Journal Reference: Emil M.H. Pallesen, Maria Gluud, Chella K. Vadivel, Terkild B. Buus, Bob de Rooij, Ziao Zeng, Sana Ahmad, Andreas Willerslev-Olsen, Christian Röhrig, Maria R. Kamstrup, Lene Bay, Lise Lindahl, Thorbjørn Krejsgaard, Carsten Geisler, Charlotte M. Bonefeld, Lars Iversen, Anders Woetmann, Sergei B. Koralov, Thomas Bjarnsholt, Johan Frieling, Mathias Schmelcher, Niels Ødum. Endolysin inhibits ... Read more

Journal Reference:

Emil M.H. Pallesen, Maria Gluud, Chella K. Vadivel, Terkild B. Buus, Bob de Rooij, Ziao Zeng, Sana Ahmad, Andreas Willerslev-Olsen, Christian Röhrig, Maria R. Kamstrup, Lene Bay, Lise Lindahl, Thorbjørn Krejsgaard, Carsten Geisler, Charlotte M. Bonefeld, Lars Iversen, Anders Woetmann, Sergei B. Koralov, Thomas Bjarnsholt, Johan Frieling, Mathias Schmelcher, Niels Ødum. Endolysin inhibits skin colonization by patient-derived Staphylococcus aureus and malignant T cell activation in cutaneous T cell lymphoma. Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 2023; DOI: 10.1016/j.jid.2023.01.039

However, more and more staphylococci are becoming resistant to antibiotics (also known as multi resistant staphylococcus aureus or MRSA), and these infections can be difficult to treat.

?Antibiotics resistance is an increasing problem, especially on a global scale. And when you have this relatively simple infection which suddenly cannot be treated with antibiotics, the situation can turn serious, sometimes life-threatening,? says Professor Niels Ødum from the LEO Foundation Skin Immunology Research Center at the University of Copenhagen.

Therefore, all over the world, a lot of resources are being invested in fighting antibiotics resistance in staphylococcus aureus infections, and a new study among skin lymphoma patients has produced positive results. A new substance called endolysins has proven capable of killing both resistant and non-resistant staphylococcus aureus ? without the need for antibiotics. But we will get back to that.

The discovery is good news to patients with a weak immune system to whom a staphylococcus aureus infection can be serious and, at worst, fatal. But it also adds to the knowledge we have of other forms of treatment.

?To people who are severely ill with e.g. skin lymphoma, staphylococci can be a huge, sometimes insoluble problem, as many are infected with a type of staphylococcus aureus that is resistant to antibiotics,? says Niels Ødum and adds:

?That is why we are careful not to give antibiotics to everyone, because we do not want to have to deal with more resistant bacteria. Therefore, it is important that we find new ways of treating ? and not the least to prevent ? these infections.?

New substance may be the answer

In some patients, a staphylococcus aureus will cause the cancer to worsen. And even though antibiotics appear to work in some cases, it is not without its problems.

?We can tell that giving high doses of antibiotics to patients with serious infections causes their health, skin and cancer symptoms to improve. But once we stop giving them antibiotics, the symptoms and staphylococci quickly return. Patients experience many adverse effects, and some risk getting resistant bacteria,? says Niels Ødum.

Therefore, treating staphylococcus aureus can be tricky. At worst, cancer patients may die of an infection which doctors are unable to treat.

And this is where endolysins enter the scene, as this new substance may be part of the solution to antibiotics resistance like MRSA.

?This particular endolysin is a brand new, artificially produced enzyme that has been improved several times and designed as a new drug,? explains Postdoc Emil Pallesen, who is first author of the study. He adds:

?The great thing about this enzyme is that it has been designed to penetrate the wall of staphylococcus aureus. This enables it to target and kill the harmful staphylococcus and leave harmless skin bacteria unharmed.?

And that is what made the researchers decide to test the new substance; they expected it to be able to kill both resistant and non-resistant staphylococcus bacteria.

?We have been testing the substance on skin samples from patients, and it does appear to kill staphylococcus aureus from patients. Endolysins do not care whether the bacterium is resistant to antibiotics or not, because it does not work in the same way as antibiotics,? says Niels Ødum and adds:

?The really good news is that our lab tests have showed that endolysins do not just eradicate staphylococcus aureus; they also inhibit their ability to promote cancer growth.?

Journal Reference:

Emil M.H. Pallesen, Maria Gluud, Chella K. Vadivel, Terkild B. Buus, Bob de Rooij, Ziao Zeng, Sana Ahmad, Andreas Willerslev-Olsen, Christian Röhrig, Maria R. Kamstrup, Lene Bay, Lise Lindahl, Thorbjørn Krejsgaard, Carsten Geisler, Charlotte M. Bonefeld, Lars Iversen, Anders Woetmann, Sergei B. Koralov, Thomas Bjarnsholt, Johan Frieling, Mathias Schmelcher, Niels Ødum. Endolysin inhibits skin colonization by patient-derived Staphylococcus aureus and malignant T cell activation in cutaneous T cell lymphoma. Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 2023; DOI: 10.1016/j.jid.2023.01.039

However, more and more staphylococci are becoming resistant to antibiotics (also known as multi resistant staphylococcus aureus or MRSA), and these infections can be difficult to treat.

New substance may be the answer

In some patients, a staphylococcus aureus will cause the cancer to worsen. And even though antibiotics appear to work in some cases, it is not without its problems.

Therefore, treating staphylococcus aureus can be tricky. At worst, cancer patients may die of an infection which doctors are unable to treat.

And this is where endolysins enter the scene, as this new substance may be part of the solution to antibiotics resistance like MRSA.

And that is what made the researchers decide to test the new substance; they expected it to be able to kill both resistant and non-resistant staphylococcus bacteria.

