Long Covid: Elevated inflammation persists in immune cells months after mild COVID-19

There is a lack of understanding as to why some people suffer from long-lasting symptoms after COVID-19 infection. Long-term symptoms are relatively common after severe COVID-19 infection but may also affect some individuals with previous mild disease. A new study now demonstrates that a certain type of immune cells called macrophages show altered inflammatory and metabolic expression several months after mild COVID-19. The findings are published in the journal Mucosal Immunology.

The macrophages from people with mild COVID-19 exhibit an altered inflammatory and metabolic expression for three to five months post-infection. Even though the majority of these people don't have any persistent symptoms, their immune system 's more sensitive than that of their healthy counterparts.

To examine this aspect, the researchers in the current study analyzed blood samples from 68 people with previous mild COVID-19 infection and a control group of 36 people who had not had COVID-19.

The researchers isolated the macrophages in the laboratory and stimulated them with spike protein, steroids, and lipopolysaccharides (LPS), a molecule that triggers the immune system. The cells were then RNA-sequenced to measure active genes. The researchers also measured the presence of eicosanoid signaling molecules, which are a fundamental feature of inflammation.

It is not surprising to find a large number of eicosanoid molecules in people with COVID-19 as the disease causes inflammation, but it was surprising that they were still being produced in high quantities several months after the infection, according to the researchers.

The study also showed a higher concentration of leukotrienes, which are a type of pro-inflammatory molecules known for causing asthma. It's very striking that the concentration of leukotrienes remains elevated in macrophages in people who have had mild COVID-19.

Part 1

The blood samples were collected on two occasions, at three to five months after SARS-CoV-2 infection and after 12 months. At three to five months, around 16 percent reported persistent mild symptoms while the rest were symptom-free. At 12 months, none reported persistent symptoms and there was no longer any difference in inflammatory markers between those with previous COVID-19 infection and the healthy control group.

 Mild COVID-19 imprints a long-term inflammatory eicosanoid- and chemokine memory in monocyte-derived macrophages, Mucosal Immunology, online March 15, 2022, DOI: 10.1038/s41385-021-00482-8

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-03-elevated-inflammation-persis...

Part 2

Getting bacteria and yeast to talk to each other, thanks to a 'nanotranslator'

Cells communicate with one another in the language of chemistry, but those from different kingdoms, such as bacteria and yeast, speak dialects virtually unintelligible to the other. By learning how microbes "talk," researchers hope to one day manipulate their behavior to protect against disease, for example. Efforts like this are in their infancy, but in a new study in ACS' Nano Letters, researchers describe the first system that enables two unrelated organisms to communicate.

In nature, many cells send and receive chemical signals. This strategy allows bacteria to regulate their behavior, fungi to mate and human cells to notify each other of threats. This type of chemical communication has inspired researchers to devise their own means to join these conversations so they can give cells instructions. While some studies have examined micro- or nano-scale particles that communicate with one type of cell, the use of particles to enable communication between two different types of cells has not been explored. Antoni Llopis-Lorente, Ramón Martínez-Máñez and colleagues wanted to create a nano-scale translating device so they could send a chemical signal between members of two different kingdoms of life—something that rarely happens in the natural world.

The team built the nanotranslator from silica nanoparticles loaded with two molecules: one that reacts with glucose, and another molecule called phleomycin. The signaling system they constructed had two steps, which they tested independently then put together. First, the researchers initiated a signal by exposing E. coli to lactose. The bacteria converted the lactose into glucose, which reacted with the nanotranslator. Next, this device released phleomycin, another messenger compound. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae detected the phleomycin and responded by fluorescing, something they had been genetically engineered to do. The researchers envision many possible applications for similar nanotranslator-based communication systems. For example, these devices could be used to tell cells to turn off certain processes and to switch on others, or to alter the activity of human immune cells to treat disease, the researchers say.

Beatriz de Luis et al, Nanoprogrammed Cross-Kingdom Communication Between Living Microorganisms Nano Letters (2022). DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c02435. doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c02435

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-bacteria-yeast-nanotranslator.html?ut...

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Sniffer ants can smell cancer better than dogs

Scientists have trained a colony of ants to sniff out cancerous cells with surprising accuracy.

Ants are able to detect cancer cells by sniffing out their unique odour, a new study has shown.

Individual ants only need a few training sessions to learn the scent of cancer... which researchers said make them more “feasible, fast and less laborious” than using other animals.

While this is the first study of its kind, researchers said it shows the potential of ants to act as a cancer bio-detector.

When cancerous cells grow they produce specific compounds, which can be detected using high-tech equipment or picked up by animals with especially sensitive noses. Dogs can smell cancer, as has been shown in recent research – one study found our canine companions could sniff out lung cancer with nearly 97 per cent accuracy.

However, training dogs is a lengthy and costly process. So, researchers at universities in France decided to investigate using different animals to detect cancer’s odour. Insects, being easily reared and inexpensive, seemed like a good choice. Their olfactory system is often crucial to their survival, leading them towards edible plants and willing mates.

• Ants can rapidly be conditioned to associate the odor of cancer cells with a reward
• •
  Ants discriminate between cancerous and healthy cells and between two cancerous lines
• •
  Discrimination relies on volatile organic compounds that are specific of cell lines

https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(22)00229-2?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS2589004222002292%3Fshowall%3Dtrue

Extract from the bark of the Neem tree may help reduce the spread of coronavirus, an India-US research team reported.

xtract from the bark of a neem tree has shown antiviral effects against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, according to a recently published study in Virology. The India-US research team hopes that the findings can support the development of new medications to lower the risk of serious illness and curb the spread of coronavirus infections.

The neem tree (Azadirachta indica) is a big-leaf mahogany indigenous to India. The tree’s various components have been reported to have various medicinal properties against certain virus, bacteria and parasites. The extracts derived from the bark in particular have beneficial effects against malaria, stomach and intestinal ulcers, and skin disorders, laboratory studies have shown.

Given the bark extract’s history in addressing diseases, researchers from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata and the University of Colorado in the US investigated whether neem extracts would similarly help suppress COVID-19 infections. The team combined different methods to comprehensively examine the extract’s effects against coronaviruses.

Part 1

Computer modeling done by the researchers revealed that the neem bark extract can target a wide range of viral proteins. Certain components can bind to various regions on the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, which is responsible for enabling viral entry into human cells. The binding of neem compounds stabilizes the spike protein and effectively acts as a block on key regions that typically bind with the host cell. That prevents the spike proteins from fusing with the host cell.

