Culture

A favorite healthy snack, almonds are a staple on grocery store shelves worldwide. More than 80% of these almonds are grown in California. As permanent crops, almond trees have unique needs and challenges for farmers.

Sat Darshan Khalsa, a member of the Soil Science Society of America, studies how almond trees use the key nutrient nitrogen. He recently presented his research at the virtual 2020 ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting.

How does farming almonds, considered a deciduous permanent crop, differ from a traditional crop?

"These crops are an intersection between agricultural and forest ecosystems," Khalsa explains. "Similar to annual cropping systems, deciduous permanent crops like almonds are intensively farmed. They receive high inputs of fertilizer and water with high nutrient outputs."

At the same time, crops like almonds are managed under no-till conditions where soil is minimally disturbed. Tilling or digging of any kind would disturb the trees' roots. In addition, almond trees shed leaves, grow woody tissue, and undergo other processes similar to trees in a real forest. These all have effects on carbon, nitrogen, and other nutrient cycles.

These characteristics can often mean that nutrients flow off of the field. They can get into areas like groundwater aquifers, where they can impact drinking water supplies for rural communities. Khalsa's work has tried to minimize this issue.

"Nitrogen is the primary nutrient tied to productivity," he says. "At the same time, it's an important pollutant that impacts air and water quality. Through our work, we can show that many almond growers in California are in a good position to continue to be highly productive. At the same time, they can protect, or even improve, environmental quality."

Khalsa and his colleagues specifically studied a concept called nitrogen use efficiency. It helps farmers balance putting enough nitrogen on a field with protecting environmental quality. In their research, they show it is possible to have a high level of nitrogen use efficiency by using various conservation practices.

One of the conservation techniques is called nutrient budgeting. It's a technique where inputs and outputs from a field are precisely measured to try to make them as balanced as possible. They also monitor the nutrients in leaves and soil.

Another technique is called fertigation, where fertilizer is applied through the irrigation system in a very targeted way. This allows it to be precisely measured and timed to meet the plants' needs. The work of Khalsa's team can also be applied to other specialty crops around the world to help farmers have a higher income while producing nutritious food.

"Matching supply and demand is the foundation of the 4R framework with the goal of improving the efficiency of nutrient management," Khalsa says. "The 4R framework is: the right fertilizer source at the right rate, at the right time, in the right place. That's what will help us be more efficient."

Challenges remain in understanding how crops like almonds cycle nitrogen year to year and how farmers apply nitrogen fertilizer. Khalsa also says his research highlights the importance of integrating their research with information networks, including Certified Crop Advisers and Cooperative Extension.

Efforts to address these agricultural issues must focus on the desires and needs of the farmers, growers, and industry organizations. That kind of work helps promote adoption and create new research opportunities such as assessing soil health practices in orchards.

Khalsa encourages researchers to maintain curiosity throughout each step of the food value chain. This allows them to better understand how their research interests align with other scientists, policy makers, and individuals like consumers within food and farming industries.

"After decades of working with plants, soil, and water, I personally think that through understanding people, we will be able to solve the biggest problems," he says. "Agriculture plays an essential role in communities worldwide. I find no better way to connect with anyone, anywhere than through the food we share."

Differences in the immune systems and better blood vessel health were among the factors protecting children from severe COVID-19, according to a new review.

A huge body of global COVID-19 literature was reviewed by experts at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI), the University of Melbourne and the University of Fribourg and published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood to unravel the reasons for age-related differences in COVID-19 severity and symptoms.

MCRI and University of Melbourne Professor Nigel Curtis said that while a number of hypotheses provided potential explanations as to why adults were at higher risk and children protected from severe disease and death from COVID-19, most do not explain why COVID-19 severity rises steeply after the age of 60-70 years.

Professor Curtis said in stark contrast to other respiratory viruses, severe disease and death due to COVID-19 was relatively rare in children.

"Most children with COVID-19 have no or only mild symptoms, most commonly fever, cough, sore throat and changes in sense of smell or taste," he said. "Even children with the usual risk factors for severe infections, such as immunosuppression, were not at high risk of severe COVID-19 disease."

Professor Curtis said damage to the thin layer of endothelial cells lining various organs, especially the blood vessels, heart, and lymphatic vessels, increased with age and there was an association between conditions that affect these cells and severe COVID-19.

"We know pre-existing blood vessel damage plays an important role in COVID-19 severity and can lead to blood clots, causing strokes and heart attacks. COVID-19 can infect these endothelial cells and cause blood vessel inflammation," he said.

"The endothelium in children has experienced far less damage compared with adults and their clotting system is also different, which makes children less prone to abnormal blood clotting."

Professor Curtis said diseases associated with chronic inflammation that develop with advanced age including diabetes and obesity were also linked with severe COVID-19.

He said more recent immunisation with live vaccines, such as the MMR vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella, that could boost the immune system might play a role in protecting children.

Dr Petra Zimmermann from the University of Fribourg said there were also other important differences in the immune system between children and adults.

"Children have a stronger innate immune response, which is the first-line defence against COVID-19," she said.

"Another important factor is 'trained immunity' which primes innate immune cells after mild infections and vaccinations, leading to a type of 'innate immune memory'.

"Children infected with COVID-19 often have co-infections with other viruses. Recurrent viral infections could lead to improved trained immunity, making kids more effective at clearing COVID-19."