?The really good news is that our lab tests have showed that endolysins do not just eradicate staphylococcus aureus; they also inhibit their ability to promote cancer growth.?

Journal Reference: Corina Rosales, Dedipya Yelamanchili, Baiba K. Gillard, Jing Liu, Antonio M. Gotto, Henry J. Pownall. Serum opacity factor rescues fertility among female Scarb1?/? mice by reducing HDL-free cholesterol bioavailability. Journal of Lipid Research, 2023; 64 (2): 100327 DOI: 10.1016/j.jlr.2022.100327 ?We are working with a protein, called serum opacity factor, with unique characteristics,? said ... Read more

Journal Reference:

Corina Rosales, Dedipya Yelamanchili, Baiba K. Gillard, Jing Liu, Antonio M. Gotto, Henry J. Pownall. Serum opacity factor rescues fertility among female Scarb1?/? mice by reducing HDL-free cholesterol bioavailability. Journal of Lipid Research, 2023; 64 (2): 100327 DOI: 10.1016/j.jlr.2022.100327

?We are working with a protein, called serum opacity factor, with unique characteristics,? said Corina Rosales, Ph.D., assistant research professor of molecular biology in medicine with the Houston Methodist Research Institute and lead author on the study. ?In our experiments, serum opacity factor lowered cholesterol levels by over 40% in three hours. So, this protein is quite potent.?

The results are published in the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology?s Journal of Lipid Research.

While this protein?s primary function is to increase bacterial colonization, it also alters the structure of cholesterol-carrying high-density lipoproteins, or HDLs, making it easier for the liver to dispose of the excess cholesterol that?s preventing conception. The researchers also noted that serum opacity factor?s dramatic action on HDL could be leveraged as a potential alternative to statins, which are the current gold standard for lowering cholesterol in people with atherosclerosis.

HDL, known as the ?good cholesterol,? carries excess cholesterol from different tissues to the liver for breakdown, thereby bringing down cholesterol levels. However, if there is HDL dysfunction, lipid metabolism gets altered, which could then be harmful, like its counterpart LDL, or low-density lipoprotein. Often called ?bad cholesterol,? LDL carries cholesterol from the liver to other tissues, with high levels of it causing accumulation and diseases.

?Both HDLs and LDLs contain a mixture of free and esterified cholesterol, and free cholesterol is known to be toxic to many tissues,? said Henry J. Pownall, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry in medicine at the Houston Methodist Research Institute and corresponding author on the study. ?So, any dysfunction in HDL could be a risk factor for several diseases, too.?

To study HDL dysfunction, the researchers worked with preclinical mouse models that had unnaturally high levels of HDL cholesterol circulating in their bloodstream. While this made them ideal for studying atherosclerosis, Rosales observed that these mice were also completely sterile.

?Cholesterol is the backbone of all steroidal hormones, and an orchestra of hormones is needed to have a fertile animal,? Rosales said. ?We know that the ovaries are studded with receptors for HDL, so the metabolism of HDL had to play a very important role in fertility for that reason.?

As predicted, when the researchers fed the sterile mice with a lipid-lowering drug, both LDL and HDL cholesterol levels reduced, and the animals were temporarily rescued from infertility. Motivated by these results, they turned to the bacterial protein serum opacity factor, known to be highly selective for HDL.

?Serum opacity factor is known mainly in the context of bacterial strep infections where it serves as a virulence factor. But it was also discovered that this protein only reacts to HDL and not to LDL or other lipoproteins,? Rosales said. ?We hypothesized that perhaps administering serum opacity factor to these mice might help restore their fertility, as well.?

For their next set of experiments, the team engineered an adeno-associated virus to deliver the gene for serum opacity factor to the mice lacking HDL receptors that had high blood cholesterol. When the gene was expressed and the bacterial protein was produced, the animals? HDL cholesterol significantly lowered, and their fertility was restored.

Based on these promising preclinical results, the researchers next plan to conduct a clinical study to investigate lipid levels in women undergoing treatments for idiopathic infertility, where the underlying causes are not fully known. If these patients have high HDL levels, then the researchers say serum opacity factor may be a line of future treatment.

?Even if we were to help 1% of women who are struggling to conceive, it would be life-changing for them, and I think that?s where we can make the most impact with our research,? Rosales said.

Rosales and Pownall?s collaborators on this study were Dedipya Yelamanchili, Baiba K. Gillard and Jing Liu with the Center for Bioenergetics and Department of Medicine at the Houston Methodist Research Institute; and Antonio M. Gotto Jr. with Weill Cornell Medicine?s Department of Medicine.

This research is funded by the National Institutes of Health (HL149804) and the Bass Endowment.

Journal Reference:

Corina Rosales, Dedipya Yelamanchili, Baiba K. Gillard, Jing Liu, Antonio M. Gotto, Henry J. Pownall. Serum opacity factor rescues fertility among female Scarb1?/? mice by reducing HDL-free cholesterol bioavailability. Journal of Lipid Research, 2023; 64 (2): 100327 DOI: 10.1016/j.jlr.2022.100327

The results are published in the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology?s Journal of Lipid Research.

?Even if we were to help 1% of women who are struggling to conceive, it would be life-changing for them, and I think that?s where we can make the most impact with our research,? Rosales said.

This research is funded by the National Institutes of Health (HL149804) and the Bass Endowment.

