More yield, fewer species: How human nutrient intakes alter grasslands

Credit: Pete Linforth

High nutrient inputs in grassland lead to more plant species being lost than new ones can establish over longer periods of time. In addition, fewer new species settle than under natural nutrient availability. A worldwide experiment led by the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) and the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) has now been able to show why additional nutrient inputs reduce plant diversity in grasslands. The study published in "Ecology Letters", also sheds light on another issue: The increase in biomass with nutrient inputs is due to a few plant species that can use higher nutrient inputs to their advantage and remain successfully at a site over long periods of time.

One of the reasons for the global threat to biodiversity is that we humans introduce more nutrients into our environment than would naturally be present there, for example, when fertilizing agricultural land. In addition, precipitation re-distributes excess nutrients to other areas, and nutrients can also enter our soil through air pollution.

Natural grasslands are a habitat for many different plant species including grasses, herbs, wildflowers and orchids, many of which can be threatened by human activities and impacts. Plants need three things to grow: carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air, water and nutrients from the soil. The latter are usually scarce in semi-natural European meadows. Although this limits the growth of individual plants, it Favours the possibility of many different species growing side by side. Excessive amounts of nutrients, however, create the image that is ubiquitous in our landscape today: lush green meadows but without the colorful flowers of former times.

Mild thyroid disorders can cause serious heart problems

Johannes W. Dietrich works in the section diabetology, endocrinology and metabolism of Medical Clinic I in the RUB Clinic St. Josef Hospital.
Credit: Curtesy of Johannes W. Dietrich

A systematic evaluation of 32 studies with 1.3 million participants reveals new relationships.

It has been known for more than 200 years that severe over functions of the thyroid gland can lead to disturbances in the heart rhythm and thus to sudden cardiac death. So far, it has been unclear what risk is associated with only slight over- or under-functions. A systematic evaluation of 32 studies with 1.3 million participants shows that even slight deviations in thyroid function can increase the risk of serious cardiovascular diseases. "This puts our understanding of the interaction between the thyroid and the heart on a new footing and shows the way to personalized prevention," said private lecturer Dr. Johannes Dietrich from the medical clinic in St. Josef Hospital, Clinic of the Ruhr University Bochum (RUB). The researchers worked in the journal Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine.

For the work, the cardiac and hormone researchers of the RUB cooperated with the Tan Tock Seng Hospital, the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine and the Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore.

Scientists Created a Material Promising for Improving Brightness of Screens

One of the assembled organic LEDs based on push-pull systems.
Photo credit: Ruslan Gadirov / TSU

Scientists at the Postovsky Institute of Organic Synthesis, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Ural Federal University have developed, synthesized, and studied a series of new fluorophores - push-pull systems (compounds with pronounced electron-donor and electron-acceptor parts) based on cyanopyrazine. Ural chemists in cooperation with colleagues from Tomsk State University showed that the presence of a cyano group in the substance significantly increases the efficiency of organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on it. This opens the prospect of creating new materials to enhance the brightness of displays of smartphones, computers and televisions. An article describing the research and its results was published in the journal Dyes and Pigments.

In previous research work, chemists demonstrated that one of the most promising compounds as an acceptor (attracting electrons) part in push-pull systems is the pyrazine ring (another name is 1,4-diazine), a compound of nitrogen, hydrogen and carbon that has a significant electron-accepting effect.

A revolutionary method to observe cell transport

Nanobodies (grey) with magnetic probes (red stars) target the desired membrane protein.
Credit: Bordignon, Enrica

Membrane proteins are key targets for many drugs. They are located between the outside and inside of our cells. Some of them, called ‘‘transporters’’, move certain substances in and out of the cellular environment. Yet, extracting and storing them for observation is particularly complex. A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), in collaboration with the University of Zurich (UZH), has developed an innovative method to study their structure in their native environment: the cell. The technique is based on electron spin resonance spectroscopy. These results, just published in the journal Science Advances, may facilitate future development of new drugs.

