Earth

Pour yourself a glass of water and take a look at it. This water contains an abundant source of fuel, hydrogen. Hydrogen burns clean unlike petrol-based energy products. Sound too good to be true? Scientists in Japan successfully split water into hydrogen and oxygen using light and meticulously designed catalysts, and they did so at the maximum efficiency meaning there was almost no loss and undesired side reactions. This latest breakthrough in solar hydrogen production makes the likelihood of scalable, economically viable hydrogen production more than likely, paving the way for humanity to make the switch to clean energy.

Water splitting using catalysts and sunlight, called photocatalysis has been a promising method of achieving solar hydrogen production for decades. However, most previous attempts only yielded an external quantum efficiency of less than about 50% representing the difficulty in efficient catalyst design for real world use. The catalyst needed to be designed better so every absorbed photon from the light source is used to make hydrogen. The key to improving efficiency was strategic placement of the co-catalysts and preventing defects in the semiconductor.

Published in the May 27th issue of Nature, Tsuyoshi Takata of Shinshu University et al. broke through new frontiers in power production by using aluminum-doped strontium titanate as a photocatalyst, whose properties have been extensively studied and therefore the best understood. They choose co-catalysts rhodium for hydrogen with chromium oxide, and cobalt-oxide for oxygen, by fine-tuning them to engage in only desired reactions. This method made possible for the reaction to have no recombination losses.

These new findings open the doors to achieve scalable and economically viable solar hydrogen production. Their design strategies succeeded in reducing defects that lead to near perfect efficiency, and knowledge obtained will be applied to other materials with intense visible light absorption. More work is still needed before we can run our cars on hydrogen, because this study focused on the use of ultraviolet light and abundant visible light from the sun remained unused. However, this great breakthrough has made that possibility no longer too good to be true, but in theory, just a matter of time. Hopefully it will encourage scientists, researchers and engineers to engage in this field, bringing the use of solar hydrogen power that much closer.

A study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre supported by the "la Caixa" Foundation, contributes new evidence about the negative impact of air pollution on cardiovascular health. The results of the study, which analysed the relationship between several cardiovascular markers and personal exposure to two air pollutants--fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and black carbon--in over 3,000 people living around the Indian city of Hyderabad, showed that exposure to polluted air increases the risk of vascular damage.

An association between air pollution and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease has been reported by many authors, but most of the research to date has been carried out in high-income countries, where the main source of exposure is road vehicle traffic. Low- and middle-income countries have other important sources, such as biomass stoves. Furthermore, most of those studies used data on the air pollution levels measured in the area around the participants' homes and did not monitor personal exposure, a method that provides more accurate information.

Now, a team from the CHAI Project, coordinated by ISGlobal, has conducted a cross-sectional study of more than 3,000 people living in 28 villages in a peri-urban area south of the city of Hyderabad in India. In the course of two separate visits to the clinic, the participants' weight and height was recorded and blood samples were taking for testing. The researchers also evaluated three cardiovascular markers that reflect different types of vascular damage: carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT), a marker of atherosclerosis; carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV), a marker of arterial stiffness; and central blood pressure augmentation index (AIx), a marker of global vascular injury. Information on socioeconomic status and health behaviours was collected from participants using questionnaires.

Personal exposure to air pollution was determined by measuring each participant's exposure over 24-hour periods to PM2.5 (airborne particles measuring less than 2.5 μm in diameter) and black carbon. Study participants wore a device that monitored their exposure to these pollutants according to a methodology described in previous studies carried out by the CHAI Project.

The results of the new study, published in the journal Environment International, show that the individuals with the highest exposure to air pollution also had the poorest results on the cardiovascular markers, although differences were observed between the sexes and in the types of vascular damage found. ISGlobal researcher Otavio Ranzani, first author of the study, explains that "the gender-specific differences in the cardiovascular markers may be explained by differences in the way the men and women are exposed to air pollution. For example, women spend more time at home and in the kitchen, where many of them cook on biomass stoves. Men, on the other hand, tend to smoke more and are more exposed to emissions from motor traffic during their daily commute".

The study found that women were exposed to higher levels of fine particles: the mean PM2.5 exposure was 51 μg/m3 for men and 61 μg/m3 for women. In both cases, these levels are much higher than the maximum value recommended by the World Health Organisation (10 μg/m3).

By monitoring individual exposure to air pollution, the authors were able obtain more accurate measurements of each participant's exposure than studies that have measured ambient levels close to the participants' homes. One important new finding, according to Ranzani, was the non-linear association of PM2.5 with AIx, a marker of global vascular injury: "We found that after a certain level of PM2.5 exposure was reached, further increases were associated with even greater increments in vascular damage".

Cathryn Tonne, coordinator of the CHAI Project and the study, highlights that "the approach used by these researchers takes into account the contribution of air pollution sources other than traffic, making an effort to obtain more detailed data on actual personal exposure". Low- and middle-income countries like India are experiencing a rapid epidemiological transition involving "a significant increase in the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and, at the same time, they are seeing high levels of air pollution. We need to carry out more studies like this one because the findings in these settings may differ from those of studies carried out in high-income countries".