Journal Reference: Simon R. Procter, Bronner P. Gonçalves, Proma Paul, Jaya Chandna, Farah Seedat, Artemis Koukounari, Raymond Hutubessy, Caroline Trotter, Joy E. Lawn, Mark Jit. Maternal immunisation against Group B Streptococcus: A global analysis of health impact and cost-effectiveness. PLOS Medicine, 2023; 20 (3): e1004068 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1004068 Strep B can infect pregnant women and their ... Read more

Journal Reference:

Simon R. Procter, Bronner P. Gonçalves, Proma Paul, Jaya Chandna, Farah Seedat, Artemis Koukounari, Raymond Hutubessy, Caroline Trotter, Joy E. Lawn, Mark Jit. Maternal immunisation against Group B Streptococcus: A global analysis of health impact and cost-effectiveness. PLOS Medicine, 2023; 20 (3): e1004068 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1004068

Strep B can infect pregnant women and their babies, causing sepsis and meningitis in newborns, and sometimes leading to death or disability. It is linked to increased risks of stillbirth and preterm births. As vaccines get closer to approval, a global economic evaluation of vaccination will inform investment decisions in further vaccine development as well as guide fair financing and pricing.

Simon Procter of London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom, and colleagues developed a model to assess the cost-effectiveness of Strep B vaccines in 140 million pregnant women in 183 countries in 2020. They used recent global estimates of the health burden of strep B in pregnant women and their children and estimated costs to healthcare systems, calculating quality-adjusted life years lost due to infant mortality and long-term disability.

Based on the World Health Organization?s published list of preferred features for a Strep B vaccine, the team assumed that the vaccine would prevent infection in 80% of women vaccinated, and that women receiving at least four antenatal visits would get vaccinated. They assumed a cost of $50 a dose in high income countries, $15 in upper-middle income and $3.50 in low- and lower-middle income countries. Vaccination could avert 127,000 early-onset and 87,300 late-onset infant iGBS cases, 31,100 deaths, 17,900 cases of moderate and severe neurodevelopmental impairment, and 23,000 stillbirths.

The study is limited by a lack of some data, such as on the impact of Step B on health-related quality of life and long-term costs of disability, but it estimates that a 1-dose vaccine program could cost $1.7 billion globally, while saving $385 million in healthcare costs. The team caution that regional sensitivities to vaccine prices could affect policy decisions and that tiered vaccine pricing would enable equitable access.

Dr. Procter adds, ?By reducing severe GBS infections, an effective maternal GBS vaccine deployed worldwide could prevent tens of thousands of newborn deaths and stillbirths each year. Our findings suggest maternal vaccination against GBS could be cost-effective in most countries, and we hope this will encourage the further investment needed to bring GBS vaccines to market.?

Journal Reference:

Simon R. Procter, Bronner P. Gonçalves, Proma Paul, Jaya Chandna, Farah Seedat, Artemis Koukounari, Raymond Hutubessy, Caroline Trotter, Joy E. Lawn, Mark Jit. Maternal immunisation against Group B Streptococcus: A global analysis of health impact and cost-effectiveness. PLOS Medicine, 2023; 20 (3): e1004068 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1004068

Journal Reference: H. Pleijel, J. Klingberg, B. Strandberg, H. Sjöman, L. Tarvainen, G. Wallin. Differences in accumulation of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) among eleven broadleaved and conifer tree species. Ecological Indicators, 2022; 145: 109681 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.109681 Trees and other greenery in cities provide many benefits that are important for the well-being of residents. Leaves and ... Read more

Journal Reference:

H. Pleijel, J. Klingberg, B. Strandberg, H. Sjöman, L. Tarvainen, G. Wallin. Differences in accumulation of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) among eleven broadleaved and conifer tree species. Ecological Indicators, 2022; 145: 109681 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.109681

Trees and other greenery in cities provide many benefits that are important for the well-being of residents. Leaves and needles on trees filter air pollutants and reduce exposure to hazardous substances in the air. But which trees purify the air most effectively? Researchers from the University of Gothenburg have collected leaves and needles from eleven different trees growing in the same place in the Gothenburg Botanical Garden?s arboretum (tree collection) to analyse which substances they have captured.

?This tree collection provides a unique opportunity to test many different tree-species with similar environmental conditions and exposure to air pollutants,? says Jenny Klingberg, a researcher at the Gothenburg Botanical Garden.

Harmful pollutants

A total of 32 different pollutants were analysed, some of which are bound to particles of various sizes. Others are gaseous. There is a proven connection between exposure to air pollutants and increased risk of cardiovascular diseases and airway problems. This project has focused on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In cities, traffic is the biggest source of these pollutants, which are released due to incomplete combustion in engines.

?Our analyses show that different tree species have different abilities to absorb air pollutants. Conifers generally absorbed more gaseous PAHs than broadleaved trees. Another advantage of conifers is that they also act as air purifiers in winter, when air pollution is usually at its highest,? says Jenny Klingberg.

Needles clean air for many years

The researchers also saw that needles continued to absorb air pollutants for several years, which leaves cannot do for obvious reasons. But broadleaved trees had other advantages. They were more efficient at cleaning the air of particles, which is thought to be due to the leaves having a larger surface area to which particles can attach.

?The various species differed more than we expected. Larch, which is a conifer that sheds its needles each autumn, was best in test. Larch trees absorbed the most particle-bound pollutants, but were also good at capturing gaseous PAHs,? says Jenny Klingberg.

Needles and leaves do not, however, break down pollutants to any greater extent, even if sunlight can start that process. Thus there is a risk that the soil beneath the trees will be contaminated by pollutants when the leaves and needles shed and decompose. This places the ecosystem in the soil at risk of being affected, though this has not been investigated in the current study being published in the journal Ecological Indicators.

?The pollutants do not appear to impact the trees? photosynthesis; leaf chlorophyll content is just as high in the most polluted areas of Gothenburg compared with trees that grow in less polluted environments. But this likely looks different in cities with even worse air quality,? says project leader Håkan Pleijel, professor of applied environmental science at the University of Gothenburg.