In living organisms, each cell is surrounded by a cell membrane (or ‘‘cytoplasmic membrane’’). This membrane consists of a double layer of lipids. It separates the contents of the cell from its direct environment and regulates the substances that can enter or leave the cell. The proteins attached to this membrane are called ‘‘membrane proteins’’.

Located at the interface between the outside and inside of the cell, they carry various substances across the membrane - into or out of the cell - and play a crucial role in cell signaling, i.e. in the communication system of cells that allows them to coordinate their metabolic processes, development and organization. As a result, membrane proteins represent more than 60% of current drug targets.

Using Carbon-Carbon Clumping to Detect the Signature of Biotic Hydrocarbons

The mystery of the origin of hydrocarbons found in extraterrestrial environment may finally be resolved, thanks to a technique developed by researchers at Tokyo Tech based on a 13C-13C abundance analysis. By measuring the abundance of clumped 13C-13C isotope in the hydrocarbons, it can be inferred if a hydrocarbon was produced via biological processes. This could open doors to distinguishing such hydrocarbons from abiotic ones, aiding our search for extra-terrestrial life.

An important signature of life is the existence of organic molecules that have originated from biological processes. The most common organic molecule found in all life forms are hydrocarbons. However, they need not be of biotic origin, i.e., produced from thermal decomposition of sedimentary organic matter or microbes. So, while hydrocarbons have been found in several places outside Earth, they are not necessarily indicative of extra-terrestrial life. These hydrocarbons could well have formed from abiotic, or non-biological processes. Therefore, finding out whether a hydrocarbon is of biotic or abiotic origin is key to inferring the existence of life. Unfortunately, this has proved to be a tremendously challenging task so far.

How heart failure disrupts the cell’s powerhouse

From left: Shingo Takada, Hokkaido University and Hokusho University; Shintaro Kinugawa, Kyushu University; and Hisataka Sabe, Hokkaido University
Photos credits: Shingo Takada, Shintaro Kinugawa, Hisataka Sabe

Chronic heart failure causes the cell’s powerhouses to dysfunction, in part due to overconsumption of an important intermediary compound in energy production. Supplementing the diet to compensate for this could prove a promising strategy for treating heart failure. The findings were published in the journal PNAS by Hokkaido University scientists and colleagues in Japan.

Mitochondria are small organelles found in almost every cell and are responsible for converting carbohydrates, fats and proteins into energy to power biochemical reactions. Chronic heart failure is known to be associated with mitochondrial dysfunction, but much is still unknown about how this happens at the molecular level.

A research team consisting of molecular biologist Hisataka Sabe (Hokkaido University), cardiovascular medicine specialists Shingo Takada (Hokkaido University and Hokusho University) and Shintaro Kinugawa (Kyushu University) and their colleagues studied the biochemical processes that occur in mice with chronic heart failure caused by surgically blocking part of the blood supply to their hearts. They specifically looked at heart cells outside the boundaries of dead tissue.

Aging, Frailty, and our Microbiomes

Photo Credit: Magda Ehlers

We humans tend to think we live independently, capable of ensuring our own health and wellbeing. As researchers are increasingly aware, however, our microbiomes—the trillions of microbes that live on and within us—play central roles in our health and susceptibility to different diseases. And as we age, our microbiomes change too, with important health implications over time.

Jackson Laboratory (JAX) Associate Professor Julia Oh, Ph.D., studies the microbiome, particularly the microbes that colonize the skin. While prior research has explored the gut microbiome in the context of aging, to date there has been little insight into the changes that occur in other microbial communities of our body, like the mouth and skin. To further investigate, Oh and her team collaborated with UConn Center on Aging Professors Julie Robison, Ph.D., and George Kuchel, M.D., to study the microbiome of the skin, oral, and gut of older adults compared to younger adults.