Dr Zimmermann said different levels of microbiota (bacteria and other germs) in the throat, noise, lung and stomach, also influenced susceptibility to COVID-19.

"The microbiota plays an important role in the regulation of immunity, inflammation and in the defence against illnesses," she said. "Children are more likely to have viruses and bacteria, especially in the nose, where these bugs might limit the growth of COVID-19."

Dr Zimmermann said the vitamin D level, with its anti-inflammatory properties, was also generally higher in children.

"The overlap between risk factors for severe COVID-19 and vitamin D deficiency, including obesity, chronic kidney disease and being of black or Asian origin, suggests that vitamin D supplementation may play a role in helping prevent or treat COVID-19," she said.

"In many countries, vitamin D is routinely supplemented in infants younger than one year of age and in some countries even up to the age of three years."

Professor Curtis said understanding the underlying age-related differences in the severity of COVID-19 would provide important insights and opportunities for prevention and treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infections.

Tsukuba, Japan - Occasionally, following a transplant procedure, the donor's immune cells recognize the recipient's tissues as foreign and trigger a multisystem disorder called graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Occurring commonly after bone marrow or stem cell transplants performed to treat some blood cancers, GVHD may even follow solid organ transplants and is, in essence, the reverse of transplant rejection. Now, researchers at the University of Tsukuba have clarified the pathogenesis of the characteristic skin changes in chronic GVHD as being mediated by transforming growth factor-β1 (TGFβ1) a cytokine that keratinocytes - epidermal skin cells - undergoing apoptosis (regulated cell death) express on stimulation by interferon-γ (IFNγ).

All living organisms from single-celled bacteria to complex higher animals possess an 'awareness' of immunologic distinctiveness to discriminate between self and non-self. Unfortunately, these recognition systems and defense mechanisms work against therapeutic transplantation between individuals with differing genetic identities. The skin, gastrointestinal tract and liver are often affected in GVHD; this may be acute (aGVHD) or, if occurring after 100 days, chronic (cGVHD). The former usually results in erythematous mucocutaneous erosions seen as surface redness or rashes, and the latter in sclerodermatous changes manifested as skin thickening.

The research team sought to establish the mechanisms underlying keratinocyte death and sclerodermatous change. "We first demonstrated increased expression of TGFβ1 in cGVHD compared with aGVHD by immunohistochemical staining on biopsy tissue from skin lesions of human patients," explains Professor Naoko Okiyama, corresponding author and dermatologist at the Faculty of Medicine. "Then, in order to explore the role of keratinocytes in the sclerodermatous changes, we established an experimental model of genetically modified mice transferred with keratinocyte-specific CD8 T cells. We found that transfer of IFNγ-deficient CD8 T cells caused comparatively severe acute mucocutaneous injury but milder sclerodermatous changes, and recipients had lower TGFβ1 expression than controls."

Additionally, in murine keratinocytes undergoing apoptosis and incubated with IFNγ in vitro, the increased production of TGFβ1 was inhibited by zVAD, an apoptosis inhibitor, but not by Nec-1, which inhibits necroptosis (inflammatory death). This suggests that IFNγ promotes TGFβ1 production specifically in apoptotic keratinocytes.

"We have gained a deeper insight into the pathogenesis of sclerodermatous cGVHD, which also helps explain dermal fibrosis in discoid lupus erythematosus and Stevens-Johnson syndrome," says Professor Okiyama. "Moreover, as IFNγ promotes autoimmune and inflammatory tissue fibrosis in conditions such as cGVHD and systemic sclerosis, we recommend further research into the potential of anti-IFNγ and anti-apoptosis therapeutic protocols against scleroderma."

A cross-sectional analysis of NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) data found that more than 40% of U.S. adults with overweight and nearly 10% with obesity did not consider themselves to be overweight. This trend has increased over the last two decades and was especially true of non-Hispanic Blacks and persons with low socioeconomic status. The findings are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

The researchers from the University of Chicago Medicine analyzed NHANES data to investigate the trends of overweight and obesity self-awareness among U.S. adults with overweight or obesity. They also looked at factors associated with obesity self-awareness and weight loss attempts among adults with obesity. Survey participants were asked about self-perception of weight using the question: "Do you consider yourself to be overweight, underweight, or about the right weight?" They found that more than a significant proportion of those with overweight or obesity did not recognize the issue.

The authors say that as BMIs of Americans increase, people adjust their views on normal weight range to promote positive body images, and suggest use of varying BMI cutoffs to define overweight and obesity may be necessary when comparing varying demographic subsets. The authors still emphasize that this study data showed persons with obesity who did not view their weight to be overweight were less likely to try to lose weight and this may contribute to increasing obesity rates in the United States. The authors also found that health professional-guided education on weight improved both obesity self-awareness and attempts to lose weight among persons with obesity. However, having health insurance did not affect obesity self-awareness, suggesting health professionals are not routinely providing weight counseling to patients with obesity.

