Strange Discovery Reveals Prematurely Born Male Babies 'Age' Slightly Faster

As part of the world's longest-running analysis of extremely low birth weight (ELBW) babies born prematurely, scientists have discovered that the genes of male ELBW babies age more quickly than those of full-term male newborns.

We're talking about biological aging or senescence here: these men aren't suddenly rushing through their birthdays at an accelerated rate, but rather hundreds of key genes in their bodies have a greater degree of the kind of chemical editing that occurs naturally over time.

The study results indicated them to be an average of 4.6 years 'older' by their 30s than boys with normal birth weight born at the same time.

The difference wasn't found in female ELBW babies, the researchers report, matching up with previous research that has shown premature male babies may be more sensitive to prenatal stress than premature females.

https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2021/05/13/ped...

https://www.sciencealert.com/prematurely-born-male-babies-age-faste...

Rare blood clots more likely after COVID-19 infection than from vac...

The rare blood clot disorder reported by some Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine recipients is also a risk of COVID-19 infection, according to a new report by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Stroke Council Leadership. Dr. Karen L. Furie, chair of the Department of Neurology at Brown's Warren Alpert Medical School, served as lead author of the report, which synthesized existing data from more than 81 million patients and found that risk of developing CVST blood clots is eight to 10 times higher following a COVID-19 infection as compared to the risk associated with receipt of a COVID-19 vaccine. While national news coverage has focused on reports of the CVST blood clot/stroke condition  cerebral venous sinus thrombosis  following vaccination, the report, published in the journal Stroke, puts the risk in perspective. COVID-19 infection is a significant risk factor for CVST clots.

https://researchnews.cc/news/6792/Rare-blood-clots-more-likely-afte...

Scientists find new way of predicting COVID-19 vaccine efficacy

The early immune response in a person who has been vaccinated for COVID-19 can predict the level of protection they will have to the virus over time, according to analysis from Australian mathematicians, clinicians, and scientists, and published in Nature Medicine. The researchers have identified an immune correlate of vaccine protection. This has the potential to dramatically cut development times for new vaccines, by measuring neutralising antibody levels as a proxy for immune protection from COVID-19. Professor Jamie Triccas from the University of Sydney School of Medical Sciences, and Dr Timothy Schlub from the School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health were co-authors on the study. Neutralising antibodies are tiny Y-shaped proteins produced by our body in response to infection or vaccination. They bind to the virus, reducing its ability to infect,” says Dr Deborah Cromer from the Kirby Institute.

“While we have known for some time that neutralising antibodies are likely to be a critical part of our immune response to COVID-19, we haven’t known how much antibody you need for immunity. Our work is the strongest evidence to date to show that specific antibody levels translate to high levels of protection from disease.”

The researchers analysed data from seven COVID-19 vaccines to examine the how the response measured soon after vaccination correlated with protection. They then used statistical analysis to define the specific relationship between immune response and protection. Their analysis was remarkably accurate and was able to predict the efficacy of a new vaccine.

Dr Cromer said that this finding has the potential to change the way we conduct COVID-19 vaccine trials in the future.

“Antibody immune levels are much easier to measure than directly measuring vaccine efficacy over time. So, by measuring antibody levels across the range of new vaccine candidates during early phases of clinical trials, we can better determine whether a vaccine should be used to prevent COVID-19.”

Russians infected with crossover flu virus suggests possibility of another pandemic

Two virus researchers in China are recommending security measures after seven Russian farm workers became infected with a crossover flu virus last year. In their Perspectives piece published in the journal Science, suggest that the makeup and history of the H5N8 strain of avian influenza virus threaten the possibility of another pandemic.

The new strain of influenza virus was first discovered in a duck in China back in 2010. By 2014, outbreaks had been seen in Japan and South Korea in both domestic and wild birds. And by 2016, it had been found in birds in India, Russia Mongolia, the U.S. and parts of Europe. By 2020, outbreaks had been seen in 46 countries. This history indicates that the virus is able to spread very rapidly. Even more concerning was a report of crossover infections in seven Russian farm workers this past December. The infected workers did not have any symptoms (they were tested for safety reasons) and there was no indication that the virus was transmissible from one person to the next. But they point out, that once a crossover has been made, it generally does not take a virus long to adapt to spread to other victims— Researchers note how quickly the virus mutated to jump from duck to duck and then to other bird species. They also note that the virus has been found to be quite lethal, with massive die-offs in multiple outbreaks. The Russian workers were tested, for example, after 101,000 hens died.

But it is not too late to take preventive measures that could prevent a pandemic. Vigilant surveillance of farms, live markets and wild birds, along with the implementation of standard infection control measures, could slow the spread of the virus, giving pharmaceutical companies time to develop a vaccine for it.

Emerging H5N8 avian influenza viruses, Science  21 May 2021: Vol. 372, Issue 6544, pp. 784-786. DOI: 10.1126/science.abg6302 , science.sciencemag.org/content/372/6544/784

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-05-russians-infected-crossover-...

Scientists reveal structural details of how SARS-CoV-2 variants escape immune response

Fast-spreading variants of the COVID-19-causing coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, carry mutations that enable the virus to escape some of the immune response created naturally or by vaccination. A new study by scientists  has revealed key details of how these escape mutations work.

used structural biology techniques to map at high resolution how important classes of neutralizing antibodies bind to the original pandemic strain of SARS-CoV-2—and how the process is disrupted by mutations found in new variants first detected in Brazil, the United Kingdom, South Africa and India.