Because of the unique design of their study, where they sampled frail older adults inhabiting skilled nursing facilities as well as community-dwelling older adults, they found that the greatest microbiome differences between the groups were associated with increased frailty, not chronological age. A second surprising finding was that microbiome differences between cohorts were most pronounced in the skin, rather than the gut or mouth. Moreover, the skin harbored the greatest number of potential risk factors for infectious disease. The researchers presented their findings in “Associations of the skin, oral and gut microbiome with aging, frailty and infection risk reservoirs in older adults,” published in Nature Aging.

“This was an extraordinary multidisciplinary effort between our clinical and research team at UConn Center on Aging and The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine,” says Oh. “We believe this exciting study is an important step to understanding how the microbiome contributes to aging and chronic diseases, in turn allowing us to identify potential interventional targets to improve health across lifespan.”

Why late-night eating leads to weight gain, diabetes

The science behind the study is underpinned by research done at Northwestern more than 20 years ago that found a relationship between the internal molecular clock and body weight, obesity and metabolism in animals.
Credit: Diana Titenko

Health benefits come from eating during the daytime, demonstrating a potential link to energy release

The science behind the study is underpinned by research done at Northwestern more than 20 years ago that found a relationship between the internal molecular clock and body weight, obesity and metabolism in animals.

Northwestern Medicine scientists have uncovered the mechanism behind why eating late at night is linked to weight gain and diabetes.

The connection between eating time, sleep and obesity is well-known but poorly understood, with research showing that overnutrition can disrupt circadian rhythms and change fat tissue.

New Northwestern research has shown for the first time that energy release may be the molecular mechanism through which our internal clocks control energy balance. From this understanding, the scientists also found that daytime is the ideal time in the light environment of the Earth’s rotation when it is most optimal to dissipate energy as heat. These findings have broad implications from dieting to sleep loss and the way we feed patients who require long-term nutritional assistance.

A laser that could ‘reshape the landscape of integrated photonics’

A team of researchers led by Qiang Lin, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Rochester, has developed the first multi-color integrated laser that emits high-coherence light at telecommunication wavelengths, allows laser-frequency tuning at record speeds, and is the first narrow linewidth laser with fast configurability at the visible band.
Credit: University of Rochester / J. Adam Fenster

How do you integrate the advantages of a benchtop laser that fills a room onto a semiconductor chip the size of a fingernail?

A research team co-led by Qiang Lin, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Rochester, has set new milestones in addressing this challenge, with the first multi-color integrated laser that:

• Emits high-coherence light at telecommunication wavelengths
• Allows laser-frequency tuning at record speeds
• Is the first narrow linewidth laser with fast configurability at the visible band

The project, described in Nature Communications, was co-led by John Bowers, distinguished professor at University of California/Santa Barbara, and Kerry Vahala, professor at the California Institute of Technology. Lin Zhu, professor at Clemson University, also collaborated on the project.

New cervical cancer screening test can predict cell changes well in advance

The new test is part of a research program aimed at predicting the risk of developing four types of cancer from a single cell sample from the cervix.
Credit: Mart Production

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet, among others, have developed a screening test for cervical cancer that can predict cell changes several years before they are visible under the microscope. The test is also better at identifying high-grade cell changes in gynecological cell samples than today's methods. It shows a study published in the journal Genome Medicine.

The method has the potential to improve today's screening program and enable a previous intervention to prevent cancer, says Karin Sundström, doctor at Karolinska University Hospital and senior researcher at Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet.

The test was developed by an international research team from Karolinska Institutet, Innsbruck University in Austria and University College London (UCL) in the United Kingdom. It is part of a research program aimed at predicting the risk of developing four types of cancer (breast, ovarian, uterine and cervical cancer) from a single cell sample from the cervix. Previous studies have shown that the test may detect the risk of breast and ovarian cancer by analyzing a regular cell sample from the cervix.