New method to customise lysins to specifically target unwanted bacteria while leaving others unharmed

Lysins are enzymes that help break open the bacteria cells while treating infections, and have demonstrated potential as a novel class of antimicrobials

Discovery can help pharmaceutical industries as well as skincare and consumer care industries in targeted killing of bacteria

Singapore, 1 December 2020 - Researchers from the Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Interdisciplinary Research Group (IRG) at Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), MIT's research enterprise in Singapore, have developed a method to produce customisable engineered lysins that can be used to selectively kill bacteria of interest while leaving others unharmed. The discovery presents a promising alternative to antibiotics for treating existing drug-resistant bacteria and bacterial infections without the risk of causing resistance.

Lysins are enzymes produced by bacteriophages to break open the bacteria cells while treating infections, and have demonstrated potential as a novel class of antimicrobials. A major advantage of lysins is that they allow fast and targeted killing against specific bacterium of choice without inducing resistance.

The emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria has left even minor bacterial infections incurable by many existing antibiotics, with at least 700,000 deaths each year due to drug-resistant diseases according to the World Health Organisation.

In a paper titled "Engineered Lysins with Customized Lytic Activities Against Enterococci and Staphylococci" recently published in the prestigious journal Frontiers in Microbiology, the SMART AMR team demonstrates one of the methods to customise the lytic spectrum of engineered lysins.

The study reveals how SMART's engineered lysins were able to selectively kill bacteria like Staphylococci, Enterococcus faecalis, while leaving the Enterococcus faecium bacteria of the same genus unharmed. This is the first report of a chimeric lysin that can both target bacteria of multiple genera as well as selectively kill one bacterial species within a genus over another.

"The human body contains trillions of bacteria, which form the microbiome, and the majority of the bacteria is either harmless or beneficial to us," says AMR Research Scientist and corresponding author of the paper Dr Boon Chong Goh. "What happens when we are on an antibiotic course is that the antibiotics kill all of the bacteria, leaving us vulnerable to a worse re-infection after we have completed the antibiotic course. Since lysins respect the microbiome and only eliminate the bad pathogenic bacteria, they are a very promising alternative for treating bacterial infections."

Awarded with the Ignition and Innovation Grants from SMART Innovation Centre, Dr Goh's team has established the foundation of a technology platform by producing the lysins and testing them in vitro, and are in the process of developing a series of techniques to engineer the lysins.

"Since lysins are essentially proteins, they can be engineered and mass produced," says Ms. Hana Sakina Bte Muhammad Jai, lead author of the paper and Laboratory Assistant under Dr Goh's team at SMART. "Our study clearly shows how modifying these proteins translates to improvements of their specificity and antibacterial activities"

"In the lab, we have observed that once a small amount of lysin is added, it only takes 30 minutes to completely kill the bacteria making them a very safe and efficient choice for removing unwanted bacteria," says Ms. Linh Chi Dam, the co-first author of the paper and Laboratory Technologist under Dr Goh's team at SMART. "While developments in the production of customised lysins would greatly impact pharmaceutical industries where lysins can be used to treat bacterial infections, skincare and consumer care industries would also benefit by using lysins as a targeted agent to remove unwanted bacteria from their products."

The research is carried out by SMART and supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapore under its Campus for Research Excellence And Technological Enterprise (CREATE) programme. The SMART AMR team was also recently awarded the Intra-CREATE Seed Collaboration Grant to investigate lysins targeting Gram-negative bacteria such as, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Neurological diseases of the brain such as dementia, autism and schizophrenia are now a growing social problem. Nevertheless, studies on their definitive cause are still insufficient. Recently, a POSTECH research team has identified the mechanism in which such neurological diseases occur, thus solving the enigma to treating them.

In the case of neurological diseases of the brain, problems arise when certain effects modify the synaptic plasticity and signal transmissions of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which has a profound effect on the development and differentiation of neurons. The information between nerve cells is transferred through synapses, where the synaptic activity and the synaptic structure are dynamically changed and regulated according to stimulations. During this moment, BDNF has prominent effects on the survival and synaptic plasticity of nerve cells. When it malfunctions, it not only interferes with the smooth information exchange between the brain cells but also kills neurons, leading to learning and memory impairment.

Professor Kyong-Tai Kim and Dr. Young-Seop Jeong of POSTECH's Division of Integrative Biosciences and Biotechnology have identified the mechanism by which BDNF regulates the local expression of AMPA receptors, which are important for synaptic function of nerve cells. The findings of the study were published in the November issue of Science Advances, a prominent international journal.

AMPA receptors are ion channel receptors that glutamic acid acts on and are responsible for excitatory neural signals. They are located on the dendrites' spines of nerve cells and transmit signals when they recognize glutamic acid secreted in the synapses. For synaptic plasticity, it is normal for the AMPA receptors to synthesize locally and efficiently translocate to the postsynaptic membrane according to the strength, duration, and frequency of neural stimulation. The presence of the AMPA receptor mRNA in the dendrites was already known, but the mechanism of how this mRNA is translated into a receptor protein was unknown until now.

The research team found that there is an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) activity in the 5' untranslated region of the AMPA receptor mRNA, and unlike the general method, protein translation increases when a protein hnRNP A2/B1 - an RNA-binding protein - binds to this site.

It was confirmed that the AMPA receptor mRNA, created by transcription from the nucleus, moves to the dendrites and waits there until a simulation occurs to quickly produce receptor proteins in response to various stimuli. In particular, when BDNF stimulates nerve cells, the amount of hnRNP A2/B1 increases, thus promoting the synthesis of AMPA receptor proteins. These proteins locally synthesized in the synapses efficiently carry out the neural signal transduction.