The research also highlights that several of these mutations are clustered in one site, known as the "receptor binding site," on the spike protein of the virus. Other sites on the receptor binding domain are unaffected.

An implication of this study is that, in designing next-generation vaccines and antibody therapies, we should consider increasing the focus on other vulnerable sites on the virus that tend not to be affected by the mutations found in variants of concern.

Structural and functional ramifications of antigenic drift in recent SARS-CoV-2 variants, Science (2021). DOI: 10.1126/science.abh1139 , science.sciencemag.org/content … 5/19/science.abh1139

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-05-scientists-reveal-sars-cov-v...

Water treatment: Removing hormones with sunlight

Organic pollutants such as pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and hormones, even at nanoscale concentrations, contaminate drinking water in a way that poses significant risks to humans, animals and the environment. In particular, the steroid hormones estrone, estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone can cause biological damage in humans and wildlife. The European Union has therefore set strict minimum quality standards for safe and clean drinking water, which must also be taken into account in the development of new technologies for water treatment.

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Biodiversity devastation: Human-driven decline requires millions of...

A new study shows that the current rate of biodiversity decline in freshwater ecosystems outcompetes that at the end-Cretaceous extinction that killed the dinosaurs: damage now being done in decades to centuries may take millions of years to undo.

Using CRISPR to lower cholesterol levels in monkeys

A team of researchers from Verve Therapeutics and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has developed a CRISPR gene-editing technique that lowered the levels of cholesterol in the blood of test monkeys. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the researchers describe their technique.

Prior research has shown that in some people, the PCSK9 gene codes excess PCSK9 protein production (which occurs mostly in the liver)—leading to an increase in lipoprotein cholesterol levels in the bloodstream. This is because it interferes with blood cells with LDL receptors that "grab" LDL and remove it. For this reason, pharmaceutical companies have developed therapies that reduce the production of PCSK9 protein. However, most do not work well enough, which is why there is still so much atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. In this new effort, the researchers have tried another approach—altering the PCSK9 gene to make it stop coding for PCSK9 protein production.

The approach involved using a base editing technology made up of messenger RNA encoding for an adenine base editor along with guided RNA that was packaged in a lipid nanoparticle. Notably, the base editing technique was able to substitute a single nucleotide with another in the DNA without cutting the double helix. Prior research has shown the technique to be more precise, which means fewer errors than other CRISPR techniques. In their work, the researchers replaced an adenine with a guanine and a thymine with a cytosine, completely incapacitating the gene. Implementation of the therapy involved a one-time injection into the liver of cynomolgus monkeys.

After injection, the researchers tested the monkeys' cholesterol levels regularly. The researchers found that after just one week, levels of the PCSK9 protein had fallen by approximately 90% and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels were down by approximately 60%. They also found that both percentages held up for at least 10 months.

The researchers suggest their strong results show that the technique is ready for testing in humans, though there is still hesitation by medical authorities on approving such work due to the inability to reverse the process should unintended effects occur.

Kiran Musunuru et al, In vivo CRISPR base editing of PCSK9 durably lowers cholesterol in primates, Nature (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03534-y

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-crispr-cholesterol-monkeys.html?utm_s...

First-of-its-kind flower smells like dead insects to imprison 'coffin flies'

The plant Aristolochia microstoma uses a unique trick: its flowers emit a fetid-musty scent that seems to mimic the smell of decomposing insects. Flies from the genus Megaselia (family Phoridae) likely get attracted to this smell while searching for insect corpses to mate over and lay their eggs in. When they enter a flower, they are imprisoned and first pollinate the female organs, before being covered with pollen by the male organs. The flower then releases them unharmed.

The flowers of A. microstoma emit an unusual mix of volatiles that includes alkylpyrazines, which are otherwise rarely produced by flowering plants. Our results suggest that this is the first known case of a flower that tricks pollinators by smelling like dead and rotting insects rather than vertebrate carrion.

Thomas Rupp et al, Flowers of Deceptive Aristolochia microstoma Are Pollinated by Phorid Flies and Emit Volatiles Known From Invertebrate Carrion, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (2021). DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.658441

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-first-of-its-kind-dead-insects-impris...

banana Eel

Sleep Evolved Before Brains. Hydras Are Living Proof.

One of the simplest forms of animal life, the tiny aquatic organism called the hydra, has been shown to spend some time every few hours asleep — a fact that deepens the mystery of why sleep evolved in the first place.

https://www.quantamagazine.org/sleep-evolved-before-brains-hydras-a...

No Need to Buy an Oximeter Anymore? This Mobile App Monitors Blood Oxygen, Pulse Rate

The new app called CarePlix Vital's can monitor your blood oxygen level, pulse, and respiration rates.

With India reeling under the COVID-19 pandemic since last year, oximeters have become an important item for households, especially since the severe second wave. However, with an increase in demand for the vital health device, prices of pulse oximeters have been hiked by manufacturers. A good pulse oximeter can easily cost around Rs 2,000 these days.

To replace the oximeter, a Kolkata-based health startup has developed a mobile app. The new app called CarePlix Vital's can monitor your blood oxygen level, pulse, and respiration rates.

According to a report in Technology News, Latest Technology News, Gadgets News | BGR India, all one needs to do to use the mobile app is place a finger on their smartphone's rear camera and flashlight and within seconds, the oxygen saturation (SpO2), pulse and respiration rates are displayed on the device.

