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Category Archives: Mind Building
Children and adolescents ‘account for half of sports A&E attendances’
Football, rugby, trampolining and netball were among the sports linked to the most injuries.
Unique immunity genes in one widespread coral species
A new study led by researchers at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science found that a common coral species might have evolved unique immune strategies to cope with environmental change.
Roughly 30 percent of the cauliflower coral’s (Pocillopora damicornis) genome was unique compared to several other reef-building corals. In this 30%, many of these genes were related to immune function. This diversity of genes related to immune function, the researchers say, may be important for the long-term survival of coral reefs as climate change and ocean acidification continue to alter the environment to which corals are adapted.
“This coral is traditionally thought of as a weed, and yet it may be one of the last corals to survive environmental changes such as climate change,” said senior author of the study Nikki Traylor-Knowles, an assistant professor of marine biology and ecology at the UM Rosenstiel School.
To conduct the research, the scientists extracted and sequenced the genomic DNA from two healthy fragments and two bleached fragments of P. damicornis, which is one of the most abundant and widespread reef-building corals in the world. Their genome was then compared to publicly available genomes for several other coral species and several other cnidarian species.
“The study shows that this is an important coral with a very complex and unique immune system, which may explain why it is able to survive in so many different locations,” said the paper’s lead author Ross Cunning, who conducted the research as a postdoctoral scientist at the UM Rosenstiel School and is now a researcher at Shedd Aquarium.
These results suggest that the evolution of an innate immune system has been a defining feature of the success of hard corals like P. damicornis, and may help facilitate their continued success under climate change scenarios.
The immune system of corals, like humans, is vital to protect its overall health and deal with changes in its surroundings. If an animal has a stronger immune system then it will be better equipped to deal with environmental changes. These new findings suggest that some corals have many more and diverse immunity genes than would be expected, which is the hallmark of a very robust immune system.
“This study helps us better understand how corals deal with stress,” said Traylor-Knowles. “Its complex immune system indicates that it may have the tools to deal with environmental change much more easily than other corals.”
The study, titled “Comparative analysis of the Pocillopora damicornis genome highlights role of immune system in coral evolution,” was published in the October 31, 2018 issue of the journal Scientific Reports. The paper’s coauthors include: Nikki Traylor-Knowles, Andrew Baker, and Phil Gillette of the UM Rosenstiel School; UM alumnus Ross Cunning of Shedd Aquarium; and UM alumna Rachael Bay of the University of California Davis.
Viewing serotonin activating its receptor for the first time
Serotonin (3A) receptors are common drug targets in the treatment of pain, gastrointestinal dysfunctions, and mood disorders yet little is known about their three-dimensional structure. Details about serotonin receptor structures could provide important clues to designing better drugs with less side effects. Now, a team of researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have used high-powered microscopes to view serotonin activating its receptor for the first time. Images published in Nature reveal molecular details about the receptor that could improve drug design to treat a multitude of diseases.
Serotonin receptors sit in cell membranes throughout the body, including the brain, stomach, and the associated nervous system. Drugs that inhibit serotonin receptors help control post-operative nausea, support cancer therapies, and are used to treat gastrointestinal conditions like irritable bowel syndrome. These inhibitors also find application as anti-depressants, and promote attention and memory.
Broad application comes with side effects — in part due to suboptimal drug-receptor interactions, says study lead Sudha Chakrapani, PhD, associate professor of physiology and biophysics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. “Successful design of safer therapeutics has been slowed because there is a limited understanding of the structure of the serotonin receptor itself, and what happens after serotonin binds to it. Our work is the first to describe how serotonin activates the full-length serotonin receptor at a level of detail to nearly the individual atom.”
Using Nobel Prize-winning microscope technology, Chakrapani’s team studied serotonin as it interacted with its receptor. Their images show serotonin attaching to the receptor and twisting open the channel. Open channels allow molecules to travel from outside the cell to inside. The researchers used simulations to watch as sodium molecules traveled through newly opened channels. The new study highlights distinct conformations of the serotonin receptor that would make a cell more or less permeable to certain molecules — a key insight for drug developers. It also shows which portions of the receptor are most critical for proper channel function.
The entire serotonin-receptor occurs in a space about a few billionths of a meter across. Microscopes have only recently evolved to capture such tiny molecules. Cutting-edge technology in the new study — cryo-electron microscopy — earned a 2017 Nobel Prize in chemistry. It uses high-powered microscopes to take snapshots of proteins in action, and compiles them into three-dimensional structural models. In the past year it has already helped Case Western Reserve researchers view structures for proteins central to kidney stones and other ailments. Chakrapani used “cryo-EM” last year to view the serotonin receptor alone, laying the foundation for the present study.