"This is a study that revealed a key mechanism of synaptic plasticity to prevent brain developmental disorders or brain nerve cells from degeneration," explained Professor Kyong-Tai Kim who led the study. "We expect to provide important clues to the treatment of development or degenerative brain diseases such as autism and dementia in the future."

A group of experts from academic, governmental and international organisations have identified five large-scale 'megatrends' affecting forests and forest communities, published today in Nature Plants. These are likely to have major consequences - both positively and negatively - over the coming decade.

Around the world, 1.6 billion people live within 5km of a forest, and millions rely on them for their livelihoods, especially in poorer countries. They are also home to much of the world's biodiversity, and regulate key aspects of the carbon cycle. In short, forests are vital in global and national efforts to combat climate change and biodiversity loss, and eradicate hunger and poverty.

Despite their importance, research on forests and livelihoods to date has mainly focused on understanding local household and community-level dynamics - identifying the links between human and natural systems at the regional and global scales is critical for future policy and action.

The five trends revealed by the research are:

1. Forest megadisturbances

Droughts and excessive precipitation are increasing forests' susceptibility to diseases and human-induced wildfires and floods - this is leading to defoliation, tree mortality and declines in forest productivity at unprecedented scales, and there is increasing evidence that forest disturbance can result in the emergence of diseases with the ability to spread globally.

Policy responses to these disturbances will require balancing a range of mitigation and adaptation efforts - whilst opportunities and challenges are likely to arise from efforts to align forest conservation and restoration with other sustainability priorities, such as poverty alleviation.

2. Changing rural demographics

Increased migration to urban areas is causing an unprecedented exodus among forest-reliant communities. The effects of these demographic shifts, including forest resurgence on formerly agricultural lands and participation in decision-making, are not well understood.

Populations shifts could result in opportunities for effective forest conservation, whilst on the other hand could lead to deforestation as greater urban demand and large industrial projects are created.

3. The rise of the middle class

By 2030 the middle class in low and middle income countries will grow to almost 5 billion people - around 50% of the global population. The growth in demand that this creates will increase pressure on land and other resources.

Growing consumption and demand of commodities has already seen large scale corporate-led land acquisitions for industrial production of cattle, soy and palm oil in Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia. Between 2001-2015, 27% of forest disturbance was attributed to commodity-driven deforestation. Further growth in demand and a continuing culture of consumerism will alter local and global consumption patterns, with potentially severe effects on deforestation rates, emissions, wildlife populations, ecosystem services and rural communities.

4. Use of digital technologies

Access to digital communication technology has grown exponentially in recent years, with a sevenfold increase in internet and mobile cellular use since 2000. The majority of this growth has come outside industrialised countries, and is likely to have a transformational impact on the forest sector. Technologies that collect and disseminate data are increasingly accurate and easy-to-use, including land mapping tools, real-time satellite data and crowd-sourced data.

Although they can be accessed by those involved in illicit activity such as logging and mining, these technologies also provide opportunities. Increasingly available data can benefit a wide range of forest sector stakeholders including policymakers, oversight bodies, non-governmental actors, managers and local communities. New technologies are already supporting the surveillance and certification of global production networks, which is aiding regulatory control of forest-based products and people threatening forests.

5. Infrastructure development

Large scale infrastructure projects such as China's Belt and Road initiative are likely to have transformational impacts on forests and rural communities. To accommodate demand for energy, natural resources and transport, many countries have planned ambitious infrastructure growth.

By 2050, there is expected to be at least 25 million km of new roads globally to help facilitate commodity flow between transport hubs; governments in the Amazon basin alone are developing 246 new hydroelectric dams; and illegal mining activities are expanding rapidly across the globe. These can lead to forest loss, displaces people, disrupts livelihoods and provokes social conflicts as communities lose access to land and resources.

These five megatrends are creating new agricultural and urban frontiers, changing landscapes, opening spaces for conservation and facilitating an unprecedented development of monitoring platforms that can be used by local communities, civil society organisations, governments and international donors. Understanding these larger-scale dynamics is key to support not only the critical role of forests in meeting livelihood aspirations locally, but also a range of other sustainability challenges globally.

"Our study allows us to take stock of key socioeconomic, political and environmental issues affecting forests and rural communities, and identify trends likely to have disproportionate impacts on forests and forest-livelihoods in the coming decade," says Johan Oldekop, an associate professor in the Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester and a lead author of the report.

"The trends we identify are important, because they represent human and environmental processes that are exceptionally large in geographical extent and magnitude, and are difficult to reverse," Oldekop says. "Developing a new research agenda that is able to better understand these trends and identify levers of change will require novel ways of combining new and existing data sources, the strengthening of existing collaborations between researchers, local communities and policymakers, as well as the development of new types of partnerships with public and private stakeholders."

"The assembled expert panel is unique as it brings together a range of subject expertise, region-specific knowledge, as well as academic, governmental and non-governmental institutions, including international donor organizations," adds Laura Vang Rasmussen, an assistant professor in the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management at the University of Copenhagen, and one of the lead authors of the report.

The report can be accessed at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-020-00814-9.

