while still anemic despite taking iron tablets for prevention during pregnancy. Some reasons for this are that some women do not tolerate the tablets because of side effects like diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting, or they forget to take the tablets.

Available iron preparations given through drip in some countries like iron dextran have been associated with high risk of severe side effects, while iron sucrose needs repeat dosing. There is a need for an effective and safer alternative to overcome these problems.

Anemia (low blood level) is a common cause of ill-health or death in mothers and their babies, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia where more than four out of 10 pregnant women have the condition.

Researchers found that a medicine called ferric carboxymaltose given in drip through the vein works faster and better than an iron tablet taken by mouth for the treatment of anemia—and it is as safe as the tablet. The findings were published in Lancet Global Health in a paper titled "Intravenous versus oral iron for anemia among pregnant Nigerian women (IVON): an open label randomised controlled trial."

 Intravenous versus oral iron for anaemia among pregnant Nigerian women (IVON): an open label randomised controlled trial, The Lancet Global Health (2024). DOI: 10.1016/S2214-109X(24)00239-0. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan … (24)00239-0/fulltext

How AI can help researchers make esophageal cancer less deadly

Approximately 600 times a day, the esophagus ferries whatever is in your mouth down to your stomach. It's usually a one-way route, but sometimes acid escapes the stomach and travels back up. That can damage the cells lining the esophagus, prompting them to grow back with genetic mistakes. Sometimes those mistakes culminate in cancer.

Esophageal cancer can be cured if it's discovered and treated before it burrows in deep or spreads to other organs. But that's rarely the case.

To improve on that situation, doctors say they don't necessarily need better medicines. What they need are better ways to find the cancer while it's still in its earliest, highly treatable stages.

And to do that, they need a breakthrough in screening for the disease.

Screening someone for esophageal cancer is not a trivial procedure.

The standard method involves inserting an endoscope—a flexible tube with a camera on one end—into a patient's throat and threading it down to the stomach. The camera allows doctors to inspect the esophagus up close and check for abnormal cells that could become cancerous.

The tube also serves as a conduit for tools that can collect tissue samples, which can be sent to a pathology lab for diagnostic analysis. If a doctor sees a growth that looks like early-stage cancer, it can be removed on the spot.

Part 1

It sounds straightforward, but patients must be sedated for the procedure, which means they lose a day of work. Endoscopy is also expensive, and there's a shortage of doctors who can do it.

We're only catching 7% of cancers through endoscopy.

Doctors are turning to  artificial intelligence to identify additional characteristics that can improve their ability to identify those most likely to have Barrett's and esophageal cancer.

Researchers are developing an AI tool that scours the electronic medical records of  patients to find those who should be screened for Barrett's. The tool considers more than 7,500 distinct data points, including past medical procedures, lab test results, prescriptions and more. (Among the surprises: A patient's triglycerides and electrolytes had predictive value.)

This is probably something a human would not be able to do efficiently.

In tests, the overall accuracy of the tools was 84%. While those are substantial improvements, the team would like to bump that up to 90% .

Source: LA times

**

Part 2

Bacterial infections could be trigger for type 1 diabetes, new research suggests

For the first time, scientists have found that proteins from bacteria can trigger the immune system to attack insulin-producing cells, leading to the development of type 1 diabetes.

The new research showed that killer T-cells—a type of white blood cell that's involved in tackling bacterial infections—can cause type 1 diabetes when activated by bacteria. The researchers showed that proteins from bacterial species known to infect humans could generate killer T-cells that could kill insulin-producing cells.

This research expands on their previous studies, which demonstrated that killer T-cells play a major role in initiating type 1 diabetes by killing insulin producing cells. 

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that usually affects children and young adults, where the cells that produce insulin are attacked by the patient's own immune system. This leads to a lack of insulin, meaning that people living with type 1 diabetes need to inject insulin multiple times a day to control their blood sugar levels.

There is currently no cure for type 1 diabetes and patients require life-long treatment. People living with type 1 diabetes may also develop medical complications later in life, so there is an urgent need to understand the underlying causes of the condition to help us find better treatments.

In laboratory experiments, the researchers introduced bacterial proteins into cell lines from healthy donors and monitored the reaction of killer T-cells from these donors. They found that strong interaction with the bacterial proteins triggered killer T-cells to attack cells that make insulin.

The research, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, provides the first evidence of how proteins from bacterial germs can trigger the type of killer T-cells seen in patients with type 1 diabetes. The team hopes that knowing more about this process, will allow new ways to diagnose, prevent, or even halt the development of type 1 diabetes.

 Garry Dolton et al, HLA A*24:02–restricted T cell receptors cross-recognize bacterial and preproinsulin peptides in type 1 diabetes, Journal of Clinical Investigation (2024). DOI: 10.1172/JCI164535

What is the microbiome?

The hidden health risks of styrene and ethylbenzene exposure

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a critical public health issue, with its prevalence expected to rise sharply worldwide. Recent evidence points to environmental pollution, specifically exposure to hazardous chemicals like styrene and ethylbenzene, as a contributing factor for the disease.

Found in plastics, synthetic rubbers, and resins, these pollutants are pervasive in the environment and pose significant health threats. Addressing these challenges requires a deeper understanding of how environmental and genetic factors combine to influence T2DM risk.

A new study,  published  in Eco-Environment & Health, followed 2,219 adults from the Wuhan-Zhuhaicohort over six years to investigate the effects of styrene and ethylbenzene exposure on T2DM development. Using urinary biomarkers and genetic risk scores, the study assessed the combined impact of environmental exposure and genetic predisposition.

The findings demonstrate that exposure to styrene and ethylbenzene significantly elevates the risk of T2DM. The research highlights that individuals with high exposure levels had a substantially increased risk, which was further intensified by genetic susceptibility. Participants with both high exposure and high genetic risk faced the greatest likelihood of developing T2DM, illustrating a potent additive interaction.

This suggests that the joint impact of environmental pollutants and genetic factors on T2DM is more severe than their individual contributions, underscoring the need to control environmental exposures, particularly for those with genetic vulnerabilities.

Linling Yu et al, Styrene and ethylbenzene exposure and type 2 diabetes mellitus: A longitudinal gene-environment interaction study, Eco-Environment & Health (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.eehl.2024.07.001

**

Brain region that controls eye movements found to also play important role in higher cognitive functions

The superior colliculus is a midbrain region that is traditionally thought to help animals orient themselves toward important locations in space, like directing their eyes and head toward a bright flash of light. New research shows that this part of the brain also plays a role in complex cognitive tasks like visual categorization and decision making.

In the study, published in Nature Neuroscience, scientists measured the information contained in patterns of brain cell activity across multiple brain regions involved in visual category decisions. The researchers monitored activity in the superior colliculus (SC) and part of the posterior parietal cortex (PPC), a region of the cerebral cortex that is important for visual categorical decisions.

The researchers saw that activity in the SC was even more involved than the PPC in guiding the subjects' category decisions, suggesting that it helps coordinate higher-order cognitive processes traditionally thought to take place in the neocortex.

This evolutionarily ancient brain structure that seems to be even more involved in complex cognitive decisions than the cortical areas the researchers studied in their experiments.

All animals, from fish and reptiles to mammals like primates and humans, need to quickly distinguish and categorize objects in their field of vision. Is the object moving toward them an obstacle or a threat? Is that thing darting by a predator or prey?

The SC is a region in the brain that is evolutionarily conserved across all vertebrates, even those without a more sophisticated neocortex. It helps orient movements of the head and eyes toward visual stimuli, and it was traditionally believed to kick off reflexive motor actions by relaying inputs from upstream brain regions.

However, recent research has shown that it is also involved in complex tasks like selecting an orientation point and paying attention to stimuli at different spatial locations.

Part 1

It's not just surprising to find this activity in the SC; it could mean something about why this brain region is being recruited to solve such complex tasks. Since it is present across all vertebrates, from primitive sharks to modern humans, it was one of the earliest brain regions that evolved to help process visual inputs and generate corresponding movements.

