Study paints detailed picture of forest canopy damage caused by ‘heat dome’

Heat dome foliar scorch
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Oregon State University

A satellite imagery analysis shows that the 2021 “heat dome” scorched almost 5% of the forested area in western Oregon and western Washington, turning foliage in canopies from a healthy green to red or orange, sometimes within a matter of hours.

Damage to foliage leads to a range of problems for trees including reduced photosynthesis and increased vulnerability to pests and disease, scientists at Oregon State University say.

The study by researchers at OSU and the U.S. Forest Service identified 293,546 hectares of damaged forest, a total area of more than 1,000 square miles that’s nearly the size of Rhode Island. They took a deep dive into the affected areas to learn the factors that made some stands more vulnerable than others to the extreme heat event experienced by the Pacific Northwest in June 2021.

Researchers decipher mechanism that prevents the loss of brown adipose tissue activity during ageing

From left to right, Tania Quesada-López, Francesc Villarroya, Albert Blasco-Roset, Marta Giralt, Alberto Mestres-Arenas, Joan Villarroya, Aleix Gavaldà-Navarro and Rubén Cereijo.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of University of Barcelona

As the body ages, brown adipose tissue activity decreases, fewer calories are burned, and this can contribute to obesity and certain chronic cardiovascular diseases that worsen with age. A study led by the University of Barcelona has identified a key molecular mechanism in the loss of brown fat activity during ageing. The study opens up new perspectives for designing strategies to boost the activity of this tissue and prevent chronic metabolic and cardiovascular diseases as the population ages.

The paper, published in the journal Science Advances, is led by Professor Joan Villarroya, from the Faculty of Biology and the Institute of Biomedicine of the UB (IBUB) — based at the Barcelona Science Park-UB  — and the CIBER Area for Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition  (CIBEROBN). Teams from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York (United States) are also collaborating.

“Rotten egg” gas could be the answer to treating nail infections, say scientists

Nearly half of people aged over 70 suffer from nail infections, which are notoriously difficult to treat.
Photo Credit: Wang Yanwei

Hydrogen sulphide, the volcanic gas that smells of rotten eggs, could be used in a new treatment for tricky nail infections that acts faster but with fewer side effects, according to scientists at the University of Bath and King’s College London (KCL).

Nail infections are mostly caused by fungi and occasionally by bacteria. They are very common, affecting between 4-10% of the global population, rising to nearly half those aged 70 or over.

These infections can lead to complications, particularly in vulnerable groups such as diabetics and the elderly, but are notoriously difficult to treat.

Current treatments include oral antifungals taken in pill form, and topical treatments which are applied directly to the nail.

Successful bone regeneration using stem cells derived from fatty tissue

Bone formation by ADSC bone-differentiated spheroids
Treatment of a mouse with a disease similar to osteoporosis using bone-differentiated spheroids. At 8 weeks post-treatment, the bone’s strength was significantly improved.   
Image Credit: Osaka Metropolitan University

An Osaka Metropolitan University team has used stem cells extracted from adipose, the body’s fatty tissue, to treat spine fractures in rats similar to those caused by osteoporosis in humans. These cells offer the advantages of being easy to collect, even from elderly individuals, and causing little stress to the body, suggesting a non-invasive way of treating bone diseases.

Osteoporosis is a disease that causes bones to become brittle and prone to fractures. Due to the aging of the population, the number of patients in Japan is estimated to exceed 15 million in the near future. Among osteoporosis-related fractures, compression fractures of the spine, known as osteoporotic vertebral fractures, are the most common type of fracture and pose a serious problem, leading to a need for long-term care and a significant decline in quality of life.

UQ scientists uncover secrets of yellow fever

Dr Summa Bibby
Photo Credit: The University of Queensland

University of Queensland researchers have captured the first high-resolution images of the yellow fever virus (YFV), a potentially deadly viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes that affects the liver.

They’ve revealed structural differences between the vaccine strain (YFV-17D) and the virulent, disease-causing strains of the virus.

Dr Summa Bibby from UQ’s School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience said despite decades of research on yellow fever, this was the first time a complete 3D structure of a fully mature yellow fever virus particle had been recorded at near-atomic resolution.

“By utilising the well-established Binjari virus platform developed here at UQ, we combined yellow fever’s structural genes with the backbone of the harmless Binjari virus and produced virus particles that could be safely examined with a cryo-electron microscope,” Dr Bibby said.

Fermentation waste used to make natural fabric

 

Penn State Professor Melik Demirel, to the far right, his students and their families wear biomanufactured sweaters. Pictured are Khushank Singhal and Oguzhan Colak, both affiliated with the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics in the College of Engineering; Ceren Colak, Ela Demirel and Emir Demirel.
Photo Credit: © Oguzhan Colak

A fermentation byproduct might help to solve two major global challenges: world hunger and the environmental impact of fast fashion. The leftover yeast from brewing beer, wine or even to make some pharmaceuticals can be repurposed to produce high-performance fibers stronger than natural fibers with significantly less environmental impact, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

The yeast biomass — composed of proteins, fatty molecules called lipids and sugars — left over from alcohol and pharmaceutical production is regarded as waste, but lead author Melik Demirel, Pearce Professor of Engineering and Huck Chair in Biomimetic Materials at Penn State, said his team realized they could repurpose the material to make fibers using a previously developed process. The researchers successfully achieved pilot-scale production of the fiber — producing more than 1,000pounds — in a factory in Germany, with continuous and batch production for more than 100 hours per run of fiber spinning.