Careful urban planning is needed

However, you should not simply start filling city streets with trees to improve air quality for residents. Several factors determine the benefit. An alley of trees in a narrow street canyon can reduce air flow, negatively affecting dispersion and dilution of the air pollutants and therefore increase concentrations of contaminants locally on busy streets. This means that on narrow streets sheltered from wind, lower-growing vegetation, like hedges, may be preferable. Careful urban planning is necessary, combining different tree species to optimise air purification and to take into account other functions and benefits of trees, according to the researchers.

?This study contributes to improving our understanding of the ability of trees to clean the air and which species are best at absorbing air pollutants,? says Håkan Pleijel. This knowledge is important for urban planning when designing sustainable cities. While trees and greenery can contribute to better air quality in cities, at the end of the day the most important measure is to reduce emissions.

Journal Reference:

H. Pleijel, J. Klingberg, B. Strandberg, H. Sjöman, L. Tarvainen, G. Wallin. Differences in accumulation of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) among eleven broadleaved and conifer tree species. Ecological Indicators, 2022; 145: 109681 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.109681

Harmful pollutants

Needles clean air for many years

Careful urban planning is needed

Journal Reference: Roberto Rozzi, Mark V. Lomolino, Alexandra A. E. van der Geer, Daniele Silvestro, S. Kathleen Lyons, Pere Bover, Josep A. Alcover, Ana Benítez-López, Cheng-Hsiu Tsai, Masaki Fujita, Mugino O. Kubo, Janine Ochoa, Matthew E. Scarborough, Samuel T. Turvey, Alexander Zizka, Jonathan M. Chase. Dwarfism and gigantism drive human-mediated extinctions on islands. Science, 2023; ... Read more

Journal Reference:

Roberto Rozzi, Mark V. Lomolino, Alexandra A. E. van der Geer, Daniele Silvestro, S. Kathleen Lyons, Pere Bover, Josep A. Alcover, Ana Benítez-López, Cheng-Hsiu Tsai, Masaki Fujita, Mugino O. Kubo, Janine Ochoa, Matthew E. Scarborough, Samuel T. Turvey, Alexander Zizka, Jonathan M. Chase. Dwarfism and gigantism drive human-mediated extinctions on islands. Science, 2023; 1054-1059 DOI: 10.1126/science.add8606

Those same island-dwelling giants and dwarfs contend with far greater risks of disappearing from the planet than do other species, says a new study in the journal Science. Yet it?s not so much the size that counts, the researchers concluded, as how much that size varies between mainland and island.

Island inhabitants, even those of standard size, face more than their share of existential peril. Roughly 75% of the documented extinctions over the past 500 years took place on water-encompassed patches of land. About half of the animal species now listed as threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature live on islands, too.

But ecologists from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and elsewhere found that island-dwelling mammal species larger or smaller than their continental counterparts are even more likely to be endangered ? or have already gone extinct.

Extinction risks generally rose in tandem with the size disparities between mainland and island species, meaning that the most extreme giants and dwarfs were dealt the longest survival odds, the team discovered. Island-inhabiting mammals whose evolution multiplied or divided their mass by at least four were 75%-plus likely to be classified as threatened. Those that evolved to be 10 times larger or smaller than their mainland peers, meanwhile, faced at least a 75% chance of going extinct.

?We think it has to do with the associated ecological changes that go along with the morphological changes on islands,? said Kate Lyons, associate professor of biological sciences at Nebraska. ?Islands are generators of evolutionary novelty. You get all sorts of weird things on islands that you don?t get on the mainland.?

Gigantism and dwarfism are notable symptoms of what ecologists call ?island syndrome,? which frequently affects animal species ? from the enlarged but endangered Komodo dragon to the extinct pygmy mammoth ? that either immigrate to islands or originate there. Smaller mammals, like mice, generally encounter fewer predators and, having less reason to hide or flee, may evolve into giant versions of their mainland species or sister species. Larger mammals, including buffalo and hippopotamuses, tend to confront more constraints ? less territory on which to forage for vegetation or prey, and smaller quantities of both ? that limit their growth and ultimate size.

Species emigrating from a mainland often exhibit another trait: Being unfamiliar with the meat-eaters on their newfound home, they may lack appropriate fear of the neighbors most motivated and best equipped to kill them. The fact that some of the mammal species most prone to expanding or contracting in size also make for unsuspecting prey could help explain why island-confined giants and dwarfs are so vulnerable, the researchers said.

?They?re going to be really naïve to predators, especially any large primate predator, like us, that shows up,? Lyons said. ?So they?re going to be much easier to catch and kill and eat. And because islands are isolated, and there?s no source population for them, it?s also going to be easier for a new predator to drive them to extinction.

?If you think about what we know from the recorded history of what happened to a lot of these islands when sailors arrived,? she said, ?they would just easily catch and eat animals with no issues.?

Data from 1,231 surviving mammal species, and fossils from 350 extinct ones, allowed Martin Luther?s Roberto Rozzi, iDiv?s Jonathan Chase and the global team to take stock of those very human footprints across 182 current and former islands. For as much danger as giants and dwarfs already faced on islands, the arrival of modern humans, or Homo sapiens, multiplied the probability of extinction by 16. That far outweighed even the impacts of earlier, less advanced Homo species, whose appearance coincided with a doubling in extinctions.

Those rises in human-linked extinctions manifested as pulses in the fossil record that together represent a ?protracted extinction event? stretching back roughly 100,000 years, when the first pulse occurred. Another emerged about 16,000 years ago, near the end of the last ice age, with a third arising just 2,000 years ago. That latest pulse yielded an extinction rate about 88 times higher than that of the first.