A new ultra-bright source of X-rays has awakened in between our galactic neighbours the Magellanic Clouds, after a 26-year slumber. This is the second-closest such object known to date, with a brightness greater than a million Suns. The discovery is published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

The object, known as RX J0209.6-7427, was first detected during a 6-month long outburst in 1993. Though it was initially identified as a Be-type X-ray binary, its true nature remained a mystery as it lingered in a dormant state for the next 26 years, only flaring up again in November last year.

Now, a team of Indian scientists have used AstroSat, India's first dedicated space observatory, to reveal the extreme nature of the source, and have detected broad-energy X-ray pulsations in the object for the first time. This classifies it as a type of object known as an ultra-luminous X-ray pulsar (ULXP).

The pulsar is located in the Magellanic Bridge, a stream of gas and stars linking the Magellanic Clouds. These are two of our nearest galactic companions, and some of the most distant objects visible to the naked eye. The new X-ray source is the second-closest ULXP known to date, after a 2018 discovery in our own Milky Way galaxy, and is only the eighth such object ever discovered.

Ultra-luminous X-ray sources are observable as single points in the sky, but with brightnesses comparable to entire galaxies. "The conventional theory is that in order to shine so brightly, ULXPs must be glowing accretion discs around black holes," said Amar Deo Chandra, lead author on the new study. "However, recent discoveries of pulsations in these objects suggest that they may in fact have neutron stars at their heart."

A neutron star is the remnant of a dead star which contains as much matter as our Sun, but is compressed into a tiny radius of as little as 10km - the size of a small city. The neutron star in this object is thought to be spinning as rapidly as 100 times per second, and emits pulses of energetic X-rays from its magnetic poles, leading to the new 'X-ray pulsar' classification.

The group of astronomers, from IISER Kolkata, IUCAA Pune and the Center for Excellence in Basic Sciences (UM-DAE CEBS) Mumbai, have also found that the pulsar may even be speeding up, setting off bright X-ray 'fireworks'. This is thought to happen when the neutron star captures material from a companion star, injecting energy into the system and speeding up the rotation.

The scarcity of similar sources makes detecting and studying new ULXPs essential for X-ray astronomers seeking to understand the Universe.

"This is only the eighth ULXP detected so far, and the first one near the Magellanic Clouds," Chandra adds. "It raises the interesting possibility that a significant fraction of ultra-luminous X-ray sources may really be neutron stars accreting at super Eddington rates, rather than black holes as previously thought."

With the help of a mandibular advancement device (MAD), daytime sleepiness of patients with obstructive sleep apnoea can be relieved. Treatment with an MAD is not inferior to positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy with a sleep mask. This is the conclusion reached by the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) in its final report on the benefit of MAD.

Breathing pauses disturb sleep and lead to daytime sleepiness

Obstructive sleep apnoea is characterized by a recurrent obstruction (= narrowing / blockage) of the upper airway during sleep. It occurs when the upper airway muscles become flaccid. This narrows the airway in the pharynx or even blocks it completely, resulting in loud snoring sounds when breathing in and out. People with obstructive sleep apnoea - usually without noticing it - have difficulties breathing while sleeping, including breathing pauses, and are very sleepy during the day. In the long term, this increases the risk of other diseases and can have a huge impact on quality of life. It is estimated that about 5% of men and 3% of women suffer from obstructive sleep apnoea.

A mandibular advancement device keeps the airways open mechanically

The treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea depends on the severity of the disease. If it is mild, conservative measures such as weight reduction, sleep hygiene measures (no alcohol, no smoking) or positional therapy (avoiding lying on the back while sleeping) can alleviate the symptoms. For a higher degree of severity, PAP therapy with a sleep mask is used as standard treatment, where ventilation with positive pressure is used to keep the patients' airways open.

According to the relevant clinical practice guideline, mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnoea can also be treated with an MAD. The plastic splint in the mouth, fitted by a dentist or orthodontist, then ensures that the lower jaw is held further forward, keeping the upper airway mechanically open. This method is usually well tolerated and is in many cases preferred by patients over PAP therapy. However, MAD treatment is not suitable for all patients: In cases of toothlessness, insufficient remaining teeth or pronounced periodontitis, for example, the plastic splint cannot be worn.

Treatment with an MAD is not inferior to PAP therapy

On behalf of the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA), IQWiG investigated in 2 research questions whether wearing an MAD is beneficial for obstructive sleep apnoea:

In comparison to no treatment or treatment with a placebo splint (research question 1), IQWiG researchers infer an indication of a benefit of wearing an MAD for the patient-relevant outcome "daytime sleepiness". This benefit is not challenged by the results on other patient-relevant outcomes (including sleep quality, cognitive performance, depressive symptoms and headaches). No data were available for the outcomes of overall mortality or survival and cardiovascular morbidity.
In comparison with PAP therapy (research question 2), the IQWiG researchers infer an indication of non-inferiority of MAD versus PAP therapy for the patient-relevant outcome "daytime sleepiness". With regard to other patient-relevant outcomes, there was no disadvantage of MAD compared with PAP therapy either. No usable data were available for the outcomes of overall mortality or survival and cardiovascular morbidity.

