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Humans leave their "footprints" on the land area all around the globe. These land-use changes play an important role for nutrition, climate, and biodiversity. Scientists at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) combined satellite data with statistics from the past 60 years and found that global land-use changes affect about 32 percent of the land area. This means that they are about four times as extensive as previously estimated. The researchers publish their findings in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

Whether it is deforestation, urban growth, agricultural expansion, or reforestation - land-use changes are diverse and have shaped human history at all times. "To face the global challenges of our time, we need to better understand the extent of land-use change and its contribution to climate change, biodiversity, and food production," says Karina Winkler from the Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research - Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK-IFU) Division, KIT Campus Alpin in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. "In fact, land use also plays a critical role in achieving the Paris climate targets."

Despite the availability of satellites, "Big Data," and the increasing amount of information, existing studies of land-use change are only of fragmentary nature, and they are limited in space or time. A research team from IMK-IFU and Wageningen University in the Netherlands now combined various data from free sources to develop a set of new, high-resolution maps called "HILDA+" (Historic Land Dynamics Assessment +). It traces and reconstructs global land-use changes and their spatio-temporal patterns between 1960 and 2019 using high-resolution satellite data and land-use statistics. "Our work is highly challenging as we have to deal with very different data sets," explains Winkler. "For example, if land-use maps have different spatial resolutions, temporal coverage, or land-use classifications, we need a strategy for harmonizing them."

The set of maps reveals that land-use changes have affected nearly one-third of the global land area in just six decades, i.e. they were about four times as extensive as previously known from long-term analyses. "However, land-use changes do not show the same patterns all over the world," Winkler says. In their study, the researchers point to North-South differences. Hence, in the Global North, for example in Europe, the USA, or Russia, forests have expanded and the arable land area has decreased, while in the Global South, for example in Brazil or Indonesia, forest areas have decreased and arable as well as pasture lands have increased.

Another aspect is that the rate of land-use change has changed over time. For the period between 1960 and about 2005, the researchers identified a period of accelerated land-use change and from about 2006 to 2019, land-use change had slowed down. "This trend reversal could be related to the increasing importance of global trade for agricultural production and to the global economic crisis of 2007/2008," Winkler adds.

The new land-use data could provide an improved data basis for climate and Earth system models - and thus contribute to political debates on strategies on how to achieve sustainable land use in the future. The data is freely available and can be viewed in an online map application. (jwa)

The cover for issue 7 of Oncotarget features Figure 14, "A hypothetical model of how a specific remodeling of cellular metabolism by CR slows down yeast chronological aging," published in "Caloric restriction creates a metabolic pattern of chronological aging delay that in budding yeast differs from the metabolic design established by two other geroprotectors" by Mohammad, et al. which reported that caloric restriction and the tor1Δ mutation are robust geroprotectors in yeast and other eukaryotes.

The authors demonstrate that caloric restriction generates a unique metabolic pattern.

Unlike the tor1Δ mutation or lithocholic acid, it slows down the metabolic pathway for sulfur amino acid biosynthesis from aspartate, sulfate and 5-methyltetrahydrofolate.

Consequently, caloric restriction significantly lowers the intracellular concentrations of methionine, S-adenosylmethionine and cysteine.

They also noticed that the low-calorie diet, but not the tor1Δ mutation or lithocholic acid, decreases intracellular ATP, increases the ADP:ATP and AMP:ATP ratios, and rises intracellular ADP during chronological aging. The Oncotarget authors propose a model of how the specific remodeling of cellular metabolism by caloric restriction contributes to yeast chronological aging delay.

The Oncotarget authors propose a model of how the specific remodeling of cellular metabolism by caloric restriction contributes to yeast chronological aging delay.

Dr. Vladimir I. Titorenko from Concordia University said, "A body of evidence indicates that metabolism is an essential contributor to the aging and longevity of eukaryotic organisms across phyla."

Indeed, healthy aging of the evolutionarily distant eukaryotes coincides with age-related changes in the concentrations of specific metabolites within cells, tissues, organs and biological fluids.

Furthermore, such dietary interventions as caloric restriction, reduced protein intake, a limited supply of single amino acid and alternating cycles of feeding and fasting are robust geroprotectors that specifically rewire cellular and organismal metabolism in various eukaryotic organisms.

Moreover, allelic variants of the genes implicated in diverse metabolic pathways delay aging and extend longevity in eukaryotic organisms across species.

Besides, pharmacological interventions that target distinct aspects of metabolism are potent geroprotectors in diverse eukaryotes; these interventions include metformin, rapamycin, resveratrol, spermidine and others.

It remains unclear if different dietary, genetic and pharmacological anti-aging interventions set up a similar metabolic pattern of aging delay or each of them generates a distinct metabolic profile.