But in this new study, it's also involved in decidedly non-spatial functions. Could this be a sign that spatial processing provides a special "oomph" to problem-solving?

The researchers pointed out the kind of eye movements and hand gestures that humans make when we're asked to recall something or make decisions. If someone asks what you had for dinner last night, for example, your eyes often drift upward, as if the answer were written on the ceiling. Or when weighing a decision between two choices, you might move your hands up and down like two sides of a balance scale.
Some of this data might be telling us is that the reason we're making these kinds of spatial gestures and eye movements is because the spatial parts of the brain are getting recruited into helping us perform these non-spatial cognitive functions,
We've all had the experience of struggling to understand something written in text—like a long press release about a neuroscience study—but having it instantly click into place when the same information is presented in a graphic.
They say a picture is worth 1,000 words—even a very simple spatial diagram can rapidly convey so much more information than you can possibly describe. It's like the brain has created this beautiful mental graph paper which it can use to solve both spatial and non-spatial problems.

 Barbara Peysakhovich et al, Primate superior colliculus is causally engaged in abstract higher-order cognition, Nature Neuroscience (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-024-01744-x

Part 2

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The mystery of human wrinkles

A research team successfully recreated the structure of wrinkles in biological tissue in vitro, uncovering the mechanisms behind their formation. Their findings were published on August 19 in the journal Nature Communications.

While wrinkles are often associated with skin aging, many organs and tissues, including the brain, stomach, and intestines, also have distinct wrinkle patterns. These structures play a key role in regulating cellular states and differentiation, contributing to the physiological functions of each organ.

Understanding how biological tissues fold and form wrinkles is vital for understanding the complexity of living organisms beyond cosmetic concerns. This knowledge can be central to advancing research in areas such as skin aging, regenerative therapies, and embryology.

Researchers tried  to replicate both the hierarchical deformation of a single deep wrinkle caused by a strong compressive force and the formation of numerous small wrinkles under lighter compression.

In the process the team also discovered that factors such as the porous structure of the underlying ECM, dehydration, and the compressive force applied to the epithelial layer are crucial to the wrinkle formation process. Their experiments revealed that compressive forces deforming the epithelial cell layer caused mechanical instability within the ECM layer, resulting in the formation of wrinkles.

Additionally, they found that dehydration of the ECM layer was a key factor in the wrinkle formation process. These observations closely mirrored the effects seen in aging skin where dehydration of the underlying tissue layer leads to wrinkle development, providing a mechanobiological model for understanding wrinkle formation.

 Jaeseung Youn et al, Tissue-scale in vitro epithelial wrinkling and wrinkle-to-fold transition, Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51437-z

Human genome stored on 'everlasting' memory crystal

Scientists have stored the full human genome on a 5D memory crystal—a revolutionary data storage format that can survive for billions of years.

 They hope that the crystal could provide a blueprint to bring humanity back from extinction thousands, millions or even billions of years into the future, should science allow.

The technology could also be used to create an enduring record of the genomes of endangered plant and animal species faced with extinction.

The 5D memory crystal was developed by the University of Southampton's Optoelectronics Research Center (ORC).

Unlike other data storage formats that degrade over time, 5D memory crystals can store up to 360 terabytes of information (in the largest size) without loss for billions of years, even at high temperatures. It holds the Guinness World Record (awarded in 2014) for the most durable data storage material.

The crystal is equivalent to fused quartz, one of the most chemically and thermally durable materials on Earth. It can withstand the high and low extremes of freezing, fire and temperatures of up to 1,000°C. The crystal can also withstand direct impact force of up to 10 tons per cm² and is unchanged by long exposure to cosmic radiation.

The longevity of the crystals means they will outlast humans and other species.

The crystal is stored in the Memory of Mankind archive—a special time capsule within a salt cave in Hallstatt, Austria.

Symmetry in nature: 

there is symmetry in nature, especially in Biology, and it's present in many forms:

• Animals: The right and left halves of butterflies and elephants are mirror images of each other.
• Flowers: The petals of flowers repeat in a pattern.
• Starfish: The arms of starfish repeat around a central point.
• Leaves: Plant leaves are considered symmetrical, but they rarely match up exactly when folded in half.
• Proteins and RNA: The structures of these tiny things exhibit symmetry.
• Snowflakes: Snowflakes are symmetrical.
• Sunflowers: Sunflowers are symmetrical.

Some scientists believe that nature prefers symmetry and simplicity. For example, a simulation of 13,079,255 different possible protein cluster shapes found that only five had the symmetry of a square.

Symmetry is important in biology, and is used to define and classify groups of animals. For example, animals with radial symmetry are classified as Radiata, and animals with embryonic bilateral symmetry are classified as Bilateria.

And AI told me this: ( I am not a physicist and therefore, cannot confirm or deny this)

Symmetry is an important concept in physics that helps us understand the universe and matter:

Definition

Symmetry is how particles behave when space, time, or quantum numbers are reversed. It can also refer to changes in the mathematical descriptions of nature.

Types

There are three types of symmetry: charge (C), parity (P), and time (T).

Importance

Symmetry is important for understanding the physical properties of matter and the universe. It also helps derive the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics.

Applications

Symmetry is used in particle physics to derive conservation laws and determine which particle interactions can occur. It's also used to classify crystals and define types of entities.

Symmetry breaking

Symmetry can be exact, approximate, or broken. Exact symmetry is always valid, while approximate symmetry is only valid under certain conditions. Broken symmetry can have different meanings depending on the object and its context.

Why communication is becoming difficult: 

Harassment and  Intimidation

Intimidation and harassment have become an occupational hazard for scholars studying phenomena linked to politics, including climate change, disinformation and virology. Now, researchers have united to create a defence playbook that offers tactics for dealing with this reality. Their message is clear: scientists can take steps to protect themselves, but their institutions also need to have a support plan in place.

Climate scientists have been grappling with harassment and threats over their work for more than a decade. In recent years, however, attacks have spread more widely, to biomedical researchers and social scientists. For instance, in 2021 Nature surveyed 300 scientists who had given media interviews about the COVID-19 pandemic and found that two-thirds of respondents had negative experiences because of their public interactions; 22% had received threats of physical or sexual violence. And within the past two years, researchers who study the spread of election and vaccine misinformation on social media have been at the centre of US congressional investigations and laws....

The consortium’s advice for researchers who think they are at risk starts with simple steps such as removing personal contact information and office locations from publicly available websites. But the organization also points to more sophisticated strategies, such as applying for a ‘Certificate of Confidentiality’.

Now should science communicators use incognito mode?
No, I won’t. Even If I get death threats like it happened before.
Why should we be afraid of these morons?

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-03104-y

Anti-vaxxers: Even ants take precautions. Why can't some human beings?

Black garden ants modify the structure of their nests to mitigate fungal infection spread

A small team of biologists  has found that black garden ants modify the physical structure of their nests to mitigate infection spread. The group has written a paper describing the experiments they conducted with black garden ants and fungal infections in their lab and posted it on the bioRxiv preprint server.

Prior research has shown that some animals change their behaviour to avoid spreading infections, whether they be viral, bacterial or fungal. Among those, only humans have been found to alter their surroundings as a way to further protect themselves— smart people might close off parts of their house, for example, or establish quarantine zones within hospital areas.

In this new study, the research team found an instance of an insect altering its nest to deter the spread of an infecting fungus.

To learn more about how insects, such as ants, attempt to prevent the spread of an infection among members of a nest, the research team went into the field and collected black garden ants—enough to set up 20 colonies in their lab, each in its own glass enclosure. After giving the ants a single day to acclimate themselves to their new environment, the researchers added 20 more ants to each colony—half of which were infected with a fungus known to spread among the ants. The research team then set up cameras to record the behavior of the ants and micro-CT scanners to study the nature of the nest tunnels that the ants dug beneath the soil.

The team found that in the colonies with the infected ants, new tunnels were dug faster than in those not infected. After six days, the spacing between the tunnels was farther apart in the infected nest as well.

The ants in the exposed colonies also placed their queen, food and brooding area in a less central location. And finally, those ants that were infected tended to spend most of their time on the surface, rather than underground with their nestmates.