Just a few doses of an experimental drug can reverse age-related declines in memory and mental flexibility in mice, according to a new study by UC San Francisco scientists. The drug, called ISRIB, has already been shown in laboratory studies to restore memory function months after traumatic brain injury (TBI), reverse cognitive impairments in Down Syndrome , prevent noise-related hearing loss, fight certain types of prostate cancer , and even enhance cognition in healthy animals.

In the new study, published December 1, 2020 in the open-access journal eLife , researchers showed rapid restoration of youthful cognitive abilities in aged mice, accompanied by a rejuvenation of brain and immune cells that could help explain improvements in brain function.

"ISRIB's extremely rapid effects show for the first time that a significant component of age-related cognitive losses may be caused by a kind of reversible physiological "blockage" rather than more permanent degradation," said Susanna Rosi , PhD, Lewis and Ruth Cozen Chair II and professor in the departments of Neurological Surgery and of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science (http://ptrehab.ucsf.edu/) .

"The data suggest that the aged brain has not permanently lost essential cognitive capacities, as was commonly assumed, but rather that these cognitive resources are still there but have been somehow blocked, trapped by a vicious cycle of cellular stress," added Peter Walter , PhD, a professor in the UCSF Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. "Our work with ISRIB demonstrates a way to break that cycle and restore cognitive abilities that had become walled off over time."

Could Rebooting Cellular Protein Production Hold the Key to Aging and Other Diseases?

Walter has won numerous scientific awards, including the Breakthrough , Lasker  and Shaw  prizes, for his decades-long studies of cellular stress responses. ISRIB, discovered in 2013 in Walter's lab, works by rebooting cells' protein production machinery after it gets throttled by one of these stress responses -- a cellular quality control mechanism called the integrated stress response (ISR; ISRIB stands for ISR InhiBitor).

The ISR normally detects problems with protein production in a cell -- a potential sign of viral infection or cancer-promoting gene mutations -- and responds by putting the brakes on cell's protein-synthesis machinery. This safety mechanism is critical for weeding out misbehaving cells, but if stuck in the on position in a tissue like the brain, it can lead to serious problems, as cells lose the ability to perform their normal activities, Walter and colleagues have found.

In particular, recent animal studies by Walter and Rosi, made possible by early philanthropic support from The Rogers Family Foundation, have implicated chronic ISR activation in the persistent cognitive and behavioral deficits seen in patients after TBI, by showing that, in mice, brief ISRIB treatment can reboot the ISR and restore normal brain function almost overnight.

The cognitive deficits in TBI patients are often likened to premature aging, which led Rosi and Walter to wonder if the ISR could also underlie purely age-related cognitive decline. Aging is well known to compromise cellular protein production across the body, as life's many insults pile up and stressors like chronic inflammation wear away at cells, potentially leading to widespread activation of the ISR.

"We've seen how ISRIB restores cognition in animals with traumatic brain injury, which in many ways is like a sped-up version of age-related cognitive decline," said Rosi, who is director of neurocognitive research in the UCSF Brain and Spinal Injury Center and a member of the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences. "It may seem like a crazy idea, but asking whether the drug could reverse symptoms of aging itself was just a logical next step."

ISRIB Improves Cognition, Boosts Neuron and Immune Cell Function

In the new study, researchers led by Rosi lab postdoc Karen Krukowski , PhD, trained aged animals to escape from a watery maze by finding a hidden platform, a task that is typically hard for older animals to learn. But animals who received small daily doses of ISRIB during the three-day training process were able to accomplish the task as well as youthful mice, much better than animals of the same age who didn't receive the drug.

The researchers then tested how long this cognitive rejuvenation lasted and whether it could generalize to other cognitive skills. Several weeks after the initial ISRIB treatment, they trained the same mice to find their way out of a maze whose exit changed daily -- a test of mental flexibility for aged mice who, like humans, tend to get increasingly stuck in their ways. The mice who had received brief ISRIB treatment three weeks before still performed at youthful levels, while untreated mice continued to struggle.

To understand how ISRIB might be improving brain function, the researchers studied the activity and anatomy of cells in the hippocampus, a brain region with a key role in learning and memory, just one day after giving animals a single dose of ISRIB. They found that common signatures of neuronal aging disappeared literally overnight: neurons' electrical activity became more sprightly and responsive to stimulation, and cells showed more robust connectivity with cells around them while also showing an ability to form stable connections with one another usually only seen in younger mice.

The researchers are continuing to study exactly how the ISR disrupts cognition in aging and other conditions and to understand how long ISRIB's cognitive benefits may last. Among other puzzles raised by the new findings is the discovery that ISRIB also alters the function of the immune system's T cells, which also are prone to age-related dysfunction. The findings suggest another path by which the drug could be improving cognition in aged animals, and could have implications for diseases from Alzheimer's to diabetes that have been linked to heightened inflammation caused by an aging immune system.

"This was very exciting to me because we know that aging has a profound and persistent effect on T cells and that these changes can affect brain function in the hippocampus," said Rosi. "At the moment, this is just an interesting observation, but it gives us a very exciting set of biological puzzles to solve.