The underlying technology in all of this is photoplethysmography or PPG

We are achieving this through our smartphone's rear camera and flashlight. If you see the wearables and oximeters have infrared light sensors in them but for the phone, we just have the flashlight. Once we cover the rear camera and flashlight with the finger and start the scan for around 40 seconds, we are doing nothing but calculating the difference of light intensity and based on the difference we plot the PPG graph. From the graph, the SpO2 and pulse rate is derived," the co-founder said.

The CarePlix Vital's app is a registration-based application. It is said that the "application's AI helps in determining the strength of finger placement, that is, the stronger the finger placement, more accurate readings."

Source: https://www.india.com/

Beating Cardioid: This Beating Sesame Seed-Sized 'Human Heart' Grew Itself in a Lab

High-resolution simulation of how stars are born

To prevent next pandemic, scientists say we must regulate air like ...

Humans in the 21st century spend most of their time indoors, but the air we breathe inside buildings is not regulated to the same degree as the food we eat and the water we drink. A group of 39 researchers from 14 countries say that needs to change to reduce disease transmission and prevent the next pandemic. In a Perspectives piece published in Science on May 14, they call for a paradigm shift in combating airborne pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, demanding universal recognition that respiratory infections can be prevented by improving indoor ventilation systems. Air can contain viruses just as water and surfaces do. We need to understand that it's a problem and that we need to have, in our toolkit, approaches to mitigating risk and reducing the possible exposures that could happen from build-up of viruses in indoor air.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/372/6543/689

https://researchnews.cc/news/6872/To-prevent-next-pandemic--scienti...

Everything Discovered On Mars So Far

No link between milk and increased cholesterol according to new study of 2 million people

Regular consumption of milk is not associated with increased levels of cholesterol, according to new research.

Karani Santhanakrishnan Vimaleswaran et al, Evidence for a causal association between milk intake and cardiometabolic disease outcomes using a two-sample Mendelian Randomization analysis in up to 1,904,220 individuals, International Journal of Obesity (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41366-021-00841-2

New quantum material discovered

In everyday life, phase transitions usually have to do with temperature changes—for example, when an ice cube gets warmer and melts. But there are also different kinds of phase transitions, depending on other parameters such as magnetic field. In order to understand the quantum properties of materials, phase transitions are particularly interesting when they occur directly at the absolute zero point of temperature. These transitions are called "quantum phase transitions" or a "quantum critical points."

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Electromagnetic anomalies that occur before an earthquake

It has been documented over hundreds of years that various electromagnetic anomalies occur a few weeks before the occurrence of a large earthquake. These electromagnetic anomalies are variations that appear in telluric current, geomagnetism, electromagnetic waves etc. before the earthquake.

New quantum material discovered

In everyday life, phase transitions usually have to do with temperature changes—for example, when an ice cube gets warmer and melts. But there are also different kinds of phase transitions, depending on other parameters such as magnetic field. In order to understand the quantum properties of materials, phase transitions are particularly interesting when they occur directly at the absolute zero point of temperature. These transitions are called "quantum phase transitions" or a "quantum critical points."

Such a quantum critical point has now been discovered by an Austrian-American research team in a novel material, and in an unusually pristine form. The properties of this material are now being further investigated. It is suspected that the material could be a so-called Weyl-Kondo semimetal, which is considered to have great potential for quantum technology due to special quantum states (so-called topological states). If this proves to be true, a key for the targeted development of topological quantum materials would have been found. The results were found in a cooperation between TU Wien, Johns Hopkins University, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Rice University and has now been published in the journal Science Advances.

Wesley T. Fuhrman et al, Pristine quantum criticality in a Kondo semimetal, Science Advances (2021). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abf9134

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-quantum-material.html?utm_source=nwle...

ScienceCasts: The Mystery of Coronal Heating

The sniffer dogs detecting coronavirus

Metabolic hormon 'leptin' linked to vaccine response

Reduced levels of a metabolic hormone known as leptin is linked to poor vaccine antibody responses in the general population, a University of Queensland study has found. The researchers made the discovery while investigating several cohorts responses to the influenza vaccine or hepatitis B vaccine pre-COVID. UQs Professor Di Yu identified a link between the metabolic and immune systems that could be used to develop new strategies for improving vaccine protection in vulnerable populations. Using multiple advanced techniques in immunology, genetics and biochemistry, our study found leptin directly promoted the development and function of cells which are vital in triggering an antibody response, Professor Yu said. In collaboration with global teams, we identified the reduction of an essential metabolic hormone called leptin was associated with compromised vaccine responses in both young and older individual ..

New insights into how phytochromes help plants sense and react to light, temperature

Plants contain several types of specialized light-sensitive proteins that measure light by changing shape upon light absorption. Chief among these are the phytochromes.

Phytochromes help plants detect light direction, intensity and duration; the time of day; whether it is the beginning, middle or end of a season; and even the color of light, which is important for avoiding shade from other plants. Remarkably, phytochromes also help plants detect temperature.

New research  helps explain how the handful of phytochromes found in every plant respond differently to light intensity and temperature, thus enabling land plants to colonize the planet many millions of years ago and allowing them to acclimate to a wide array of terrestrial environments.

For the first time, these biologists fully characterized the phytochrome family from the common model plant Arabidopsis thaliana on a biochemical level.

The scientists also extended that characterization into the phytochromes of two important food crops: corn and potatoes. Instead of finding that all phytochrome isoforms are identical, they found surprising differences.