The Titorenko Research Team concluded in their Oncotarget Research Output that:

1. What is the mechanism responsible for ATP decline under CR conditions? They hypothesize that CR might affect the transcription and/or translation of enzymes involved in ATP synthesis and/or degradation in the cytosol, mitochondria or other cellular locations.

Of note, a transcription/translation-based mechanism of suppressing methionine biosynthetic enzymes and transporters underlies the ability of CR to lower intracellular methionine and extend yeast RLS.

2. What are the metabolic changes underlying the extremely efficient longevity extension in yeast culture under CR conditions with LCA? Their findings indicate that LCA applied under CR conditions “overrides” the CR-specific metabolic profile of aging delay.

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DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.27926

Full text - https://www.oncotarget.com/article/27926/text/

Correspondence to - Vladimir I. Titorenko - vladimir.titorenko@concordia.ca

Keywords -
cellular aging,
geroprotectors,
caloric restriction,
metabolism,
methionine

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Oncotarget

DOI

10.18632/oncotarget.27926

A research group from Kumamoto University, Japan has discovered that cysteinylated albumin (oxidized albumin) in serum can be used as an early diagnostic marker for diabetic kidney disease. Compared with urinary albumin, serum oxidized albumin not only reflects renal pathology at an earlier stage, but can also predict the progression of renal pathology by its degree of elevation. The researchers believe that it can be used as a new diagnostic marker for early diagnosis of diabetic kidney disease.

Diabetic kidney disease is one of three major complications of diabetes. Its prognosis is difficult to improve as it progresses so diagnosing it as early as possible and providing appropriate therapeutic intervention is important. Albumin is the most abundant protein in blood serum and urine, and urinary albumin (albuminuria) is used to diagnose diabetic kidney disease. Albumin maintains osmotic pressure in serum and functions as a carrier of fatty acids and drugs. It is also frequently used as an early marker for diabetic nephropathy because albuminuria increases as kidneys begin failing. However, it is now clear that there are many cases of negative albuminuria in diabetic kidney diseases, especially those derived from type 2 diabetes. Thus, there is a need to develop new early diagnostic markers for these complex and diverse conditions.

In this study, the research group evaluated the association between pathological renal progression and post-translational modifiers of serum albumin in 257 type 2 diabetic patients. Serum albumin has a half-life of about 20 days and is known to undergo various chemical modifications (post-translational modifications) depending on the environment in the body. Researchers measured five post-translational modifications using a mass spectrometer and found that the level of cysteinylated albumin (oxidized albumin), an oxidized modification of albumin with one molecule of cysteine added, increased with the progression of diabetic kidney disease. This indicated that oxidized albumin can be used as a diagnostic marker for renal pathology. They also found that oxidized albumin may reflect earlier renal pathology compared to urinary albumin. Furthermore, patients with high levels of oxidized albumin showed faster progression of renal disease after two years, indicating that oxidized albumin can also be used to predict renal disease progression.

"Our study has shown that oxidized albumin may reflect early renal pathology even better than urinary albumin, which is the current gold standard," said Associate Professor Hiroshi Watanabe, who led this study. "In particular, since kidney disease derived from type 2 diabetic patients includes many cases of negative albuminuria, we expect serum oxidized albumin can be used as a new diagnostic marker for diabetic kidney disease."

Tsukuba, Japan--Researchers at the University of Tsukuba found that, despite only covering about one-third of the distance in HIIT compared with that covered in endurance training, similar improvements in exercise capacity and brain function were observed for both forms of exercise.

"We investigated how rats' muscles and brains--specifically, the region of the brain involved in spatial learning called the hippocampus--adapted to these types of exercise, and how the rats consequently learned and remembered navigating mazes," explains Professor Hideaki Soya, the principal investigator.

In the experiment, rats were assigned to 1 of 3 groups--resting, endurance running, or alternating intervals (short sprints and rest)--during training sessions on treadmills 5 days/week for 4 weeks.

Both endurance running and HIIT resulted in weight loss, greater muscle mass, and the ability to exercise longer compared with controls; however, increased cellular aerobic capacity was found in the soleus (a muscle with predominantly slow-twitch fibers that makes it functionally well suited to endurance) and in the plantaris (a muscle with predominantly fast-twitch fibers for meeting high-energy functional demands) in the endurance-running and HIIT groups, respectively.

Rats in both groups demonstrated having better memory of spatial learning trials in searching for an escape platform in a water maze. In the hippocampus, increased cell development--neurogenesis--was also observed for both forms of exercise; however, levels of a signaling protein that promotes neurogenesis (BDNF) were increased by HIIT but not by endurance running, whereas the levels of its receptor (TrkB) were increased by both.