The conclusions on the benefit of MAD are based on the results of 18 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) included in the assessment. To investigate the non-inferiority of MAD, the IQWiG project team was able to use the results from 17 RCTs. Many of the studies did not differentiate according to the severity of obstructive sleep apnoea, but included all persons with obstructive sleep apnoea or summarized several degrees of severity. This includes persons with mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnoea, who, according to the G-BA's commission, should be the focus of the benefit assessment.

After the hearing: "hint" becomes "indication"

In comparison with the preliminary report, the IQWiG project team upgraded the conclusions on the benefit of MAD from "hint" to "indication", both in comparison with no treatment or placebo (research question 1) and for the non-inferiority of MAD versus PAP therapy (research question 2). This also happened because, in the context of the hearing on the preliminary report, the participants submitting comments pointed out calculation errors in the probability calculations, which IQWiG has now corrected. Among other things, this resulted in different correlation coefficients for the assessments. In addition, a new study also provided additional evidence for research question 2 (MAD vs. PAP therapy). This led to more robust assessment results for both research questions regarding the outcome "daytime sleepiness".

An English extract of this report will be available soon. If you would like to be informed when it is published, please contact info@iqwig.de

An international team of researchers led by researchers from ITMO University announced the development of the world's most compact semiconductor laser that works in the visible range at room temperature. According to the authors of the research, the laser is a nanoparticle of only 310 nanometers in size (which is 3,000 times less than a millimeter) that can produce green coherent light at room temperature. The research article was published in ACS Nano.

This year, the international community of optical physicists celebrates the anniversary of a milestone event: 60 years ago, in the middle of May, American physicist Theodor Maiman demonstrated the operation of the first optical quantum generator - a laser. Now, Sixty years later, an international team of scientists published a work where they demonstrated experimentally the world's most compact semiconductor laser that operates in the visible range at room temperature. This means that the coherent green light that it produces can be easily registered and even seen by a naked eye using a standard optical microscope.

It's worth mentioning that the scientists succeeded in conquering the green part of the visible band which was considered problematic for nanolasers. "In the modern field of light-emitting semiconductors, there is the "green gap" problem," says Sergey Makarov, principal investigator of the article and Professor at the Faculty of Physics and Engineering of ITMO University. "The green gap means that the quantum efficiency of conventional semiconductor materials used for light-emitting diodes falls dramatically in the green part of the spectrum. This problem complicates the development of room temperature nanolasers made of conventional semiconductor materials."

An interdisciplinary team of researchers from St. Petersburg has chosen halide perovskite as the material for their nanolasers. A traditional laser consists of two key elements - an active medium that allows for generation of coherent stimulated emission and an optical resonator that helps to confine electromagnetic energy inside for a long time. The perovskite can provide both of these properties: a nanoparticle of a certain shape can act as both the active medium and the efficient resonator.

As a result, the scientists succeeded in fabricating a cubic-shaped particle of 310 nanometers in size, which can generate laser radiation at room temperature when photoexcited by a femtosecond laser pulse.

"We used femtosecond laser pulses to pump the nanolasers," says Ekaterina Tiguntseva, a junior research fellow at ITMO University and one of the article's co-authors. "We irradiated isolated nanoparticles until we reached the threshold of laser generation at a specific pump intensity. After that, the nanoparticle starts working as a typical laser. We demonstrated that such a nanolaser can operate during at least a million cycles of excitation."

The uniqueness of the developed nanolaser is not limited to its small size. The novel design of nanoparticles allows for efficient confinement of the stimulated emission energy to provide a high enough amplification of electromagnetic fields for laser generation.

"The idea is that laser generation is a threshold process," explains Kirill Koshelev, a junior research fellow at ITMO University and one of the article's co-authors. "i.e. you excite the nanoparticle with a laser pulse, and at a specific "threshold" intensity of the external source, the particle starts to generate laser emission. If you are unable to confine the light inside well enough, there will be no laser emission. In the previous experiments with other materials and systems, but similar ideas, it was shown that you can use Mie resonances of the fourth order or fifth order, meaning resonances where the wavelength of light inside the material fits the resonator volume four or five times times at the frequency of laser generation. We've shown that our particle supports a Mie resonance of the third order, which has never been done before. In other words, we can produce a coherent stimulated emission at the conditions when the resonator size is equal to three wavelengths of light inside the material."

Another important thing is that there is no need to apply external pressure or very low temperature for the nanoparticle to work as a laser. All the effects described in the research were produced at a regular atmospheric pressure and room temperature. This makes the technology attractive for specialists who focus on the creation of optical chips, sensors and other devices that use light to transfer and process information, including chips for optical computers.