A deeper understanding of these proteins will allow scientists to use phytochromes as tools both in agriculture and for research in the field of optogenetics, which has exploited phytochromes to precisely control cellular events simply by shining light.

E. Sethe Burgie el al., "Differing biophysical properties underpin the unique signaling potentials within the plant phytochrome photoreceptor families," PNAS (2021). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2105649118

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Plants typically express three or more phytochromes. It was well-known that plants can respond to wide ranges of light intensities but other factors such as expression levels and signaling potential were considered as the likely culprits.

"Now we know that the differing biophysical properties of the isoforms also underpin the unique signaling potentials within the plant phytochrome photoreceptor families," Vierstra said. "These properties are evident in Phy families in plants ranging from Arabidopsis to maize and potatoes, indicating that they likely emerged very early in phytochrome evolution."

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-insights-phytochromes-react-temperatu...

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First hacker-resistant cloud software system

Up to now, there has been no way to guarantee that a software system is secure from bugs, hackers, and vulnerabilities.

Researchers may now have solved this security issue. They have developed SeKVM, the first system that guarantees—through a mathematical proof—the security of virtual machines in the cloud. In a new paper to be presented on May 26, 2021, at the 42nd IEEE Symposium on Security & Privacy, the researchers hope to lay the foundation for future innovations in system software verification, leading to a new generation of cyber-resilient system software.

SeKVM is the first formally verified system for cloud computing. Formal verification is a critical step as it is the process of proving that software is mathematically correct, that the program's code works as it should, and there are no hidden security bugs to worry about.

This is the first time that a real-world multiprocessor software system has been shown to be mathematically correct and secure. This means that users' data are correctly managed by software running in the cloud and are safe from security bugs and hackers.

A Secure and Formally Verified Linux KVM Hypervisor, DOI: 10.1109/SP40001.2021.00049

https://techxplore.com/news/2021-05-team-hacker-resistant-cloud-sof...

Resetting the biological clock by flipping a switch

The biological clock is present in almost all cells of an organism. As more and more evidence emerges that clocks in certain organs could be out of sync, there is a need to investigate and reset these clocks locally. Scientists  introduced a light-controlled on/off switch to a kinase inhibitor, which affects clock function. This gives them control of the biological clock in cultured cells and explanted tissue. They published their results on 26 May in Nature Communications.

Life on Earth has evolved under a 24-hour cycle of light and dark, hot and cold. "As a result, our cells are synchronized to these 24-hour oscillations. Our circadian clock is regulated by a central controller in the suprachiasmatic nucleus, a region in the brain directly above the optic nerve, but all our cells contain a clock of their own. These clocks consist of an oscillation in the production and breakdown of certain proteins.

It is becoming increasingly clear that these clocks can be disrupted in organs or tissues, which may lead to disease. We know very little about how our cells coordinate these oscillations, or how it affects the body.

To study these effects, it would be useful to have a drug that affects the clocks and that can be activated locally. Researchers now  created several compounds, such as antibiotics or anticancer drugs, that could be switched on and off with light.

They  developed a kinase inhibitor, longdaysin, which slows down the circadian clock to a cycle that lasts up to 48 hours. They fitted this longdaysin with a light switch that allowed them to activate or deactivate the compound with violet and green light, respectively.

Reversible modulation of circadian time with chronophotopharmacology, Nature Communications (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23301-x

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-resetting-biological-clock-flipping.h...

Memory details fade over time, with only the main gist preserved

What information is retained in a memory over time, and which parts get lost? These questions have led to many scientific theories over the years, and now a team of researchers  have been able to provide some answers.

Their new study, which is published today in Nature Communications, demonstrates that our memories become less vibrant and detailed over time, with only the central gist eventually preserved. Moreover, this 'gistification' of our memories is boosted when we frequently recall our recent experiences.

Nature Communications (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23288-5

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The work could have implications in a number of areas, including the nature of memories in post-traumatic stress disorder, the repeated questioning of eye-witness testimonies and even in best practice for exam studying.

While memories are not exact carbon copies of the past—remembering is understood to be a highly reconstructive process—experts have suggested that the contents of a memory could change each time we bring it back to mind.

However, exactly how our memories differ from the original experiences, and how they are transformed over time, has until now proven difficult to measure in laboratory settings.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-05-memory-main-gist.html?utm_so...

153 years after discovery of the immune system's dendritic cells, scientists uncover a new subset

When pathogens invade or tumor cells emerge, the immune system is alerted by danger signals that summon a key battalion of first responders, the unsung heroes of the immune system—a population of starfish-shaped sentinels called dendritic cells.

Without them, coordination of the immune response would be slower and less-well organized. Yet even in the face of such an indispensable role, it has taken until now to discover how a sub-population of these cells doesn't perish after completing their primary job in the immune system.

Dendritic cells were discovered in 1868, and at that time were misunderstood and wrongly categorized as members of the nervous system. But immunologists now know there are different types of these cells, even though they all look alike and have roughly the same job as sentinels in the immune system –on patrol 24/7, hunting down infiltrating causes of infection and disease. What separates one group from another, scientists in Germany have just found, is their response to certain signaling molecules and how long they survive in tissues and the blood.

First off, the shape is no accident of nature. It allows these cells to perform their primary role, which involves obtaining microscopic samples—antigens—from an infiltrator slated for destruction. Dendritic cells engulf snippets of the invader and literally present those antigens to key warriors of the immune system.