?The reason they?re pulsed like that is because Homo sapiens got to different islands at different times,? said Lyons, whose prior research has linked the extinction of large mammals with human encroachment. ?It?s similar to how we got to different continents at different times ? except that for islands, it took us much longer to get to some of them, especially the really remote ones.?

The pulses also help illustrate differences in how humans and other predators alter the food webs of ecosystems ? differences that can lead not just to the thinning but the snipping of threads that make up those webs. Most predators, Lyons said, will not drive their prey to extinction. When the population of prey plummets due to hunting, predators have less to eat and eventually see their own numbers drop. That allows the prey population to rebound, with predators following suit, and so on.

?Humans (historically) don?t do that,? she said. ?We switch prey constantly. We eat something until it?s gone, or until it?s hard to catch, and then we eat something else until it?s gone. But we don?t stop eating the thing that we were first eating. If we come across it, we?re going to continue eating it, so the pressure on that population is still there.?

Efforts to prevent the further disappearance of species might benefit from incorporating the study?s findings, Lyons said. Current conservation policies do prioritize so-called endemic species that, by inhabiting only one small part of the world ? often an island ? are more vulnerable to extinction. Many conservationists also triage species according to genetic diversity, so that those featuring more distinct blueprints receive more attention and resources.

?So they do tend to look at various axes of diversity that they want to try to preserve. But they don?t take into account what this study shows,? Lyons said, ?which is that the species that get onto islands, and either dwarf or get giant, are at particular risk.?

Rozzi, Chase and Lyons authored the study with Mark Lomolino, from the State University of New York; Alexandra van der Geer of the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in the Netherlands; Daniele Silvestro, from Switzerland?s University of Fribourg; Pere Bover, from Spain?s University of Zaragoza; Josep Alcover, from Spain?s Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies; Ana Benítez-López of the Spanish National Research Council; Cheng-Hsiu Tsai of National Taiwan University; Masaki Fujita, from Japan?s National Museum of Nature and Science; Mugino Kubo, from The University of Tokyo; Janine Ochoa, from the University of the Philippines; Matthew Scarborough, from the University of Cape Town; Samuel Turvey, from the Zoological Society of London; and Alexander Zizka, from the Philipps University of Marburg in Germany.

Journal Reference:

Roberto Rozzi, Mark V. Lomolino, Alexandra A. E. van der Geer, Daniele Silvestro, S. Kathleen Lyons, Pere Bover, Josep A. Alcover, Ana Benítez-López, Cheng-Hsiu Tsai, Masaki Fujita, Mugino O. Kubo, Janine Ochoa, Matthew E. Scarborough, Samuel T. Turvey, Alexander Zizka, Jonathan M. Chase. Dwarfism and gigantism drive human-mediated extinctions on islands. Science, 2023; 1054-1059 DOI: 10.1126/science.add8606

?If you think about what we know from the recorded history of what happened to a lot of these islands when sailors arrived,? she said, ?they would just easily catch and eat animals with no issues.?

Journal Reference: Minsung Choi, Taegam Hwang, Yeseul Park, Xinzhuo Li, Junsung Kim, Kibeom Kim, Yonmo Sung, Gyungmin Choi. Numerical evaluation of the effect of swirl configuration and fuel-rich environment on combustion and emission characteristics in a coal-fired boiler. Energy, 2023; 268: 126591 DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2022.126591 To this end, various combustion methods like air an staging and ... Read more

Journal Reference:

Minsung Choi, Taegam Hwang, Yeseul Park, Xinzhuo Li, Junsung Kim, Kibeom Kim, Yonmo Sung, Gyungmin Choi. Numerical evaluation of the effect of swirl configuration and fuel-rich environment on combustion and emission characteristics in a coal-fired boiler. Energy, 2023; 268: 126591 DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2022.126591

To this end, various combustion methods like air an staging and swirl flow have been proposed. However, the efficacy of these technologies in mitigating the pollutant emissions while maximizing the burnout performance has remained unclear. Now, in a recent study made available online on 31 December 2022 and to be published in Volume 268, Issue 1 of the journal Energy on 01 April 2023, an international team of researchers led by Prof. Gyungmin Choi of Pusan National University, Korea analyzed the effectiveness of combining swirl flow and air staging in improving the combustion performance and reducing pollution. ?The exhaust tube vortex (ETV) structure accompanying the swirl flow improves flame stability and combustion performance, but has the disadvantage of generating a large amount of NOx emissions. In contrast, air staging technology creates a fuel-rich environment in the primary combustion zone, which has a positive effect on NOx reduction but negatively affects combustion performance,? explains Prof. Choi. ?Therefore, if these two technologies are appropriately combined and applied in real life, a synergistic effect that reduces the emission of air pollutants as well as improves combustion performance can be expected.?

Accordingly, the team employed both simulations and experiments to study the combined effects of different swirl configurations and air staging within a 16-kWth retrofitted down-fired pulverized coal boiler. The coal boiler was composed of three sections: the swirl burner, the boiler, and the exhaust pipe. For staged combustion, staged air was divided into two sides and injected tangentially into the boiler. Liquified petroleum (LPG) gas was used for preheating and flame stabilization. The staged-air and LPG flow rates were regulated, and for each setting, the temperature was measured using thermocouples. Additionally, the amount of gas-phase species was measured using a multi-gas analyzer.

Air staging with two swirl configurations, namely co-swirling and counter-swirling flames, were evaluated to understand which of these is more beneficial in terms of reducing pollutant emissions. In the case of the co-swirling burner, where the air and fuel circulated in the same sense, the coal particles were evenly distributed owing to the formation of inner circulation zone and the ETV-two vital features for optimizing the design of coal-fired boilers.

