Effects of brain stimulation can be conditioned

Brain activity can be stimulated with transcranial magnetic stimulation.
Photo Credit: © RUB, Marquard

What worked with Pavlov's dog also works with an artificially induced change in nerve cell activity.

Researchers at the Ruhr University Bochum have succeeded in a special form of classic conditioning. In a group of 75 people, they showed that effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS for short, can only be triggered by hearing a sound. Prof. Dr. Burkhard Pleger from the neurology of the Bergmannsheil University Hospital describes the results together with doctoral students Stefan Ewers and Timo Dreier as well as other colleagues in the journal Scientific Reports.

Magnetic stimulation causes the thumb muscle to contract

For the TMS, a magnetic coil is placed from the outside over a specific part of the brain. The strong magnetic field stimulates the underlying nerve cells to act. If you stimulate a certain area of the motor cortex in this way, the index finger or the thumb moves, for example. The Bochum team used the so-called paired pulse TMS stimulation for its work. Two TMS stimuli followed each other every twelve milliseconds, which leads to a stronger contraction of a muscle on the thumb than a TMS individual stimulation. In the conditioning phase, the researchers always combined these paired pulses TMS with a tone that the participants were presented via headphones parallel to the TMS stimulus.

Rare variants of an inflammation 'brake' gene may help reveal outcomes of kidney disease

Paradoxically, a gene variant that increases inflammation also has a protective effect on the kidneys. Seen here, kidney cells nuclei (blue) and an influx of immune regulatory cells (pink) that prevent damage in an injured kidney.
Photo Credit: Garvan Institute of Medical Research

A gene that controls inflammation could pave the way for more precise disease diagnostics and personalized treatments for kidney disease. 

The discovery of variants of an inflammation ‘brake’ gene brings scientists a step closer to personalized treatment for people at risk of kidney disease and kidney failure. 

Researchers at UNSW Sydney, the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, and Westmead Hospital, found that common genetic variants of TNFAIP3, which increase inflammation in the body, can paradoxically protect the kidneys from damage in the short term.  

“We wanted to investigate whether inherited differences in how people regulate inflammation could lead to better or worse kidney health outcomes,” says Professor Shane Grey, senior author of the paper and Head of the School of Biotechnology and Biological Sciences (BABS) at UNSW. 

The findings, published today in the journal Kidney International, could be used to help determine how well people will recover from kidney injury.  

“Our discovery that some genetic variants can be protective against inflammation could lead to a simple genetic test that helps predict the risk of kidney disease for patients,” says Prof. Grey.   

Study Finds Significant Variation in Anatomy of Human Guts

Photo Credit: Lauren Nichols.

New research finds there is significant variation in the anatomy of the human digestive system, with pronounced differences possible between healthy individuals. The finding has implications for understanding the role that the digestive tracts anatomy can play in affecting human health, as well as providing potential insights into medical diagnoses and the microbial ecosystem of the gut.

“There was research more than a century ago that found variability in the relative lengths of human intestines, but this area has largely been ignored since then,” says Amanda Hale, co-first author of the study and a Ph.D. candidate at North Carolina State University. “When we began exploring this issue, we were astonished at the extent of the variability we found.”

“If you’re talking to four different people, odds are good that all of them have different guts, in terms of the relative sizes of the organs that make up that system,” says Erin McKenney, corresponding author of the study and an assistant professor of applied ecology at NC State. “For example, the cecum is an organ that’s found at the nexus of the large and small intestine. One person may have a cecum that is only a few centimeters long, while another may have a cecum the size of a coin purse. And we found similar variability for many digestive organs.”

Increased risk of testicular cancer in people with neuropsychiatric disabilities

Left: Ingrid Glimelius, professor at the Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University
Right: Anna Jansson, PhD student at the Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University
Photo Credit: Ewa Ahlin

A new study from researchers at Uppsala University and the Academic Hospital shows that men who have a neuropsychiatric disability, such as autism and ADHD, also have a slightly increased risk of suffering from the testicular cancer form seminoma. This is the first study to show such a relationship and the results are published in the scientific journal British Journal of Cancer.

Testicular cancer is the most common cancer disease in young men and the underlying causes are still very unknown.