Given that BDNF expression is known to be affected by exercise, why didn't endurance running increase BDNF expression? The answer may lie in the mediating role of stress on BDNF expression; exercise is a type of stress. While stress indicators in both exercise groups were found to be similar, this line of enquiry may lead to future studies:

"In this study, we showed that an HIIT exercise regimen with a low exercise volume nevertheless improves spatial memory, and we demonstrated that these improvements are supported by changes in neuronal plasticity in the hippocampus. In a previous study, we found that continuous light-intensity training had a similar beneficial effect, whereas continuous high-intensity training did not," Professor Soya summarizes. "Thus, it seems that the benefits yielded by exercise may actually depend on optimization, that is, a trade-off between exercise time and intensity."

A future where exercise regimens can be tailored to improve both physical and cognitive features may be on the horizon.

The way in which banks react to climate risks and uncertainty could impact financial stability as well as the world's transition to a low-carbon economy. A new study by researchers from IIASA and the Vienna University of Economics and Business explored the role that banks' expectations about climate-related risks will play in fostering or hindering an orderly low-carbon transition.

According to the study published in a special issue on climate risks and financial stability of the Journal of Financial Stability, banks and their expectations about climate-related risks - and especially climate transition risk stemming from a disorderly introduction of climate policies - play an important role in the successful transition to a low-carbon economy, as lower credit costs could make green (low-carbon) investments more competitive, allowing such investments to be made at scale. Depending on the timing and structure of implementation, climate policies could however also lead to a reduced profitability of brown (carbon intensive) firms, in turn leading to unanticipated loan defaults by such companies. This could pose a credit-risk for banks and investors, potentially threatening financial stability and leading to a credit crunch that would also affect green firms negatively, thus putting the success of an orderly low-carbon transition at risk.

The authors explain that they set out to assess the role of banks' expectations about climate-related risks - climate sentiments - in fostering or hindering the low-carbon transition.

"We wanted to determine under which conditions a carbon tax or green supporting factor can foster green loans and investments in the economy, and also to identify the conditions that would be conducive for the onset of credit market instability, focusing on loan contracts. In addition, we wanted to see what role - if any - the climate sentiments of the banking sector may play in fostering or hindering the expected effect of climate policies on the green economy and financial stability," says IIASA researcher and study author Asjad Naqvi.

In order to analyze the macro-financial implications and feedback effects of climate fiscal and macro-prudential policies, the researchers developed a Stock-Flow Consistent model that adopts a forward-looking approach to the pricing of climate risks in banks' lending contracts and credit risk born by firms. With this newly developed model and its innovative characteristics, the researchers assessed the transmission channels of two main policies and regulations, namely a carbon tax and a green supporting factor on the credit market and on macroeconomic performance and stability.

"A carbon tax would put a tax on carbon-intense production thus making low-carbon production and investment in such production facilities more attractive. However, to prevent unintended effects, the introduction of a carbon tax should be complemented with distributive welfare measures. A green supporting factor on the other hand, would lower the capital requirements for loans that banks give out for green investments, thus making green lending for banks more attractive and potentially resulting in better credit conditions for green investment projects," explains study author Irene Monasterolo, a researcher at the Vienna University of Economics and Business.

According to the authors, the effects of banks' climate sentiments demonstrate the important role of timely and credible climate policy strategies to signal the market and allow an orderly low-carbon transition. Their work could help financial regulators and Central Banks to identify financial instability implications of credit risk, and for banks, to manage their loans portfolio in the face of climate transition shocks, thus avoiding the risk of losses driven by non-performing loans.

"Climate sentiments could play a defining role in fostering an orderly low-carbon transition. Policy credibility is crucial to building trust in the banking sector, which in turn determines successful policy implementation and minimize the negative impacts on economic and financial instability via its lending conditions. A single policy might not be enough to trigger the low-carbon transition at the pace needed. In this regard, the conditions for synergies between different climate policies and green investment policies such as the so-called European Green Deal should be further analyzed," concludes study author and IIASA researcher Nepomuk Dunz.

Devices that deliver nicotine without smoke inhalation have potential to help smokers who cannot or do not want to stop using nicotine to reduce dramatically the risk of smoking-related disease and death.

However, for smokers to switch to these alternatives, the products need to provide what smokers expect from cigarettes.

The newest study from Queen Mary University of London evaluates safety and effects of these products and has focused on the most popular "heat not burn" product, IQOS.

The researchers compared nicotine delivery and user ratings of IQOS with those of cigarettes, Juul (the US version of a 'pod' based e-cigarette with high nicotine content), and refillable e-cigarettes.

IQOS delivered less nicotine than cigarettes. It had also lower nicotine delivery than Juul, and was less effective in reducing urges to smoke. Compared to traditional refillable e-cigarettes, IQOS provided nicotine faster, but received less favourable ratings.

