Culture

Day services--programs designed to provide stimulation in a safe environment during the day for adults with physical and mental impairments--may help improve the cognitive function of adults with Alzheimer's disease, according to a study published in Psychogeriatrics.

The study included 161 adults with Alzheimer's disease in Japan who were divided into two groups according to whether they started use of day services or not. Participants' cognitive function was assessed with what's known as the Mini-Mental State Examination. The exam includes tests of orientation, attention, memory, language, and visual-spatial skills.

"We found a significant improvement over six months in the Mini-Mental State Examination scores of day service users, reflecting improved cognitive function," said lead author Yasuyuki Honjo, MD, PhD, of the Kyoto Miniren Asukai Hospital, in Japan.

Many cancer survivors with high medical copayments experience financial toxicity, an economic side effect of cancer treatment. A recent analysis of published studies found that few cancer survivors received financial information support from healthcare facilities during their initial treatment, even though cancer-related financial toxicity has multiple impacts on survivors' health and quality of life.

The Psycho-Oncology analysis, which included 14 relevant studies, found that many patients with cancer lack awareness of financial toxicity and are unprepared for experiencing it. Although cancer survivors try to cope with financial toxicity through different adjustments, they still have unmet needs for managing financial toxicity.

Research published in Anaesthesia suggests that a "soft opt-out" system may increase consent rates for organ donation after death, which could boost the number of organs available for transplantation.

The legal frameworks for consent for deceased organ donation fall into two major categories: opt-in, where expressed consent is required from the patient or their relatives, and opt-out, where consent is presumed in the absence of a statement made by the patient in their lifetime to the contrary. An opt-out system of consent was introduced in Wales in December 2015. While the legislative change in Wales provides a legal basis for deeming consent, the family are still asked to support organ donation proceeding--a system known as soft opt-out. England maintained the existing opt-in system through the study period.

To examine the effect of Wales' change in policy on organ donation, investigators compared quarterly data on consent rates for deceased organ donation in Wales versus England from January 2016 through December 2018.

By the end of the study period, the chance of consent to organ donation in Wales was 2.1 times higher than in England and 2.8 times higher in patients who had made no prior donation decision in life.

"We observed that organ donation consent rates in Wales significantly increased in comparison with England, although the impact was not immediate and took several years to take effect," said author Phil Walton, Project Lead for Deemed Consent Legislation, NHS Blood and Transplant, UK. "Following an extensive marketing campaign in Wales, Specialist Nurses reported that in most conversations the families were expecting to talk about organ donation and were prepared to explore the options available to them."

The findings are especially timely because the law around organ donation is changing in England, and an opt out system is being rolled out on May 20, 2020.

Neuroscientists at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory have found that a protein acts like a volume dial for the release of neurotransmitters, the chemicals that neurons release across connections called synapses to stimulate muscles or communicate with other neurons in brain circuits. The findings help explain how synapses work and could better inform understanding of some neurological disorders.

Working in the model of fruit flies, the team determined that the protein Synaptotagmin 7 (SYT7), which is also found in humans and other mammals, constrains the number and availability of neurotransmitter-containing blobs, called vesicles, for release at the synapse. Neurons deploy vesicles to sites called "active zones" to release them across synapses, a process called "vesicle fusion." When the scientists reduced SYT7, they saw much more neurotransmitter release at synapses. When they increased the protein, neurotransmitter release dropped significantly.

"You can think of this as almost like a radio's volume dial," said senior author Troy Littleton, Menicon Professor of Neuroscience in MIT's Departments of Biology and Brain and Cognitive Sciences. "If a neuron wants to send more signal out all it has to do is basically reduce the levels of SYT7 protein that it is making. It's a very elegant way for neurons to turn up or down the amount of output that they are giving."

The study's co-lead authors are Zhuo Guan, a research scientist, and Mónica C. Quiñones-Frías, who successfully defended her doctoral thesis on the work May 4. She noted that by acting as that volume dial, the protein could change the nature of a synapse's activity in a circuit, a property called "synaptic plasticity."

"Syt7 regulates neurotransmission in a dose-dependent manner and can act as a switch for short term synaptic plasticity," Quiñones-Frías said.

Research scientist Yulia Akbergenova is also a co-author of the study published in eLife.

Synaptic surprise

Important as they are, the study's findings are not ones the team was originally looking for.

For decades, neuroscientists have known that the synaptotagmin protein family plays key roles in synaptic function. In fact, Littleton's 1993 doctoral dissertation showed that SYT1 promoted a quick release of neurotransmitters when triggered by an influx of calcium ions. But even with SYT1 disabled, synapses could still release neurotransmitters on a slower timeframe. No one has found what promotes that subsequent slower release, but many scientists had pinned their hopes on it being SYT7.

"That's been something that the whole field, including my lab, has really been searching for," Littleton said. "So it was a real surprise when we knocked it out and saw just the opposite of what we expected."