The researchers hope their findings could lead to more precise drugs that target specific regions or functions of serotonin receptors. “It’s likely that new and different drugs can work as effective serotonin inhibitors, especially if they’re designed to work differently than current drugs,” says first author Sandip Basak, PhD, postdoctoral fellow in Chakrapani’s lab. “We’re actively pursuing these approaches to help design safer therapeutics that modulate the serotonin receptor to treat a range of conditions.”
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Quantum on the edge: Light shines on new pathway for quantum technology
Scientists in Australia have for the first time demonstrated the protection of correlated states between paired photons — packets of light energy — using the intriguing physical concept of topology. This experimental breakthrough opens a pathway to build a new type of quantum bit, the building blocks for quantum computers.
The research, developed in close collaboration with Israeli colleagues, is published today in the journal, Science, a recognition of the foundational importance of this work.
“We can now propose a pathway to build robust entangled states for logic gates using protected pairs of photons,” said lead author, Dr Andrea Blanco-Redondo at the University of Sydney Nano Institute.
Logic gates are the switches needed to operate algorithms written for quantum computers. Classical computational switches are in simple binary forms of zero or one. Quantum switches exist in a state of ‘superposition’ that combine zero and one.
Protecting quantum information long enough so that quantum machines can perform useful calculations is one of the biggest challenges in modern physics. Useful quantum computers will require millions or billions of qubits to process information. So far, the best experimental devices have about 20 qubits.
To unleash the potential of quantum technology, scientists need to find a way to protect the entangled superposition of quantum bits — or qubits — at the nanoscale. Attempts to achieve this using superconductors and trapped ions have shown promise, but they are highly susceptible to electromagnetic interference, making them devilishly difficult to scale up into useful machines.
The use of photons — packets of light energy — rather than electrons has been one proposed alternative upon which to build logic gates that can calculate quantum algorithms.
Photons, unlike electrons, are well isolated from the thermal and electromagnetic environment. However, scaling quantum devices based on photonic qubits has been limited due to scattering loss and other errors; until now.
“What we have done is develop a novel lattice structure of silicon nanowires, creating a particular symmetry that provides unusual robustness to the photons’ correlation. The symmetry both helps create and guide these correlated states, known as ‘edge modes’,” said Dr Blanco-Redondo, the Messel Research Fellow in the School of Physics.
“This robustness stems from the underlying topology, a global property of the lattice that remains unchanged against disorder.”
The correlation this produces is needed to build entangled states for quantum gates.
Channels, or waveguides, made using silicon nanowires just 500 nanometres wide, were lined up in pairs with a deliberate defect in symmetry through the middle, creating two lattice structures with different topologies and an intervening ‘edge’.
This topology allows for the creation of special modes in which the photons can pair up — called ‘edge modes’. These modes allow information carried by the paired photons to be transported in a robust fashion that otherwise would have been scattered and lost across a uniform lattice.
Dr Blanco-Redondo designed and performed the experiment in the Sydney Nanoscience Hub with Dr Bryn Bell, previously at the University of Sydney and now at the University of Oxford.
The photons were created by high-intensity, ultra-short laser pulses, the same underlying technology for which Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou were awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics.
This research is the latest in the flourishing of discoveries in the past decade on topological states of matter. These topological features offer protection for classical and quantum information in fields as diverse as electromagnetism, condensed matter, acoustics and cold atoms.
Microsoft Quantum Laboratories, including the one in Sydney, are pursuing the development of electron-based qubits where quantum information is topologically protected via the knotting of quasiparticles known as Majorana fermions. This is a bit like braiding half electron states induced through the interaction of superconductors and semiconducting metals.
Topologically protected states have previously been demonstrated for single photons.
However, Dr Blanco-Redondo said: “Quantum information systems will rely on multiphoton states, highlighting the importance of this discovery for further development.”
She said the next step will be to improve protection of the photon entanglement to create robust, scalable quantum logic gates.
Professor Stephen Bartlett, a theoretical quantum physicist at Sydney Nano who is unconnected to the study, said: “Dr Blanco-Redondo’s result is exciting at a fundamental level because it shows the existence of protected modes attached to the boundary of a topologically ordered material.
“What it means for quantum computing is unclear as it is still early days. But the hope is that the protection offered by these edge modes could be used to protect photons from the types of noise that are problematic for quantum applications.”
Medical cannabis products available on prescription
The treatments can only be prescribed by specialist doctors and will not be available through GPs.