Because the virus is no longer able to latch onto the host cells, it cannot access the host’s genetic machinery needed for its replication. The viral replication typically correlates with disease progression and severity, even allowing the virus to spread to other cells and organs in the body. Accordingly, cutting off this access point can prevent SARS-CoV-2 from severely damaging the body.

In the lab, the researchers introduced the bark extracts to samples of human lung cells infected with SARS-CoV-2. They found that the extracts inhibited viral infection and replication in the cells, primarily by reducing the expression of genes that code for the viral envelope. The envelope is an important outer layer that protects the virus’ genetic material and helps the virus move through the cell membrane to enter the cell.

By blocking entry and reducing viral replication, the extract also relieved other complications that COVID-19 causes, including inflammation in the brain and hepatitis in mice models.

Overall, the neem compounds showed potential as antiviral agents both for protecting against infection and mitigating disease severity after infection. Moreover, the researchers highlighted that the multi-targeted nature of its effects—particularly its capacity to bind to several spike regions—may make the extract effective against new variants that carry mutations in their spike protein.

part 2

Moving forward, the researchers aim to identify the specific compounds in the neem bark that are responsible for the antiviral effects. That could help guide the development of neem-based antiviral therapies and determining the dosage requirements for treating coronavirus infections.

“The antiviral properties of neem bark extract offer a new premise for restricting viral spread, replication and fusion. Our studies can guide new antiviral therapeutic efforts to combat the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and hold promise for treating the future emergence of new coronavirus strains,” the authors wrote.

The article can be found at: Sarkar et al. (2022) Azadirachta indica A. Juss bark extract and it....

Part 3

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5 Signs of a Dark Empath - The Most Dangerous Personality Type

There Are 'Secret' Tunnels Connecting Your Skull And The Brain

Did you know you have tiny tunnels in your head? That's OK, no one else did either until recently! But that's exactly what a team of medical researchers confirmed in mice and humans in 2018 – tiny channels that connect skull bone marrow to the lining of the brain.

The research shows they may provide a direct route for immune cells to rush from the marrow into the brain in the event of damage.

Previously, scientists had thought immune cells were transported via the bloodstream from other parts of the body to deal with brain inflammation following a stroke, injury, or brain disorder.

This discovery suggests these cells have had a shortcut all along.

The tiny tunnels were uncovered when a team of researchers set out to learn whether immune cells delivered to the brain following a stroke or meningitis originated from the skull, or the larger of the two bones in the shin – the tibia.

The specific immune cells they followed were neutrophils, the "first responders" of the immune squad. When something goes awry, these are among the first cells the body sends to the site to help mitigate whatever is causing the inflammation.

The team developed a technique to tag cells with fluorescent membrane dyes that act as cell trackers. They treated these cells with the dyes, and injected them into bone marrow sites in mice. Red-tagged cells were injected into the skull, and green-tagged cells into the tibia.

Part 1

Once the cells had settled in, the researchers induced several models of acute inflammation, including stroke and chemically induced meningoencephalitis.

They found that the skull contributed significantly more neutrophils to the brain in the event of stroke and meningitis than the tibia. But that raised a new question – how were the neutrophils being delivered?

Unexpectedly scientists discovered tiny channels that connected the marrow directly with the outer lining of the brain!

Using organ-bath microscopy – which uses a chamber full of solution to maintain the integrity of the isolated tissue while it is being examined – the team imaged the inner surface of a mouse's skull. There, they found microscopic vascular channels directly connecting the skull marrow with the dura, the protective membrane that encases the brain.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-018-0213-2

Part 2

Researchers discover new form of ice

 Researchers have discovered a new form of ice, redefining the properties of water at high pressures.

Solid water, or ice, is like many other materials in that it can form different solid materials based on variable temperature and pressure conditions, like carbon forming diamond or graphite. However, water is exceptional in this aspect as there are at least 20 solid forms of ice known to us.

A team of scientists  pioneered a new method for measuring the properties of water under high pressure. The water sample was first squeezed between the tips of two opposite-facing diamonds—freezing into several jumbled ice crystals. The ice was then subjected to a laser-heating technique that temporarily melted it before it quickly re-formed into a powder-like collection of tiny crystals.

By incrementally raising the pressure, and periodically blasting it with the laser beam, the team observed the water ice make the transition from a known cubic phase, Ice-VII, to the newly discovered intermediate, and tetragonal, phase, Ice-VIIt, before settling into another known phase, Ice-X.

the transition to Ice-X, when water stiffens aggressively, occurs at much lower pressures than previously thought.

While it's unlikely we'll find this new phase of ice anywhere on the surface of Earth, it is likely a common ingredient within the mantle of Earth as well as in large moons and water-rich planets outside of our solar system.

Zachary M. Grande et al, Pressure-driven symmetry transitions in dense H2O ice, Physical Review B (2022). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.105.104109

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-ice.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_...

Scientists discover a new kind of cell death linked to copper

Copper is an essential element of life from bacteria and fungi to plants and animals. In humans, it binds to enzymes to help blood clot, hormones mature, and cells process energy. But too much copper kills cells—and now scientists have figured out how.

Copper is a double-edged sword: too little and cells can't survive. But too much, and cells die.

Researchers have uncovered a new form of cell death that is induced by copper.

found that copper binds to specialized proteins, causing them to form harmful clumps, and also interferes with the function of other essential proteins. Cells go into a state of toxic stress and ultimately die.

By shedding light on key components of this process, the research also identified which cells are particularly vulnerable to copper-induced death. The findings could help researchers better understand diseases in which copper is dysregulated, and could even inform the development of new cancer treatments. 

 Peter Tsvetkov et al, Copper induces cell death by targeting lipoylated TCA cycle proteins, Science (2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.abf0529

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-scientists-kind-cell-death-linked.htm...

Sponges, not just their microbes, make biologically potent compounds

Marine sponges are incredible sources of structurally diverse and biologically active natural products. The development of secondary metabolites isolated from sponges into FDA approved drugs is well precedented, with representative examples such as the antiviral nucleoside, vidarabine, and the potent anticancer drug, eribulin mesylate, used in treatment of late-stage, metastatic breast cancer. Despite these success stories, the pharmaceutical industry has largely abandoned efforts to identify bioactive compounds from sponges due to challenges associated with the sustainable sourcing of raw material for extraction, chemical modification of intricate architectures, and overall lack of precedent regarding how sponges assemble these secondary metabolites. The San Diego intertidal and subtidal zones are home to an incredibly rich taxonomic diversity of sponges, presenting a unique opportunity to apply modern genomic and metabolomic approaches to identify new, bioactive scaffolds and decrypt their biosynthetic origin. We profiled over 20 species of sponges local to San Diego using classical and feature-based molecular networking, as well as examined the variation of microbial symbionts across phyla using culture-dependent and independent methods. Our access to fresh, local samples enabled our identification of a variety of novel, bioactive compounds and glean new insights into their genetic origin and environmental role in host-microbe interactions.