The researchers next used disease transmission simulations to speed up the process of disease spread and found that the techniques used by the ants did indeed reduce the fungal load in the colony, helping the nest survive.

Luke Leckie et al, Architectural Immunity: ants alter their nest networks to fight epidemics, bioRxiv (2024). DOI: 10.1101/2024.08.30.610481. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.110 … /2024.08.30.610481v1

Oceanic life found to be thriving thanks to Saharan dust blown from thousands of kilometers away

Iron is a micronutrient indispensable for life, enabling processes such as respiration, photosynthesis, and DNA synthesis. Iron availability is often a limiting resource in today's oceans, which means that increasing the flow of iron into them can increase the amount of carbon fixed by phytoplankton, with consequences for the global climate.

Iron ends up in oceans and terrestrial ecosystems through rivers, melting glaciers, hydrothermal activity, and especially wind. But not all its chemical forms are "bioreactive," that is, available for organisms to take up from their environment.

Researchers have now shown that iron bound to dust from the Sahara blown westward over the Atlantic has properties that change with the distance traveled: the greater this distance, the more bioreactive the iron.

This relationship suggests that chemical processes in the atmosphere convert less bioreactive iron to more accessible forms.

 The results suggest that during long distance atmospheric transport, the mineral properties of originally non-bioreactive dust-bound iron change, making it more bioreactive. This iron then gets taken up by phytoplankton, before it can reach the bottom of the oceans.

The researchers conclude that dust that reaches regions like the Amazonian basin and the Bahamas may contain iron that is particularly soluble and available to life, thanks to the great distance from North Africa, and thus a longer exposure to atmospheric chemical processes.

The transported iron seems to be stimulating biological processes much in the same way that iron fertilization can impact life in the oceans and on continents. This study is a proof of concept confirming that iron-bound dust can have a major impact on life at vast distances from its source.

 Long-range transport of dust enhances oceanic iron bioavailability, Frontiers in Marine Science (2024). DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1428621. www.frontiersin.org/journals/m … rs.2024.1428621/full

Fever drives enhanced activity and mitochondrial damage in a subset of T cells, study finds

Fever temperatures rev up immune cell metabolism, proliferation and activity, but they also—in a particular subset of T cells—cause mitochondrial stress, DNA damage and cell death,  researchers have discovered.

The findings, published in the journal Science Immunology, offer a mechanistic understanding of how cells respond to heat and could explain how chronic inflammation contributes to the development of cancer.

Researchers' cultured immune system T cells at 39 degrees Celsius (about 102 degrees Fahrenheit). showed  that heat increased helper T cell metabolism, proliferation and inflammatory effector activity and decreased regulatory T cell suppressive capacity.

 The researchers also made an unexpected discovery—that a certain subset of helper T cells, called Th1 cells, developed mitochondrial stress and DNA damage, and some of them died. The finding was confusing, the researchers said, because Th1 cells are involved in settings where there is often fever, like viral infections. Why would the cells that are needed to fight the infection die?

The researchers discovered that only a portion of the Th1 cells die, and that the rest undergo an adaptation, change their mitochondria, and become more resistant to stress.

There's a wave of stress, and some of the cells die, but the ones that adapt and survive are better—they proliferate more and make more cytokine (immune signaling molecules).

Par t1

The molecular events of the cell response to fever temperatures: The researchers found that heat rapidly impaired electron transport chain complex 1 (ETC1), a mitochondrial protein complex that generates energy. ETC1 impairment set off signaling mechanisms that led to DNA damage and activation of the tumor suppressor protein p53, which aids DNA repair or triggers cell death to maintain genome integrity. Th1 cells were more sensitive to impaired ETC1 than other T cell subtypes.

The researchers found Th1 cells with similar changes in sequencing databases for samples from patients with Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis, adding support to the molecular signaling pathway they defined.
Scientists think this response is a fundamental way that cells can sense heat and respond to stress.
The findings suggest that heat can be mutagenic—when cells that respond to mitochondrial stress don't properly repair the DNA damage or die.
Chronic inflammation with sustained periods of elevated tissue temperatures could explain how some cells become tumorigenic and that 's why up to 25% of cancers are linked to chronic inflammation.
'Is fever good or bad?'The short answer is: A little bit of fever is good, but a lot of fever is bad. We already knew that, but now we have a mechanism for why it's bad."

Darren Heintzman et al, Subset-specific mitochondrial stress and DNA damage shape T cell responses to fever and inflammation, Science Immunology (2024). DOI: 10.1126/sciimmunol.adp3475. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciimmunol.adp3475

Part 2

The first known outbreak of rabies in seals

Scientists in South Africa say they have identified an outbreak of rabies in seals that is thought to be the first time the virus has spread in sea mammals.

At least 24 Cape fur seals that were found dead or euthanized in various locations on South Africa's west and south coast had rabies.

Rabies, which affects mammals and can be passed to people, is almost always fatal once symptoms appear. Rabies spreads via saliva, usually through bites but also sometimes when animals lick and groom each other.

The virus has long been seen in wild animals such as raccoons, coyotes, foxes, jackals and in domestic dogs. But it had never been recorded spreading among marine mammals until now.

The only other known case of rabies in a sea mammal was in a ringed seal in Norway's Svalbard islands in the early 1980s. That seal had likely been infected by a rabid arctic fox, researchers said, and there was no evidence of rabies spreading among seals there.

Authorities in South Africa first discovered rabies in Cape fur seals in June after a dog was bitten by a seal on a Cape Town beach. The dog became infected with rabies, prompting rabies tests on brain samples from 135 seal carcasses that researchers had already collected since 2021. Around 20 new samples also were collected and more positives have come back on subsequent tests.

Scientists are trying to work out how rabies was passed to the seals, whether it is spreading widely among their large colonies and what can be done to contain it.

Source : NEWS agencies

Microplastics in coral skeletons

Researchers investigating microplastics in coral have found that all three parts of the coral anatomy—surface mucus, tissue, and skeleton—contain microplastics. The findings were made possible thanks to a new microplastic detection technique developed by the team and applied to coral for the first time.

These findings may also explain the "missing plastic problem" that has puzzled scientists, where about 70% of the plastic litter that has entered the oceans cannot be found. The team hypothesizes that coral may be acting as a "sink" for microplastics by absorbing it from the oceans. Their findings were published in the journal Science of the Total Environment.

 Suppakarn Jandang et al, Possible sink of missing ocean plastic: Accumulation patterns in reef-building corals in the Gulf of Thailand, Science of The Total Environment (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176210

Researchers discover the deadly genetics of cholera, which could be key to its prevention

Experts have used a cutting-edge computational approach to discover the genetic factors that make the bacteria behind cholera so dangerous—which could be key to preventing this deadly disease.

The innovative research combines machine learning, genomics, genome-scale metabolic modeling (GSMM), and 3D structural analysis to uncover the genetic secrets of Vibrio cholerae—the bacteria behind cholera.

Cholera is a deadly diarrheal disease that continues to threaten millions worldwide, with up to 4 million cases and as many as 143,000 deaths each year.

Vibrio cholerae, is evolving in ways that make the disease more severe and harder to control.

There is even less knowledge about the genomic traits responsible for the severity of cholera resulting from these lineages. About 1 in 5 people with cholera will experience a severe condition owing to a combination of symptoms (primarily diarrhea, vomiting, and dehydration).

In this new study the  research team analyzed bacterial samples from cholera patients across six regions in Bangladesh, collected between 2015 and 2021. They identified a set of unique genes and mutations in the most recent and dominant strain of Vibrio cholerae responsible for the devastating 2022 outbreak.

These genetic traits are linked to the bacteria's ability to cause severe symptoms like prolonged diarrhea, intense abdominal pain, vomiting, and dehydration—symptoms that can lead to death in severe cases.

The findings of the study also revealed that some of these disease-causing traits overlap with those that help the bacteria spread more easily. The findings show how these genetic factors enable Vibrio cholerae to survive in the human gut, making it more resilient to environmental stress and more efficient at causing disease. This research highlights the complex interactions between the bacteria's genetic makeup and its ability to cause severe illness.