ISRIB May Have Wide-Ranging Implications for Neurological Disease

It turns out that chronic ISR activation and resulting blockage of cellular protein production may play a role in a surprisingly wide array of neurological conditions. Below is a partial list of these conditions, based on a recent review by Walter and colleague Mauro Costa-Mattioli of Baylor College of Medicine, which could potentially be treated with an ISR-resetting agent like ISRIB: 

Frontotemporal Dementia

Alzheimer's Disease

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

Age-related Cognitive Decline

Multiple Sclerosis

Traumatic Brain Injury

Parkinson's Disease

Down Syndrome

Vanishing White Matter Disorder

Prion Disease

ISRIB has been licensed by Calico, a South San Francisco, Calif. company exploring the biology of aging, and the idea of targeting the ISR to treat disease has been picked up by other pharmaceutical companies, Walter says.

One might think that interfering with the ISR, a critical cellular safety mechanism, would be sure to have serious side effects, but so far in all their studies, the researchers have observed none. This is likely due to two factors, Walter says. First, it takes just a few doses of ISRIB to reset unhealthy, chronic ISR activation back to a healthier state, after which it can still respond normally to problems in individual cells. Second, ISRIB has virtually no effect when applied to cells actively employing the ISR in its most powerful form -- against an aggressive viral infection, for example.

Naturally, both of these factors make the molecule much less likely to have negative side effects -- and more attractive as a potential therapeutic. According to Walter: "It almost seems too good to be true, but with ISRIB we seem to have hit a sweet spot for manipulating the ISR with an ideal therapeutic window.

A mathematician from RUDN University developed a matrix representation of set functions. This approach is vivid and easy to check, and it makes the calculations easier. Among other things, the new development can be applied to cooperative game theory. The results of the work were published in the Information Sciences journal.

Specialists in cooperative game theory study methods of coplex decision-making in situations with multiple criteria. In such a situation, groups (or coalitions) of players have to come up with a decision that is the most profitable for all of them. Set functions are one of the tools used to work with cooperative game theory. In these functions, the input data are sets of elements that can have different values. Simple explicit questions are quite rare in real life; therefore, the data on different elements can support or neutralize each other. Combinations of elements called coalitions can assume their own values. To work with this apparatus, scientists require an intuitive mathematical language. A mathematician from RUDN University suggested his approach to it.

"Our contribution to the mathematical language of cooperative game theory is based on the familiar notions of matrices and vectors. We have developed a formal approach to manipulations with set functions based on linear algebra. Our results can be practically applied to multicriteria decision analysis, group decision-making, operations with dependent goals, economic theories based on cooperative games, and aggregate functions theory," said Prof. Gleb Beliakov, a Candidate of Physics and Mathematics from RUDN University.

Prof. Beliakov wanted to develop a universal approach that would make expressions equally understandable and convenient for mathematicians, engineers, economists, and specialists in computer science. The best option for it was linear algebra operations based on matrices. Operations with matrices are included in most software packages and are also useful for parallel computations.

The scientist obtained matrix expressions by transforming a derived set function expression. A derived function shows how a function transforms when its variables change. Having calculated a derived function, a specialist can give an accurate analysis of a certain situation. In linear algebra, treating an exponential set this way can simplify calculation methods and support effective implementation of many formulae in software. Prof. Beliakov also suggested new formulae for finding the Shapley vector--a version of 'fair distribution' in which the profit of each player is equal to their average contribution to respective coalitions. The new method makes it easier to obtain the Shapley vector in practical applications.

"Set functions are used in economics, decision-making, fuzzy logic, and operational research. An exponential set is a particularly effective tool to model input variables in corporate games. The new apparatus could simplify calculations and support software implementation of many formulae using existing linear algebra packages," added Prof. Gleb Beliakov from RUDN University.

For their growth, cells need various nutrients and vitamins. So-called solute carriers (SLC), proteins that can transport such substances across the boundaries of cellular membranes, play a central role in metabolism. Scientists in Giulio Superti-Furga's research group at the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences have now discovered that the previously uncharacterised protein SLC25A51 acts as a transporter into the mitochondria for the coenzyme NAD. This molecule has already been associated with numerous physiological and pathological processes such as ageing, neurological diseases and the metabolism of cancer cells. Therefore, the results of this study not only open up new possibilities to study the biological role of NAD but also potentially provide the basis for new therapeutic approaches. The work has now been published in the journal Nature Communications.

Solute carriers (SLC) are proteins that act as transporters and enable the entry and exit of nutrients and waste products into and from the cell and its organelles. Many of these transporter proteins are still relatively poorly studied and the question of how some nutrients enter and leave cells often remains unanswered. So far, it has not yet been clarified how mitochondria gain access to an important cofactor of our metabolism, the so-called NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide). In scientific literature, there were only references to mitochondrial NAD transporters in plants and yeast. Lead author Enrico Girardi and the research group of CeMM Scientific Director Giulio Superti-Furga, in cooperation with scientists from the University of Bari (Italy), have now identified the protein responsible for the important transport of NAD into mitochondria: SLC25A51.

Measurement of nutrient pathways provided evidence

For their studies, the scientists used a specially created cell line library, which allows investigating pairwise genetic interactions of two SLCs. Their genes are deactivated both individually and in pairs; the effects of these interventions on cell growth can then be measured. Among the combination-related large number of interactions measured, some around the previously uncharacterised gene SLC25A51 stood out. The other interacting SLCs transport various nutrients, but all of them could be associated with NAD via known metabolic processes. "By accurately quantitatively measuring certain nutrients in the cells, we found that the presence of SLC25A51 correlated with the amount of NAD and that cells lacking SLC25A51 had extremely low levels of this molecule in their mitochondria," explains senior author Giulio Superti-Furga. "In our study, we also show that the already known NAD transporter in yeast and SLC25A51 play a similar role in the human cell."