Further, the team observed an even burnout zone for the co-swirling configuration, which ensured complete combustion of the fuel, reducing the gas species emissions. It also facilitated an increased conversion of chemical energy into thermal energy, boosting the combustion efficiency. In contrast, counter-swirling burners showed uneven coal particle distribution, uneven burnout, and increased NOx emissions, suggesting that a co-swirling configuration was the better option. Additionally, the team showed that air staging technology reduced the environmental costs from $0.003 to $0.015 per day.

Overall, the insights from this study could prove to be extremely valuable in solving the environmental problems and health hazards related to coal-fired power plants. ?We have identified and studied the structure and flame of the ETV for the first time, and will continue researching and striving to utilize it in the combustion-based industry,? concludes an optimistic Prof. Choi.

Journal Reference:

Minsung Choi, Taegam Hwang, Yeseul Park, Xinzhuo Li, Junsung Kim, Kibeom Kim, Yonmo Sung, Gyungmin Choi. Numerical evaluation of the effect of swirl configuration and fuel-rich environment on combustion and emission characteristics in a coal-fired boiler. Energy, 2023; 268: 126591 DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2022.126591

Journal Reference: Jack J Devonshire, Michael A Wewege, Harrison J Hansford, Hasibe A Odemis, Benedict M Wand, Matthew D Jones, James H McAuley. Effectiveness of cognitive functional therapy for reducing pain and disability in chronic low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, 2023; 1 DOI: 10.2519/jospt.2023.11447 Leading ... Read more

Journal Reference:

Jack J Devonshire, Michael A Wewege, Harrison J Hansford, Hasibe A Odemis, Benedict M Wand, Matthew D Jones, James H McAuley. Effectiveness of cognitive functional therapy for reducing pain and disability in chronic low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, 2023; 1 DOI: 10.2519/jospt.2023.11447

Leading the review was Mr Jack Devonshire, a PhD candidate with UNSW Sydney and Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA). He looked at studies of Cognitive Functional Therapy (CFT) as a treatment for chronic back pain which, for the purposes of his research, was defined as pain experienced continuously for three months or more in the region between the 12th rib and the crease of the buttocks.

CFT has been growing in popularity and gaining attention among practitioners since the first clinical trial in 2013 based on theory developed in 2005. There have been multiple trials across the world on CFT since, says Mr Devonshire.

?CFT integrates treatments that may be helpful in managing chronic lower back pain, such as pain education, exercise, and lifestyle coaching, into a model of care informed by a contemporary understanding of a person?s entire pain experience,? he says.

?The therapy aims to build upon the biopsychosocial model to provide health professionals with what we call a clear ?clinical reasoning framework? to tailor strategies to manage this chronic condition.?

Global interest in CFT

Despite the therapy being integrated into healthcare systems in the UK and Finland, as well as having multiple training courses online for clinicians, there hasn?t yet been a comprehensive analysis of research into this therapy.

?So we decided to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis, the highest level of evidence, to look at past studies to find out how effective the treatment is on pain, disability and safety,? Mr Devonshire says.

After examining all the studies that fit the research criteria, Mr Devonshire and his fellow authors found that ultimately the effectiveness of CFT remains unknown at this stage, and the group calls for future trials featuring blinded participants ? those who are unaware whether the therapy being administered is actual or sham ? and studies that recruit larger sample sizes.

?The results of our study found that CFT may not reduce pain intensity and disability in people with chronic low back pain, compared to manual therapy and core exercises, either at the end of treatment or at the 12-month follow-up,? Mr Devonshire says.

?This is important as we want our exercise physiologists, physios and other health professionals who manage people with low back pain to be armed with the best available information on the available effective treatments ? especially since learning to deliver CFT as a therapist is quite intensive, taking an average 106 hours of training to properly deliver the treatment.?

The researchers otherwise found that no adverse events were reported among patients after receiving the CFT treatment.

Mr Devonshire notes that certainty in the researchers? systematic review was limited by differences between study controls, small sample sizes and a high risk of bias across all included studies, impacting the trustworthiness of the findings from these studies. The group looks forward to further research that improves current evidence via clinical trials on CFT.

The review was published recently in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy.

Journal Reference:

Jack J Devonshire, Michael A Wewege, Harrison J Hansford, Hasibe A Odemis, Benedict M Wand, Matthew D Jones, James H McAuley. Effectiveness of cognitive functional therapy for reducing pain and disability in chronic low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, 2023; 1 DOI: 10.2519/jospt.2023.11447

Global interest in CFT

The researchers otherwise found that no adverse events were reported among patients after receiving the CFT treatment.

The review was published recently in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy.

Journal Reference: J. T. Mäkinen, S. Autti, P. J. Heikkinen, J. J. Hosio, R. Hänninen, V. S. L?vov, P. M. Walmsley, V. V. Zavjalov, V. B. Eltsov. Rotating quantum wave turbulence. Nature Physics, 2023; DOI: 10.1038/s41567-023-01966-z Dr Samuli Autti from Lancaster University is one of the authors of a new study of quantum wave turbulence ... Read more

Journal Reference:

J. T. Mäkinen, S. Autti, P. J. Heikkinen, J. J. Hosio, R. Hänninen, V. S. L?vov, P. M. Walmsley, V. V. Zavjalov, V. B. Eltsov. Rotating quantum wave turbulence. Nature Physics, 2023; DOI: 10.1038/s41567-023-01966-z

Dr Samuli Autti from Lancaster University is one of the authors of a new study of quantum wave turbulence together with researchers at Aalto University.

The team?s findings, published in Nature Physics, demonstrate a new understanding of how wave-like motion transfers energy from macroscopic to microscopic length scales, and their results confirm a theoretical prediction about how the energy is dissipated at small scales.

Dr Autti said: ?This discovery will become a cornerstone of the physics of large quantum systems.?