This new computational framework is a major step forward in the fight against cholera. By identifying the key genetic factors that make Vibrio cholerae more dangerous, scientists can develop better treatments and more targeted strategies to control and prevent future outbreaks.

 Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-52238-0. www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-52238-0

 Experts suggest possibility of updating fundamental physics concepts

An unexpected finding about how our universe formed is again raising the question: do we need new physics? The answer could fundamentally change what physics students are taught in classes around the world.

A study from SMU and three other universities, available on the arXiv preprint server, delved into the possibility of updating fundamental physics concepts.

SMU played a significant part in the analysis, using the university's high-performance computing capabilities to explore different scenarios that could explain the findings.

The data from what's known as DESI, or Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, combined with what we already had, is the most precise data we've seen so far, and it is hinting at something unlike what we would have expected.

DESI is creating the largest, most accurate 3D map of our universe, providing a key measurement that enables cosmologists to calculate what they call the absolute mass scale of neutrinos. This absolute mass scale was determined based on new measurements from the so-called baryonic acoustic oscillations from DESI, plus information physicists already had from the "afterglow" of the Big Bang—when the universe was created—known as the cosmic microwave background.

Part 1

Throughout the evolution of the universe, the behavior of neutrinos impacted the growth of large-scale structures, such as clusters of galaxies across vast reaches of space that we see today. Neutrinos are one of the most abundant subatomic particles in the universe, but they're as mysterious as they are ubiquitous. One reason physicists want to know the mass scale of neutrinos is that it can help them get a better understanding of how matter clustered as the universe evolved.

Cosmologists—those who study the origin and development of the universe—have long thought that massive neutrinos kept matter in the universe from clustering as much as it otherwise might have over 13.8 billion years of cosmic evolution.

But rather than the expected suppression of matter clustering, the data instead favors enhanced matter clustering, meaning matter in the cosmos is more clumped than one would expect.

Explaining this enhancement may point toward some problem with the measurements, or it could require some new physics not included in the Standard Model of particle physics and cosmology.

The Standard Model of particle physics—the one that students likely learned in physics class—has long been scientists' best theory to explain how the basic building blocks of matter interact. This finding of neutrinos is the latest measurement, similar to what's referred to as "the Hubble tension," to hint that we might not know our universe as well as we think we do, say these experts.

In their study, Meyers and his colleagues looked into scenarios where physicists might need to tweak the Standard Model, but not throw it out entirely. They also examined introducing new concepts of physics. And they also explored whether systematic errors of key measures could account for the surprising DESI finding.

It will likely take years to know which of the researchers' theories is correct. But the study gives a blueprint for future research.

Nathaniel Craig et al, No νs is Good News, arXiv (2024). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2405.00836

Part 2

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High-pressure reactions can turn nonporous rocks into sponges

In deep Earth, rocks take up and release water all the time, and the effects can be wide reaching. Dehydration can cause rocks to crack and trigger earthquakes, and over geologic timescales, this water cycling can influence plate tectonics and move continents.

Researchers asked how water can move through impermeable rocks, such as those found in mantle wedges, the deep lithosphere, and the lower crust. They hypothesize that certain reactions can cause temporary porosity in these rocks. By mathematically modeling the hydration and dehydration of rock at high pressure, they derived equations to estimate how the porosity of rock changes as water cycles through it. 

The research is published in the journal Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems.

Previous work suggested that at very high temperatures, minerals can react with each other to form denser minerals, squeezing water out of the minerals and generating less dense, more porous rocks in the process.

As the reaction progresses, a "dehydration front" moves through the rock. On the other hand, some reactions cause rocks to act like dry sponges, soaking up surrounding water and becoming denser. The progression of this reaction is known as a hydration front.

In the study, the researchers presented 1D simulations for three scenarios (one for a hydration front and two for dehydration fronts) in which a rock with no porosity becomes temporarily porous.

Stefan M. Schmalholz et al, (De)hydration Front Propagation Into Zero‐Permeability Rock, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (2024). DOI: 10.1029/2023GC011422

World's oceans near critical acidification level: Report

The world's oceans are close to becoming too acidic to properly sustain marine life or help stabilize the climate, a new report said this week.

The report by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) details nine factors that are crucial for regulating the planet's ability to sustain life.

In six of these areas, the safe limit has already been exceeded in recent years as a result of human activity.

The crucial threshold for ocean acidification could soon become the seventh to be breached, according to the PIK's first Planetary Health Check.

The safe boundaries that have already been crossed concern crucial—and related—factors including climate change; the loss of natural species, natural habitat and freshwater; and a rise in pollutants, including plastics and chemical fertilizers used in agriculture.

The sustainable level of ocean acidification is now also set to be exceeded, largely as a result of ever-increasing emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) created by burning fossil fuels like oil, coal and gas.

As CO2 emissions increase, more of it dissolves in sea water... making the oceans more acidic.

Even with rapid emission cuts, some level of continued acidification may be unavoidable due to the CO₂ already emitted and the time it takes for the ocean system to respond.

Therefore, breaching the ocean acidification boundary appears inevitable within the coming years.

Part 1

Acidic water damages corals, shellfish and the phytoplankton that feeds a host of marine species.

This means it also disrupts food supplies for billions of people, as well as limiting the oceans' capacity to absorb more CO2 and thus help limit global warming.

The only one of the nine planetary boundaries that is not close to being crossed concerns the state of the planet's protective ozone layer.

Man-made chemicals have damaged this shield, causing acid rain, but it has started recovering since a number of these chemicals were banned in 1987.

A ninth threshold—concerning concentrations of minute particles in the atmosphere that can cause heart and lung diseases -– is close to the danger limit.

But the researchers said the risk showed signs of receding slightly due to efforts by several countries to improve air quality, such as banning the most pollutant petrol and diesel cars.
They warned, however, that concentrations of fine particles could still soar in countries that are rapidly industrializing.

The PIK set these nine planetary danger levels to warn humans against tipping Earth's natural systems past points of no return.

"These tipping points... if crossed, would lead to irreversible and catastrophic outcomes for billions of people and many future generations on Earth", experts say.
All nine planetary boundaries are "interconnected" so breaching one crucial limit can destabilize Earth's entire life system.

Source: AFP and other news agencies

Part 2

COVID origin at Wuhan market, says study
The hunt for the origins of COVID-19 has circled back to an animal market in Wuhan, China that was linked to many of the earliest cases of the disease. Researchers reanalysed genomes collected from the market shortly after it was shut down on 1 January 2020. They identified several animal species that could have passed SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, to people. The study establishes the presence of animals and the virus at the market, although it does not confirm whether the animals themselves were infected with the virus. The researchers argue that their reanalysis adds weight to the market being the site of the first spillover events, in which animals infected humans.

https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(24)00901-2?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0092867424009012%3Fshowall%3Dtrue

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-03026-9?utm_source=Live+...

Indoor vertical farming could future-proof food demand

To make sure everyone eats well in our crowded world, we need to innovate. Vertical farming systems, which grow plants intensively in an indoor setting, could be part of the answer—but to use them on a large scale we need to overcome key problems, especially the management of the energy-intensive, expensive light the plants need to grow.

Now scientists show how manipulating light according to the needs of specific crops could make them grow stronger and healthier while minimizing energy use.

The biggest benefit of vertical farming systems is that healthy food  can be grown much more closely to consumers in places where this is impossible otherwise: in mega-cities, in deserts, and in places that are cold and dark during large parts of the year. But the biggest challenge is the costs associated with electricity use.

  Many vertical farming systems are run using constant environmental conditions, which require lots of expensive electricity for maintenance. The scientists' analysis shows that these demanding conditions are unnecessary: using dynamic environmental control, they suggest, we can achieve vertical farming which is more cost-effective and which raises healthier plants.

Scientists were motivated by the rhythms that plants show on diurnal as well as on developmental timescales, which require their growing environment to be adjusted regularly in order to steer their growth perfectly.