Mutants and microscopes

To study SYT7 the team focused its experiments on synapses in a well characterized locale: the junction between a fly neuron and muscle. The team not only wanted to see what differences changing the protein's levels would make in synaptic activity there, but also track how it made those differences.

They changed the amount of SYT7 the neuron could produce by mutating and breeding flies in which the gene was completely eliminated, only one copy could be expressed, or in which the gene was overexpressed, producing more SYT7 than normal. For each of these fly lines they measured the surprising inverse relationship between SYT7 and synaptic transmission.

Also, using a technique the lab invented to visually flag neurotransmitter release every time it happens, they mapped how active individual synapses at the neuron-muscle junction were over time. In flies engineered to produce less SYT7 they saw many more synapses with a high propensity for release than they did in normal flies.

Once they confirmed SYT7's restrictive role, the natural question was how does SYT7 constrain neurotransmitter release. Synapses are very complex, after all, and crucial aspects of SYT7's role within that machinery had yet to be characterized.

When they compared synapses in normal flies and those missing SYT7 they didn't see major differences in anatomy or calcium influx that could explain how SYT7 works to limit release.

They then turned their attention to the cycle in which vesicles release their neurotransmitter cargo and are then sent back into the cell to refill with neurotransmitter before rejoining a pool of vesicles ready for redeployment. Their experiments showed that neurons lacking SYT7 didn't recycle the vesicles differently but they nevertheless had more vesicles in the readily releasable pool (RRP). Moreover, mutants in which SYT7 was overexpressed substantially limited the vesicles in that pool.

"SYT7 limits release in a dosage-sensitive manner by negatively regulating the number of synaptic vesicles available for fusion and slowing recovery of the RRP following stimulation," they determined.

The final step was to track down where SYT7 resides in the synaptic machinery. Under the microscope they were able to pin it down in a network of tubes surrounding, but not within the active zones. The vantage point is right where other proteins regulating vesicle trafficking also reside, giving SYT7 a clear opportunity to interact with those proteins to regulate the return of vesicles to the active zones.

Implications for disease and plasticity

Understanding more about SYT7's role at the synapse in mammals could matter in several ways, Littleton said. Two years ago, researchers showed that the protein is reduced in mice harboring a genetic cause of Alzheimer's disease. And in February another paper showed that patients with bipolar disorder exhibited lower levels of the protein than people who do not have the disorder. Mice with SYT7 knocked out showed some manic and depressive behaviors.

More fundamentally, Littleton and Quiñones-Frías said, is the flexibility or plasticity it can afford. Because SYT7 regulates neurotransmitter release by slowing down the resupply of releasable vesicles, an increase in its levels can transform a synapse from being the kind that sends out large bursts of signal (and therefore transmits more information) early on and then peters out into one that builds up its signal over time. Such distinctions in release timeframe can make important differences in circuit information processing in the brain.

Although the team was able to identify SYT7's effect at synapses and show key aspects of how it functions, they still hope to determine the exact mechanism that allows the protein to gate vesicle fusion. That work is ongoing.

Despite the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), reports show that many health care workers contracted the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which raises substantial concerns about the effectiveness of the PPE. Highly sought after PPE used in hospitals and other health care settings is critical in ensuring the safety of those on the frontline of COVID-19, but only if they are used properly.

A physician from Florida Atlantic University's Schmidt College of Medicine and collaborators from the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Tucson and the Indiana University School of Medicine conducted a novel training technique to reinforce the importance of using proper procedures to put on and take off PPE when caring for patients during the pandemic. Researchers were able to vividly demonstrate how aerosol-generating procedures can lead to exposure of the contagion with improper use of PPE.

To detect contamination, Patrick G. Hughes, D.O., lead author, director of FAU's emergency medicine simulation program and an assistant professor of Integrated Medical Science, FAU's Schmidt College of Medicine, and collaborators, used a nontoxic fluorescent solution during a PPE training session for health care staff. They placed a highlighter refill in a warm water bath for 15 minutes to create a fluorescent solution, which is only visible under ultraviolet light.

For the experiment, published in the journal Medical Education, the researchers instructed health care staff to put on PPE, which included a cap, gown, surgical gloves, eye protection, face shield and N95 mask. In order to conserve vital PPE, supplies were wiped off and reused for multiple trainings. After health care staff in the study put on their PPE, they went in to a room to care for a simulated patient sprayed down with the invisible simulated contagion. In addition, the researchers added the fluorescent solution to a simulated albuterol nebulizer treatment, which was given to the mannequins during the scenario (not in a negative pressure room).

After completing the simulated case, the health care staff remained in their PPE and were taken to another room, where the lights were turned off prior to removing their PPE. Turning off the lights enabled the identification of widespread simulated contagion on the PPE, both on the gloves and gowns from directly touching the simulated patient and on the face shields and masks from the aerosolized solution. The researchers used a black light flashlight to examine each health care worker and to identify the presence of any fluorescent solution.