These highly mobile cells travel to sites where disease-killing immune cells reside to present their samples, introducing T cells, for example, to the enemy that awaits. Formally, the activity of presenting the sample to T cells is called antigen presentation. For all the work involved with alerting the body to danger, a major group of dendritic cells is programmed to die after a job well done.

Now, in a groundbreaking series of studies, a large team of researchers from throughout Germany has discovered why a unique population of dendritic cells doesn't die after antigen presentation. The sub-population continues to stimulate parts of the immune system to aid the fight against invasive viruses, bacteria or potentially deadly tumour cells.

Lukas Hatscher et al. Select hyperactivating NLRP3 ligands enhance the TH1- and TH17-inducing potential of human type 2 conventional dendritic cells, Science Signaling (2021) DOI: 10.1126/scisignal.abe1757

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-05-years-discovery-immune-dendr...

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Biologists construct a 'periodic table' for cell nuclei

One hundred fifty years ago, Dmitri Mendeleev created the periodic table, a system for classifying atoms based on the properties of their nuclei. This week, a team of biologists studying the tree of life has unveiled a new classification system for cell nuclei and discovered a method for transmuting one type of cell nucleus into another.

Scientists had been working together to classify how chromosomes, which can be several meters long, fold up to fit inside the nuclei of different species from across the tree of life.

The team realized it was just seeing variants on two overall nuclear designs. In some species, chromosomes are organized like the pages of a printed newspaper, with the outer margins on one side and the folded middle at the other. And then in other species, each chromosome is crumpled into a little ball.

The data implied that over the course of evolution, species can switch back and forth from one type to the other.

 Computer simulations showed that by destroying condensin II ( a protein that plays a role in how cells divide), you could make a human nucleus reorganize to resemble a fly nucleus.

"3D genomics across the tree of life reveals condensin II as a determinant of architecture type" Science (2021). science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi … 1126/science.abe2218

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-biologists-periodic-table-cell-nuclei...

How plants ward off a dangerous world of pathogens

The world's plants, immobile and rooted in soil which contains potentially lethal micro-organisms, face a constant threat from invading pathogens. In recent years, however, scientists have discovered that plant species employ sophisticated immune strategies that differ from —but also shares similarities with—the ways humans combat infections.

Now scientists describe a key molecular "on-off" switch that enables plants to mobilize immunity in the face of microbial pathogens. The findings not only have direct implications for crop management and possibly protecting plants from the effects of climate change, but also for better understanding the human immune system as well.

Plants  have many innate immune gene families that are similar to ours, and historically plants have been used to establish fundamental principles of host defenses and disease tolerance.

Unlike humans, plants lack an adaptive immune system that "remembers" specific pathogens and then organizes a tailored defense. In the study, researchers explored the sophisticated cell-autonomous defense programs that plants do employ against pathogens. It turns out that what they lack in tailored antibodies, they make up for by greatly expanding their repertoire of innate immune responses, which mount a more generalized defense against all infections.

For instance, one of these strategies involves innate immune proteins that morph into a "gel-like" state in order to trigger immune responses. This process—called liquid-liquid phase separation—enables biological activities to be concentrated in membrane-less compartments inside cells. The researchers discovered that plant immune proteins, known as guanylate-binding protein-like (GBPL) GTPases, create liquid-like compartments within the nucleus that creates a concentration of proteins that drive the activity of host defense genes during infection. This phase-separated compartment also excludes inhibitory proteins to the outside of the nucleus as part of a spatially separated "on-off" switch.

Liquid-liquid phase separation is a new frontier in understanding how cells compartmentalize their biological activities.

All organisms, from single-celled bacteria to plants  to humans, defend their genome from outside threats. "Phase-separation may be a pervasive evolutionary mechanism to organize these defense activities as part of the cell-autonomous immune response."

Shuai Huang et al, A phase-separated nuclear GBPL circuit controls immunity in plants, Nature (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03572-6

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-ward-dangerous-world-pathogens.html?u...

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Global study of 60 cities' microbes finds each has a signature microbial fingerprint

An international consortium has reported the largest-ever global metagenomic study of urban microbiomes, spanning both the air and the surfaces of multiple cities. The international project, which sequenced and analyzed samples collected from public transit systems and hospitals in 60 cities around the world, features comprehensive analysis and annotation for all the microbial species identified—including thousands of viruses and bacteria and two archaea not found in reference databases. The study appears May 26 in the journal Cell.

Every city has its own 'molecular echo' of the microbes that define it.

The findings are based on 4,728 samples from cities on six continents taken over the course of three years, characterize regional antimicrobial resistance markers, and represent the first systematic worldwide catalogue of the urban microbial ecosystem. In addition to distinct microbial signatures in various cities, the analysis revealed a core set of 31 species that were found in 97% of samples across the sampled urban areas. The researchers identified 4,246 known species of urban microorganisms, but they also found that any subsequent sampling will still likely continue to find species that have never been seen before, which highlights the raw potential for discoveries related to microbial diversity and biological functions awaiting in urban environments.

Cell, Danko et al.: "A global metagenomic map of urban microbiomes and antimicrobial resistance" www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(21)00585-7 , DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.05.002

A related paper ("Characterization of the public transit air microbiome and resistome reveals geographical specificity") publishes in the journal Microbiome on May 26.

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-global-cities-microbes-signature-micr...