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/945819

Link between high cholesterol and heart disease 'inconsistent', new study finds

New research from RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences has revealed that the link between 'bad' cholesterol (LDL-C) and poor health outcomes, such as heart attack and stroke, may not be as strong as previously thought.

Published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the research questions the efficacy of statins when prescribed with the aim of lowering LDL-C and therefore reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Previous research has suggested that using statins to lower LDL-C positively affects health outcomes, and this is reflected in the various iterations of expert guidelines for the prevention of CVD. Statins are now commonly prescribed by doctors, with one third of Irish adults over the age of 50 taking statins, according to previous research.

The new findings contradict this theory, finding that this relationship was not as strong as previously thought. Instead, the research demonstrates that lowering LDL-C using statins had an inconsistent and inconclusive impact on CVD outcomes such as myocardial infarction (MI), stoke, and all-cause mortality. 

In addition, it indicates that the overall benefit of taking statins may be small and will vary depending on an individual's personal risk factors.

Part 1

The lead author on the paper is Dr. Paula Byrne from the HRB Centre for Primary Care Research based in RCSI's Department of General Practice. Commenting on the findings, Dr. Byrne says that "the message has long been that lowering your cholesterol will reduce your risk of heart disease, and that statins help to achieve this. However, our research indicates that, in reality, the benefits of taking statins are varied and can be quite modest."

The researchers go on to suggest that this updated information should be communicated to patients through informed clinical decision-making and updated clinical guidelines and policy.

This important discovery was a collaboration with Professor Susan M Smith, also of RCSI and with researchers from the University of New Mexico, USA, (Dr. Robert DuBroff), the Institute for Scientific Freedom in Denmark (Dr. Maryanne Demasi), Bond University in Australia (Dr. Mark Jones) and independent researcher Dr. Kirsty O'Brien.

Evaluating the Association Between Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Reduction and Relative and Absolute Effects of Statin Treatment, JAMA Internal Medicine (2022). DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2022.0134

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-03-link-high-cholesterol-heart-...

Part 2

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Smoke from major wildfires destroys the ozone layer, study shows

 A new study shows that smoke from wildfires destroys the ozone layer. Researchers caution that if major fires become more frequent with a changing climate, more damaging ultraviolet radiation from the sun will reach the ground.

Atmospheric chemists found that smoke from the Australian wildfires of 2019 and 2020 destroyed atmospheric ozone in the Southern Hemisphere for months. The ozone shield is a part of the stratosphere layer of the Earth's atmosphere that absorbs UV rays from the sun.

The researchers used data from the Canadian Space Agency's Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) satellite to measure the effects of smoke particles in the stratosphere. The results appear in the journal Science.

The Australian fires injected acidic smoke particles into the stratosphere, disrupting the chlorine, hydrogen and nitrogen chemistry that regulate ozone. This is the first large measurement of the smoke, which shows it converting these ozone-regulating compounds into more reactive compounds that destroy ozone.

Similar to the holes over polar regions, this damage is a temporary effect, and the ozone levels returned to pre-wildfire levels once the smoke disappeared from the stratosphere. But an increase in the prevalence of wildfires would mean the destruction happens more often.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abm5611

How to clean solar panels without water

Scientists discover how molecule becomes anticancer weapon

Years of toil in the laboratory have revealed how a marine bacterium makes a potent anti-cancer molecule.

The anti-cancer molecule salinosporamide A, also called Marizomb, is in Phase III clinical trials  to treat glioblastoma, a brain cancer. Scientists now for the first time understand the enzyme-driven process that activates the molecule.

Researchers found that an enzyme called SalC assembles what the they call the salinosporamide anti-cancer "warhead." 

The work solves a nearly 20-year riddle about how the marine bacterium makes the warhead that is unique to the salinosporamide molecule and opens the door to future biotechnology to manufacture new anti-cancer agents.

Now that scientists understand how this enzyme makes the salinosporamide A warhead, that discovery could be used in the future to use enzymes to produce other types of salinosporamides that could attack not only cancer but diseases of the immune system and infections caused by parasites.

 Bradley Moore, Enzymatic assembly of the salinosporamide γ-lactam-β-lactone anticancer warhead, Nature Chemical Biology (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41589-022-00993-w. www.nature.com/articles/s41589-022-00993-w

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-scientists-molecule-anticancer-weapon...

Microbial communities where cells cooperate have increased drug tolerance

New research  has revealed a key mechanism which increases tolerance to drugs amongst microbial communities. The findings could help the development of more effective antifungal treatments.

Antimicrobial drug resistance and tolerance occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites no longer respond, or have less sensitivity, to treatments. It is a major issue within medicine, for example, invasive fungal infections are responsible for 1.6 million deaths annually.

Around the world, more people die each year from invasive fungal species than from malaria. There are currently only three classes of antifungal drugs in clinical use and in an increasing number of cases, these antifungals fail. Understanding the mechanisms which increase or decrease the chance of a drug working is crucial to aid the developments of new treatments.
Part 1

In their study, published in Nature Microbiology today, the scientists analyzed data from 12,000 microbial communities from all over the world, provided by the Earth Microbiome Project.

Within these groups of different microorganisms, which live together producing and absorbing materials they all need to survive and grow, the researchers found one type in particular was highly prevalent. Auxotrophs, which are unable to create essential metabolites, like amino acids, vitamins or fatty acids, were present in 99.95% of the 12,538 communities they studied.

The widespread nature of auxotrophs has been considered a paradox, a fundamental problem in our understanding of microbiology. This is because they must absorb metabolites from the environment and so they have been thought of as weaker than other cells which can create these chemical compounds themselves. They have been seen as scrounger cells, a drain on communal resources.

By analyzing drug exposure data from the project, the scientists found that communities with auxotrophs are more likely to have tolerance against hundreds of drugs, than communities without these cells. Moreover, the research showed that they are not scrounger cells, but rather cooperative partners as, in exchange for taking up metabolites that are essential for them, they return other metabolites to the community.

Further experiments using a yeast model showed that this increased tolerance is because cells that cooperate in metabolism, have increased levels of metabolic export, the movement of metabolites out of cells. As a side-effect, this also causes drugs to be moved out of cells at a higher rate.