Following the flashlight examination, the health care staff completely removed their PPE. Researchers discovered the presence of fluorescent solution on the health care staff's skin, which represented an exposure to the contagion and indicated that they made an error while putting on or taking off their PPE.

Results from the experiment revealed that the most common error made by the health care staff was contaminating the face or forearms during PPE removal. In contrast, those who put on and took off their PPE according to guidelines had no signs of the fluorescent contagion on their skin or face.

"This training method allows educators and learners to easily visualize any contamination on themselves after they fully remove their personal protective equipment," said Hughes. "We can make immediate corrections to each individual's technique based on visual evidence of the exposure."

By providing health care staff with visual evidence of protection during patient encounters with high-risk aerosol-generating procedures, this innovative training method is helping to inspire trust in their training and PPE.

"This experiment demonstrated that following PPE training improves workplace safety and decreases the risk of transmission," said Hughes. "This simulation-based approach provides an efficient, low-cost solution that can be implemented in any hospital."

Hughes also conducted this training technique with FAU's emergency medicine resident physicians in the medical school's Clinical Skills Simulation Center, which uses high-tech and high-fidelity patient mannequins in life-like hospital and emergency room settings. The center applies sophisticated simulation and trainer technologies to educate medical students, resident physicians, registered nurses, first responders, certified nursing assistants, home health aides and community health care providers. The center has created models of hospital rooms, patient examination, and emergency rooms for simulated patient treatment. The rooms are fully equipped with hospital beds, gurneys or exam tables, monitors, IV poles, defibrillators, blood pressure cuffs, simulated oxygen ports, otoscopes and ophthalmoscopes and all equipment and supplies required to respond to medical and nursing interventions, including emergencies.

The simulation team uses high fidelity wireless, full body male and female mannequins. The simulators track all actions taken and all pharmacological agents given to the patients. If incorrect drugs or dosages are administered, the high-fidelity patient responds exactly as a human patient would respond. Preceptors and session facilitators provide guidance during the simulations.

Singapore, 6 May 2020 - Researchers from Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), MIT's research enterprise in Singapore, have discovered a new anti-phage defence mechanism found in some bacteria, which uses previously unknown features to protect their DNA. The groundbreaking discovery enables scientists to overcome existing challenges in bacterial resistance to antibiotics. The growing antimicrobial resistance is a major concern for the global health community, and phage therapy is an important pillar in combating bacterial infections.

Bacteriophages, an effective alternative to fight bacteria that are resistant to commonly used antibiotics, work by injecting their own DNA into the bacteria where it can replicate to the point that it destroys the bacteria. In a paper titled "SspABCD-SspE is a phosphorothioation-sensing bacterial defence system with broad anti-phage activities" published in the prestigious journal Nature Microbiology, the research team describes a brand new defence system found in many bacteria that work in unique ways to protect themselves against bacteriophages.

Led by Professor Lianrong Wang at Wuhan University the paper was jointly written by a group of scientists at SMART's Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Interdisciplinary Research Group (IRG), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Tsinghua University. SMART's AMR IRG is a translational research and entrepreneurship program that aims to solve the growing threat of resistance to antimicrobial drugs.

"We previously discovered a new type of defence mechanism that bacteria use against phages, where sulfur is inserted into the DNA backbone as a phosphorothioate modification on each strand of the DNA," says Professor Peter C Dedon, co-author of the paper and lead Principal Investigator at SMART AMR. "If the attacking phage DNA didn't have the modifications, host enzymes would chop the DNA into pieces to destroy it. This restriction-modification mechanism is like a bacterial immune system to protect against invaders."

"What the team discovered now is an entirely new and different mechanism in which phosphorothioates are located on only one strand of DNA at very high-frequency. The host defence enzymes then nick one strand of the invader DNA to stop the virus from making copies of itself. Like a surgeon's knife compared to a meat cleaver."

The newly identified SspABCD-SspE PT system is unique from the previously known PT modification system which uses multiple proteins and enzymes to attack phage DNA by chopping it into pieces. The discovery will help researchers understand how to tackle the ever-growing arsenal of bacterial defences against phages and can have huge implications for phage therapy.

"We keep pushing to discover DNA modification systems in phages as well as in bacteria. There are likely to be many more waiting to be found. We're finding some bizarre new ones that can be exploited to engineer phages to thwart bacterial defences in common pathogens," adds Professor Dedon, who is also a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and helped create the university's Department of Biological Engineering.

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - May 6, 2020 - Cortexyme, Inc. (Nasdaq: CRTX), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering a novel, disease-modifying therapeutic approach to treat what it believes to be a key underlying cause of Alzheimer's (AD) and other degenerative diseases, today announced the publication of research further documenting the ability of the pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis to invade neurons and trigger Alzheimer's-like neuropathology. The findings are to be published in the June 2020 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease [JAD 75(4)]; an early online version of the paper is available now so that the important findings can be rapidly disseminated to the research community.