Research team discovers that it takes some heat to form ice on grap...

In a paper published in Nature Communications, the research team details the complex physical processes at work to understand the chemistry of ice formation. The molecular-level perspective of this process may help in predicting the formation and melting of ice, from individual crystals to glaciers and ice sheets. The latter being crucial to quantify environmental transformation in connection with climate change and global warming.

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Virus transmission: New animation gives insight to viral spread

How can an influenza virus transfer from animals to humans even though the molecules on which they land at the cell surface are different? To find out, researchers of the University of Twente developed a sensor chip that mimics the cell surface and has an increasing number of binding sites along the way. The virus rolls across the surface until the binding is strong enough. For visualizing and better understanding of the mechanisms involved, the researchers created an animation, together with Dutch veterinary lab Royal GD.

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Cell mechanics research is making chemotherapy friendlier

Malignant tumor cells undergo mechanical deformation more easily than normal cells, allowing them to migrate throughout the body. The mechanical properties of prostate cancer cells treated with the most commonly used anti-cancer drugs have been investigated at the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Cracow. According to the researchers, current drugs can be used more effectively and at lower doses.

Research team discovers that it takes some heat to form ice on graphene

In a paper published in Nature Communications, the research team details the complex physical processes at work to understand the chemistry of ice formation. The molecular-level perspective of this process may help in predicting the formation and melting of ice, from individual crystals to glaciers and ice sheets. The latter being crucial to quantify environmental transformation in connection with climate change and global warming.

The team was able to track down the first step in ice formation, called nucleation, which happens in an incredibly short length of time, a fraction of a billionth of a second, when highly mobile individual water molecules find each other and coalesce. However, conventional microscopes are far too slow to follow the motion of water molecules, so it is impossible to use them to monitor how molecules combine on top of solid surfaces.

Anton Tamtögl et al, Motion of water monomers reveals a kinetic barrier to ice nucleation on graphene, Nature Communications (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23226-5

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-team-ice-graphene.html?utm_source=nwl...

Scientists overhear two atoms chatting

How materials behave depends on the interactions between countless atoms. You could see this as a giant group chat in which atoms are continuously exchanging quantum information. Researchers  have now been able to intercept a chat between two atoms. They present their findings in Science on 28 May.

Atoms, of course, don't really talk. But they can react to each other. This is particularly the case for magnetic atoms. "Each atom carries a small magnetic moment called spin. These spins influence each other, like compass needles do when you bring them close together. If you give one of them a push, they will start moving together in a very specific way.

But according to the laws of quantum mechanics, each spin can be simultaneously point in various directions, forming a superposition. This means that actual transfer of quantum information takes place between the atoms, like some sort of conversation.

On a large scale, this kind of exchange of information between atoms can lead to fascinating phenomena. A classic example is superconductivity: the effect where some materials lose all electrical resistivity below a critical temperature. While well understood for the simplest cases, nobody knows exactly how this effect comes about in many complex materials. But it's certain that magnetic quantum interactions play a key role. For the purpose of trying to explaining phenomena like this, scientists are very interested in being able to intercept these exchanges; to overhear the conversations between atoms.

Scientists  literally put two atoms next to each other to see what happens. This is possible by virtue of a scanning tunneling microscope: a device in which a sharp needle can probe atoms one-by-one and can even rearrange them. The researchers used this device to place two titanium atoms at a distance of just over one nanometer—one millionth of a millimeter—apart. At that distance, the atoms are just able to detect each other's spin. If you would now twist one of the two spins, the conversation would start by itself.

Usually, this twist is performed by sending very precise radio signals to the atoms. This so-called spin resonance technique—which is quite reminiscent of the working principle of an MRI scanner found in hospitals—is used successfully in research on quantum bits. You have barely started twisting the one spin before the other starts to rotate along. This way you can never investigate what happens upon placing the two spins in opposite directions

part 2

So the researchers tried something unorthodox: they rapidly inverted the spin of one of the two atoms with a sudden burst of electric current. To their surprise, this drastic approach resulted in a beautiful quantum interaction, exactly by the book. During the pulse, electrons collide with the atom, causing its spin to rotate.

The electron inverts the spin of one atom causing it to point, say, to the left. You could view this as a measurement, erasing all quantum memory. But from the point of view of the combined system comprising both atoms, the resulting situation is not so mundane at all. For the two atoms together, the new state constitutes a perfect superposition, enabling the exchange of information between them. Crucially for this to happen is that both spins become entangled: a peculiar quantum state in which they share more information about each other than classically possible."

The discovery can be of importance to research on quantum bits. Perhaps also in that research you could get away with being slightly less careful when initializing quantum states. 

"Free coherent evolution of a coupled atomic spin system initialized by electron scattering" Science (2021). science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi … 1126/science.abg8223

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-scientists-atoms-chatting.html?utm_so...

Had COVID? You’ll probably make antibodies for a lifetime

Brain Computer Interface Turns Mental Handwriting into Text on Screen

Researchers have, for the first time, decoded the neural signals associated with writing letters, then displayed typed versions of those letters in real time. They hope their invention could one day help people with paralysis communicate.

Bees Opening a Soda Bottle

'Unbelievable' Video Shows Two Bees Work Together to Unscrew a Soda...

Physicists Have Broken The Speed of Light With Pulses Inside Hot Plasma

Physicists have been playing hard and fast with the speed limit of light pulses for a while, speeding them up and even slowing them to a virtual stand-still using various materials like cold atomic gases, refractive crystals, and optical fibers.