The benefit of lasers that work in the visible range is that with all other properties being equal, they are smaller than red and infrared sources with the same properties. Thing is, the volume of the small lasers generally has a cubic dependence on the emission's wavelength, and as the wavelength of green light is three times less than that of infrared light, the limit of miniaturization is a lot greater for green lasers. This is essential for the production of ultracompact components for future optical computer systems.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S. and most who are diagnosed with lung cancer do not survive five years. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type where tumor cells shed from the main tumor circulate in the blood and settle in other organs and metastasize. In some cases, surgery can remove the primary tumor, but investigators from the University of Missouri School of Medicine and MU Health Care have identified a type of cell fusion between cancer cells and white blood cells called a tumor-macrophage fusion (TMF) where the size and number of the TMF cells may predict survival.

"We hypothesized that cancer cells are fusing with immune cells and by doing this they are manipulating the patient's immune system so that it does not attack the cancer," said Jussuf Kaifi, MD, assistant professor of surgery at the MU School of Medicine and MU Health Care. "If a lung cancer patient has these cells after a tumor removal surgery, we now believe the number and size of these cells directly correlates to the patient's disease-free survival."

Kaifi and his team of researchers studied NSCLC patients over three years and compared them to chronic, long-term smokers without lung cancer and healthy non-smokers without any known cancer. The researchers screened a total of 222 subjects by drawing blood from each participant and screening for the size and number of TMFs. The results showed TMFs at a significantly higher number in NSCLC patients (76.5%) than in the long-term smokers control group (6.9%). None of the 20 healthy non-smokers showed evidence of TMFs in the blood. The researchers also learned the presence of larger TMFs had a significant correlation with shorter disease-free survival. The three year disease-free survival for patients without giant TMFs was nearly 76%, but just under 49% for those with TMFs larger than 50 micrometers who underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor.

"This is the first study demonstrating the ability of TMFs to predict survival in patients with surgically treated lung cancer," Kaifi said. "The ability to perform a simple blood analysis to detect circulating TMFs represents a signification potential benefit for these patients. It can help us identify which patients are at highest risk for recurrence after surgery. This will allow us to customize post-surgery chemotherapy treatment for each patient based on the presence of these cells, and may extend their survival."

Kaifi's further study of TMFs will focus on the cells' tolerance to immunotherapy and advancing the understanding of metastatic cancer which could lead to new precision medicine immunotherapeutic treatment strategies.

In a nationwide study, NIH funded researchers found that the presence of abnormal bundles of brittle blood vessels in the brain or spinal cord, called cavernous angiomas (CA), are linked to the composition of a person's gut bacteria. Also known as cerebral cavernous malformations, these lesions which contain slow moving or stagnant blood, can often cause hemorrhagic strokes, seizures, or headaches. Current treatment involves surgical removal of lesions when it is safe to do so. Previous studies in mice and a small number of patients suggested a link between CA and gut bacteria. This study is the first to examine the role the gut microbiome may play in a larger population of CA patients.

Led by scientists at the University of Chicago, the researchers used advanced genomic analysis techniques to compare stool samples from 122 people who had at least one CA as seen on brain scans, with those from age- and sex-matched, control non-CA participants, including samples collected through the American Gut Project. Initially, they found that on average the CA patients had more gram-negative bacteria whereas the controls had more gram-positive bacteria, and that the relative abundance of three gut bacterial species distinguished CA patients from controls regardless of a person's sex, geographic location, or genetic predisposition to the disease. Moreover, gut bacteria from the CA patients appeared to produce more lipopolysaccharide molecules which have been shown to drive CA formation in mice. According to the authors, these results provided the first demonstration in humans of a "permissive microbiome" associated with the formation of neurovascular lesions in the brain.

Further analysis showed that some gut bacteria compositions could identify aggressive versus non-aggressive forms of the disease as well as those with recent symptomatic hemorrhages. Also, for the first time, they showed how combining gut bacteria data with results from blood plasma tests might help doctors better diagnose the severity of a brain disorder. The results, published in Nature Communications, support a growing body of evidence for the role of gut bacteria in brain health.

Whilst we often think of somatic cells in an organism as containing the same DNA and therefore the same number of chromosomes, it is surprising, how often this is not the case. In humans, such differences in chromosome numbers, so called genetic mosaicism, often occur unintentionally and express themselves in the form of illnesses. Some plants and animals on the other hand, are known to systematically ensure that the DNA content between some of their organs differs. Whilst the phenomenon of "programmed DNA elimination" has been known since 1887, the process with which plants achieve it, had stayed elusive. Researchers from the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) in Gatersleben have now finally been able to explain the underlying mechanisms.