Quantum turbulence at large scales ? such as turbulence around moving aeroplanes or ships ? is difficult to simulate. At small scales, quantum turbulence is different from classical turbulence because the turbulent flow of a quantum fluid is confined around line-like flow centres called vortices and can only take certain, quantised values.

This granularity makes quantum turbulence significantly easier to capture in a theory, and it is generally believed that mastering quantum turbulence will help physicists understand classical turbulence too.

In the future, an improved understanding of turbulence beginning on the quantum level could allow for improved engineering in domains where the flow and behaviour of fluids and gases like water and air is a key question.

Lead author Dr Jere Mäkinen from Aalto University said: ?Our research with the basic building blocks of turbulence might help point the way to a better understanding of interactions between different length scales in turbulence.

?Understanding that in classical fluids will help us do things like improve the aerodynamics of vehicles, predict the weather with better accuracy, or control water flow in pipes. There is a huge number of potential real-world uses for understanding macroscopic turbulence.?

Dr Autti said quantum turbulence was a challenging problem for scientists.

?In experiments, the formation of quantum turbulence around a single vortex has remained elusive for decades despite an entire field of physicists working on quantum turbulence trying to find it. This includes people working on superfluids and quantum gases such as atomic Bose-Einstein Condensates (BEC). The theorised mechanism behind this process is known as the Kelvin wave cascade.

?In the present manuscript we show that this mechanism exists and works as theoretically anticipated. This discovery will become a cornerstone of the physics or large quantum systems.?

The team of researchers, led by Senior Scientist Vladimir Eltsov, studied turbulence in the Helium-3 isotope in a unique, rotating ultra-low temperature refrigerator in the Low Temperature Laboratory at Aalto. They found that at microscopic scales so-called Kelvin waves act on individual vortices by continually pushing energy to smaller and smaller scales ? ultimately leading to the scale at which dissipation of energy takes place.

Dr Jere Mäkinen from Aalto University said: ?The question of how energy disappears from quantized vortices at ultra-low temperatures has been crucial in the study of quantum turbulence. Our experimental set-up is the first time that the theoretical model of Kelvin waves transferring energy to the dissipative length scales has been demonstrated in the real world.?

The team?s next challenge is to manipulate a single quantized vortex using nano-scale devices submerged in superfluids.

Journal Reference:

J. T. Mäkinen, S. Autti, P. J. Heikkinen, J. J. Hosio, R. Hänninen, V. S. L?vov, P. M. Walmsley, V. V. Zavjalov, V. B. Eltsov. Rotating quantum wave turbulence. Nature Physics, 2023; DOI: 10.1038/s41567-023-01966-z

Dr Samuli Autti from Lancaster University is one of the authors of a new study of quantum wave turbulence together with researchers at Aalto University.

Dr Autti said: ?This discovery will become a cornerstone of the physics of large quantum systems.?

Dr Autti said quantum turbulence was a challenging problem for scientists.

?In the present manuscript we show that this mechanism exists and works as theoretically anticipated. This discovery will become a cornerstone of the physics or large quantum systems.?

The team?s next challenge is to manipulate a single quantized vortex using nano-scale devices submerged in superfluids.

Journal Reference: Ziyun XU, Lei TIAN, Lan LIU, Cynthia Gates GOODYER, Barbara F. HALES, Stéphane BAYEN. Food Thermal Labels are a Source of Dietary Exposure to Bisphenol S and Other Color Developers. Environmental Science & Technology, 2023; DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c09390 ?BPA is a chemical that can interfere with hormones in the human body and cause adverse ... Read more

Journal Reference:

Ziyun XU, Lei TIAN, Lan LIU, Cynthia Gates GOODYER, Barbara F. HALES, Stéphane BAYEN. Food Thermal Labels are a Source of Dietary Exposure to Bisphenol S and Other Color Developers. Environmental Science & Technology, 2023; DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c09390

?BPA is a chemical that can interfere with hormones in the human body and cause adverse health outcomes, including cancers, diabetes, and damage to fertility and the development of infants. Now there is growing evidence that BPS may have similar health effects,? says Stéphane Bayen, an Associate Professor in the Department of Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry. ?Our study provides evidence, for the first time, that BPS and alternative chemicals found in food labels migrate through packaging materials into the food people eat,? he explains.

The researchers examined an assortment of packaged fresh food sold in Canada such as meats, cheeses, vegetables, and bakery products. They also compared fish bought from stores in Canada and the United States, and the differences between food wrapped with plastic cling wrap films with or without food labels. They found relatively high concentrations of BPS in thermal food labels, like price tags and stickers, where heat is used to print bar codes or unit prices. In contrast, they found little to no BPS in plastic wrapper films, pads, and trays.

While Canada does not currently regulate BPS, the researchers show that the amount of BPS found in the foods studied significantly exceeded the European Union limit, which regulates the permitted amount of substances released from packaging materials in contact with food.

?Considering the number of packaged food items sold with thermal labels, the actual dietary intake of BPS and other chemicals is likely to be high,? says Bayen. The study suggests a more thorough risk assessment of BPS and its ability to migrate into food from packaging is needed to help develop regulatory guidelines in the food sector.