Part 2

This work solves a paradox around auxotroph success by revealing how auxotrophs are very valuable to their communities. They increase the metabolic interactions within the communities, and by doing so, increase the tolerance to drugs. Additionally, the increase in metabolic flow also leads to an enrichment of the shared environment, with more supplies available that can be used for growth and survival.

Mohammad Alam, Microbial communities form rich extracellular metabolomes that foster metabolic interactions and promote drug tolerance, Nature Microbiology (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41564-022-01072-5. www.nature.com/articles/s41564-022-01072-5

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-microbial-cells-cooperate-drug-tolera...

Part 3

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Effectiveness of antibiotics significantly reduced when multiple bugs present

A study has found that much higher doses of antibiotics are needed to eliminate a bacterial infection of the airways when other microbes are present. It helps explain why respiratory infections often persist in people with lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis despite treatment.

According to this study, even a low level of one type of microbe in the airways can have a profound effect on the way other microbes respond to antibiotics. 

The results highlight the need to consider the interaction between different species of microbe when treating infections with antibiotics—and to adjust dosage accordingly.

Thomas James O'Brien et al, Decreased efficacy of antimicrobial agents in a polymicrobial environment, The ISME Journal (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41396-022-01218-7

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-effectiveness-antibiotics-significant...

You Don't Actually Know How Water Works

Researchers store a quantum bit for a record-breaking 20 milliseconds

Computers, smartphones, GPS: quantum physics has enabled many technological advances. It is now opening up new fields of research in cryptography (the art of coding messages) with the aim of developing ultra-secure telecommunications networks. There is one obstacle, however: after a few hundred kilometers within an optical fiber, the photons that carry the qubits or "quantum bits" (the information) disappear. They therefore need "repeaters," a kind of "relay," which are partly based on a quantum memory. By managing to store a qubit in a crystal (a "memory") for 20 milliseconds, a research team  has set a world record and taken a major step towards the development of long-distance quantum telecommunications networks. This research can be found in the journal npj Quantum Information.

Antonio Ortu et al, Storage of photonic time-bin qubits for up to 20 ms in a rare-earth doped crystal, npj Quantum Information (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41534-022-00541-3

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-quantum-bit-fora-record-breaking-mill...

New Lightweight Coating to Reduce Wood Flammability

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-wooden-materials-fire-resistant-eco-f...

These countries have the most polluted air in the world, new report says

Not a single country met the World Health Organization's quality for air in 2021, a new study suggested. And consequently, millions are breathing polluted air that does not satisfy WHO health guidelines, according to the report that analyzed real-time air quality of 6,475 cities.

Bangladesh was the most polluted country, while New Delhi, India, is the world's most polluted capital. The countries with the worst air pollution were India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, all exceeding WHO guidelines by 10 times.

Air pollution is considered the largest environmental threat, leading to 7 million deaths per year and other respiratory problems such as asthma and lung cancer

The top 10 best air quality countries or regions

1. New Caledonia
2. U.S Virgin Islands
3. Puerto Rico
4. Cape Verde
5. Saba
6. Finland
7. Grenada
8. Bahamas
9. Australia
10. Estonia

The top 10 worst air quality countries or regions

1. Bangladesh
2. Chad
3. Pakistan
4. Tajikistan
5. India
6. Oman
7. Kyrgyzstan
8. Bahrain
9. Iraq
10. Nepal

Source: Various News Agencies

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-countries-polluted-air-world.html?utm...

Research:humans have given wild animals their diseases nearly 100 times

An international research team has found that humans might give viruses back to animals more often than previously understood.

In a study published March 22 in Ecology Letters ("Assessing the risk of human-to-wildlife pathogen transmission for conservation and public health"), the authors describe nearly one hundred different cases where diseases have undergone "spillback" from humans back into wild animals, much like how SARS-CoV-2 has been able to spread in mink farms, zoo lions and tigers, and wild white-tailed deer.

In their new study, Albery and colleagues found that almost half of the incidents identified occurred in captive settings like zoos, where veterinarians keep a close eye on animals' health and are more likely to notice when a virus makes the jump. Additionally, more than half of cases they found were human-to-primate transmission, an unsurprising result both because pathogens find it easier to jump between closely-related hosts, and because wild populations of endangered great apes are so carefully monitored.

Disease spillback has recently attracted substantial attention due to the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in wild white-tailed deer in the United States and Canada. Some data suggest that deer have given the virus back to humans in at least one case, and many scientists have expressed broader concerns that new animal reservoirs might give the virus extra chances to evolve new variants.

Assessing the risk of human-to-wildlife pathogen transmission for conservation and public health, Ecology Letters (2022).

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-humans-wild-animals-diseases.html?utm...

Hidden land subsidence crisis in Delhi unveiled using satellite data

Using satellite data, researchers have found that around 100 sq km in and around Delhi has high risk of land subsidence. Groundwater extraction is causing parts of the city to sink, with the largest area experiencing subsidence just 800m away from Delhi international airport.

Land subsidence is a severe often overlooked geological hazard and is a widespread global problem. It can be attributed to underground extraction of minerals, oil, gas and water, as well as natural events such as soil compaction, earthquake, and loess deposits. According to U.S. Geological Survey, more than 80% of land subsidence across the world is caused due to excessive groundwater extraction. When water is extracted from aquifers, the clay between pockets of water collapse gradually, leading to land subsidence.

A study titled "Tracking hidden crisis in India's capital from space: implications of unsustainable groundwater use," published in Scientific Reports co-authored by researchers from IIT Bombay, German Research Centre for Geosciences, University of Cambridge and the Southern Methodist University US have found that the rate of land subsidence near Delhi airport is accelerating rapidly.

During the years 2014–2016, the subsidence was found to be approximately 11cm/year which rose significantly by almost 50% over the next two years to around 17cm/year. The trend remained almost the same during 2018–2019, the study found.

The airport requires stable ground because of the risk of major disruption if there's significant ground movement," Garg said. "Kuala Lumpur airport is an example to understand the implications of land subsidence where cracks on taxiways, and water-logging emerged due to soil settlement. Continuous monitoring of Delhi International airport and its connecting roads is therefore crucial."

The growing population expansion and urbanization require an enormous amount of water to fulfill the demand. There is a huge gap of 750 million liters a day between the demand and the supply. Millions of residents do not have access to a piped water supply and rely on groundwater for their daily needs. In some places, the water depth is as high as 120m below ground level. The groundwater shortage is further complicated by Delhi's unchecked urbanization, which is disrupting the rejuvenation of the city's aquifers. Concrete and other infrastructure have overtaken the city, blocking rainwater from absorbing into the ground.