Important part of the scientific puzzle

The question of the existence of a mitochondrial NAD transporter in humans has been discussed for some time. Giulio Superti-Furga also explains: "The results of our research, which have also been confirmed in two other independent studies by US laboratories, provide an important answer to this question and open up the opportunity of influencing the NAD content in this key organelle. NAD is associated with many physiological and pathological processes such as ageing, neurological diseases and the metabolism of cancer cells. Our study, therefore, represents an important contribution to understanding the biological role of this molecule. At the same time, we also see the enormous therapeutic potential arising from the possibility of a possible modulation of the NAD content in mitochondria by the transporter SLC25A51."

In The Social Dilemma, the Netflix documentary that has been in the news recently for its radical revelations, former executives at major technology companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, among others, share how their ex-employers have developed sophisticated algorithms that not only predict users' actions but also know which content will keep them hooked on their platforms. The knowledge that technology companies are preying on their users' digital activities without their consent and awareness is well-known. But Associate Professor Jon Truby and Clinical Assistant Professor Rafael Brown at the Centre for Law and Development at Qatar University have pulled the curtain on another element that technology companies are pursuing to the detriment of people's lives, and investigated what we can do about it. "We had been working on the digital thought clone paper a year before the Netflix documentary aired. So, we were not surprised to see the story revealed by the documentary, which affirm what our research has found," says Prof Brown, one of the co-authors.

Published in Information & Communications Technology Law, their paper identifies "digital thought clones," which act as digital twins that constantly collect personal data in real-time, and then predict and analyze the data to manipulate people's decisions. Activity from apps, social media accounts, gadgets, GPS tracking, online and offline behavior and activities, and public records are all used to formulate what they call a "digital thought clone". The paper defines digital thought clone as "a personalized digital twin consisting of a replica of all known data and behavior on a specific living person, recording in real-time their choices, preferences, behavioral trends, and decision making processes."

"Currently existing or future artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms can then process this personalized data to test strategies in real-time to predict, influence, and manipulate a person's consumer or online decisions using extremely precise behavioral patterns, and determine which factors are necessary for a different decision to emerge and run all kinds of simulations before testing it in the real world," says Prof Truby, a co-author of the study.

An example is predicting whether a person will make the effort to compare online prices for a purchase, and if they do not, charging a premium for their chosen purchase. This digital manipulation reduces a person's ability to make choices freely. Outside of consumer marketing, imagine if financial institutions use digital thought clones to make financial decisions, such as whether a person would repay a loan. What if insurance companies judged medical insurance applications by predicting the likelihood of future illnesses based on diet, gym membership, the distance applicants walk in a day--based on their phone's location history--and their social circle, as generated by their phone contacts and social media groups, and other variables?

The authors suggest that the current views on privacy, where information is treated either as a public or private matter or viewed in contextual relationships of who the information concerns and impacts, are outmoded. A human-centered framework is needed, where a person can decide from the very beginning of their relationship with digital services if their data should be protected forever or until they freely waive it. This rests on two principles: the ownership principle that data belongs to the person, and that certain data is inherently protected; and the control principle, which requires that individuals be allowed to make changes to the type of data collected and if it should be stored. In this framework, people are asked beforehand if data can be shared with an unauthorized entity.

The European Union's landmark General Data Protection Regulation and the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 can serve as a foundation for governments everywhere to legislate on digital thought clones and all that they entail. But the authors also raise critical moral and legal questions over the status of these digital thought clones. "Does privacy for humans mean their digital clones are protected as well? Are users giving informed consent to companies if their terms and conditions are couched in misleading language?" asks Prof Truby.

A legal distinction must be made between the digital clone and the biological source. Whether the digital clone can be said to have attained consciousness will be relevant to the inquiry but far more important would be to determine whether the digital clone's consciousness is the same as that of the biological source.

The world is at a crossroads: should it continue to do nothing and allow for total manipulation by the technology industry or take control through much-needed legislation to ensure that people are in charge of their digital data? It's not quite a social dilemma.

Plants have the unique capability to sense and adapt to changes in their environment

This information is stored in the form of 'epigenetic memory' which can be passed on to the offspring, resulting in defects in growth and development.

Researchers have identified two proteins responsible for erasing plant memory to maximise chances of offspring survival.

Researchers at the University of Warwick have uncovered the mechanism that allows plants to pass on their 'memories' to offspring, which results in growth and developmental defects.

In order to survive and thrive, plants have the unique capability to sense and remember changes in their environment. This is linked to the chemical modification of DNA and histone proteins, which alters the way in which DNA is packaged within the cell's nucleus and genes are expressed - a process known as epigenetic regulation.

Usually, this epigenetic information is reset during sexual reproduction to erase any inappropriate 'memories' from being passed on to ensure the offspring grows normally. In the paper, 'A new role for histone demethylases in the maintenance of plant genome integrity' published in the journal elife, it was found that some plants were unable to forget this information and passed it on to their offspring, thereby affecting their chances of survival.