They outlined a strategy that makes use of plant physiology knowledge, novel sensing and modeling techniques, and novel varieties specifically bred for vertical farming systems.

Because plants' biological functions are heavily influenced by environmental conditions like temperature changes, light wavelengths, and the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere, manipulating the environment allows a vertical farming system to manipulate plant development.

Lighting is a critical variable; all plants need it to photosynthesize, and different light wavelengths have different effects on different plants. This variable is also particularly sensitive to electricity pricing, so offers opportunities to make efficiency gains.

Part 1

The scientists created a model for testing smart lighting that aims to keep plants' ability to photosynthesize steady over the course of a day, while still lowering electricity costs. They found that an optimization algorithm could cut electricity costs by 12% without compromising plants' carbon fixation, just by varying the intensity of the light.

They then tested whether varying light intensity affected the growth of leafy plants like spinach which are often grown in vertical farms, and found that there was no negative effect. This remained true even when the plants were subject to irregularly changing light intensity, rather than a predictable, regular pattern.

Vertical farming goes dynamic: optimizing resource use efficiency, product quality, and energy costs, Frontiers in Science (2024). DOI: 10.3389/fsci.2024.1411259

Part 2

Extinct volcanoes a 'rich' source of rare earth elements, research suggests

A mysterious type of iron-rich magma entombed within extinct volcanoes is likely abundant with rare earth elements and could offer a new way to source these in-demand metals, according to new research.

Rare earth elements are found in smartphones, flat screen TVs, magnets, and even trains and missiles. They are also vital to the development of electric vehicles and renewable energy technologies such as wind turbines.

The iron-rich magma that solidified to form some extinct volcanoes is up to a hundred times more efficient at concentrating rare earth metals than the magmas that commonly erupt from active volcanoes.

The findings suggest that these iron-rich extinct volcanoes across the globe, such as El Laco in Chile, could be studied for the presence of rare earth elements." The researchers simulated volcanic eruptions in the lab by sourcing rocks similar to those from iron-rich extinct volcanoes. They put these rocks into a pressurized furnace and heated them to extremely high temperatures to melt them and learn more about the minerals inside the rocks.

This is how they discovered the abundance of rare earth elements contained in iron-rich volcanic rocks. 

Silicate and iron phosphate melt immiscibility promotes REE enrichment, Geochemical Perspectives Letters (2024). DOI: 10.7185/geochemlet.2436

Bottled water has a huge and growing toll on human and planetary health, experts warn

The huge and growing toll bottled water is taking on human and planetary health warrants an urgent rethink of its use as 1 million bottles are bought every minute around the globe, with that figure set to rise further still amid escalating demand, warn population health experts in a commentary published in the open access journal BMJ Global Health.

Some 2 billion people around the world with limited or no access to safe drinking water rely on bottled water. But for the rest of us, it's largely a matter of convenience and the unshaken belief—aided and abetted by industry marketing—that bottled water is safer and often healthier than tap water.

It isn't, insist the experts!

That's because bottled water often isn't subject to the same rigorous quality and safety standards as tap water, and it can carry the risk of harmful chemicals leaching from the plastic bottles used for it, especially if it's stored for a long time, and/or exposed to sunlight and high temperatures, they explain (the same is true for cold drinks).

Between an estimated 10% and 78% of bottled water samples contain contaminants, including microplastics, often classified as hormone (endocrine) disruptors, and various other substances including phthalates (used to make plastics more durable) and bisphenol A (BPA).

Microplastic contamination is associated with oxidative stress, immune system dysregulation, and changes in blood fat levels. And BPA exposure has been linked to later-life health issues, such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity, they add.

Part 1

Tap water is also a greener option. Plastic bottles make up the second most common ocean pollutant, accounting for 12% of all plastic waste. Globally, just 9% of these bottles are recycled, meaning that most end up in landfill or incinerators, or are 'exported' to low and middle income countries, to deal with, begging the question of social justice, they say.

Apart from the waste generated, the process of extracting the raw materials and manufacturing plastic bottles significantly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, they add.

While some efforts have been made to facilitate the use of drinking water in restaurants and public spaces, and to curb the prevalence of single-use plastics, much more needs to be done, argue the authors.
The reliance on [bottled water] incurs significant health, financial and environmental costs, calling for an urgent re-evaluation of its widespread use.

 Rethinking bottled water in public health discourse, BMJ Global Health (2024). DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2024-015226

Part 2

Who's to blame when climate change turns the lights off?

Deadly Storms have flooded recently large areas of central Europe and the UK, destroying homes and displacing thousands of people.

With the flooding of sub-stations, the scouring of the foundations of pylons and river embankment failures, the rainstorm has also caused power outages many miles away. This will create yet more disruption as sewage pumping stations stall, train and tram services halt and vehicle charging points fail.

The UK saw this ripple of infrastructure failure in the 2007 summer floods.

India too saw this ripple effect  in this monsoon season.

 All systems fail occasionally. But infrastructure is increasingly vulnerable to disruptions caused by extreme weather, which is being made more severe and frequent as a result of climate change.

Your home may not be in the path of the next storm but the infrastructure it relies on might be.

Source:  original article.

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Ant queens cannibalize their sick offspring and 'recycle' them, new study reveals

Instead of nurturing their sick young, ant queens eat their infected offspring at the first sign of illness then "recycle" them into energy to produce new eggs, a new study led by the University of Oxford has shown. The findings have been published in Current Biology.

Eek!  Nature and Universe don’t care what happens to which mass of atoms!

Ant queens typically found new colonies on their own, and at the early stages are highly vulnerable to their brood being wiped out by disease. Researchers at Oxford's Department of Biology theorized that killing off sick larvae before they become infectious could be a strategy used by queens to combat this threat.

To test this, the researchers presented founding queens of the black garden ant (Lasius niger) with larvae that had been infected with a fungal pathogen Metarhizium for 24 hours. At this point, the infection was lethal, but not yet transmissible. The queens cannibalized 92% of the infected larvae—leaving no remains—but only 6% of control larvae which had not been infected.

Once the queens find a sick larva in the brood pile they get to work immediately and spend several hours chewing them up until they're all consumed.

Despite the potential risk of infection, all queens survived after eating the infected larvae. The researchers suggest the queens may protect themselves by swallowing an acidic, antimicrobial venom which they produce from a special gland at the end of their abdomen. Indeed, some of the queens were seen massaging the opening of this gland during and after cannibalism.

The queens who cannibalized their infected larvae went on to lay 55% more eggs than non-cannibalizing control queens, indicating that the nutrients from the ingested offspring were recycled for reproduction.

Flynn Bizzell et al, Ant queens cannibalise infected brood to contain disease spread and recycle nutrients, Current Biology (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.07.062

Yeast chit-chat: How microorganisms communicate food shortages

To grow and survive, tiny organisms such as yeast must sometimes adapt their nutrient sources in response to changes in the environment. FMI researchers have now found that yeast cells communicate with each other to use less favorable nutrients if they foresee a shortage of their favorite food. This communication is facilitated by secreted molecules that interact with a protein in mitochondria, the cells' energy factories.

The findings reveal a crucial mechanism that allows microorganisms to choose the right menu. The research is published in The EMBO Journal.

Previous research had identified specific molecules called Nitrogen Signaling Factors (NSFs) as essential components of the mechanism that yeast cells use to communicate.

The researchers now found that NSFs interact directly with a mitochondrial protein involved in metabolism, maximizing growth in response to an imminent change in nutrient availability. The findings unveil a key communication mechanism that allows yeast cells to be frugal with food. Strategies for growth and survival are conserved across species, and yeast has served as a tremendous model organism.

The researchers  discovered that increasing NSFs levels lead to changes in the gene expression program of yeast cells, prompting them to switch to alternative nutrient sources.

Shin Ohsawa et al, Nitrogen signaling factor triggers a respiration-like gene expression program in fission yeast, The EMBO Journal (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s44318-024-00224-z

Gut microbiome communities found to have enhanced resilience to drugs

Many human medications can directly inhibit the growth and alter the function of the bacteria that constitute our gut microbiome. Researchers have now discovered that this effect is reduced when bacteria form communities.