The study concludes that, for quitting smoking, IQOS may be less effective than the US version of Juul (the version sold in the UK has very low nicotine delivery because of EU regulations and so it is less likely to be useful). IQOS could be as effective as refillable e-cigarettes, although study participants preferred refillable e-cigarettes.

Author Professor Peter Hajek from Queen Mary University of London said: "IQOS is likely to be useful to help smokers quit, particularly in countries like Japan, where e-cigarettes are banned; but in countries where e-cigarettes are available, they are likely to remain the more popular choice."

The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) under the Ministry of Science and ICT developed a roll-based damage-free transfer technique that allows two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials to be transferred into wafer scale without damage. The proposed technique has a variety of applications from transparent displays and semiconductors to displays for self-driving cars, and is expected to accelerate the commercialization of 2D nanomaterial-based high-performance devices.

Dr. Kwang-Seop Kim, principal researcher of the Department of Nano-Mechanics at KIMM, succeeded in developing a technique of transferring 2D nanomaterials, as thin as 1/50,000 of a strand of hair, to a substrate of at least 4 inches (approx. 10 cm) without damage.

The roll-based transfer is a process in which 2D nanomaterials on a transfer film are transferred to a desired substrate. It is a highly efficient technique that enables large-area continuous transfer of nanomaterials, similar to paper printing.

The transfer process involves nanomaterials on a transfer film (A) and a target substrate (B). In roll transfer, the nanomaterials are transferred to B when A is rolled onto B. This is similar to the process of transferring a tattoo onto skin using a tattoo sticker. The sticker plays the role of the transfer film, the tattoo represents the 2D nanomaterials, and the skin is the substrate.

The key point in the proposed technique is to identify two different types of the damage mechanisms in relation to the deformation of adhesive layer in the transfer film through computer simulation and experiments. The team optimizes the thickness of the adhesive layer to minimize the deformation of the adhesive layer during the transfer process, leading to achieve the damage-free transfer of large-area 2D nanomaterials.

The team discovered the principle behind the damage-free transfer of an extremely thin tattoo to skin through optimizing the tattoo sticker.

The technique can be utilized in the roll-based transfer process for the production of 2D nanomaterial-based flexible transparent displays and transparent semiconductors, decreasing the damage in 2D nanomaterial down to 1% compared to the existing 30%.

Principal researcher Kwang-Seop Kim said, "Our technique of transferring large-area 2D nanomaterials and micro-devices without damage to substrates will significantly lower manufacturing costs of wearable devices, flexible transparent displays, and high-performance bio/energy sensors, thus accelerating the commercialization of related applications. We also expect to see new businesses across industries from next-generation semiconductors to future vehicles."

(SYDNEY, Monday 17th May 2021) The early immune response in a person who has been vaccinated for COVID-19 can predict the level of protection they will have to the virus over time, according to analysis from Australian mathematicians, clinicians, and scientists, and published today in Nature Medicine.

The researchers from UNSW's Kirby Institute, the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, and the University of Sydney have identified an 'immune correlate' of vaccine protection. This has the potential to dramatically cut development times for new vaccines, by measuring neutralising antibody levels as a 'proxy' for immune protection from COVID-19.

"Neutralising antibodies are tiny Y-shaped proteins produced by our body in response to infection or vaccination. They bind to the virus, reducing its ability to infect," says Dr Deborah Cromer from the Kirby Institute.

"While we have known for some time that neutralising antibodies are likely to be a critical part of our immune response to COVID-19, we haven't known how much antibody you need for immunity. Our work is the strongest evidence to date to show that specific antibody levels translate to high levels of protection from disease."

The researchers analysed data from seven COVID-19 vaccines to examine the how the response measured soon after vaccination correlated with protection. They then used statistical analysis to define the specific relationship between immune response and protection. Their analysis was remarkably accurate and was able to predict the efficacy of a new vaccine.

Dr Cromer said that this finding has the potential to change the way we conduct COVID-19 vaccine trials in the future.

"Antibody immune levels are much easier to measure than directly measuring vaccine efficacy over time. So, by measuring antibody levels across the range of new vaccine candidates during early phases of clinical trials, we can better determine whether a vaccine should be used to prevent COVID-19."

Vaccine boosters likely to be required within a year

Another crucial application of this analysis is its ability to predict immunity over time. The researchers predict that immunity to COVID-19 from vaccination will wane significantly within a year, with the level of neutralising antibodies in the blood dropping over the first few months following infection or vaccination.

"Vaccination works very well to prevent both symptoms and severe disease in the short to medium term, but efficacy is predicted to decline over the first few months for most of these vaccines," says Dr David Khoury, also from the Kirby Institute.