Within their investigation, the researchers focused on the organ-specific elimination of B chromosomes within goatgrass, Aegilops speltoides. B chromosomes are "selfish" chromosomes, which bring no apparent benefit to the organism. Goatgrass, a progenitor of our common wheat, can carry up to 8 of these supernumerary chromosomes. However, whilst B chromosomes can be found in the leaves, stem and flower of the grass, their roots are a B chromosome-free zone.

Through the detailed investigation and comparison of Ae. speltoides strains with and without B chromosomes, the researchers gained novel insights into the origins of B chromosomes. Further, their observations confirmed that the elimination of selfish chromosomes is a strictly controlled root-specific process. The elimination starts with the onset of the embryonic tissue differentiation and can eradicate up to 100% of the targeted B chromosomes. As Prof. Andreas Houben let us know: "Elimination of B chromosomes occurs due to mitotic chromosome nondisjunction. This means that the cellular transport of the B chromosomes is impaired, and as a consequence, the B chromosomes are separated from the standard chromosomes. Then, in the final step of the elimination, the DNA of B chromosomes is degraded."

With its exceptional efficiency rate, the programmed elimination process of chromosomes has the potential of becoming a highly useful addition to the genetic toolbox. When induced artificially, it could enable the elimination of chromosomes or chromosome sets for medical or plant breeding purposes. In the meanwhile, plants continue to benefit from their process in a more down to earth way - the research suggests that the removal of the supernumerary chromosomes spares the root cells from having potentially harmful B chromosome located genes.

More than 1,000 bottlenose dolphins live in the Indian River Lagoon year-round. This estuarine system along the southeast coast of Florida is a narrow and convoluted ecosystem with interconnected bodies of water, a handful of ocean inlets, and numerous small rivers, creeks and canals that release freshwater into the lagoon. While this population of dolphins in the lagoon has been studied extensively, what they do at nighttime is still a mystery.

Researchers from Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in collaboration with Seven Degrees of Mapping LLC, and Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute, are the first to use satellite telemetry on this dolphin population, providing unique insights into their behavioral ecology during the overnight hours. Detailed information about their nocturnal movements and habitat use will give scientists a more complete ecological understanding of this population. These dolphins face many direct and indirect threats including boat strikes, entanglements, and environmental contamination.

Results of the study, published in the journal Animal Biotelemetry, provide the first documentation of Indian River Lagoon dolphins regularly leaving the brackish waters of the estuarine system and, not only traveling into the ocean, but swimming substantial distances - up to 20 kilometers - up freshwater rivers, creeks, and canals. These journeys do not appear to be extended stays in freshwater, which can be detrimental to dolphin health, but instead involve many brief trips upriver. Findings reveal that they have a larger range that encompasses more habitats than previously thought.

The study also highlights how much variation occurs within a population - researchers found individual differences with almost every aspect studied in these dolphins. Individual spatial use varied by dolphin, with home ranges and core areas of different sizes spaced throughout the southern region of the lagoon. Researchers also discovered extensive individual variation in niche preferences.

"There are many possible reasons for the difference in space use and movement patterns, including prey preference and distribution such as traveling between nearby hotspots versus long distances between food sources or the size or age of the dolphins," said Greg O'Corry-Crowe, Ph.D., project lead and a research professor at FAU's Harbor Branch. "For example, two of the dolphins in our study were smaller and younger, while the other two were larger and older. The differences we observed could also be linked to more complex aspects that are influenced by social factors, differences in predator avoidance strategies, and individual response to human disturbance."

One of the areas showing less variation was inlet use. Three out of four dolphins exhibited a strong nocturnal preference for habitats close to inlets, with one individual regularly using multiple inlets. Inlets may be important nocturnal foraging habitats as well as corridors for movement between ecosystems.

Satellite telemetry is a powerful research tool that tracks the movement of an animal using orbiting satellites that detect signals emitted from a transmitter attached to the animal. For the study, the researchers attached satellite tags (SPOT 100 tags, Wildlife Computers) on the lower third of the trailing edge of the dorsal fin of four male dolphins, aged 6 to 21 years. The satellite tags recorded location data via the Argos satellite system. The tags were set to transmit constantly until 250 transmissions were reached in each 24-hour cycle. Satellite tags remained active between 129 and 140 days.

O'Corry-Crowe, Elizabeth F. Hartel, M.S., lead author, Seven Degrees of Mapping LLC, and co-author Wendy Noke Durden, M.S., Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute, suggest that incorporating satellite telemetry into long-term studies of bottlenose dolphins in other regions may provide essential information about their movements and habitat use that is not otherwise readily available.

"Collectively, findings from our study highlight the need for greater consideration of the nocturnal habits of cetacean species when conducting risk assessments, developing conservation action, and planning new research," said O'Corry-Crowe.

Biomedical scientists working with COVID-19 have a new tool to help them better understand the virus and feel confident about the structural models they are using in their research.