This time, researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and the University of Rochester in New York have managed it inside hot swarms of charged particles, fine-tuning the speed of light waves within plasma to anywhere from around one-tenth of light's usual vacuum speed to more than 30 percent faster.

This is both more – and less – impressive than it sounds.

https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.205001

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2278564-laser-pulses-travel-fa...

Researchers show how air pollution may contribute to loss of smell

The loss of smell, a condition known as anosmia, can severely impact a person's quality of life, making it extremely difficult to taste foods, detect airborne hazards in the environment and carry out other functions dependent on the sense. Those with anosmia may experience weight concerns, decreased social interaction, depression and general anxiety. In some cases, loss of smell has been linked to death in older adults. Now researchers have studied one of the known causes of anosmia—long-term exposure to air pollution—to better understand how it can rob someone of the ability to smell and taste.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), PM2.5 (the PM stands for "particulate matter") is the term for a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air. Depending on location, PM2.5 can consist of many materials, including dust, dirt, soot, smoke, organic compounds and metals. It has been linked to cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, decline in cognitive thinking ability, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma and premature death. Previous research has associated PM2.5 as a likely culprit in loss of smell.

The researchers found long-term airborne exposure to PM2.5 increases the risk of losing one's smell by nearly twice (a 1.6- to 1.7-fold increase). They think this may occur because the location of the olfactory nerve—which contains the sensory nerve fibers relating to the sense of smell—places it directly in the path of inhaled PM2.5 materials.

Based on this result, the researchers  that long-term exposure to high levels of PM2.5 represents a common risk factor for the loss of sense of smell, especially in vulnerable populations such as older people—but also one that is potentially modifiable if sources of PM2.5 components can be better controlled.

Zhenyu Zhang et al, Exposure to Particulate Matter Air Pollution and Anosmia, JAMA Network Open (2021). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.11606

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-05-air-pollution-contribute-los...

Hundreds of gibberish papers still lurk in the scientific literature

References

Fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria has a glowing new weapon

In the perpetual arms races between bacteria and human-made antibiotics, there is a new tool to give human medicine the edge, in part by revealing bacterial weaknesses and potentially by leading to more targeted or new treatments for bacterial infections.

A research team has developed chemical probes to help identify an enzyme, produced by some types of E. coli and pneumococcal bacteria, known to break down several common types of antibiotics, making these bacteria dangerously resistant to treatment.

In response to antibiotic treatment, bacteria have evolved various mechanisms to resist that treatment, and one of those is to make enzymes that basically chew up the antibiotics before they can do their job. The type of tool researchers now developed gives us critical information that could keep us one step ahead of deadly bacteria.

I n a paper published online in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, the researchers zeroed in on the threat posed by the bacterial enzyme called New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM). They set out to create a molecule that glows when it comes into contact with the NDM enzyme. When these chemical probes are added to a test tube, they bind to the enzyme and glow. Such a tool could be used to alert doctors to what kind of bacterial threat is affecting their patients and tell them which antibiotics to use.

NDM breaks down antibiotics in the penicillin, cephalosporin and carbapenem classes, which are some of the safest and most effective treatments for bacterial infections. Other classes of antibiotics exist, but they may carry more side effects, have more drug interactions and may be less available in some parts of the world.

In addition to indicating the presence of the NDM enzyme, the florescent chemical probe developed  may help find a different way to combat these resistant bacteria. One treatment option that doctors use with resistant bacteria is to combine common antibiotics and an inhibitor. Although there is no known clinically effective inhibitor for NDM-producing bacteria, this probe could help find one.

Once the probe has bound to the enzyme and begun to glow, if an effective inhibitor is introduced, it will knock the probe loose and the glow would stop. This allows scientists to test a high volume of potential drugs very quickly.

1. Radhika Mehta, Dann D. Rivera, David J. Reilley, Dominique Tan, Pei W. Thomas, Abigail Hinojosa, Alesha C. Stewart, Zishuo Cheng, Caitlyn A. Thomas, Michael W. Crowder, Anastassia N. Alexandrova, Walter Fast, Emily L. Que. Visualizing the Dynamic Metalation State of New Delhi Metallo-β-lactamase-1 in Bacteria Using a Reversible Fluorescent Probe. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2021; DOI: 10.1021/jacs.1c00290

Milky Way no freak accident, astronomers say

The first detailed cross-section of a galaxy broadly similar to the Milky Way, published, reveals that our galaxy evolved gradually, instead of being the result of a violent mash-up. The finding throws the origin story of our home into doubt. The galaxy, dubbed UGC 10738, turns out to have distinct ,thick, and thin discs similar to those of the Milky Way. This suggests, contrary to previous theories, that such structures are not the result of a rare long-ago collision with a smaller galaxy. They appear to be the product of more peaceful change. And that is a game-changer. It means that our spiral galaxy home isn't the product of a freak accident. Instead, it is typical. 

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Taking photos can impair your memory of events

 It is a common practice to photograph events that we most want to remember, such as birthdays, graduations and vacations. But taking photos can actually impair your memory of the experience, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York. Binghamton University graduate student Rebecca Lurie and Professor of Psychology Deanne L. Westerman sought to understand if taking a photo of an event or an experience impairs or improves memory. Previous research on this topic has used naturalistic settings, asking participants to photograph their trip to an art museum. The results of these studies were inconsistent, with some studies showing memory impairments and others showing improvements for photographed art. To gain better control of the experience, the researchers conducted five experiments involving a total of 525 University students in a controlled laboratory setting.