"However, it is very important to understand the difference between immunity against infection and protection from developing severe disease. Our study found that a 6-fold lower level of antibodies is required to protect against severe disease. So even though our analysis predicts that we will start losing immunity to mild infection in the first year after vaccination, protection from severe infection should be longer lived," says Dr Khoury.

"But ultimately, for optimal protection against moderate disease and transmission of COVID-19, these findings suggest we may be looking at annual vaccine boosters, just like what we have with the flu vaccine."

Applying the model in the real word

A major global challenge is the evolution of the virus and the emergence of new variants. There is a growing concern, based on laboratory studies, that antibodies developed against the dominant strains are less effective at neutralising these new variants.

"An added advantage of our work is that allows us to predict how protective an immune response will be against different variants," says Professor Jamie Triccas from the University of Sydney's Marie Bashir Institute and Faculty of Medicine and Health.

"This analysis shows a very good correlation between the immune response - which is very easy to test for - and the efficacy of a vaccine in preventing infection, which is incredibly hard to test for. This means we can predict how protective an immune response will be against different variants, without having to determine efficacy against each variant in large and costly clinical trials.

"This work can facilitate decision making by providing the necessary data much earlier on in the vaccine development pipeline and in a far more efficient way."

A limitation of this study is that it analyses the relationship between early immune responses to infection and vaccination and protection from infection (the data that is currently available), and uses this relationship to project how immunity will change in the future and in the response to different viral variants. Future studies should aim to confirm these predictions as data becomes available.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - New research provides the best evidence to date into the timing of how our early Milky Way came together, including the merger with a key satellite galaxy.

Using relatively new methods in astronomy, the researchers were able to identify the most precise ages currently possible for a sample of about a hundred red giant stars in the galaxy.

With this and other data, the researchers were able to show what was happening when the Milky Way merged with an orbiting satellite galaxy, known as Gaia-Enceladus, about 10 billion years ago.

Their results were published today (May 17, 2021) in the journal Nature Astronomy.

"Our evidence suggests that when the merger occurred, the Milky Way had already formed a large population of its own stars," said Fiorenzo Vincenzo, co-author of the study and a fellow in The Ohio State University's Center for Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics.

Many of those "homemade" stars ended up in the thick disc in the middle of the galaxy, while most that were captured from Gaia-Enceladus are in the outer halo of the galaxy.

"The merging event with Gaia-Enceladus is thought to be one of the most important in the Milky Way's history, shaping how we observe it today," said Josefina Montalban, with the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Birmingham in the U.K., who led the project.

By calculating the age of the stars, the researchers were able to determine, for the first time, that the stars captured from Gaia-Enceladus have similar or slightly younger ages compared to the majority of stars that were born inside the Milky Way.

A violent merger between two galaxies can't help but shake things up, Vincenzo said. Results showed that the merger changed the orbits of the stars already in the galaxy, making them more eccentric.

Vincenzo compared the stars' movements to a dance, where the stars from the former Gaia-Enceladus move differently than those born within the Milky Way. The stars even "dress" differently, Vincenzo said, with stars from outside showing different chemical compositions from those born inside the Milky Way.

The researchers used several different approaches and data sources to conduct their study.

One way the researchers were able to get such precise ages of the stars was through the use of asteroseismology, a relatively new field that probes the internal structure of stars.

Asteroseismologists study oscillations in stars, which are sound waves that ripple through their interiors, said Mathieu Vrard, a postdoctoral research associate in Ohio State's Department of Astronomy.

"That allows us to get very precise ages for the stars, which are important in determining the chronology of when events happened in the early Milky Way," Vrard said.

The study also used a spectroscopic survey, called APOGEE, which provides the chemical composition of stars - another aid in determining their ages.

"We have shown the great potential of asteroseismology, in combination with spectroscopy, to age-date individual stars," Montalban said.

This study is just the first step, according to the researchers.

"We now intend to apply this approach to larger samples of stars, and to include even more subtle features of the frequency spectra," Vincenzo said.

"This will eventually lead to a much sharper view of the Milky Way's assembly history and evolution, creating a timeline of how our galaxy developed."

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have found out how microscopic structures called lipid droplets may help to prevent a high-fat diet causing kidney damage. The work in fruit flies, published in PLoS Biology opens up a new research avenue for developing better treatments for chronic kidney disease.

Eating foods high in fats can cause inflammation and metabolic stress in the kidneys, leading to chronic disease, which in severe cases requires dialysis or a transplant. And with obesity on the rise globally, it's a growing problem - around 10% of people in the UK are living with chronic kidney disease.

Scientists at the Crick have been studying a common characteristic of the disease, the appearance of lipid droplets inside kidney cells, to solve a long-standing mystery of whether this protects or harms kidney function.