Part 1

Despite its slow pace, land subsidence is known to cause losses worth billions of dollars all over the world due to damage to infrastructure, roads, pavements, and underground utilities such as drainage systems, aggravated flood risks and more frequent water-logging.

 Shagun Garg, Mahdi Motagh, J. Indu and Vamshi Karanam, Tracking hidden crisis in India's capital from space: implications of unsustainable groundwater use, Scientific Reports (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-04193-9

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-hidden-subsidence-crisis-india-capita...

Part 2

Why flush toilets are wasteful 

 Flies can be used to detect use of chemical weapons, other pollutants

Researchers  have found that blow flies can be used as chemical sensors, with a particular focus on the detection of chemical warfare agents.

Despite widespread bans, it is alleged that chemical have been deployed in some of the recent conflicts.

A new study shows that blow flies could be used as a safer alternative for investigating the use of these weapons—as well as other chemicals in the environment—keeping humans out of potentially dangerous situations.

The work appears in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

Blow flies are ubiquitous, and they are very adept at sampling the environment around us. They will fly through the environment, taste it, and that information will be stored in their guts. Through a series of experiments, researchers  were able to look at how different environmental factors would impact their detection of chemical weapon simulants.

A mass spectrometer can be used to determine what chemicals were in the blow flies' guts after they fly through a dangerous environment.

While chemical warfare agents do not persist for long in the environment, the researchers found they're preserved well enough in the fly's guts for chemical analysis. They also were able to detect the chemical warfare agent simulants up to 14 days after a fly's initial exposure—illustrating a safer alternative for the collection of samples, without risking human lives.

Sarah N. Dowling et al, Insects as Chemical Sensors: Detection of Chemical Warfare Agent Simulants and Hydrolysis Products in the Blow Fly Using LC-MS/MS, Environ. Sci. Technol. (2022). doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c07381

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-flies-chemical-weapons-pollutants.htm...

Study: Sickle Cell Mutation Driven by Pressure, Not Random Chance

New research finds that the appearance of the HbS mutation, which protects against malaria but leads to sickle cell disease when present in two copies, was more common in sperm samples from men in Ghana, where malaria risk is high, than Europeans.

New research challenges the overarching assumption that genetic mutations occur randomly and are then either kept or discarded by natural selection. In the study, published January 14 in Genome Research, scientists found that the rate of a specific mutation with important health implications is nonrandom, occurring more or less often in different populations that have experienced specific environmental pressures over the course of generations.

analyzed tens to hundreds of millions of sperm cells from each of seven donors from Ghana and four from Europe, comparing how often mutations occurred in regions of two hemoglobin subunit genes in each group. They found that the hemoglobin S (HbS) mutation of the hemoglobin subunit beta (HBB) gene, which is known to protect against malaria but causes sickle cell disease when two copies are present, occurred more often in samples from the African cohort than the European one, while mutations to the similar and nearby gene for the delta subunit, which isn’t protective against malaria, did not.

Because the study focused on sperm samples, which are equivalent to a single generation, natural selection and genetic drift had no influence on the prevalence of mutations.  And given the medical importance of the mutation exhibiting increased occurrence in the African cohort, the results raise a fundamental challenge to the notion of random mutation.

These  differences in mutation rates can be occurring down to very fine resolution, that they can differ between populations, and that could help explain evolutionary processes like adaptation to disease.

However, Other researchers in the field aren’t entirely convinced by the study’s big-picture conclusions about the nature of evolution, though they were impressed by the technological advancement it represents.

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/study-sickle-cell-mutati...

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New study reveals why HIV remains in human tissue even after antiretroviral therapy

Thanks to antiretroviral therapy, HIV infection is no longer the life sentence it once was. But despite the effectiveness of drugs to manage and treat the virus, it can never be fully eliminated from the human body, lingering in some cells deep in different human tissues where it goes unnoticed by the immune system.

Now, new research  reveals a possible answer to the mystery of why infected people can't get rid of HIV altogether. 

The study found that in HIV patients, killer T cells—a type of white blood cells responsible for identifying and destroying cells infected with viruses—have very little to none of a protein called CD73.

Because CD73 is responsible for migration and cell movement into the tissue, the lack of the protein compromises the ability of killer T cells to find and eliminate HIV-infected cells. This mechanism explains one potential reason for why HIV stays in human tissues forever.

Following extensive studies, researchers discovered that chronic inflammation results in increased levels of a type of RNA found in cells and in blood, called microRNAs. These are very small types of RNA that can bind to messenger RNAs to block them from making CD73 protein. It was  found that this was causing the CD73 gene to be suppressed.

The team's discovery also helps explain why people with HIV have a lower risk of developing multiple sclerosis,

This provides us the opportunity to come up with potential new treatments that would help killer T cells migrate better to gain access to the infected cells in different tissues.

Shima Shahbaz et al, Elevated ATP via enhanced miRNA-30b, 30c, and 30e downregulates the expression of CD73 in CD8+ T cells of HIV-infected individuals, PLOS Pathogens (2022). DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1010378

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-03-reveals-hiv-human-tissue-ant...

New technique transplants mitochondria from one living cell to another

In a technological breakthrough, researchers  have announced the development of a new technique that can transplant mitochondria—the tiny powerhouses of the cell—from one living cell to another with unparalleled efficiency.

Just as the human body can be divided into different organs—such as the heart, lungs, kidneys, intestine or liver—our cells also consist of several complementary and interdependent systems. These are referred to as organelles, meaning small organs. And much as we are sometimes able to add several decades to the life of a patient with kidney disease by transplanting a healthy kidney, we may one day also be able to rejuvenate individual cells by transplanting cell components.

New findings  suggest that it has now reached the point of technical feasibility. In their research, recently published in the journal PLOS Biology, the researchers successfully used a "nanosyringe" they had previously developed to transplant mitochondria from one living cell to another.

Using cylindrical nanosyringes that were specially developed for this study, the researchers pierced the cell membrane and sucked up the spherical mitochondria. They then pierced the membrane of a different cell and pumped the mitochondria back out of the nanosyringe into the recipient cell.

The position of the nanosyringe is controlled by laser light from a converted atomic force microscope. A pressure regulator adjusts the flow, allowing scientists to transfer incredibly small volumes of fluid in the femtolitre range (millionths of a millionth of a milliliter) during organelle transplants. "Both the donor and acceptor cells survive this minimally invasive procedure.