In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers compared a large number of drug-microbiome interactions between bacteria grown in isolation and those part of a complex microbial community. Their findings were recently published in the journal Cell.

For their study, the team investigated how 30 different drugs (including those targeting infectious or noninfectious diseases) affect 32 different bacterial species. These 32 species were chosen as representative of the human gut microbiome based on data available across five continents.

They found that when together, certain drug-resistant bacteria display communal behaviors that protect other bacteria that are sensitive to drugs. This "cross-protection" behavior allows such sensitive bacteria to grow normally when in a community in the presence of drugs that would have killed them if they were isolated.

Up to half of the cases where a bacterial species was affected by the drug when grown alone, it remained unaffected in the community.

The researchers then dug deeper into the molecular mechanisms that underlie this cross-protection. The bacteria help each other by taking up or breaking down the drugs. These strategies are called bioaccumulation and biotransformation respectively.

However, there is also a limit to this community strength. The researchers saw that high drug concentrations cause microbiome communities to collapse and the cross-protection strategies to be replaced by "cross-sensitization." In cross-sensitization, bacteria which would normally be resistant to certain drugs become sensitive to them when in a community—the opposite of what the authors saw happening at lower drug concentrations.

Just like the bacteria they studied, the researchers also took a community strategy for this study, combining their scientific strengths.

Sarela Garcia-Santamarina et al, Emergence of community behaviors in the gut microbiota upon drug treatment, Cell (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.08.037

Scientists clarify the neuronal basis of the mathematical concept of 'zero'

Despite its importance for mathematics, the neuronal basis of the number zero in the human brain was previously unknown. Researchers  have now discovered that individual nerve cells in the medial temporal lobe recognize zero as a numerical value and not as a separate category "nothing."

The results have now been published in the journal Current Biology.

The concept of the number zero has been central to the development of number systems and mathematics and is widely regarded as one of humanity's most important cultural achievements.

Unlike other numbers such as one, two or three, which represent countable quantities, zero means the absence of something countable and at the same time still has a numerical value.

In contrast to positive natural numbers, the concept of the number zero only emerged late in human history over the last two millennia. This is also reflected in childhood development, as children are typically only able to understand the concept of zero and associated arithmetic rules at around the age of six.

Number zero is a numerical value for neurons

In the experiments conducted , there was a numerical distance effect in which neurons reacted weaker, but measurably, also to the neighboring number one.

So at the neuronal level, the concept of zero is not encoded as a separate category 'nothing,' but as a numerical value integrated with other, countable numerical values at the lower end of the number line.

For Arabic numerals, however, this effect was not found at either the neural or behavioral level. From this, the researchers recognize the importance of symbolic representations, for example through Arabic numerals, for the integration of the number zero on the number line in the human brain.

Esther F. Kutter et al, Single-neuron representation of nonsymbolic and symbolic number zero in the human medial temporal lobe, Current Biology (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.08.041

Cognitive scientists reveal similarity between social and spatial navigation

How do people navigate social networks to understand and appreciate who knows what and who is connected to whom? With mental maps, according to a new study by researchers.

According to the researchers, the study showed for the first time that people create mental maps of the connections between acquaintances, friends, and friends of friends to navigate their social worlds. Social navigation, the team found, is similar to spatial navigation.

The cognitive process people use to navigate social networks appears to be similar to the cognitive process used by mice navigating a maze.

We know from decades of research that mice, and humans, build mental maps to understand their physical worlds. People seem to use maps to make sense of social environments as well.

Jae-Young Son et al, Replay shapes abstract cognitive maps for efficient social navigation, Nature Human Behaviour (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41562-024-01990-w

Human and other primate hearts differ genetically, says study

A research  team  has shown how human and non-human primate hearts differ genetically. The study, published in Nature Cardiovascular Research, reveals evolutionary adaptations in human hearts and provides new insights into cardiac disease.

Humans are 98–99% genetically similar to chimpanzees. What then accounts for our differences? Over the years, researchers have shown that the regulation of gene expression—when, where, and by how many genes are switched on—is in large part responsible for our divergent evolutionary trajectories.

Now, researchers in the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Sciences Lab  have unveiled surprising differences in gene expression in the hearts of humans and non-human primates. The research points to adaptations in the way genes are regulated that distinguish our hearts from those of our closest evolutionary relatives. It also serves as a warning against extrapolating research from animal hearts to human hearts.

One of the most surprising findings was how gene regulation in the human heart differs so much from other primates. In terms of anatomy, most mammalian hearts are similar. But we have many unique evolutionary innovations in terms of gene regulation or translation of proteins. 

The researchers found hundreds of genes and microproteins—tiny proteins that have been previously identified in human organs but whose function has mostly been a mystery—present in human hearts but not in the hearts of other primates, rats or mice. Many of these human genes and microproteins are also abnormally expressed in heart failure, which suggests they could play important roles in cardiac function and disease and may present new targets for therapy.

Jorge Ruiz-Orera et al, Evolution of translational control and the emergence of genes and open reading frames in human and non-human primate hearts, Nature Cardiovascular Research (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s44161-024-00544-7

Emotion enhances memory for contextual details, research demonstrates

Researchers have demonstrated that emotion enhances memory for contextual details, challenging the view that emotion impairs the ability to remember such information.

Researchers demonstrated that the circumstances where you can prevent forgetting contextual details, which not only disrupts the status quo at the theoretical level, but also has practical implications about what you can do to control, channel and capitalize on the emotions' energy to remember better.

In emotional situations, people often focus more on the main subject—the crashed car, the yelling stranger, the crying child—and less on peripheral information. In three interconnected studies, the  researchers linked behavioural, attentional and brain imaging data to build a complete image of emotion's impact and account for this involuntary attention shift.

They found that emotion enhances the ability to retrieve contextual details.

In emotional situations that participants in the experiments accurately recalled, functional magnetic resonance imaging data showed evidence of crosstalk between emotion-processing and recollection-processing brain regions, boosting recollection of contextual details. This is contrary to the prevalent view that emotion impairs memory for these details by inhibiting recollection-processing brain regions.

Knowing how emotion impacts memories and how to manage them is a major step toward contextualizing memories, increasing well-being and alleviating clinical conditions like depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Paul C. Bogdan et al, Reconciling opposing effects of emotion on relational memory: Behavioral, eye-tracking, and brain imaging investigations., Journal of Experimental Psychology: General (2024). DOI: 10.1037/xge0001625

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How painful is it to get an IUD? What to expect when getting an IUD, and how to prepare

Bleeding, intense cramping, even fainting: These are some of the experiences women are sharing across social media about IUDs—especially with the pain they feel during an insertion.

IUDs—short for intrauterine devices—have become an increasingly popular birth control option. But along with the growing use of the small T-shaped devices, there are increasing concerns from women about whether health care professionals are fully addressing patients'pain.

This prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to update its guidelines regarding IUDs, advising doctors to tell patients about the possible pain and discuss pain relief options before putting in an IUD.

How painful is it really?

It depends, because everyone's pain tolerance is a bit different.

It's hard to know who's going to have more or less pain when having an IUD inserted.

There are three parts to the procedure that can typically cause pain. They include:

• Straightening the cervix: Your doctor will use a tool called a tenaculum to hold and straighten the cervix. This helps to make sure the IUD is placed correctly inside the uterus.
• Measuring the uterus: Your doctor will measure the length of the uterus with a small device called a sound. This tool goes through the cervix to the top of the uterus to find out its size.
• Placing the IUD: Finally, the IUD is placed at the top of the uterus. The strings are then trimmed, and the instruments are removed.

But experts say the pain shouldn't stop you from considering an IUD.

Hormonal IUDs have a variety of benefits such as shorter menstrual periods, lighter cramping, and not having to worry about an unintended pregnancy. They can also be used to treat endometriosis, anemia, and even prevent endometrial pre-cancer and cancer.

IUDs are as effective as getting your tubes tied in terms of prevention of pregnancy. They're really an investment that can last for up to eight to 10 years. And working with your doctor ahead of time can help make the experience more comfortable for you.