Working with electron microscopy experts at the Crick, the team used the sophisticated genetic methods available in the fruit fly (Drosophila) to show that lipid droplets protect the renal system against damage from excess dietary fats.

When fed a high-fat diet, lipid droplets accumulate inside nephrocytes, the flies' equivalent of human kidney cells called podocytes. Here, the droplets act as a 'safe haven' for storing excess fats away from the rest of the cell. An enzyme called ATGL sits on the surface of lipid droplets and helps to dispose of the stored fats in a safe way. ATGL does this by feeding the fats in a digestible form to nearby mitochondria, where they can be broken down into less toxic molecules.

Lipid droplets are essential for the protective process as when the scientists used genetic methods to prevent their formation, the fats left free inside the nephrocytes caused substantial damage and impaired kidney function.

Alex Gould, head of the Physiology and Metabolism Laboratory at the Crick and lead researcher of the study says: "It has been known for many years that lipid droplets pop up in a wide range of diseases, all the way from diabetes to brain cancer. What's been far less clear is whether they are making things better or worse."

"It's exciting to find that lipid droplets are an essential part of the kidney's fight back against fat overload. These fascinating structures are turning out to be so much more than tiny balls of fat, and we now want to find out whether their protective role in the kidney also applies to other disease contexts."

The scientists also found that boosting the expression of the ATGL enzyme in fruit flies was able to repair most of the damage caused by a high-fat diet, restoring normal function to the kidney cells.

Fruit flies are a useful model for understanding the biology of kidney disease in humans because there are important similarities in the renal systems of both species, including the presence of the ATGL enzyme.

Ola Lubojemska, who carried out much of this work in the Physiology and Metabolism Laboratory at the Crick, explains: "These findings are at an early stage but open up a new direction for clinical research into chronic kidney disease. It may, for example, be possible to develop a drug that boosts the ATGL enzyme in renal patients. This would allow excess dietary fats to be more efficiently detoxified by kidney cells, thus improving kidney function."

The University of Kent's School of Physical Sciences, in collaboration with the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and the Universities of Cardiff, Durham and Leeds, have developed an algorithm to train computers to analyse signals from subatomic particles embedded in advanced electronic materials.

The particles, called muons, are produced in large particle accelerators and are implanted inside samples of materials in order to investigate their magnetic properties. Muons are uniquely useful as they couple magnetically to individual atoms inside the material and then emit a signal detectable by researchers to obtain information on that magnetism.

This ability to examine magnetism on the atomic scale makes muon-based measurements one of the most powerful probes of magnetism in electronic materials, including "quantum materials" such as superconductors and other exotic forms of matter.

As it is not possible to deduce what is going on in the material by simple examination of the signal, researchers normally compare their data to generic models. In contrast, the present team adapted a data-science technique called Principal Component Analysis (PCA), frequently employed in Face Recognition.

The PCA technique involves a computer being fed many related but distinct images and then running an algorithm identifying a small number "archetypal" images that can be combined to reproduce, with great accuracy, any of the original images. An algorithm trained in this way can then go on to perform tasks such as recognising whether a new image matches a previously-seen one.

Researchers adapted the PCA technique to analyse the signals sent out by muons embedded in complex materials, training the algorithm for a variety of quantum materials using experimental data obtained at the ISIS Neutron and Muon source of the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.

The results showed the new technique is equally as proficient as the standard method at detecting phase transitions and in some cases could detect transitions beyond the capabilities of standard analyses.

Dr Jorge Quintanilla, Senior Lecturer in Condensed Matter Theory at Kent and leader of the Physics of Quantum Materials research group said: 'Our research results are exceptional, as this was achieved by an algorithm that knew nothing about the physics of the materials being investigated. This suggests that the new approach might have very broad application and, as such, we have made our algorithms available for use by the worldwide research community.'

In its response to pathogens and vaccines, our immune system relies on dendritic cells. These white blood cells patrol the body's tissues, collect components of pathogens and vaccines and transport them via lymphatic vessels to the nearest lymph node. There, they present the collected material to other immune cells in order to trigger an immune response.

How exactly dendritic cells get from the tissue into lymphatic vessels and from there to the lymph node is the focus of research conducted by Cornelia Halin, Professor of Pharmaceutical Immunology at ETH Zurich. For a long time, scientists assumed that dendritic cells choose the path of least resistance and migrate from the tissue into the smallest branches of the lymphatic vessels, the lymphatic capillaries. This is because, unlike other lymphatic vessels, capillaries are surrounded only by a thin, barely closed layer of cells, allowing dendritic cells to slip through the spaces between neighbouring cells relatively easily.