"P. gingivalis is best known for its role as a primary driver of chronic periodontal disease, but researchers at Cortexyme and independent labs around the world have assembled a compelling body of data on its ability to infiltrate the brain and cause pathology characteristic of Alzheimer's disease," said Stephen Dominy, M.D., Cortexyme's chief scientific officer and co-founder, and co-author on the paper. "This latest research strengthens the connection between P. gingivalis and Alzheimer's, and underscores the importance both of studying the pathogen and targeting it with potential therapeutics, such as COR388."

As a Gram-negative, asaccharolytic bacterium, P. gingivalis breaks down proteins for its primary source of energy by utilizing toxic virulence factor proteases known as gingipains. Previous research led by the team at Cortexyme has demonstrated the presence of gingipains in greater than 90% of post-mortem brains of patients with AD. Cortexyme and others have also shown in animal models that P. gingivalis results in brain infection and classic AD pathology, including neurodegeneration, inflammation, beta-amyloid and tau pathology.

In the JAD paper available today, researchers demonstrate for the first time in vitro that P. gingivalis can invade and persist in mature human neurons expressing active gingipains, and that these P. gingivalis-infected neurons display signs of Alzheimer's-like neuropathology, including:

disruption of the cytoskeleton, which is critical for proper cellular function

degradation of tau protein and increased tau phosphorylation, a key regulator of axonal transport mechanisms

accumulation of intraneuronal autophagic vacuoles and multivesicular bodies, suggestive of disruption of normal lysosomal function

synapse loss, one of the earliest pathological events in the onset of AD

"This research sheds new light on the ability of P. gingivalis to persistently infect and trigger Alzheimer's-like pathology in human neurons, providing additional evidence for the gingipain hypothesis of Alzheimer's causation that Cortexyme and our fellow researchers are aggressively pursuing," said Casey Lynch, chief executive officer, chair, and co-founder of Cortexyme. "We believe gingipain inhibition has the potential to be an important, differentiated mechanism of action against AD, and are committed to fully evaluating its potential in the GAIN Trial, the ongoing Phase 2/3 clinical study of COR388, our lead investigational medicine, in mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease."

For more information on the research described above, view the early online version of the paper here. The final publication, "Alzheimer's Disease-Like Neurodegeneration in Porphyromonas gingivalis Infected Neurons with Persistent Expression of Active Gingipains" (DOI: 10.3233/ JAD20-0393), has been scheduled for Volume 75, issue 4 (June 2020) of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

Lead author Dr Tracy Xu, Lecturer in Hospitality at The University of Surrey's world-renowned School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, has had her paper published in the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. The research behind the paper involved speaking to 19 hotel HR experts to identify the key trends and major challenges that will emerge in the next ten years and how leaders should deal with the challenges brought about by service robot technologies.

Results showed that while service robots are anticipated to increase efficiency and productivity of hotel activities, they may also pose challenges such as high costs, skill deficits and significant changes to the organizational structure and culture of hotels. Therefore, the anticipated applications and integration of robotic technology will require leaders of the future to carefully consider the balance between the roles of service robots and human employees in the guest experience and to nurture a work environment that embraces open-mindedness and change.

The project finished in March 2020 just as COVID-19 broke out and as the virus rendered non-essential travel impossible, most hotels around the globe are feeling a catastrophic economic impact. There is now even more interest in developing innovative ways of deploying service robots across all economic sectors to limit human interaction. Considering the current pandemic, many industries are having to reinvent processes and systems to cope with a new isolated way of life. Robotic interaction in hotels could facilitate more socially distanced models of operation to enable a safer and faster reopening and recovery of some hotels.

Dr Xu said: "Application of service robots in the hotel industry is on the rise. With the added factor of a need to reassure potential guests that their stays will be compatible with minimised social contact and human interaction, this process could be accelarated. During the lockdown period it is likely that hotel managers will be planning for a 'fresh start' in the recovery and rebuilding period after the social isolation restrictions have been lifted and this is predicted to have a positive stimulus on the adoption of service robots.

"The anticipated applications and integration of robotic technology will require leaders of the future to carefully consider the balance between the roles of service robots and human employees in the guest experience and to nurture a work environment that embraces open-mindedness and change."

Dr Xu was joined in her research by fellow Surrey colleague Mark Ashton, Teaching Fellow, and Jason Stienmetz, Assistant Professor at MODUL University Vienna.

Mr Ashton said: "This is the first type of study to examine hospitality leadership and human resource management in the context of robotized hotels and at a time where hotels seem to need it most. Forward-thinking businesses who are proactively prepared for the introduction of these exciting new technologies will benefit in the long term."

The lab of Xavier Saelens (VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology) announces the isolation and characterization of a unique antibody that can bind to the virus that causes COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2). The antibody was described in collaboration with research groups in the US. The team has established that the antibody binds to a conserved epitope on the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. Importantly, the antibody can neutralize a lab variant of the virus, an important step forward in the development of a potential antiviral drug against the new coronavirus. Their work appears in Cell.