Wladek Minor, PhD, of the University of Virginia School of Medicine, and other top structural biologists have led an international team of scientists to investigate the protein structures contained in the virus - structures that are vital to developing treatments and vaccines. The team has created a Web resource that provides scientists an easy way to see the progress of the structural biology community in this area. It also includes the team's assessment of the quality of the individual models and enhanced versions of these structures, when possible.

"We have carefully analyzed the available models of SARS-CoV-2 proteins and present the results with the aim of helping the broad biomedical community. Structural models are ultimately the interpretation of the original researchers and sometimes are suboptimal. This is why a second set of eyes to validate important structures is so crucial," said Minor, of UVA's Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics. "In most cases, only minor corrections could be suggested. However, in several cases, the revisions were significant, especially in the sensitive area of protein-ligand complexes that are critical for follow-up research, like drug discovery work. The current health crisis demands that all SARS-CoV-2 structures are of the highest quality possible."

Science at Lightning Speed

When the threat of the coronavirus became apparent, scientists worldwide responded at an unprecedented pace to determine the atomic structure of the virus and its protein constituents.

Researchers are using the resulting structural models in a variety of applications, ranging from structure-based drug design to planning a range of biomedical experiments. For that reason, it is essential that the atomic models are as accurate as possible. Because of the urgency of the pandemic, most of these structures are deposited in the Protein Data Bank (PDB), a global repository of macromolecular structures, before publication and peer review.

The members of the team, who are experts in structure validation and interpretation, noticed opportunities to improve several SARS-CoV-2 models using state-of-the-art refinement approaches. That led them to create the new web resource. It is updated with new structures weekly, in sync with the PDB.

In some cases, the team has worked with the researchers who generated the original structure to ensure that the site contains the most accurate models. This team has longstanding experience in correcting biomedically important structural models - for instance, in the field of antibiotic resistance.

"Working on a project driven by strong international collaborations is an enormous opportunity for younger scientists, like Ivan Shabalin and Dariusz Brzezinski, who will undoubtedly lead other highly impactful studies in the near future," Minor said.

"It is extremely rewarding to be able to add my expertise to a project that has the potential to make an immense impact on the lives of millions of people," Shabalin said.

Middle-aged and older adults who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual have higher rates of using certain substances in the past year than those who identify as heterosexual, according to a new study led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and the Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research (CDUHR) at NYU School of Global Public Health. The study is published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

These findings are consistent with prior studies showing that LGBTQ adolescents and young adults are more likely to use a range of substances compared to their heterosexual counterparts. Such use may be attributed to minority stressors, including discrimination, oppression, and stigma. However, further research is needed into the likely complex causes of such disparities, including the roles that stigma, discrimination, and prejudice play in substance use, especially among older adults.

"Our research confirms that a higher prevalence of substance use among lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults can continue into later life. Similar to LGBTQ adolescents and young adults, such prevalence may be related to stressors like discrimination and stigma based on sexual orientation in addition to stressors related to aging, including social isolation and age-related stigma," said Benjamin Han, MD, MPH, the study's lead author and an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine's Division of Geriatric Medicine and Palliative Care and the Department of Population Health at NYU Langone Health.

The study used data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an annual survey of a representative sample of individuals in the United States, which asks questions about sexual identity, including if individuals identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual. Using surveys from 2015 through 2017, the researchers focused on data from adults ages 50 and older to determine their past-year use of cannabis, alcohol, cocaine, and methamphetamine, as well as non-medical use of prescription opioids, sedatives (such as sleep medications), stimulants, and tranquilizers (such as anti-anxiety medications, including benzodiazepines).

Researchers then compared the prevalence of past-year substance use among adults in the cohort identifying as lesbian, gay, or bisexual to those identifying as heterosexual. The sample included 25,880 participants with 2.5 percent identifying as lesbian, gay, or bisexual.

The researchers found that middle-aged and older adults identifying as lesbian, gay, or bisexual were more likely to use various substances studied than were heterosexual adults. Specifically, older sexual minority adults were more than twice as likely to use cannabis nonmedically (13.9 percent vs. 5.5 percent), twice as likely to use prescription tranquilizers nonmedically (3.6 percent vs. 1.1 percent), and more likely to use prescription opioids nonmedically (4.7 percent vs. 2.3 percent) than were older heterosexual adults.

"These findings should inform prevention and harm reduction efforts in this community and should not be used to stigmatize such individuals. We hope that this new research, published during Pride Month, will remind people about the stressors many people still face in 2020 based on their sexual orientation," said CDUHR researcher Joseph Palamar, PhD, MPH, the study's senior author and an associate professor in the Department of Population Health at NYU Langone Health. "Even though times are changing and things have been getting better for the LGBTQ community, older individuals in this population may still be affected from past experiences of intolerance."

Substance use adds complexity to caring for older adults, who are undergoing physical changes, are more likely to have chronic diseases, and may take more prescription medications as they age--which can interact with such substances and lead to adverse events.

"These age-related changes place older adults at increased vulnerability to the harms of substance use," said Han, who is also a CDUHR researcher. "This is even more true for vulnerable populations who experience stigma, like those identifying as lesbian, gay, or bisexual, and may already experience a range of health disparities and have barriers to accessing health care."