However, this route is slow. While cells in blood vessels and in most other lymphatic vessels are carried along by a flow of fluid, virtually no flow is present in lymphatic capillaries. Consequently, cells in these capillary vessels need to actively move themselves forward, which only happens at an extremely low speed.

Faster despite obstacles

With her team, ETH Professor Halin has now discovered that dendritic cells can take a shortcut. In studies performed on mouse tissues and employing microscopy, the scientists were able to show that dendritic cells can also migrate directly into those lymphatic vessels into which the capillaries merge: the collecting lymphatics. These vessels are surrounded by a well-sealed layer of cells and a thicker membrane of connective tissue. Consequently, migration across these barriers is more difficult for dendritic cells, and entry takes longer than into capillaries. All in all, however, dendritic cells taking this path arrive in the lymph nodes much faster, since immediately after entry they are carried along by the lymph flow present in the collecting vessels and can bypass the slow active migration step in the capillaries.

Thinner barrier in case of inflammation

At present, it is not yet completely understood under which circumstances dendritic cells choose the known path via the capillaries and under which they take the newly discovered shortcut. As ETH Professor Halin and her colleagues have shown, the shortcut becomes available when there is an ongoing inflammatory response in the tissue. Specifically, the researchers were able to show that the connective tissue membrane surrounding the collecting lymphatics becomes degraded during inflammation, making it easier for dendritic cells to penetrate into the collectors.

It thus appears that an inflammatory response is the key factor that allows dendritic cells to take this shortcut and arrive more quickly in the lymph nodes. The scientists will now investigate whether all dendritic cells or only specific subtypes can travel via this route. In particular, they plan to explore the importance of the newly discovered pathway for the activation of the immune system and for installing immune responses. They suspect that the ability to sound the alarm in the lymph node more quickly may provide an advantage in fighting certain infections.

For the first time, Penn State researchers have identified a gene that controls flowering in cacao, a discovery that may help accelerate breeding efforts aimed at improving the disease-ridden plant, they suggested.

Characterizing the Flowering Locus T gene in cacao, responsible for the production of florigen -- a protein that triggers flowering in most plants -- is important, according to study co-author Mark Guiltinan, J. Franklin Styer Professor of Horticultural Botany and professor of plant molecular biology. He expects this advancement to enable scientists to develop disease-resistant trees faster, which is critical because 20% to 30% of the world's cacao crop is lost to disease annually.

"Breeding tree crops like cacao is very slow and can take 20 or more years to release a new variety," he said. "Knowledge of the mechanisms of flowering may lead to methods to accelerate cacao breeding and to develop trees that produce fruit sooner than conventional varieties, which takes two to four years. Each year we move closer to these goals as we continue to explore the molecular biology of the cacao tree."

To find the flowering gene in cacao, lead researcher Sarah Prewitt, doctoral candidate in plant science in the College of Agricultural Sciences, first looked at genes known to be responsible for flowering in the Arabidopsis plant, the genome of which has been studied widely for decades. Before finding the cacao flowering gene, she tested an Arabidopsis flowering gene in cacao to see how the plant developed.

Testing her theory, she overexpressed that gene to trigger very early flowering in cacao "plantlets" in the lab and showed that those tiny flowers produced grains of pollen that were viable.

"To find the flowering gene in cacao, we used a bioinformatics approach, taking the sequence of the gene from Arabidopsis and looking for similar genes in the cacao genome," Prewitt said. "I found the cacao gene that promotes flowering because the sequences look very similar."

Geneticists consider the function of the florigen flowering gene to be "highly conserved," Prewitt added. "That means the gene is extremely consistent -- it does what it does in every plant genome that you look in," she said. "The florigen flowering gene certainly has been looked at in a lot of plants, and it's very reliable. It controls the timing of flowering."

In findings published May 15 in BMC Plant Biology, the researchers reported on the role of cacao's single flowering gene, Flowering Locus T, demonstrated by gene-expression analysis. They also documented the results of their introduction of the flowering gene from Arabidopsis into cacao. Overexpressing that gene resulted in "precocious" flowering in cacao tissue culture, they explained, which demonstrated the extremely similar function of florigen genes and the mechanisms that control flowering in both Arabidopsis and cacao.

While intriguing on a scientific level, the discovery of the cacao Flowering Locus T gene could have a potentially significant, real-world impact, Guiltinan noted, by helping to improve the lives of millions of cacao farmers in developing countries sooner than previously thought possible. He pointed out that the breeding of cacao varieties with high yields, disease resistance, resilience to climate change and desirable quality traits is an important component of a broader goal to develop sustainable farming systems for cacao.