The transplanted mitochondria also have a high survival rate—more than 80 percent. In most cells, the injected mitochondria begin to fuse with the filamentous network of the new cell 20 minutes after transplantation. The host cell accepts them. This holds true in most cases, though in a few cells they fall victim to the host cell's quality control system and are degraded.

 It is conceivable that it could be used to rejuvenate stem cells, which exhibit a decline in metabolic activity as they age. 

Christoph G. Gäbelein et al, Mitochondria transplantation between living cells, PLOS Biology (2022). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001576

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-technique-transplants-mitochondria-ce...

Scientists find microplastics in blood for first time

Scientists have discovered microplastics in human blood for the first time, warning that the ubiquitous particles could also be making their way into organs.

The tiny pieces of mostly invisible plastic have already been found almost everywhere else on Earth, from the deepest oceans to the highest mountains as well as in the air, soil and food chain.

A Dutch study published in the Environment International journal on Thursday examined blood samples from 22 anonymous, healthy volunteers and found microplastics in nearly 80 percent of them.

Half of the blood samples showed traces of PET plastic, widely used to make drink bottles, while more than a third had polystyrene, used for disposable food containers and many other products.

This is the first time scientists have actually been able to detect and quantify such microplastics in human blood.

This is proof that we have plastics in our body—and we shouldn't. It impacts our health.

The study said the microplastics could have entered the body by many routes: via air, water or food, but also in products such as particular toothpastes, lip glosses and tattoo ink.

Heather A. Leslie et al, Discovery and quantification of plastic particle pollution in human blood, Environment International (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107199

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-scientists-microplastics-blood.html?u...

TB antibiotic activity impacted by cell pH

Researchers have shown that an antibiotic used to treat tuberculosis (TB) is affected by pH levels in the environment the bacteria has infected.

On infection with TB, the bacteria enter into a type of immune cell, called macrophages. One of the defense mechanisms these cells use is creating an acidic environment to kill the infecting agent.

In their study, published in mBio on World TB Day (24 March), the researchers developed a fluorescence-based imaging technique to study the effects of this acidic environment on both the bacteria and antibiotics. Using this approach, they were able to monitor, in real-time, the effects of changes in pH levels.

By experimentally changing pH levels in infected cells, they found that TB is able to maintain and regulate its own pH independently of the pH of the macrophage, providing a defense against the immune system.

The researchers then tested whether four front-line TB antibiotic treatments are affected by different acidity levels. They found that one antibiotic often used as part of the TB treatment regime, pyrazinamide, is only effective within an acidic environment.

Pierre Santucci et al, Visualizing Pyrazinamide Action by Live Single-Cell Imaging of Phagosome Acidification and Mycobacterium tuberculosis pH Homeostasis, mBio (2022). DOI: 10.1128/mbio.00117-22

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-tb-antibiotic-impacted-cell-ph.html?u...

How the gut communicates with the brain

New research has discovered how the enteric nervous system -- or 'second brain' -- can communicate with both the brain and spinal cord, which up until now had remained a major mystery. The study found specialized cells within the gut wall release serotonin when stimulated by food, which then acts on the nerves to communicate with the brain. The authors say as there is a direct connection between serotonin levels in our body and depression and how we feel, understanding how the gut communicates with the brain is of major importance.

Kelsi Nicole Dodds, Lee Travis, Melinda A. Kyloh, Lauren A Jones, Damien John Keating, Nick J Spencer. The gut-brain axis: spatial relationship between spinal afferent nerves and 5-HT-containing enterochromaffin cells in mucosa of mouse colon. American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, 2022; DOI: 10.1152/ajpgi.00019.2022

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220323130316.htm

Young Man Has 'Excessive' Skin Wrinkling From Water in Incredibly Rare Medical Case

A man in his 20s developed "excessive wrinkling"; bright, white bumps; and patches of thick skin on his hands whenever he immersed them in water. Doctors initially thought the condition might be a symptom of chronic eczema, but they later determined that the wrinkling was caused by a rare skin disease, according to a new report of his case.  

The disease, known as aquagenic syringeal acrokeratoderma (ASA), mostly occurs in young women, according to the report, which was published Wednesday (March 23) in the journal JAMA Dermatology.

It's also fairly common in people with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that affects hormone-producing glands in the body and causes mucus-producing organs to produce abnormally thick, sticky mucus, according to the Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center (GARD). 

People with cystic fibrosis carry two defective copies of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene, but even people who have just one copy of this gene and who don't have cystic fibrosis are prone to the condition, which hints that ASA may be partially caused by a genetic mutation.

That said, the exact cause of ASA is unknown, but theories suggest that the condition may have something to do with abnormal sweat glands, according to GARD.

In the case of the young man with wrinkly hands, he reported to the dermatology department at The First Hospital of China Medical University in Shenyang after having experienced this condition for three years. The skin of his hands would become thick, swollen, wrinkly and scaly after being in water, and these changes would be accompanied by an itchy, burning sensation.

Although the ASA symptoms initially affected only his hands, the man noted that, in the past year and a half or so, the condition had also spread to his wrists and elbows.

"He attributed these changes to the need for washing hands frequently in the period of the COVID-19 epidemic," doctors wrote in the report. Upon closer examination, the doctors determined that the sweat glands and pores on the man's hands would become unusually large and dilated after exposure to water.

Part 1

"The patient's clinical process was quite interesting," the authors of the new report wrote. "The lesions only appeared after immersion in water, disappeared about 30 minutes after drying, and no lesions occurred with the absence of water contact."

These short-lived symptoms are a telltale sign of ASA known as "hand in the bucket sign."

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

https://www.livescience.com/excessive-wrinkling-young-man-case-report

Part 2

**

New Kind of Ultraviolet Light Safely Kills Airborne Pathogens Indoors

A type of ultraviolet light called Far-UVC could dramatically change how we combat the transmission of airborne pathogens in indoor environments, scientists report in a new study.

Researchers say the technology represents a new 'hands off' way of curbing the spread of COVID-19, compared to existing control measures that involve significant changes in people's behavior – such as abiding by lockdowns, physical distancing, mask-wearing, or getting vaccinated.

In contrast to the challenges of these effective but often unpopular measures, installing Far-UVC lighting in indoor environments could be about as easy as changing a light bulb, scientists say – and the effectiveness of the device's antimicrobial radiation is no less impressive.

"Far-UVC rapidly reduces the amount of active microbes in the indoor air to almost zero, making indoor air essentially as safe as outdoor air.