An antibody against COVID-19

Since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, the quest for finding antibodies has proceeded relentlessly. The team of professor Xavier Saelens, in close collaboration with the lab of Jason McLellan (University of Texas at Austin, US) have isolated and characterized a small antibody derived from llamas that binds an important part of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Their findings show exactly where the antibody binds to the virus' S proteins. These proteins are of vital importance to the virus as they enable it to enter host cells. By targeting these proteins, the antibody can neutralize the virus. This is an important step forward in the pursuit of an antiviral drug against COVID-19.

En route to protection

The new results provide the first evidence that the antibody could prevent the new coronavirus from infecting human cells. Importantly, the antibody can also be produced at large-scale using production processes that are common in the biopharmaceutical industry.

Prof. Saelens emphasizes: "This is a very important step forward in the fight against COVID-19, made possible by joining forces of my and Nico Callewaert's team (VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology)."

Dr. Bert Schepens, staff scientist in the team of Prof. Saelens: "Good teamwork is crucial. We can count on the expertise in the research center, and colleagues from across VIB. Key to the progress we made is the long-standing collaboration with the labs of Jason Mclellan and Barney Graham. The moment we observed virus neutralization in these experiments really felt like a collective victory."

In contrast to vaccines, an antibody offers immediate protection - though of shorter duration. The advantage of this approach over vaccines is that patients don't need to produce their own antibodies. The most vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, often mount a modest response to vaccines, which means that their protection may be incomplete. Healthcare workers or people at increased risk of exposure to the virus can also benefit from an immediate protection. This type of medicine can therefore be an important tool in fighting the current pandemic.

The next steps

The VIB researchers are preparing the preclinical test phase for a coronavirus treatment. Although these first results are highly promising, further research is necessary to confirm the full potential of this antibody-based drug directed against COVID-19. VIB's Technology Transfer team together with researchers of VIB Discovery Sciences provide outstanding support en route to clinical development of this anti-COVID-19 drug candidate.

Tailored exercise programs led by accredited exercise physiologists don't just provide physical benefits for residents living in aged care - they improve mental wellbeing and social engagement, according to new Edith Cowan University (ECU) research.

A series of studies led by ECU Associate Professor Annette Raynor from the School of Medical and Health Sciences has investigated the benefits of a 12-week exercise program delivered by an accredited exercise physiologist for older adults living in three different residential aged care facilities in Perth.

According to health authorities, more than 50 per cent of the 230,000 Australian residents living in aged care experience symptoms of depression.

The new studies have provided preliminary evidence for the feasibility and effectiveness of an accredited exercise physiologist-led therapy program to promote residents' physical and psychosocial wellbeing.

Associate Professor Raynor said previous research on exercise in aged care had tended to focus on the physical effects of resistance training and balance programs on fall prevention and in promoting functional capacity and mobility.

"This focus on the physical outcomes from exercise often decreases the significance of psychosocial benefits, such as enhanced independence, elevated mood and reduced agitation that can also be achieved with exercise," Associate Professor Raynor said.

Key findings:

The program led to improvements in residents' sense of independence, autonomy and social engagement.

Residents demonstrated improvements in balance, strength, flexibility and mobility.

The individualised structure of the program enabled residents to foster personal connections and accommodated specific needs relating to cognitive and physical impairments.

More than just physical benefits

While the exercise programs achieved physical improvements in balance, strength and flexibility, other significant benefits such as increased connectedness and motivation were also observed.

Associate Professor Raynor said staff had noticed that residents were coming out of their rooms more often, joining in activities, their mood was enhanced and they were generally more happy.

"One lady we worked with had experienced a stroke. She couldn't dress herself or go to the toilet unassisted. Prior to her stroke she had been very independent and found her current situation frustrating.

"Through the exercise program she regained some independence, was able to join classes, choose her own clothes and go to the bathroom on her own," Associate Professor Raynor said.

"These are the changes we were looking for - an increase in strength and functional ability are great, but the extra benefits that this enhanced physical ability brings to the residents' quality of life demonstrated the meaningfulness of the program."

No one-size-fits all approach

Associate Professor Raynor said exercise interventions in aged care in WA were typically not delivered by exercise physiologists, who are specifically trained to deliver tailored exercise programs.

"Because this exercise program was led by an exercise physiologist, they could prescribe and deliver one-on-one or group sessions tailored specifically to each individual.

"This also meant they could build personal relationships and adapt the exercise to the residents' needs," she said.

The paper It's not just physical: Exercise physiologist-led exercise program promotes functional and psychosocial health outcomes in aged care is published in in the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity.

A research team led by Distinguished Professor Sang-Yup Lee reported the production of a microbial strain capable of the massive production of succinic acid with the highest production efficiency to date. This strategy of integrating systems metabolic engineering with enzyme engineering will be useful for the production of industrially competitive bio-based chemicals. Their strategy was described in Nature Communications on April 23.