"Since you can have a testicular cancer removed and thus cure the disease, it is important to seek care on time if you feel a lump in the testicle", says Ingrid Glimelius, chief physicist at the oncology clinic, Academic Hospital, and professor at Uppsala University.

The new study has focused on patients who have had testicular cancer in Sweden. A total of 6,166 patients have been included and compared with 61,660 age-matched but without testicular cancer. Registry data have been invested where psychiatric diagnoses prior to cancer diagnosis were more common in patients affected by testicular cancer than in the control group.

Scientists Develop Effective Silicon Surface Processing Technology

The technology will be useful in the creation of solar cells, as well as in biomedicine, chemistry, and IT.
 Photo Credit: Ilya Safarov

A team of scientists from Ekaterinburg (UrFU), Moscow, and St. Petersburg has developed a new technology for processing silicon wafers. It is a hybrid chemical and laser texturing, in which the wafer is treated with a femtosecond laser beam after chemical exposure to various reagents. Pre-chemical etching allows for five times faster laser treatment and improves light absorption over a broad spectral range. The technology will be useful in making solar cells. It could also be used in biomedicine for highly sensitive sensors for DNA analysis and detection of viruses and bacteria. It is also used in chemistry and in information and communication technologies. A description of the new technology has been published in the journal Materials.

"Currently, the formation of light-absorbing micro-reliefs on the surface of silicon wafers is achieved by a chemical process that is relatively inexpensive and used on an industrial scale. However, after chemical treatment, the wafers have a significant reflection coefficient, which reduces the efficiency of solar cells. An alternative method is laser treatment of the wafers. It reduces the reflection, but requires a significant amount of time using a femtosecond laser. Our proposed laser treatment after chemical etching reduces the processing time by a factor of five. At the same time, the reflection coefficient of wafers processed by the hybrid method is 7-10% lower than after chemical treatment," says Vladimir Shur, Director of the Ural Multiple Access Center "Modern Nanotechnologies" of the UrFU.

Algae in Swedish lakes provide insights to how complex life on Earth developed

Lönsboda, Sweden
Photo Credit: Johanna Nilsson

By studying green algae in Swedish lakes, a research team, led by Lund University in Sweden, has succeeded in identifying which environmental conditions promote multicellularity. The results give us new clues to the amazing paths of evolution.

The evolution of multicellular life has played a pivotal role in shaping biological diversity. However, we have up until now known surprisingly little about the natural environmental conditions that favor the formation of multicellular groups.

The cooperation between cells within multicellular organisms has enabled eyes, wings and leaves to evolve. The predominant explanation for why multicellularity evolves is that being in a group enables species to better cope with environmental challenges – where being in a large group can, for instance, protect cells against being eaten.

"Our results challenge this idea, showing that multicellular groups form, not because they are inherently beneficial, but rather as a by-product of single-celled strategies to reduce environmental stress. In particular, cells produce a range of substances to protect themselves from the environment and these substances appear to prevent daughter cells from dispersing away from their mother cell", says Charlie Cornwallis, biology researcher at Lund University.

UC Irvine biologists discover bees to be brew masters of the insect world

The UCI study found that the cellophane bee (pictured) ‘brew’ a liquid food for their offspring.
Photo Credit: Tobin Hammer

Scientists at the University of California, Irvine have made a remarkable discovery about cellophane bees – their microbiomes are some of the most fermentative known from the insect world. These bees, which are named for their use of cellophane-like materials to line their subterranean nests, are known for their fascinating behaviors and their important ecological roles as pollinators. Now, researchers have uncovered another aspect of their biology that makes them even more intriguing.

According to a study published in Frontiers in Microbiology, cellophane bees “brew” a liquid food for their offspring, held in chambers called brood cells. The microbiome of these brood cells is dominated by lactobacilli bacteria, which are known for their role in fermenting foods like yogurt, sauerkraut and sourdough bread. The researchers found that these bacteria are highly active in the food provisions of cellophane bees, where they likely play an important role as a source of nutrients for developing larvae.

Fungal genetics could help develop novel biotechnologies

Photo Credit: Heidi-Ann Fourkiller / Scientific Frontine

An essential pillar of Earth’s ecological system, fungi have long been used to better the lives of humans. While these organisms are still vastly understudied, a new review paper suggests that their unique genomes could be used to make progress in the biotech industry. 