They also used data collected during this production for a lifecycle assessment, which assessed the needs and impact of the product from obtaining the raw fermentation byproduct through its life to disposal and its cost, and to evaluate the economic viability of the technology. The analysis predicted the cost, water use, production output, greenhouse gas emissions and more at every stage. Ultimately, the researchers found that the commercial-scale production of the fermentation-based fiber could compete with wool and other fibers at scale but with considerably fewer resources, including far less land — even when accounting for the land needed to grow the crops used in the fermentation processes that eventually produce the yeast biomass.   

“Atlas” of mouse microbiome strengthens reproducibility of animal testing

Prof. Dr. Bahtiyar Yilmaz, Research group leader at the Department for Biomedical Research (DBMR) of the University of Bern and Department of Visceral Surgery and Medicine, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital.
Photo Credit: © Courtesy of Bahtiyar Yilmaz

Laboratory mice are indispensable for biomedical discovery, yet even genetically identical mice can yield conflicting experimental results depending on their resident microbiota. The complex interplay between microbial communities and their associated metabolic functions in the intestine can profoundly influence experimental results, therapeutic interventions, and our understanding of various biological processes. Understanding the dynamics of the gut microbiome is therefore of paramount importance for biomedical research, as it plays a vital role in shaping health and disease outcomes. This groundbreaking study addresses a fundamental question in microbiome science: how does the composition of microbial communities affect their metabolic function? By exploring this relationship, the research aims to provide insights that could lead to more effective strategies for utilizing mouse models in biomedical studies. 

Led by researchers from the Department of Biomedical Research of the University of Bern and the Department of Visceral Surgery and Medicine from the Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, this collaborative effort involved a vast global consortium, that meticulously analyzed approximately 4,000 intestinal samples from mice. The study forms the geographically most comprehensive mouse microbiome dataset to date and revealed that, despite immense differences in bacterial species across facilities, metabolic outputs in the intestine are strikingly consistent. The findings represent a significant milestone in microbiome research and were recently published in the scientific journal Cell Host & Microbe.

The Saltwater Formula

Mannum Waterfalls in South Australia
Photo Credit: © denisbin Creative Commons 2.0  

A solution to a tricky groundwater riddle from Australia: Researchers at TU Wien have developed numerical models to simulate the movement of fluids in porous materials.

Things are complicated along the Murray–Darling River in southern Australia. Agricultural irrigation washes salt out of the upper soil layers, and this salt eventually ends up in the river. To prevent the river’s salt concentration from rising too much, part of the salty water is diverted into special basins. Some of these basins are designed to let the salty water evaporate, others to slowly release it in a controlled manner in the underground. That keeps salt temporarily out of the river and allows a better management of the river’s water—but increases the salinity in the ground. How can we calculate how this saltwater spreads underground and what its long-term effects will be?

Such questions are extremely difficult to answer, as several physical effects interact in complex ways. At TU Wien, researchers have now developed an efficient computer model that can run on supercomputers to calculate the spreading of fluids in porous materials—allowing the movement of saltwater in the soils, like in the case of the Murray–Darling River, to be predicted much more accurately. The same approach can also be applied to other problems, such as the dispersion of pollutants in groundwater.

WinSCP

WinSCP
Image Credit: Scientific Frontline

For developers, system administrators, and IT professionals operating in a Windows environment, secure and efficient file transfer between a local machine and a remote server is a daily necessity. While many tools exist for this purpose, WinSCP has remained a dominant force for over two decades. This review takes a deep look into its architecture, advanced features, security posture, and competitive standing.

WinSCP is an open-source, free-for-Windows graphical file manager that specializes in secure file transfers. Its primary strength lies not just in its user-friendly GUI, but in its profound and robust automation and scripting capabilities, which set it apart from its main competitors.

It is the ideal tool for Windows-based power users, sysadmins, and developers who need to automate complex or repetitive transfer tasks. It is not the right tool for macOS/Linux users or those who primarily need a simple GUI for cloud storage (like Google Drive).

Birch leaves and peanuts turned into advanced laser technology

Upper: The biomaterial-based random laser when activated. Lower: The same laser seen in daylight.
 Photo Credit: Zhihao Huang

Physicists at Umeå University, in collaboration with researchers in China, have developed a laser made entirely from biomaterials – birch leaves and peanut kernels. The environmentally friendly laser could become an inexpensive and accessible tool for medical diagnostics and imaging.

The results have been published in the scientific journal Nanophotonics and show how a so-called random laser can be made entirely from biological materials.

“Our study shows that it is possible to create advanced optical technology in a simple way using only local, renewable materials,” says Jia Wang, Associate Professor at the Department of Physics, Umeå University, and one of the authors of the study.

A random laser is a type of laser in which light scatters many times inside a disordered material before emerging as a focused beam. It holds great promise for applications such as medical imaging and early disease detection, and has therefore attracted significant research attention. However, conventional random laser materials are often toxic or expensive and complex to produce.