The bio-based production of industrial chemicals from renewable non-food biomass has become increasingly important as a sustainable substitute for conventional petroleum-based production processes relying on fossil resources. Here, systems metabolic engineering, which is the key component for biorefinery technology, is utilized to effectively engineer the complex metabolic pathways of microorganisms to enable the efficient production of industrial chemicals.

Succinic acid, a four-carbon dicarboxylic acid, is one of the most promising platform chemicals serving as a precursor for industrially important chemicals. Among microorganisms producing succinic acid, Mannheimia succiniciproducens has been proven to be one of the best strains for succinic acid production.

The research team has developed a bio-based succinic acid production technology using the M. succiniciproducens strain isolated from the rumen of Korean cow for over 20 years and succeeded in developing a strain capable of producing succinic acid with the highest production efficiency.

They carried out systems metabolic engineering to optimize the succinic acid production pathway of the M. succiniciproducens strain by determining the crystal structure of key enzymes important for succinic acid production and performing protein engineering to develop enzymes with better catalytic performance.

As a result, 134 g per liter of succinic acid was produced from the fermentation of an engineered strain using glucose, glycerol, and carbon dioxide. They were able to achieve 21 g per liter per hour of succinic acid production, which is one of the key factors determining the economic feasibility of the overall production process. This is the world's best succinic acid production efficiency reported to date. Previous production methods averaged 1~3 g per liter per hour.

Distinguished professor Sang Yup Lee explained that his team's work will significantly contribute to transforming the current petrochemical-based industry into an eco-friendly bio-based one.

"Our research on the highly efficient bio-based production of succinic acid from renewable non-food resources and carbon dioxide has provided a basis for reducing our strong dependence on fossil resources, which is the main cause of the environmental crisis," Professor Lee said.

In general, workers in Switzerland and Germany are coping well with the Covid-19 crisis and the associated social disruption. They are feeling happier and finding it easier to unwind and balance work and private life. They are also more engaged at work than last year, a survey among 600 participants carried out by researchers of the University of Zurich shows.

Workers are currently having to be very flexible: They must come to terms with a new situation at work and changes in their workload, they may have to take on additional childcare duties, and they are facing an uncertain future. Occupational health researchers at the Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute of the University of Zurich have examined the effects these challenges have had on the workers' well-being and health.

Pre- and post-outbreak comparison

The researchers conducted a survey in April 2020 among almost 600 workers who had already participated in a survey in June 2019 about their work conditions, well-being and strategies to improve their situation at work and leisure. This enabled the researchers to compare the situation of the survey participants before and after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. "We had anticipated that workers would feel more stressed during the crisis than before," says study leader Rebecca Brauchli. The study, however, suggests that the opposite is true, "which once again shows how remarkably adaptable people are."

When asked to give a general assessment of their situation, 29 percent of survey participants said that their work situation had deteriorated after the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, and only 11 percent said that it had improved. These figures were also reflected in the workers' assessment of their private lives. However, this retrospective general assessment did not coincide with the survey findings gained from comparing specific answers before and after the outbreak of the pandemic.

Work and life in balance

When it comes to specific answers, the researchers found that workers are happier with their professional and private lives than one year ago, and that both spheres of life are perceived as more enriching. According to the survey, the workers are now able to expand their professional skills and learn new things. They feel more supported by their colleagues in their private life and, above all, are better able to control how and when they work. This autonomy in carrying out their work is likely also a reason why workers are currently better at maintaining a balance between work and private life. "There are fewer conflicts between work and private life," says Brauchli. "Significantly so, when it comes to people working from home." They are more actively shaping their free time and work-life balance than a year ago. The same goes for workers affected by short-time working.

More engaged, more relaxed, but less optimistic

In general, survey participants said they were better able to unwind from work. The general workload has decreased slightly, as have signs of burnout. "However, this doesn't mean that workers have been less engaged at work," emphasizes Brauchli. Quite the opposite, in fact: Across all groups, workers have been significantly more engaged at work.

The survey shows a slight deterioration when it comes to the workers' assessment of their own psychological and physical health. According to Brauchli, it is worth taking a closer look at the specific questions here. In terms of their own optimism and feeling of being close to others, respondents gave significantly lower ratings than in the previous survey. Physical exercise also decreased somewhat, in frequency and especially in intensity. At the same time, the survey respondents felt more relaxed and reported being able to think more clearly.

Greater burden for workers looking after children

Despite the generally positive developments in the professional and private lives of workers, the researchers found some exceptions in subgroups, especially among workers who also take care of small children. In contrast to other groups, these workers feel a slightly increased burden at home. Unlike the other survey respondents, they are not benefiting from the recreational effects and reduced workload, and generally feel less supported by their colleagues than a year ago. The latter, with slight variation, also applies to people working from home: They are more likely to be overwhelmed in terms of work content, "probably because they lack the support of their line managers or colleagues when facing a problem," suspects Rebecca Brauchli.