While the germicidal properties of ultraviolet C light (UVC) have been known for decades, the radiation's ability to cause sunburn, skin cancer, and harm people's eyes have led to strict controls on its usage, with UVC mostly limited to sterilizing medical equipment.

However, in more recent times, research into shorter-wavelength Far-UVC emitters (aka Krypton Chloride or KrCl excimer lamps) suggests that this subset of the UVC spectrum doesn't pose safety risks to mouse or human skin cells, while retaining the ability to kill airborne pathogens.

According to the team, the Far-UVC lamps reduced up to 98.4 percent of the pathogen load in a matter of minutes, and maintained an ambient level of 92 percent reduction . Using this technology in locations where people gather together indoors could prevent the next potential pandemic.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-08462-z

https://www.sciencealert.com/new-kind-of-ultraviolet-light-safely-k...

Study shows advances in street lighting are reducing the efficacy of coastal species' camouflage

Species that rely on darkness to forage and feed are losing the gift of camouflage thanks to advances in the lighting used to illuminate the world's cities and coastlines, a study has shown.

It is one of the first to examine the potential for artificial light at night (ALAN) to affect the camouflage mechanisms of coastal species.

The worldwide proliferation of energy efficient broad spectrum lighting has the potential to disrupt an array of visually guided ecological processes.

New research has demonstrated that these new lighting technologies can significantly improve a predator's ability to discriminate prey species against a natural background.

The magnitude of this effect varies depending on an organism's color, meaning certain color variations may be at greater risk.

For this study, scientists used a well-established model to determine the conspicuousness of three distinct color morphs of Littorinid snail found commonly along the world's coastlines.

They compared how the species appeared to three common coastal predators when illuminated by different forms of lighting. This included 20th century narrow spectrum Low Pressure Sodium (LPS) lighting, three types of modern broad spectrum lighting—High Pressure Sodium (HPS); Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs); and Metal Halide (MH) – and the natural light provided by the sun and moon.

Under LPS lighting, all snails were effectively camouflaged. However, when illuminated by LEDs, MH, the sun or the moon, yellow snails were significantly more visible compared to brown and olive ones in the majority of cases.

This study clearly indicates that new lighting technologies will increase the conspicuousness of prey species by reducing the efficacy of their camouflage. Our findings revealed that species of Littorinid snails found commonly on our coastlines will remain camouflaged when illuminated by older style lighting. However, when illuminated by modern broad spectrum lighting, they are clearly visible to predators and at far greater long-term risk as a result.

Oak McMahon et al, Broad spectrum artificial light at night increases the conspicuousness of camouflaged prey, Journal of Applied Ecology (2022). DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.14146

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-advances-street-efficacy-coastal-spec...

New technology could make biopsies a thing of the past

An engineering team has developed a technology that could replace conventional biopsies and histology with real-time imaging within the living body. Described in a new paper published recently in Nature Biomedical Engineering, MediSCAPE is a high-speed 3D microscope capable of capturing images of tissue structures that could guide surgeons to navigate tumors and their boundaries without needing to remove tissues and wait for pathology results.

For many medical procedures, particularly cancer surgery and screening, it is common for doctors to take a biopsy, cutting out small pieces of tissue to be able to take a closer look at them with a microscope. The way that biopsy samples are processed hasn't changed in 100 years, they are cut out, fixed, embedded, sliced, stained with dyes, positioned on a glass slide, and viewed by a pathologist using a simple microscope. This is why it can take days to hear news back about your diagnosis after a biopsy.

Another major benefit of the approach is that cutting tissue out, just to figure out what it is, is a hard decision for doctors, especially for precious tissues such as the brain, spinal cord, nerves, the eye, and areas of the face. Although some microscopes for surgical guidance are already available, they only give doctors an image of a small, single 2D plane, making it difficult to quickly survey larger areas of tissue and interpret results. These microscopes also generally require a fluorescent dye to be injected into the patient, which takes time and can limit their use for certain patients.

Researchers have been developing new kinds of microscopes for neuroscience research that can capture very fast 3D images of living samples like tiny worms, fish, and flies to see how neurons throughout their brains and bodies fire when they move. Now they decided to test whether their technology, termed SCAPE (for Swept Confocally Aligned Planar Excitation microscopy) could see anything useful in tissues from other parts of the body.

The researchers demonstrated the power of MediSCAPE for a wide range of applications, from analysis of pancreatic cancer in a mouse, to Coley's interest in non-destructive, rapid evaluation of human transplant organs such as kidneys.

They also realized that by imaging tissues while they are alive in the body, they could get even more information than from lifeless excised biopsies. They found that they could actually visualize blood flow through tissues, and see the cellular-level effects of ischemia and reperfusion (cutting off the blood supply to the kidney and then letting it flow back in).

High-speed light-sheet microscopy for the in-situ acquisition of volumetric histological images of living tissue, Nature Biomedical Engineering (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41551-022-00849-7

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-03-technology-biopsies.html?utm...

Deleting a protein might reduce cardiovascular disease

Macrophages travel through our arteries, gobbling fat . But fat-filled macrophages can narrow blood vessels and cause heart disease. Now, researchers describe in Nature Cardiovascular Research how deleting a protein could prevent this and potentially prevent heart attacks and strokes in humans.

Macrophages are large white blood cells that cruise through our body as a kind of clean-up crew, clearing hazardous debris. But in people with atherosclerosis—fatty deposits and inflammation in their blood vessels— macrophages can cause trouble. They eat excess fat inside artery walls, but that fat causes them to become foamy. And foamy macrophages tend to encourage inflammation in the arteries and sometimes bust apart plaques, freeing clots that can cause heart attack, stroke or embolisms elsewhere in the body.

Changing how macrophages express a certain protein could prevent that kind of bad behaviour, reports a team of researchers.

They found that the protein, called TRPM2, is activated by inflammation. It signals macrophages to start eating fat. Since inflammation of the blood vessels is one of the primary causes of atherosclerosis, TRPM2 gets activated quite a bit. All that TRPM2 activation pushes macrophage activity, which leads to more foamy macrophages and potentially more inflamed arteries. They form a vicious cycle promoting the development of atherosclerosis. 

Researchers now demonstrated one way to stop the cycle, at least in mice. They deleted TRPM2 from a type of lab mouse that tends to get atherosclerosis. Deleting that protein didn't seem to hurt the mice, and it prevented the macrophages from getting foamy. It also alleviated the animals' atherosclerosis.