“The wonderful thing about fungi is they fulfill so many niches,” said Mitchell Roth, lead author of the review and an assistant professor of plant pathology at The Ohio State University. “They can be found everywhere, and a lot of times you’ll find fungi that have already adapted to survive in unlikely environments.”

Recently, scientists have made incredible breakthroughs in the field, and thanks to the popular HBO adaptation The Last of Us, fungi may finally be getting the recognition they deserve, said Roth. “There’s so much potential in fungal biotechnology that we haven’t tapped into,” he said. “We’ve only just scraped the surface of fungal biotechnology, so this paper is a little bit of a call to action.”

A message to meteorite hunters: Put down your magnets!

Black Beauty, or NWA 7034, is thought to have formed at a time when the Red Planet harbored a magnetic field, much like the Earth does today. If the rock bears any trace of Mars’ ancient field, this could give scientists valuable clues to the planet’s past climate and composition.
Photo Credit: C Agee, Institute of Meteoritics, UNM; NASA

Each year, thousands of space rocks pierce through the Earth’s atmosphere and hit the ground as meteorites. These fragments of comets and asteroids can land anywhere but are most often spotted in open terrain, such as the deserts of Africa and the Antarctic blue ice, where a meteorite’s blackened exterior can stand out.

Still, these extraterrestrial remnants can resemble Earth rocks, and to tell the difference meteorite hunters often expose their “finds” to hand magnets, which can attract more strongly to metal-rich meteorites than to terrestrial rocks. Meteorite hunters, dealers, collectors, and curators often rely on hand magnets to verify a meteorite’s identity.

But a new MIT study finds that the same magnets used to identify a meteorite usually erase its magnetic memory. They show that exposure to a magnet can reorient a rock’s microscopic grains, undoing their original orientation and any trace of its magnetic origins.

The researchers make their case with Northwest Africa (NWA) 7034, a meteorite known in collectors’ circles as “Black Beauty” for its obsidian exterior. Multiple shards of the meteorite were first discovered in the deserts of northwest Africa, and scientists determined that the rock contained crystals that formed on Mars more than 4.4 billion years ago.

Discovery identifies those likely to experience life-threatening dengue fever

(L-R) Co-first author and PhD student Stephanie Studniberg with senior researcher, Monash BDI’s Professor Diana Hansen.
Photo Credit: WEHI

Scientists have discovered cell populations in blood which clearly indicate whether a person infected with dengue fever is likely to progress to life-threatening severe disease or not.

About half of the world’s population is at risk of dengue fever, with almost 400 million annual cases. More will be at risk as global warming enables the spread of mosquito strains that carry the virus.

Until now, there has been no accurate way to predict which patients will progress to severe dengue fever. The new finding uses immune cells to grade potential severity, paving the way for improved patient management, health system savings, and the development of a biomarker test.

Published in the Journal of Biomedical Science, the international research team, led by Professor Diana Hansen at the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, included WEHI in Melbourne, and Dr Tedjo Sasmono at the Eijkman Centre in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Nagoya University researchers develop a new ultra-high-density sulfonic acid polymer electrolyte membrane for fuel cells

Researchers develop a new ultra-high-density sulfonic acid polymer electrolyte membrane  for fuel cells, which can be used for vehicles and combined heat and power systems. 
Illustration Credit: Atsushi Noro

In a project commissioned by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), researchers at Nagoya University in Japan have developed poly (styrenesulfonic acid)-based PEMs with a high density of sulfonic acid groups.

One of the key components of environmentally friendly polymer electrolyte fuel cells is a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM). It generates electrical energy through a reaction between hydrogen and oxygen gases. Examples of practical fuel cells include fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) and fuel cell combined heat and power (CHP) systems.

The best-known PEM is a membrane based on a perfluorosulfonic acid polymer, such as Nafion, which was developed by DuPont in the 1960s. It has a good proton conductivity of 0.1 S/cm at 70-90 °C under humidified conditions. Under these conditions, protons can be released from sulfonic acid groups. Proton conduction in such membranes typically depends on the proton transport mechanism between protons, sulfonic acid groups, and water molecules. Typically, the higher the density of the sulfonic acid groups in the membrane, the higher the density of protons that can be released from the sulfonic acid groups; therefore, the higher density of the sulfonic acid groups usually results in higher proton conductivities.