Favorable effects of flexibility and autonomy

Workers report feeling unsettled and steamrollered by recent events, which according to Brauchli could be a reason for their slightly downbeat overall retrospective assessment: "As the world has gone awry, they probably don't really trust their own positive feelings." A comparison of their answers to specific questions from one year ago and now, however, shows that many workers are significantly happier with their professional and private lives, and are mostly benefiting from the slower pace of life and resulting calm. "Increased flexibility and autonomy in particular appear to have a positive effect on the worker's well-being," says Brauchli. "This could also be something we can learn from for the future of work."

Composition of sample

The survey was conducted among 597 workers (54% men and 46% women) in Switzerland and Germany, with an average age of 49. 4% of survey respondents hold an executive role, and 24% are line managers. 29% live alone, 68% with a partner or their family, and 3% in a shared flat or house. 44% do not have to take care of children or other people, while almost 25% have at least one child under the age of 20. Around one quarter of survey participants were affected by short-time working. Workload has increased for 11% and decreased for 34% of respondents since the beginning of the crisis. While 24% worked from home to at least some extent before the crisis, this figure rose to 45% after the outbreak of the pandemic. For 17% of respondents, childcare duties have increased since the beginning of the crisis.

Hydrogen is an essential commodity with over 60 million tons produced globally every year. However over 95 percent of it is made by steam reformation of fossil fuels, a process that is energy intensive and produces carbon dioxide. If we could replace even a part of that with algal biohydrogen that is made via light and water, it would have a substantial impact.

This is essentially what has just been achieved in the lab of Kevin Redding, professor in the School of Molecular Sciences and director of the Center for Bioenergy and Photosynthesis. Their research, entitled Rewiring photosynthesis: a Photosystem I -hydrogenase chimera that makes hydrogen in vivo was published very recently in the high impact journal Energy and Environmental Science.

"What we have done is to show that it is possible to intercept the high energy electrons from photosynthesis and use them to drive alternate chemistry, in a living cell" explained Redding. "We have used hydrogen production here as an example."

"Kevin Redding and his group have made a true breakthrough in re-engineering the Photosystem I complex," explained Ian Gould, interim director of the School of Molecular Sciences, which is part of The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. "They didn't just find a way to redirect a complex protein structure that nature designed for one purpose to perform a different, but equally critical process, but they found the best way to do it at the molecular level."

It is common knowledge that plants and algae, as well as cyanobacteria, use photosynthesis to produce oxygen and "fuels," the latter being oxidizable substances like carbohydrates and hydrogen. There are two pigment-protein complexes that orchestrate the primary reactions of light in oxygenic photosynthesis: Photosystem I (PSI) and Photosystem II (PSII).

Algae (in this work the single-celled green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, or 'Chlamy' for short) possess an enzyme called hydrogenase that uses electrons it gets from the protein ferredoxin, which is normally used to ferry electrons from PSI to various destinations. A problem is that the algal hydrogenase is rapidly and irreversibly inactivated by oxygen that is constantly produced by PSII.

In this study, doctoral student and first author Andrey Kanygin has created a genetic chimera of PSI and the hydrogenase such that they co-assemble and are active in vivo. This new assembly redirects electrons away from carbon dioxide fixation to the production of biohydrogen.

"We thought that some radically different approaches needed to be taken -- thus, our crazy idea of hooking up the hydrogenase enzyme directly to Photosystem I in order to divert a large fraction of the electrons from water splitting (by Photosystem II) to make molecular hydrogen," explained Redding.

Cells expressing the new photosystem (PSI-hydrogenase) make hydrogen at high rates in a light dependent fashion, for several days.

This important result will also be featured in an upcoming article in Chemistry World - a monthly chemistry news magazine published by the Royal Society of Chemistry. The magazine addresses current developments in the world of chemistry including research, international business news and government policy as it affects the chemical science community.

The NSF grant funding this research is part of the U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF). In this arrangement, a U.S. scientist and Israeli scientist join forces to form a joint project. The U.S. partner submits a grant on the joint project to the NSF, and the Israeli partner submits the same grant to the ISF (Israel Science Foundation). Both agencies must agree to fund the project in order to obtain the BSF funding. Professor Iftach Yacoby of Tel Aviv University, Redding's partner on the BSF project, is a young scientist who first started at TAU about eight years ago and has focused on different ways to increase algal biohydrogen production.

In summary, re-engineering the fundamental processes of photosynthetic microorganisms offers a cheap and renewable platform for creating bio-factories capable of driving difficult electron reactions, powered only by the sun and using water as the electron source.

An international team of scientists led by the University of Adelaide's Davies Research Centre has shown that it is possible to disentangle the DNA sequences of the chromosomes inherited from the mother and the father, to create true diploid genomes from a single individual.