The researchers emphasize that the goal of this research is not to further stigmatize, but to draw attention to the needs of communities who have been underserved. They recommend the use of both patient-centered and public health approaches to prevent or reduce any potential harms associated with unhealthy substance use among older lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults.

Smart phones, tablets and laptop displays, camera lenses, biosensing devices, integrated chips and solar photovoltaic cells are among the applications that could stand to benefit from an innovative method of nanocrystal assembly pioneered by Australian scientists.

Nanocrystals have a wide range of existing and potential uses, but they are often made with wet chemical methods that present challenges when seeking to incorporate them effectively into devices.

However, researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science have demonstrated a highly efficient and controllable method to assemble single nanoparticles directly into a pre-patterned template.

They have shared the details of this technique in an article published in the journal Advanced Materials that reviews the state of the field and summarises their novel approach.

By applying an electric field at a certain level of strength, a technique called electrophoretic deposition (EPD), researchers at the University of Melbourne and Australia's national science agency, CSIRO, were able to create a nearly perfect single nanocrystal array using either gold nanospheres or gold nanorods.

And by tweaking the potential applied to the materials as part of this field, the researchers even discovered they were able to dictate whether the nanocrystals assemble in vertical or horizontal configurations.

Lead author Mr Heyou Zhang, a PhD candidate, said: "Conventional nanofabrication methods normally produce 2D nanostructures. With the ability to assemble in both vertical and horizontal directions and with spatial control of the nanoparticles on the surface, this method provides far more opportunities to build and manufacture nanoscale structures."

Although the manuscript focuses on assembly of gold nanocrystals, the technique has been applied to semiconductor quantum dots, magnetic nanoparticles and organic nanoparticles.

The next goal for the research is the creation of a single quantum dot "on-off" switch, which can form part of a logic gate or memory pixel for high-density information storage.

However, there is already interest from industry partners in other areas too.

"We can use assembled gold nanocrystals arrays as a plasmonic pixel, which is a colour display unit with high purity and colour saturation," Heyou said.

"It provides very distinct colour with angle or polarization-dependent properties, which has potential as a security feature or in medical imaging."

Heyou feels the approach has great potential as a universal nanomaterial assembly method.

He said: "We can use these particles to build up reconfigurable metal lenses, such as the lenses on your phone.

"The thickness of the lens on your phone camera is limited by optical geometries, but with this method you might be able to shrink it down to micrometre size."

The Centre is looking for partners to help scale-up the novel EPD process.

Senior author Professor Paul Mulvaney, Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science, said: "Heyou has found a novel approach to large scale fabrication for nanomaterials. This deposition method solves a fundamental roadblock for nanotechnology and creates a viable pathway for miniaturisation of both optical and electronic devices."

Researchers from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) of the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) found that the rainy season of northern Central Asia, which occurs in May-July in present-day, will shift to March-May at the end of the 21st century. The study was published in Environmental Research Letters.

Central Asia is characterized by scarce precipitation and high evaporation. People's livelihoods and the fragile ecosystem are highly sensitive to changes in local precipitation.

"This region is one of the hot spots of global warming, where a stronger than global mean warming trend is projected in the coming century. But the future precipitation changes are less clear," said Jie Jiang from IAP, the paper's first author. "Besides the amount of precipitation, the changes in the phase of precipitation also affect agriculture and other fields."

To give a comprehensive picture of the future changes in precipitation over Central Asia, the researchers adopted the multimodel simulations and projections of 15 models from the new phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6).

They also used projections under four combined scenarios of the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways and the Representative Concentration Pathways (SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SSP3-7.0 and SSP5-8.5). These scenarios reflected a set of alternative futures of social development and greenhouse gas emission.

The researchers found robust increase of annual mean precipitation at the end of the 21st century under all scenarios. The increasing rate was about 14.41% for the highest emission scenario (SSP5-8.5) and near 4.23% for the lowest emission scenario (SSP1-2.6) relative to present-day. The model spread was larger for higher emission scenarios, which could be partly attributed to the larger uncertainty of the surface air temperature.

Further analysis revealed a wetting trend in spring and a drying trend in summer, which would result in enhanced seasonality of precipitation over Central Asia and a shift of the rainy season in the northern Central Asia. The increase of precipitation in spring was balanced by increasing evaporation, while the decrease in summer was mainly due to the changes in vertical moisture advection.

"Central Asia is dominated by descending motion and low-level divergence in summer. The increase of atmospheric water vapor due to rapid warming can result in the decrease of vertical moisture advection and contributes to the drying trend in summer, which is the so-call dry-getting-drier mechanism," Jiang explained. "In addition, the changes in the location and strength of subtropical westerly jet due to anthropogenic activity can also affect the annual cycle of precipitation."