Towards More Efficient and Eco-Friendly Thermoelectric Oxides with Hydrogen Substitution

Hydrogen substitution is an innovative strategy for boosting the performance of thermoelectric oxide SrTiO3, find researchers at Tokyo Tech. Their latest study reveals that the approach lowers the thermal conductivity and also realizes high electronic conductivity, paving the way for a more efficient thermoelectric energy conversion of waste heat without using costly or environmentally hazardous elements.

Today, over half of the total energy produced from fossil fuels is discarded as waste heat, which accelerates global warming. If we could convert the waste heat into a more useful form of energy like electricity, we could minimize fuel consumption and reduce our carbon footprint. In this regard, thermoelectric energy conversion has gained momentum as a technology for generating electricity from waste heat.

For efficient conversion, a thermoelectric material must have a high conversion efficiency (ZT). So far, realizing a high ZT has been possible only with the use of heavy elements like lead, bismuth, and tellurium. However, the use of rare, expensive, and environmentally toxic elements such as these has limited the large-scale application of thermoelectric energy conversion.

How bee-friendly is the forest?

A honeybee (Apis mellifera) collects honeydew on a fir tree. The study shows that the beech-dominated Steigerwald provides insufficient food resources for honeybees.
Photo Credit: Ingo Arndt

What role do forests play as a feeding habitat for honeybees? A team led by Würzburg biologist Dr. Benjamin Rutschmann investigated this question. For this purpose, the researchers used observation hives inside the Steigerwald.

Bees are generally associated with flowering meadows rather than with dense forests. Woodland, however, is considered the original habitat of the western honeybee (Apis mellifera), as it offers nesting sites in the form of tree cavities. Researchers at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) have now investigated the extent to which contemporary deciduous forests are suitable as foraging habitats for the busy insects.

For this purpose, Benjamin Rutschmann and Patrick Kohl installed twelve normally-sized honeybee colonies in observation hives across the Steigerwald – the respective proportion of forest in the surroundings varied for each bee colony. The two scientists conduct research at JMU in the Chair of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology (Zoology III), which is headed by Professor Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter. The latter was also involved in the study, which has now appeared in the Journal of Applied Ecology.

Chicken breeding in Japan dates back to fourth century BCE

Red junglefowl, the species from which the chicken was domesticated
Photo Credit: Masaki Eda

Conclusive evidence of chicken breeding in the Yayoi period of Japan has been discovered from the Karako-Kagi site.

The chicken is one of the most common domesticated animals, with a current estimated population of over 33 billion individuals. They are reared for their meat and eggs, and may be kept as pets.

The chicken is believed to have been domesticated in Southeast Asia about 3500 years ago, following which they were carried to all corners of the world. The exact date of introduction of chicken breeding to Japan is under debate, as there are no historical records and archeological evidence is inconclusive.

Professor Masaki Eda at the Hokkaido University Museum led a team to uncover the earliest conclusive evidence of chicken breeding in Japan. The findings, which show chickens were bred in the Karako-Kagi site, a settlement from the Yayoi period [5th century BCE to around 2nd century BCE], were published in the journal Frontiers in Earth Sciences.

Dark order in the universe

3D position and shape information for each galaxy helped to measure the magnitude of alignment relative to distant galaxies
Illustration Credit: KyotoU/Jake Tobiyama

Einstein would nod in approval. General relativity may apply even in the farthest reaches of the universe.

Now, scientists from international research institutions, including Kyoto University, have confirmed that the intrinsic alignments of galaxies have characteristics that allow it to be a powerful probe of dark matter and dark energy on a cosmological scale.

By gathering evidence that the distribution of galaxies more than tens of millions of light years away is subject to the gravitational effects of dark matter, the team succeeded in testing general theory of gravity at vast spatial scales. The international team analyzed the positions and orientations of galaxies, acquired from archived data of 1.2 million galaxy observations. With the help of available 3D positional information of each galaxy, the resulting statistical analysis quantitatively characterized the extent to which the orientation of distant galaxies is aligned.