In a report published in Nature Communications, and funded by the Davies Research Centre over the past 15 years, the researchers have shown that genomes of two important modern-day cattle breeds, Angus (Bos taurus taurus) and Brahman (Bos taurus indicus), can be completely decoded from a single hybrid individual carrying the genetics of both breeds, using an innovative genome assembly strategy.

Although demonstrated in cattle, the approach is applicable to other species including humans.

Dr Lloyd Low, from the University of Adelaide's School of Animal and Veterinary Science, says the technique, called trio binning, gives the true genome sequence of each chromosome in an individual.

Obtaining a full genome from an organism that inherits half the chromosomes from the mother and the other half from the father is difficult due to the high similarity between the parental chromosomes.

"Back in 2018 we were able to demonstrate that with this method it was possible to identify large sections of the DNA from the parents. Now in 2020 we have used the same concept to create the sequence of full chromosomes," Lloyd said.

Professor John Williams added: "Disentangling maternal and paternal genomes is very difficult, but we have now been able to do this and create the best genome assemblies available for any livestock, and arguably any species."

"These high quality genome sequences will make it easier to more accurately study the genetics of cattle to improve production and welfare traits."

Brahman and Angus cattle subspecies were domesticated separately thousands of years ago and have been subjected to very different selection pressures since then; pest and humid environments in the case of the Brahman cattle and beef production in Angus cattle. These different characteristics and histories are reflected in their genomes, which makes them ideal test subjects.

Indian breeds such as Brahman cattle are better able to regulate body temperature and are routinely crossed with European breeds such as Angus to produce cattle that are better adapted to tropical climates.

Considering the large differences in production and adaptation traits between taurine and indicine cattle, comparing the genomes helps us understand how the animals adapt to their environment, which is of substantial scientific and economic interest.

Professor Stefan Hiendleder said high-quality genomes of both cattle subspecies were needed to decipher the differences between taurine and indicine cattle.

"This technology will ultimately lead to breeding cattle which are more productive in harsh environments and also better suited from an animal welfare perspective," he said.

"Comparison between the Brahman and Angus revealed an indicus-specific extra copy of fatty acid enzyme which may be important for the regulation of the metabolism related to heat tolerance."

Black males start puberty at younger ages than males of other racial or ethnic groups, and early puberty has been linked to risks for negative outcomes, yet we know little about how Black males navigate the changes in their bodies or understand their social identities. A new study explored how young African American and Caribbean Black males understand these matters and how variations in their understanding affect their self-concept and well-being. The study concluded that the meaning Black males ascribe to their ethnic-racial identity may help explain outcomes related to puberty.

The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan and Arizona State University. It is published in Child Development, a journal of the Society for Research in Child Development.

"Black males who adopt healthy beliefs about their ethnic-racial identities during the transition to puberty are likely to have better mental health and stronger self-concepts than their Black peers who do not adopt such beliefs," says Rona Carter, associate professor of developmental psychology at the University of Michigan, who led the study. "The findings add to the growing recognition that variables linked to ethnicity and race are important mechanisms for understanding outcomes related to young males' transition to puberty."

Research on puberty among Black males is limited. To address this gap, researchers examined associations between three pubertal domains (voice change, hair growth, and perceived relative timing of puberty) and their effects on symptoms of depression, self-esteem, and self-efficacy in a nationally representative group of 395 African American and 164 Caribbean Black males from around the United States. Researchers also explored how the teens' concepts of their ethnic-racial identity affected them. The adolescents, ages 13 to 17, were part of the National Survey of American Life Adolescent sample. Mean family income was $36,693 for African Americans and $38, 580 for Caribbean Blacks.

The study found that positive levels of ethnic-racial identity buffered the effects of early puberty. For example:

Contrary to expectations, for both African American males and Caribbean Black males, perceptions of early puberty were not associated with high levels of symptoms of depression and low levels of self-esteem and self-efficacy. Instead, Black males who perceived that their voice changed early reported high levels of self-esteem.

Consistent with expectations, African American and Caribbean Black males who felt positively about being Black reported higher levels of self-esteem, more self-efficacy, and fewer symptoms of depression.

The study's authors acknowledge several limitations to their work. First, the study relied on self-reports of the teens' voice changes, hair growth, and perceived timing of puberty; it did not assess how the youth experienced their pubertal changes and the potentially racialized nature of those changes within their peer and family contexts. Second, the study is cross-sectional and based on self-reports, which prevents the authors from drawing causal conclusions. Finally, in their study of the Caribbean Black males, the authors could not address immigration status, which prior research has suggested plays a role in ethnic-racial identities.

"Greater attention should be placed on pubertal education programs that include exploration of one's ethnic-racial identity to help Black males process the identity-related messages they receive while navigating the transition to puberty," suggests Eleanor Seaton, associate professor in the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics at Arizona State University, who coauthored the study. "Individual characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gender, and the effects of various layers of social context affect the degree to which experience or context affect the mental health and self-concept of Black males. Furthermore, because this is an understudied area of research, we believe there is room for continued work on this matter."