The participants saw a set of artwork and were instructed to take a photo of some pieces using a camera on a tablet and to only look at the other pieces. Later, the researchers tested the participants’ memory of all of the artwork.

In all five experiments, photographed art was remembered more poorly than art that was merely viewed. This memory impairment for photographed art was found on tests given after 20 minutes and tests given after two days. The results also showed impaired memory for the visual details of the artwork as well as the overall theme, or gist, of the piece. 

The researchers note an important caveat in that they did not allow participants to review their photos, and so their findings only apply to a situation in which you take a photograph and never look at it again

https://researchnews.cc/news/6988/Taking-photos-can-impair-your-mem...

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Duetting songbirds 'mute' the musical mind of their partner to stay in sync

A new study of duetting songbirds from Ecuador, the plain-tail wren (Pheugopedius euophrys), has offered another tune explaining the mysterious connection between successful performing duos.

It's a link of their minds, and it happens, in fact, as each singer mutes the brain of the other as they coordinate their duets.

In a study published May 31 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of researchers studying brain activity of singing male and female plain-tailed wrens has discovered that the species synchronizes their frenetically paced duets, surprisingly, by inhibiting the song-making regions of their partner's brain as they exchange phrases.

Researchers say that the auditory feedback exchanged between wrens during their opera-like duets momentarily inhibits motor circuits used for singing in the listening partner, which helps link the pair's brains and coordinate turn-taking for a seemingly telepathic performance. The study also offers fresh insight into how humans and other cooperative animals use sensory cues to act in concert with one another.

Melissa J. Coleman el al., "Neurophysiological coordination of duet singing," PNAS (2021). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2018188118

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-duetting-songbirds-mute-musical-mind....

New 'Swiss Army knife' cleans up water pollution

Phosphate pollution in rivers, lakes and other waterways has reached dangerous levels, causing algae blooms that starve fish and aquatic plants of oxygen. And farmers worldwide are coming to terms with a dwindling reserve of phosphate fertilizers that feed half the world's food supply.

A team of researchers has developed a way to repeatedly remove and reuse phosphate from polluted waters. The researchers liken the development to a "Swiss Army knife" for pollution remediation as they tailor their membrane to absorb and later release other pollutants.

Phosphorus underpins both the world's food system and all life on earth. Every living organism on the planet requires it: phosphorous is in cell membranes, the scaffolding of DNA and in our skeleton. Though other key elements like oxygen and nitrogen can be found in the atmosphere, phosphorous has no analog. The small fraction of usable phosphorous comes from the Earth's crust, which takes thousands or even millions of years to weather away. And our mines are running out.

Given the shortage of this non-renewable natural resource, it is sadly ironic that many of our lakes are suffering from a process known as eutrophication, which occurs when too many nutrients enter a natural water source. As phosphate and other minerals build up, aquatic vegetation and algae become too dense, depleting oxygen from water and ultimately killing aquatic life.

Ecologists and engineers traditionally have developed tactics to address the mounting environmental and public health concerns around phosphate by eliminating phosphate from water sources. Only recently has the emphasis shifted away from removing to recovering phosphate.

Stephanie M. Ribet el al., "Phosphate Elimination and Recovery Lightweight (PEARL) membrane: A sustainable environmental remediation approach," PNAS (2021). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2102583118

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-swiss-army-knife-pollution.html?utm_s...

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Phonon catalysis could lead to a new field

Batteries and fuel cells often rely on a process known as ion diffusion to function. In ion diffusion, ionized atoms move through solid materials, similar to the process of water being absorbed by rice when cooked. Just like cooking rice, ion diffusion is incredibly temperature-dependent and requires high temperatures to happen fast.

This temperature dependence can be limiting, as the materials used in some systems like fuel cells need to withstand high temperatures sometimes in excess of 1,000 degrees Celsius. In a new study, a team of researchers at MIT and the University of Muenster in Germany showed a new effect, where ion diffusion is enhanced while the material remains cold, by only exciting a select number of vibrations known as phonons. This new approach—which the team refers to as "phonon catalysis"—could lead to an entirely new field of research. Their work was published in Cell Reports Physical Science.

In the study, the research team used a computational model to determine which vibrations actually caused ions to move during ion diffusion. Rather than increasing the temperature of the entire material, they increased the temperature of just those specific vibrations in a process they refer to as targeted phonon excitation.

 Kiarash Gordiz et al, Enhancement of ion diffusion by targeted phonon excitation, Cell Reports Physical Science (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrp.2021.100431

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-phonon-catalysis-field.html?utm_sourc...

Endangered purple Cauliflower Coral pushed closer to brink of extinction

Vaccines charge up natural immunity against SARS-CoV-2

According to new research, people who have had COVID enjoy strong immunity against the coronavirus for at least a year after they were initially infected. In analyzing antibodies present in the blood of COVID patients, Rockefeller scientists were able to track the evolution of these mutable molecules. They found that vaccination boosts the immunity these individuals naturally develop upon infection, so much that they are likely protected even from the emerging variants.

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Why scientists are concerned about leaks at biolabs

The theory that COVID-19 might be the result of scientific experiments has thrown a spotlight on the work of the world's most secure biolabs.

The 3 Essential Rules For Effective Science Communication

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jvchamary/2021/05/31/science-communica...