Health24.com | Mom issues a heart-breaking warning after undiagnosed diabetes kills her daughter
A devastated American mom has taken to social media to warn parents about type 1 diabetes after her two-year-old daughter’s sudden death.
In March 2018, Sierra Greenlee from Kansas, US, picked up her daughter Arya after she’d spent a week at her dad’s house, Daily Mail reports.
“I was excited to hear about her week and I was dreaming of the late morning breakfast and playtime we would have when we woke up,” Sierra writes in a recent Facebook post.
As the babysitter brought the toddler, who was “knocked out” because she had a tiring day, to her car, the mom jokingly asked the nanny if Arya was “still breathing”.
“Until I put my hand on her little chest and I felt no movement.
“At that moment I completely freaked out. I couldn’t finish a thought. I knew I needed to get her back inside and start CPR.
“I was so mad and terrified. I was yelling at everyone who got in my way or tried to say something,” she wrote.
After performing CPR on the little one for a few minutes, paramedics arrived and took over, rushing her to the hospital.
“As we drove to the hospital the worst thoughts flooded into my head. I thought of the fact that the last time I had seen my baby awake she was begging me not to go to work and I went anyway.
“I was thinking about what it would mean for me if she was gone. I thought of what it would be like to plan my child funeral and all the things I would miss out on.
“I prayed to God that if only he would spare my baby I would do whatever he wanted,” Sierra writes.
At the hospital, nurses told Sierra to sit in the waiting room. A few minutes later, doctors gave her the devastating news.
“I was there for maybe 10 minutes before a doctor came in say down beside me and said the words that would forever change my world. He said, ‘We did everything we could but unfortunately we were unable to revive her and she did not survive.’
“That one little sentence devastated my entire being. Everything I was, was in that little girl.
“She was my absolute pride and joy. If you asked me how I was doing it would usually go something like, ‘I’m good, my daughter . . .’
“But in that moment I couldn’t feel anything; it was like my heart had stopped too,” she writes.
About half-an-hour after the devastating news, doctors told Sierra that tests had revealed Arya had had undiagnosed type 1 diabetes.
“For those of you who don’t know, an average person’s blood sugar shouldn’t be above 100 and my child’s was five times the healthy amount.
“At 300-400 you start to go comatose. My baby had slipped into a coma and her little body was unable to fight its way out, and it gave out.
“There were no signs leading up to this; it was unexpected. Diabetes doesn’t run in either of our families and so we had no idea,” Sierra writes.
Sierra ends her post by urging parents to get their kids checked, Mirror News reports.
“So I beg you to ask your child’s doctor to test for it,” Sierra says.
“I beg you to become aware of the signs and symptoms of childhood diabetes. I beg you to share this post and story with everyone because no parent should ever have to hear the words, ‘I’m sorry but unfortunately she didn’t survive’.”
*Grab a copy of YOU’s diabetes magazine, out now, for more tips and information on the disease.
Sources: Daily Mail, Facebook, Mirror News
Health24.com | Need your Botox to work faster? Pull a face
Have a big social event tomorrow night and need “emergency Botox“? A new study finds that if you get the wrinkle-relaxing shots today, you can speed up the effect by making faces.
Simple facial exercises can speed the wrinkle-smoothing effects of botulinum toxin (Botox), according to researchers from Northwestern University in Chicago.
“Patients often leave getting their Botox to the last minute,” lead researcher and professor of dermatology Dr Murad Alam said in a university news release.
“If people get their botulinum toxin right before a social engagement or important work event, they may worry it won’t start working in time,” he added. “Speeding up the effects could be important to people.”
The new study included 22 adult women with forehead wrinkles who were treated with Botox. Half of them exercised their facial muscles for four hours after the injections, and the other half did not.
It was quite a workout for the face: Exercises included raised motions of the forehead and scowls in three sets of 40 repetitions, separated by 10 minutes.
Six months later, the women received another treatment and the two groups reversed doing exercises or no exercises.
Pulling faces
Forehead wrinkles were rated as looking better within just two to three days after the treatment if the injections were followed by the facial exercises, compared with three to four days without the exercises.
“Botox binds to receptors on nerve cells to relax muscles, and it is possible that exercise speeds this binding process,” Alam explained. “For patients who need quick results, the exercise may be worth the effort. Patients appreciate having more control over their care.”
After two weeks, there was no difference between those who did or did not do facial exercises, however. The exercises also made no difference in how long the effects of treatment lasted, according to the study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
Alam said that dermatologists have often assumed that face exercises might speed up the effects of Botox treatment, but until now, “there had not been any well-designed randomised studies comparing exercise and no exercise side-by-side.”