Part 1

Ways you can help limit your pain during the insertion:

Time your IUD insertion procedure to around your period. The cervix is more open when you're on your period, so there's less sensitivity to pain. If the timing does not work out, it is still possible to have an IUD placed at any time in the cycle.
Medications. Take 600–800 mg of ibuprofen before your appointment. Ibuprofen is often recommended because it's a non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drug that works specifically well on uterine tissue. Other options to ask your doctor about include a lidocaine numbing ointment or a lidocaine injection for the cervix, which can also decrease some of the pain. There are several networks of nerves supplying the uterus and cervix, which makes it difficult to completely numb the entire area with local anesthetics and eliminate all pain during an IUD insertion. But studies have shown that it may help with some of the pain during insertion. And depending on your situation, your doctor might also suggest an anti-anxiety medication before your insertion appointment.
Heat packs. Ask your doctor if a heat pack is available. Place this over your pelvis during the procedure to help ease the pain.
Other tips to prepare for the insertion procedure include:

Eating a meal before you come in.
Making sure you are hydrated.
Wearing comfy clothes.
Bringing a light snack for after the procedure.
Bringing a book or your phone to watch videos or listen to music. "This can take your mind off the process," Kuhn says.
Bringing or ask your doctor for pads for potential spotting afterwards.
Clearing your schedule for the day. The most painful part is during the 30 seconds when the IUD is being placed. But you may have some mild period-like cramping afterward and want to just be on the couch with a heating pack.

Source:  Rush University Medical Center

Part 2

**

Octopuses Team Up With Fish to Hunt, And Will Punch Them if They Act Up

'Invisible forest' of phytoplankton thrives as ocean warms, study shows

An "invisible forest" of phytoplankton is thriving in part of our warming ocean, new research shows.

Phytoplankton are tiny drifting organisms that do about half of the planet's primary production (forming living cells by photosynthesis). The new study examined phytoplankton at the ocean surface and the subsurface—a distinct layer of water beneath—to see how climate variability is affecting them.

 The findings show these two communities are reacting differently. The paper is titled "Climate variability shifts the vertical structure of phytoplankton in the Sargasso Sea."

Over the last decade, the total biomass (living material) of subsurface phytoplankton has increased in response to warming.

Meanwhile, surface phytoplankton now has less chlorophyll—making it less green—but in fact, total biomass has remained stable.

Based on 33 years of data from the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) in the Sargasso Sea, the findings also suggest the depth of the surface mixed-layer (region of turbulence at the surface of the ocean) has shallowed as the ocean rapidly warmed in the last decade.

It's important to understand these trends because phytoplankton are the foundation of the marine food web, and play a key role in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

These findings reveal that deep-living phytoplankton, which thrive in low-light conditions, respond differently to ocean warming and climate variability compared to surface phytoplankton.

We typically rely on satellite observations to monitor phytoplankton, but the subsurface is hidden from satellite view.  But this study highlights the limitations of satellite observations, and underscores the urgent need for improved global monitoring of phytoplankton below what satellites can see. 

Climate variability shifts the vertical structure of phytoplankton in the Sargasso Sea, Nature Climate Change (2024).

How do rare genetic variants affect health? AI provides more accurate predictions

Whether we are predisposed to particular diseases depends to a large extent on the countless variants in our genome. However, particularly in the case of genetic variants that only rarely occur in the population, the influence on the presentation of certain pathological traits has so far been difficult to determine.

Researchers  have introduced an algorithm based on deep learning that can predict the effects of rare genetic variants.

The paper, "Integration of Variant annotations using deep set networks boosts rare variant testing," has been published in Nature Medicine .

The method allows persons with high risk of disease to be distinguished more precisely and facilitates the identification of genes that are involved in the development of diseases.

Every person's genome differs from that of their fellow human beings in millions of individual building blocks. These differences in the genome are known as variants. Many of these variants are associated with particular biological traits and diseases. Such correlations are usually determined using so-called genome-wide association studies.

But the influence of rare variants, which occur with a frequency of only 0.1% or less in the population, is often statistically overlooked in association studies.

Rare variants in particular often have a significantly greater influence on the presentation of a biological trait or a disease.

AI  can therefore help to identify those genes that play a role in the development of a disease and that can then point us in the direction of new therapeutic approaches.

More details can be found here:  Integration of Variant annotations using deep set networks boosts rare variant testing, Nature Medicine (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41588-024-01919-z. www.nature.com/articles/s41588-024-01919-z

Preclinical studies suggest a drug-free nasal spray could ward off respiratory infections

A new study details how a nasal spray formulated by investigators may work to protect against viral and bacterial respiratory infections. Based on their preclinical studies, the researchers say the broad-spectrum nasal spray is long-lasting, safe, and, if validated in humans, could play a key role in reducing respiratory diseases and safeguarding public health against new threats.

The COVID pandemic showed us what respiratory pathogens can do to humanity in a very short time. That threat hasn't gone away. 

Influenza and COVID-19 infections cause thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of cases of severe disease every year. Milder infections cause significant discomfort, resulting in missed work or school.

Vaccines against these viruses can be beneficial, but they're not accepted by some.

 Masks are also helpful but aren't perfect, either—they can leak, and many people wear them improperly or choose not to wear them at all.

So we need new, additional ways to protect ourselves and reduce the transmission of the disease.

Most viruses enter our system through the nose. When we catch an airborne infection like the flu and COVID, we breathe out tiny droplets of fluids that contain the pathogen. Healthy people around us breathe in these pathogen-containing droplets, which attach inside their nose and infect the cells that line the nasal passageways.

The pathogen replicates and can be released back into the air when an individual who is sick, whether they know it or not, sneezes, coughs, laughs, sings, or even just breathes.

The new study details the research team's efforts to create a nasal spray to defend against airborne respiratory illness.

The spray, called Pathogen Capture and Neutralizing Spray (PCANS) in the paper, was developed using ingredients from the FDA's Inactive Ingredient Database (IID), which have been previously used in approved nasal sprays, or from the Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) list of the FDA

The researchers developed a drug-free formulation using these compounds to block germs in three ways—PCANS forms a gel-like matrix that traps respiratory droplets, immobilizes the germs, and effectively neutralizes them, preventing infection.

The researchers developed the formulation and studied its ability to capture respiratory droplets in a 3D-printed replica of a human nose. They showed that when sprayed in the nasal cavity replica, PCANS captured twice as many droplets as mucus alone.

PCANS forms a gel, increasing its mechanical strength by a hundred times, forming a solid barrier.

It blocked and neutralized almost 100% of all viruses and bacteria the researchers tested, including Influenza, SARS-CoV-2, RSV, adenovirus, K Pneumonia and more.

Experiments in mice showed that a single dose of the PCANS nasal spray could effectively block infection from an influenza virus (PR8) at 25 times the lethal dose. Virus levels in the lungs were reduced by >99.99%, and the inflammatory cells and cytokines in the lungs of PCANS-treated animals were normal. "The formulation's ability to inactivate a broad spectrum of pathogens, including the deadly PR8 influenza virus, demonstrates its high effectiveness.

Joseph, J et al. Toward a Radically Simple Multi-Modal Nasal Spray for Preventing Respiratory Infections, Advanced Materials (2024). DOI: 10.1002/adma.202406348

Medicinal tree successfully grown from 1,000-year-old seed found in cave

An international team of botanists, agriculturists and historians has successfully grown a mature tree from an ancient seed found in a cave in Israel. In their paper, published in the journal Communications Biology, the group describes where the seed was found, the work that was done to discover its origins and what they have learned about its history as it has sprouted and grown into a mature tree.

In the 1980s, researchers excavating a cave in the Judean Desert, in Israel, uncovered a seed that was subsequently dated to sometime between 993 and 1202 AD, making it approximately 1,000 years old. Testing of the seed suggested that it was still viable, so the research team planted and tended to it. A little while later, it sprouted. Now, 14 years later, the tree has grown to maturity.