The team is now looking at whether increased TRPM2 expression in monocytes (precursors of macrophages) in the blood correlates with severity of cardiovascular disease in humans. If they find that there is a correlation, high levels of TRPM2 might be a risk marker for heart attack and stroke.

TRPM2 deficiency in mice protects against atherosclerosis by inhibiting TRPM2–CD36 inflammatory axis in macrophages, Nature Cardiovascular Research, 2022. 10.1038/s44161-022-00027-7 , www.nature.com/articles/s44161-022-00027-7

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-03-deleting-protein-cardiovascu...

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New method for making tissue transparent could speed the study of many diseases

Scientists have unveiled a new tissue-clearing method for rendering large biological samples transparent. The method makes it easier than ever for scientists to visualize and study healthy and disease-related biological processes occurring across multiple organ systems.

Described in a paper in Nature Methods on March 28, 2022, and dubbed HYBRiD, the new method combines elements of the two main prior approaches to tissue-clearing technology, and should be more practical and scalable than either for large-sample applications.

This is a simple and universal tissue-clearing technique for studies of large body parts or even entire animals.

Tissue-clearing involves the use of solvents to remove molecules that make tissue opaque (such as fat), rendering the tissue optically transparent—while keeping most proteins and structures in place. Scientists commonly use genetically encoded or antibody-linked fluorescent beacons to mark active genes or other molecules of interest in a lab animal, and tissue-clearing in principle allows these beacons to be imaged all at once across the entire animal.

Scientists started developing tissue-clearing methods about 15 years ago, mainly for the purpose of tracing nerve connections within whole brains. While the methods work well for brains, they don't work so well when applied to other body parts or whole bodies, which contain harder-to-dissolve structures.

These methods until now have used either organic solvents or water-based solvents. The former generally work more quickly and powerfully but tend to diminish fluorescent signals. Methods using water-based solvents are better at preserving fluorescence but are impractically weak for clearing non-brain tissue. In addition, both types of method require burdensome, labor-intensive procedures, often using hazardous chemicals.

"An ordinary lab generally can't use these methods routinely and at scale

Part 1

The new method devised now  uses a sequential combination of organic solvents and water-based detergents, and makes use of water-based hydrogels to protect those molecules within the tissue that need to be preserved. It often does not require the pumping of solvents through the sample.In many cases, you can just put the whole thing in a jar and keep it in a shaker on your benchtop until it's done.

Victoria Nudell et al, HYBRiD: hydrogel-reinforced DISCO for clearing mammalian bodies, Nature Methods (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41592-022-01427-0

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-method-tissue-transparent-diseases.ht...

Part 2

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If this title is funny, will you cite me? Citation impacts of humour and other features of article titles in ecology and evolution

Titles of scientific papers pay a key role in their discovery, and “good” titles engage and recruit readers. A particularly interesting aspect of title construction is the use of humour, but little is known about whether funny titles boost or limit readership and citation of papers. We used a panel of volunteer scorers to assess title humour for 2,439 papers in ecology and evolution, and measured associations between humour scores and subsequent citation (both self-citation and citation by others). Papers with funnier titles were cited less often, but this appears to result from a confound with paper importance. Self-citation data suggest that authors give funnier titles to papers they consider less important. After correction for this confound, papers with funny titles have significantly higher citation rates, suggesting that humour recruits readers. We also examined associations between citation rates and several other features of titles. Inclusion of acronyms and taxonomic names was associated with lower citation rates, while assertive-statement phrasing and presence of colons, question marks, and political regions were associated with somewhat higher citation rates. Title length had no effect on citation. Our results suggest that scientists can use creativity with titles without having their work condemned to obscurity.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.03.18.484880v1

Hubble spots most distant single star ever seen, at a record distance of 28 billion lightyears

With a fortuitous lineup of a massive cluster of galaxies, astronomers discovered a single star across most of the entire observable Universe. This is the farthest detection of a single star ever. The star may be up to 500 times more massive than the Sun. The discovery has been published recently in the journal Nature.

Gazing at the night sky, all the stars that you see lie within our own galaxy, the Milky Way. Even with the most powerful telescopes, under normal circumstances individual stars can only be resolved in our most nearby galactic neighbors. In general, distant galaxies are seen as the blended light from billions of stars.

But with the marvelous natural phenomenon known as "gravitational lensing," astronomers  were nevertheless able to detect a distance where even detecting entire galaxies is challenging.

Among the wonders predicted by Einstein's theory of relativity is the ability of mass to "curve" space itself. As light passes close to massive objects, its path follows the curved space and changes direction. If a massive object happens to lie between us and a distant background source of light, the object may deflect and focus the light toward us as a lens, magnifying the intensity.

Galaxies magnified several times are routinely discovered by way of this method. But in an astounding cosmic coincidence, the galaxies in a cluster named WHL0137-08 happened to line up in such a way as to focus the light of a single star toward us, magnifying its light thousands of times.

A combination of this gravitational lens and nine hours of exposure time with the Hubble Space Telescope enabled an international team of astronomers to detect the star.

The astronomers nicknamed the star Earendel, from the Old English word meaning "morning star," or "rising light." They calculate that the star it at least 50 times as massive as our Sun, possibly up to 500, and millions of times as bright.

Brian Welch, A highly magnified star at redshift 6.2, Nature (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04449-y. www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04449-y

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-hubble-distant-star-distance-billion....

Oxytocin treatment can take lions from ferocious to friendly

Lions typically aren't keen on making new friends. The giant cats guard their territory fiercely and can mortally wound a foe with a single swipe. While aggression is an advantage for apex predators in the wild, it poses real challenges for lions on reserves or in captivity, a number that is growing due to habitat loss. Researchers working on a wildlife reserve in Dinokeng, South Africa found that an intranasal application of the "love hormone" oxytocin could make lion meet-cutes less life-threatening. Their work appears March 30 in the journal iScience.

By spraying the oxytocin directly up the nose, we know it can travel up the trigeminal nerve and the olfactory nerve straight up into the brain. Otherwise the blood brain barrier could filter it out.

After these treatments researchers observed that the 23 lions who were given oxytocin were more tolerant of other lions in their space and displayed less vigilance towards intruders. 

The hope is that this will translate to animals being relocated in the wild, helping them to become more inclined to their new social environment so they're more curious and less fearful, leading to more successful bonding.

Jessica C. Burkhart, Oxytocin promotes social proximity and decreases vigilance in groups of African lions, iScience (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104049. www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext … 2589-0042(22)00319-4

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-oxytocin-treatment-lions-ferocious-fr...

Concert hall acoustics for non-invasive ultrasound brain treatments