The researcher also discussed the changes in drought condition over this drought-prone region. Based on the Surface Wetness Index (SWI), they found drought might become even severer in the coming century though increasing precipitation was projected. "Adaptation measure for future climate changes should consider both the shift of rainy season and increased aridity over this region," Jiang said.

Though corals worldwide are threatened due to climate change and local stressors, the front lines of the battle are microscopic in scale. Under stress, many reefs that were formerly dominated by coral are shifting to systems dominated by turf and fleshy algae. A new study, published in PNAS on June 1 and led by researchers at the University of Hawai'i (UH) at Mānoa and San Diego State University (SDSU), found that the outcome of the competition between coral and turf algae is determined by the assemblage of microbes at the interface where the contenders meet.

All plants and animals are associated with communities of viruses and microbes--their microbiome--that interact via a suite of chemicals produced by their metabolism, termed metabolites. The new study, largely conducted at SDSU, investigated the role of each component, host organisms, viruses, bacteria, and metabolites, in coral-turf algal interactions. The researchers gathered data on genes, proteins and metabolic products associated with corals and algae on a reef and directly looked at the bacteria and viruses under a microscope.

"We found that when coral interacts with turf algae on a reef, there is a unique chemical and bacterial community that forms at the interface between these two organisms, an emergent microbiome," said Ty Roach, postdoctoral researcher at the Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology in the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology and co-lead author of the study. "This interface community is made up of larger bacterial cells that use energy at a faster rate. Our data suggest that this change in bacterial size and energy use, which can negatively affect coral, is driven by a change in which types of bacteria dominate the microbiome."

"Our chemical analysis indicates this change is driven by bacteria that feed on algal-derived biochemicals, a phenomenon we call the Algal Feeding Hypothesis," said co-lead author Mark Little, SDSU doctoral candidate. "Interestingly, these changes in bacterial groups and their energy use, which comes from feeding on specific chemicals, are similar to changes seen in the human gut, with dominant bacteria linked to obesity." 

Coral reefs are valued for their cultural and ecological importance, providing protection against storms and waves, and serve as reservoirs of biodiversity. Restoring coral cover and building reef resilience provides the foundation essential to a functional and healthy reef ecosystem, which is critical for the surrounding community.

"This highlights the fact that many ecological interactions between organisms are actually mediated by viruses and bacteria," said Forest Rohwer, SDSU biology professor and senior author of the study. "This provides opportunities to engineer probiotics to alleviate the effects of stressors on corals."  

The research team plans to use the insight gained from this study to design and test probiotic blends for use on corals. In this way, they aim to utilize personalized medicine techniques to help corals gain an ecological advantage over competitors such as harmful algae. 

Activists protesting against environmental injustices around the world suffer from high rates of criminalization, physical violence and murder. This is the result of a study developed by researchers from the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) that presents the largest analysis of environmental conflicts up to date. The study highlights that these impacts are especially frequent when indigenous peoples are involved, and in conflicts related to mining and land use.

Researchers from the Environmental Justice project (ENVjustice) have analysed 2,743 cases of environmental conflicts worldwide registered in the global Atlas of Environmental Justice (EJAtlas), an interactive map that identifies existing ecological distribution conflicts. The study, published in the journal Global Environmental Change, is a landmark advancement in the field of statistical and comparative political ecology.

The global movement for environmental justice is composed of local activism against fossil fuel extraction, open cast mining, tree plantations, hydropower dams and other extractive industries, and against waste disposal in the form of incineration or dumps. "This is the environmentalism of the poor and the indigenous", states Joan Martínez-Alier,ICTA-UAB economist and principal researcher of the ENVjustice project. Arnim Scheidel, main author of the study says that "to support environmental defenders effectively, better knowledge about the underlying environmental conflicts is needed, as well as a profound understanding of the factors that enable activists to mobilize successfully for environmental justice".

The researchers describe the characteristics of environmental conflicts and the environmental defenders involved, as well as their successful mobilization strategies. Analysed data show that environmental defenders are frequently members of vulnerable groups who employ largely non-violent protest forms. However, their activism comes at a heavy cost. In 20% of environmental conflicts, activists face criminalization, including fines, legal persecution and prison terms. In 18% of cases, activists are victims of physical violence, and in 13% of cases, they are murdered. When indigenous people are involved, these figures significantly increase to 27% in criminalization, 25% in violence and 19% in murders.

In 11% of cases globally, protesters contributed to halt environmentally destructive and socially conflictive projects, defending the environment and livelihoods. "Combining strategies of preventive mobilization, protest diversification and litigation can increase this success rate significantly to up to 27%", explains Juan Liu, corresponding author of the study. The research also highlights the role of women as leaders in the mobilizations (21%), sometimes because of being disproportionally affected by the environmental and health impacts of these conflicts.

Bottom-up mobilizations for more sustainable and socially just uses of the environment occur worldwide across countries in all income groups, "testifying to the existence of various forms of grassroots environmentalism as a promising force for sustainability", the researchers conclude.