The tree, which the team has named Sheba, is approximately 3 meters in height with green leaves on its limbs. As the tree has grown, the researchers have conducted a study of its wood, resin and leaves. They report that its type is now extinct.
They also found evidence of pentacyclic triterpenoids—compounds that are known to reduce inflammation in human patients. And they found an oil type, a squalene that is known to be an antioxidant and which has also been used as a skin treatment.

Finding the seed in a cave, the team notes, suggests that people living in the region planted such trees, further suggesting they knew of its medicinal qualities. This, they theorize, may be evidence that resin from the tree might be the "tsori" medicinal compound mentioned in the Bible several times.

Sarah Sallon et al, Characterization and analysis of a Commiphora species germinated from an ancient seed suggests a possible connection to a species mentioned in the Bible, Communications Biology (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-06721-5

Researchers discover treatment for major cause of recurrent pregnancy loss

Among women who experience recurrent pregnancy loss, around 20% test positive for a specific antibody that targets the mother's own body. A research team has now found a treatment that drastically increases these women's chances of carrying to full-term without complications.

They have published their results in the journal Frontiers in Immunology.

Recurrent pregnancy loss is a condition of women who have lost two or more pregnancies for non-obvious reasons.

The researchers enlisted the help of obstetricians across five hospitals in Japan and, over the course of two years, analyzed the blood of consenting women suffering from recurrent pregnancy loss for the antibodies. If any of these women got pregnant during this time frame, their doctors would offer treatment options also containing those drugs that are effective against the chemically similar condition, specifically, low-dose aspirin or a drug called "heparin." have previously found that in 20% of these women, they can detect a specific antibody in their blood that targets their own bodies. There is no known treatment for this particular condition till now , but the antibodies have a similar target to those that play a role in a different condition that has an established treatment.

The researchers enlisted the help of obstetricians across five hospitals in Japan and, over the course of two years, analyzed the blood of consenting women suffering from recurrent pregnancy loss for the antibodies. If any of these women got pregnant during this time frame, their doctors would offer treatment options also containing those drugs that are effective against the chemically similar condition, specifically, low-dose aspirin or a drug called "heparin." 

The research team then observed how many of the women who included these drugs in their treatment had full-term live births or pregnancy complications and compared that to the pregnancy outcomes in women who did not take either of the two drugs.

The researchers report that women who received the treatment were much more likely to have live births (87% did) compared to the ones without treatment (of which only 50% had live births). In addition, among the live births, the treatment reduced the likelihood of complications from 50% to 6%.

The sample size was rather small (39 women received the treatment and eight did not), but the results still clearly show that a treatment with low dose aspirin or heparin is very effective in preventing pregnancy loss or complications also in women who have these newly discovered self-targeting antibodies.

Many women who tested positive for the newly discovered self-targeting antibodies also tested positive for the previously known ones. However, the Kobe University-led team found that women who only had the newly discovered antibodies and who received the treatment were even more likely to have a live birth (93%) and, among these, none had pregnancy complications.

Low-dose aspirin and heparin treatment improves pregnancy outcome in recurrent pregnancy loss women with anti-β2-glycoprotein I/HLA-DR autoantibodies: A prospective, multicenter, observational study, Frontiers in Immunology (2024). DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1445852

The gut microbiome can influence hormone levels, mouse study shows

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have shown that the balance of bacteria in the gut can influence symptoms of hypopituitarism in mice. They also showed that aspirin was able to improve hormone deficiency symptoms in mice with this condition.

People with mutations in a gene called Sox3 develop hypopituitarism, where the pituitary gland doesn't make enough hormones. It can result in growth problems, infertility and poor responses of the body to stress.

In research published recently in PLOS Genetics, the scientists at the Crick removed Sox3 from mice, causing them to develop hypopituitarism around the time of weaning (starting to eat solid food).

They found that mutations in Sox3 largely affect the hypothalamus in the brain, which instructs the pituitary gland to release hormones. However, the gene is normally active in several brain cell types, so the first task was to ask which specific cells were most affected by its absence.

The scientists observed a reduced number of cells called NG2 glia, suggesting that these play a critical role in inducing the pituitary gland cells to mature around weaning, which was not known previously. This could explain the associated impact on hormone production.

The team then treated the mice with a low dose of aspirin for 21 days. This caused the number of NG2 glia in the hypothalamus to increase and reversed the symptoms of hypopituitarism in the mice.

Although it's not yet clear how aspirin had this effect, the findings suggest that it could be explored as a potential treatment for people with Sox3 mutations or other situations where the NG2 glia are compromised.

Part 1

When the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) merged with the Crick in 2015, mouse embryos were transferred from the former building to the latter, and this included the mice with Sox3 mutations.

When these mice reached the weaning stage at the Crick, the researchers were surprised to find that they no longer had the expected hormonal deficiencies.

After exploring a number of possible causes, researchers compared the microbiome – bacteria, fungi and viruses that live in the gut – in the mice from the Crick and mice from the NIMR, observing several differences in its makeup and diversity. This could have been due to the change in diet, water environment, or other factors that accompanied the relocation.

They also examined the number of NG2 glia in the Crick mice, finding that these were also at normal levels, suggesting that the Crick-fed microbiome was somehow protective against hypopituitarism.

To confirm this theory, the researchers transplanted fecal matter retained from NIMR mice into Crick mice, observing that the Crick mice once again showed symptoms of hypopituitarism and had lower numbers of NG2 glia.

Although the exact mechanism is unknown, the scientists conclude that the make-up of the gut microbiome is an example of an important environmental factor having a significant influence on the consequences of a genetic mutation, in this case influencing the function of the hypothalamus and pituitary gland.

Galichet, C. et al. Sox3-null hypopituitarism depends on median eminence NG2-glia and is influenced by aspirin and gut microbiota., PLoS Genetics (2024). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1011395

Part 2

Scientists discover 'pause button' in human development

Researchers have discovered a potential "pause button" in the earliest stages of human development.

Whether humans can control the timing of their development has long been debated. The new study suggests that this "pause button" can be activated in human cells as well. The findings have significant implications for our understanding of early human life and may improve reproductive technologies.

In some mammals, the timing of the normally continuous embryonic development can be altered to improve the chances of survival for both the embryo and the mother. This mechanism to temporarily slow development, called embryonic diapause, often happens at the blastocyst stage, just before the embryo implants in the uterus.

During diapause, the embryo remains free-floating and pregnancy is extended. This dormant state can be maintained for weeks or months before development is resumed, when conditions are favorable. Although not all mammals use this reproductive strategy, the ability to pause development can be triggered experimentally. Whether human cells can respond to diapause triggers remained an open question.

Now a study has identified that the molecular mechanisms that control embryonic diapause also seem to be actionable in human cells.

In their research, the scientists did not carry out experiments on human embryos and instead used human stem cells and stem cell-based blastocyst models called blastoids. These blastoids are a scientific and ethical alternative to using embryos for research. The researchers discovered that modulation of a specific molecular cascade, the mTOR signaling pathway, in these stem cell models induces a dormant state remarkably akin to diapause.

When the researchers treated human stem cells and blastoids with an mTOR inhibitor they observed a developmental delay, which means that human cells can deploy the molecular machinery to elicit a diapause-like response.

This dormant state is characterized by reduced cell division, slower development and a decreased ability to attach to the uterine lining. Importantly, the capacity to enter this dormant stage seems to be restricted to a brief developmental period.

The developmental timing of blastoids can be stretched around the blastocyst stage, which is exactly the stage where diapause works in most mammals.  Moreover, this dormancy is reversible, and blastoids resume normal development when the mTOR pathway is reactivated.

The researchers  concluded that humans, like other mammals, might possess an inherent mechanism to temporarily slow down their development, even though this mechanism may not be used during pregnancy.

This potential may be a vestige of the evolutionary process that we no longer make use of," say the researchers. "Although we have lost the ability to naturally enter dormancy, these experiments suggest that we have nevertheless retained this inner ability and could eventually unleash it."

 mTOR activity paces human blastocyst stage developmental progression, Cell (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.08.048. www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(24)00977-2