Journal Reference:

Ziyun XU, Lei TIAN, Lan LIU, Cynthia Gates GOODYER, Barbara F. HALES, Stéphane BAYEN. Food Thermal Labels are a Source of Dietary Exposure to Bisphenol S and Other Color Developers. Environmental Science & Technology, 2023; DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c09390

Journal Reference: Andrew McKinney, Ming Hu, Amber Hoskins, Arian Mohammadyar, Nabeeha Naeem, Junzhan Jing, Saumil S Patel, Bhavin R Sheth, Xiaolong Jiang. Cellular composition and circuit organization of the locus coeruleus of adult mice. eLife, 2023; 12 DOI: 10.7554/eLife.80100 ?In this study, we undertook the arduous task of mapping local connections of NE-producing neurons in ... Read more

Journal Reference:

Andrew McKinney, Ming Hu, Amber Hoskins, Arian Mohammadyar, Nabeeha Naeem, Junzhan Jing, Saumil S Patel, Bhavin R Sheth, Xiaolong Jiang. Cellular composition and circuit organization of the locus coeruleus of adult mice. eLife, 2023; 12 DOI: 10.7554/eLife.80100

?In this study, we undertook the arduous task of mapping local connections of NE-producing neurons in the locus coeruleus,? Dr. Jiang said. ?This is the first study of such an unprecedented magnitude and detail to be performed on the locus coeruleus, and in fact, on any monoamine neurotransmitter system. Our study has revealed that the neurons in the locus coeruleus have an unexpectedly rich cellular heterogeneity and local wiring logic.?

Locus coeruleus senses danger and alerts other brain regions

Locus coeruleus (LC) is known to house the vast majority of norepinephrine-releasing neurons in the brain and regulates many fundamental brain functions including the fight and flight response, sleep/wake cycles, and attention control. Present in the pontine region of the brainstem, LC neurons sense any existential dangers or threats in our external environment and send signals to alert other brain regions of the impending danger.

The primary action of LC neurons is to release norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter, and a hormone, that increases alertness and promotes arousal, regulating the sleep/wake cycle and memory. Altered levels of norepinephrine are associated with depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, panic attacks, hyperactivity, heart problems, and substance abuse. Thus, a better understanding of how LC neurons function is key to understanding and identifying therapies for many neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative conditions.

Locus coeruleus has two distinct cellular subtypes, homotypically connected via gap junctions

Once viewed as a homogenous group of neurons that exert global, uniform influence over the entire brain, recent studies suggest LC neurons are a heterogeneous population of noradrenergic cells that exhibit both spatial and temporal modularity. These findings piqued the interest of Dr. Jiang and his team to investigate the cellular and circuit mechanisms underlying the functional diversity of LC neurons.

To do that, the team had to overcome a few technical barriers to be able to measure the activity of several LC neurons simultaneously from the brain slices of adult mice. For instance, while the technique of intracellular recordings of more than two neurons simultaneously has been used to study cortical circuits for the past few decades, it has been challenging to use this technique to record small nuclei in the brainstem such as the LC due to the space restraint and limited cell number in each brain slice. In this study, by optimizing slice quality and adapting their recording system to small brainstem slices, Andrew McKinney, a graduate student in the Jiang lab and the first author of the paper, successfully managed to record up to eight LC neurons simultaneously for the first time.

This technical development led Andrew and others in the team to make several unexpected observations about how LC neurons are organized and how they function.

First, consistent with emerging views in the field they found that norepinephrine-producing neurons in the LC are diverse. Further, they found that these can be classified into at least two major cell types based on their morphology and electrical properties and these subtypes occupy different spatial locations (anatomical niches) within LC. This finding provided a solid and much-needed basis for further in-depth studies of LC in adult animals.

Second, they found that LC neurons do not form chemical synapses, the most common type of connection between neurons. Instead, they form electrical synapses and connect to one another via gap junctions. This was an unexpected discovery because the conventional thinking is that electrical coupling via gap junctions is primarily present in developing LC and not in the LC of adult animals.

Third, they found that LC neurons of the same subtype electrically connected with one another but did not connect with the neurons of the other kind, providing the first cellular and circuit clue for the functional modularity of the LC and opening up avenues to understand how functional modularity arises within the noradrenergic system and dynamically controls diverse processes. These findings indicate that given that each cell type has preferential anatomical locations in LC and different projection targets, each electrically coupled within-cell-type homotypic network may coordinate or synergize their input or output as a whole to engage in distinct functions of the circuits as they carry information from the brain to various targets such as muscles or glands.

Finally, unlike the web-like connections that are typical of chemical synapses between neurons in the central nervous system, LC neurons of a single subtype were discovered to form unique linear chain-like electrical connections with one another. This provides the first experimental clue into how electrically-coupled neuronal networks are organized in the brain.

?This study sheds light on several unexplored questions about the cellular and circuit organization of the locus coeruleus in particular and also offers several new insights into other broader aspects of brain physiology,? Dr. Jiang said. ?We anticipate these novel findings will be of broad interest to cellular, systems, and computational neuroscientists and will inspire several future studies to understand how each neuron within LC interacts with one another to give rise to a synchronized network,? Dr. Jiang added. ?In addition, given that the dysregulation of the LC has been implicated in many neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders including autism and Alzheimer?s disease, these findings provide an essential knowledge base to decipher cellular and circuit mechanisms of these diseases.?

Others involved in the study were Ming Hu, Amber Hoskins, Arian Mohammadyar, Nabeeha Naeem, Junzhang Jing, Saumil Patel, and Bhavin Sheth. They are affiliated with one or more of the following institutions: Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children?s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, and the University of Houston. The study was supported by several research and training grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Main Street America Fund.

Journal Reference:

Andrew McKinney, Ming Hu, Amber Hoskins, Arian Mohammadyar, Nabeeha Naeem, Junzhan Jing, Saumil S Patel, Bhavin R Sheth, Xiaolong Jiang. Cellular composition and circuit organization of the locus coeruleus of adult mice. eLife, 2023; 12 DOI: 10.7554/eLife.80100

Locus coeruleus senses danger and alerts other brain regions

Locus coeruleus has two distinct cellular subtypes, homotypically connected via gap junctions

This technical development led Andrew and others in the team to make several unexpected observations about how LC neurons are organized and how they function.