"Better cacao varieties can increase the income, and thus the well-being, of cacao farmers who live in some of the most impoverished regions of the world, such as West Africa," he said. "In turn, this will benefit the economies of these countries and the environment and will provide a sustainable source of the main raw ingredient for the chocolate industry."

Paper Title: SARS-CoV-2 infects human adult donor eyes and hESC-derived ocular epithelium

Authors: Timothy Blenkinsop, PhD, Assistant Professor, Cell, Developmental & Regenerative Biology, and Benjamin tenOever, PhD, Professor, Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, and other coauthors.

Bottom Line: SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19, is thought to transmit and begin infection in the upper respiratory tract. For this reason, the use of face masks has been recommended for the general public. However, it remains unclear whether infection can also be initiated from the eye, thus requiring additional protective measures.

Results: The new study finds that cells in the eye can be directly infected by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Why the Research Is Interesting: The findings have an immediate impact on preventive measures to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and support new guidance for eye protection that can be instituted worldwide.

Who: Adult human eyes in an in vitro stem cell model.

When: Eyes were exposed to SARS-CoV-2 and studied after 24 hours.

What: The study evaluated whether SARS-CoV-2 could infect both tissues and primary cells in the eye.

How: The donor cells were infected with SARS-CoV-2 and then analyzed through RNA sequencing. The sequences were then mapped to the human genome and compared to non-infected control cells from adult tissues. The expression of the exposed cell where then evaluated. Contracting the virus through the eye could also be corroborated using a small animal model in independent work done Ramus Møller in the tenOever lab.

Study Conclusions: SARS-CoV-2 can infect surface cells of the eye. The exposed cells revealed the presence of infection-associated proteins including ACE2, the virus receptor, and TMPRSS2, an enzyme which allows viral entry. IFNβ, a protein that has antiviral and antibacterial properties, was also found to be suppressed from the exposure to the virus. Additionally, the researchers found that ocular surface cells, particularly the limbus, were susceptible to infection, while the central cornea was less vulnerable.

Said Mount Sinai's Dr. Timothy Blenkinsop of the research:
We hope this new data results in additional measures to protect the eyes. We also intend to use these models to test approaches to prevent ocular infections.

Said Mount Sinai's Dr. Benjamin tenOever of the research:

This work was the result of a very productive collaboration from two very different scientific programs. More importantly, the data generated not only adds to our understanding concerning the biology of SARS-CoV-2, but the results also highlight the importance of washing hands, as rubbing one's eyes should now be viewed as an entry point for infection.

Some words sound like what they mean. For example, "slurp" sounds like the noise we make when we drink from a cup, and "teeny" sounds like something that is very small. This resemblance between how a word sounds and what it means is known as iconicity.

In her lab at the University of Miami, Lynn Perry, an associate professor in the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Psychology, previously found that children tend to learn words higher in iconicity earlier in development then they do words lower in iconicity. She also found that adults tend to use more iconic words when they speak to children than when they speak to other adults.

"That got us curious about why," said Stephanie Custode, a doctoral student in psychology, who worked with Perry to answer questions posed by her prior work. "Does iconicity play a causal role in children's language development, helping them learn new words, eventually even those words that have non-iconic, or arbitrary, sound-meaning associations?"

For their new study, published in the journal Cognitive Science, the researchers explored whether parents' who used iconic words as they played with novel objects with children between 1 and 2 helped them learn those objects' names. The objects were novel toys and foods that the researchers made and gave names to, like the word "blicket" to describe a clay toy with a made-up shape. They found that when parents named a novel object, their children were more likely to remember those novel names later if the parent also used highly iconic words in the same sentence. This was true both for parents speaking English and Spanish.

"Consider when a parent teaches their child about 'cats' by talking about how they 'meow,' or about a sweater by talking about how 'fuzzy' it is, or about 'honey' by talking about how sticky it is," Perry said. "The resemblance between the sound of a word like 'sticky' and the texture of the honey helps the child pay attention to that property. If the parent also says 'honey' while describing its stickiness, the child can form a stronger memory of that new word and its meaning, because they're paying attention to its important properties--its sticky texture in this case."

The researchers found it was beneficial for parents to use iconic language specifically when they introduced a novel name. "If a parent talks about stickiness without saying the name 'honey', there's no new name to associate with that sticky texture, and if a parent names the honey but talks about it being yellow, a word that doesn't particularly sound like its meaning, the child might pay less attention to the honey and forget about it. In both cases, the child wouldn't learn the new word 'honey'," said Perry.

From these findings, the researchers concluded that iconicity could be an important cue that parents and other caregivers can use to facilitate word learning.

Next the researchers plan to investigate whether using more iconic words can help children with language delays learn new words. They also are interested in studying how parents talk to children changes over time and whether they decrease their use of iconic language as they recognize that their child is becoming a stronger word learner.