So, “there finally is an answer to the myth of whether or not facial exercises after Botox has any effect,” said Dr Michele Green, a dermatologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
“Since so many patients wait until the eleventh hour to do cosmetic procedures, this will be a great way to have the results that they want more quickly,” said Green, who wasn’t involved in the new study.
In fact, she said, “I am going to suggest this to all of my patients who are in this circumstance and need ’emergency Botox’.”
Image credit: iStock
Health24.com | Parkinson’s disease may start in appendix, study finds
Parkinson’s disease has long been considered a disease of the brain, but research out on 31 October 2018 found it may start in the gut specifically in the appendix, a tiny organ near the large intestine.
Using health registries in Sweden and the United States, researchers found that those who had their appendix removed in early adulthood generally saw their risk of developing the incurable neurodegenerative disorder cut by 19%, said the study in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
In rural areas of Sweden, where people may be more exposed to pesticides – which have been shown to play a role in Parkinson’s – the effect was even greater: A 25% lower risk.
“Among people who did develop Parkinson’s disease, we found that the age of onset was delayed by an appendectomy on average by 3.6 years,” study author Viviane Labrie, assistant professor at Van Andel Research Institute in Michigan, said during a conference call with reporters.
“Our studies suggest that the appendix might be a tissue site that plays a role in the early events or initiation of Parkinson’s disease.”
Parkinson’s affects millions of people worldwide. Some of the celebrities afflicted include actors Michael J Fox and Alan Alda, singer Neil Diamond and the late boxer Muhammad Ali.
Useless organ?
Often, the appendix is considered a useless organ.
But researchers say it is a storage site for gut bacteria, is linked to immune response, and appears to be a gathering place for a key protein implicated in Parkinson’s, known as alpha-synuclein.
Knowing that people with Parkinson’s also suffer from gastrointestinal disorders like constipation at least 10 years before the disease’s better known symptoms like tremors, stiffness and poor balance surface, researchers decided to take a closer look at the appendix and its potential role.
They found that nearly everyone has signs of clumped up alpha-synuclein present in their appendix.
But not everyone goes on to develop Parkinson’s, for reasons that still aren’t well understood.
“We think that in rare events, if it (alpha-synuclein) were to escape the appendix and enter the brain, this could lead to Parkinson’s disease,” Labrie told reporters.
In fact, “alpha-synuclein is a protein that doesn’t like to stay put”, she added.
“It’s able to move from neuron to neuron.”
Experiments have shown the protein “can travel up the nerve” that connects the gastrointestinal tract to the brain”, she explained.
“If it were to enter the brain, it can seed and spread from there and have neurotoxic effects that could eventually lead to Parkinson’s disease.”
Researchers say it’s possible that someday, drug therapies could be developed to cut down on the protein’s accumulation in the appendix, thereby lowering the risk of Parkinson’s.
In the meantime, experts stressed they do not recommending that anyone go out and get an appendectomy to cut the risk of Parkinson’s, as more research is needed.
Gut-brain connection
According to Kevin McConway, emeritus professor of applied statistics at The Open University, the study goes “part of the way to establishing a reason why the relationship between appendix removal and Parkinson’s disease might be one of cause and effect.”
McConway, who was not involved in the research, added that “several previous studies have looked for relationships between appendix removal and various other diseases, including heart disease as well as various diseases of the gut.”
“For some of these diseases, having your appendix out was associated with a reduced disease risk, but in others, including heart disease, it was associated with an increased risk,” he said.
Indeed, a smaller study using Danish health registries, published in 2016, found that appendectomies were associated with a small increase in Parkinson’s disease risk 10 or more years after surgery.
According to Labrie, the main difference is that her study spanned 52 years of follow-up, “which allowed us to see the lowered risk of an appendectomy on Parkinson’s disease risk” compared to the Danish study, which lasted about three decades.
The current study covered some 1.7 million people in Sweden, along with a second US dataset encompassing 849 people.
Even though the new research may not offer the last word on the matter, it does bolster what scientists know about the close connection between the brain and the gut.
The intestinal tract actually contains a lot of neurons, which are linked back to the brain via the vagus nerve.
“Some scientists have called the intestine the second brain, because of the number of neurons that are present in there,” said co-author Patrik Brundin, director of the Center for Neurodegenerative Science at Van Andel Research Institute.
Image credit: iStock
Epilepsy: Calls for ‘critical’ funding to save lives
Hundreds of people with epilepsy are dying every year because “critical” checks are not taking place, campaigners warn.