The researchers identified two proteins in Thale Cress (Arabidopsis), previously known only to control the initiation and timing of flowering, that are also responsible for controlling 'plant memory' through the chemical modification (demethylation) of histone proteins.

They showed that plants unable to reset these chemical marks during sexual reproduction, passed on this 'memory' to subsequent generations, resulting in defects in growth and development.

Some of these defects were linked to the activation of selfish DNA elements, also known as 'jumping genes' or transposons, thus indicating that the erasure of such 'memory' is also critical for maintaining the integrity of plant genomes by silencing transposons.

Prof. Jose Gutierrez-Marcos, a senior author on the paper from the School of Life Sciences at the University of Warwick commented:

"Our study into the proteins that regulate plant memory has shown how important it is for chemical marks to be reset during sexual reproduction in order to avoid offspring inheriting inappropriate 'memories' that lead to growth and developmental defects associated with genome instability.

"The next step is to work out how to manipulate such 'memories' for plant breeding purposes, so that subsequent generations show greater adaptability to allow them to thrive in a changing environment."

Virologists at the Rega Institute at KU Leuven (Belgium) have developed a vaccine candidate against Covid-19 based on the yellow fever vaccine, which as a result also works against yellow fever. Results published today in Nature show that the vaccine protects hamsters from infection with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus after a single dose. The vaccine is also effective in monkeys. The team is currently preparing for clinical trials.

To engineer their vaccine, tentatively named RegaVax, the team led by Professor Johan Neyts and Kai Dallmeier inserted the genetic code of the SARS-CoV-2 spikes into the genetic code of the yellow fever vaccine. The researchers tested the vaccine in healthy hamsters and monkeys. Another group of the animals received a placebo.

The researchers first vaccinated the hamsters and then dripped the virus into their noses. Ten days after a single vaccine dose, most of the hamsters were protected against the virus. Three weeks after vaccination, all hamsters were protected. "They also didn't develop any lung infections. The lungs of the hamsters in the control groups, by contrast, showed clear signs of infection and disease," Neyts explains.

The team also tested the vaccine in monkeys. "In some of the monkeys, we observed neutralising antibodies already seven days after vaccination. After fourteen days, high titers of neutralizing antibodies were measured in all animals. This is very fast. Moreover, in the vaccinated animals, the virus was completely or nearly completely gone from their throats."

Long-lasting immunity

"Ours is the only vaccine currently in development against Covid-19 that also protects against yellow fever," explains professor Neyts. Previously, the Rega team used the yellow fever vaccine as the foundation for vaccine candidates against Zika, Ebola, and rabies. "The effectiveness and safety of the yellow fever vaccine, which has been in use for 80 years, is well-established. More than 500 million people have already received this vaccine. One dose offers fast protection against yellow fever that in nearly all cases lasts for life."

"A vaccine that works against Covid-19 and yellow fever could offer an important contribution to the WHO's campaign to eradicate yellow fever by 2026," Neyts continues. "Especially now that we know there are mosquito species present in Asia that can transmit the yellow fever virus."

RegaVax works after one dose, unlike many of the front-runners in the race today, which require a repeat vaccination after one month. "This has important logistical implications, in particular for countries with a less advanced medical system," explains professor Neyts. "Additionally, we expect that the vaccine will offer long-lasting immunity to Covid-19. It could therefore be an ideal candidate for repeat vaccinations when immunity decreases in people who have received one of the first-generation vaccines."

Finally, the vaccine can be stored at 2-8 °C, while some vaccines require a cold chain with temperatures down to -70 °C. That's already challenging in the Western world, but it may be nearly impossible to vaccinate large populations in remote tropical and subtropical regions," Neyts explains.

"An inexpensive, single-dose vaccine that rapidly protects against infection, that can be stored and transported at fridge temperature, and that may, like the yellow fever vaccine on which it is based, result in long-lasting immunity, provides an important and much-needed diversification of the Covid-19 vaccine landscape," Neyts concludes.

His team is now preparing for clinical trials next year and has joined forces with a specialised and accredited company that will produce the vaccine candidate for testing in humans.

New technique

RegaVax is a vector vaccine: it uses the genetic code of the yellow fever vaccine virus as a carrier (or vector) for the genetic code of the coronavirus spikes. "When working with a related virus, such as the Zika virus, pieces of the genetic code of the yellow fever vaccine virus are swapped with a similar piece of the code of the targeted virus. Using this strategy the team recently developed a Zika vaccine candidate. However, since SARS-CoV-2 is unrelated to yellow fever, a new technology had to be developed to insert an entirely unrelated genetic sequence in the yellow fever vaccine backbone. This concerns an important innovation in the vaccine field."

Virus inhibitors

"Mind you: vaccines are not a solution for people who are already ill. That is why we are also developing a cure to help Covid-19 patients," Neyts concludes. "We recently published on the protective activity of the Japanese flu drug favipiravir in hamsters. We have identified some other existing medicines or combinations thereof that inhibit the virus. We are now first exploring their effect in infected hamsters. At the same time, we aim to develop new and powerful virus inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2. For this purpose, we have already tested more than 1.6 million molecules in our fully automated high biosafety laboratory. We're looking for a needle in a haystack."

Radio has always proved to be a medium that adapts easily to crisis situations. Throughout history, at times of major natural disasters and health emergencies, radio has played a leading role thanks to the fact that is the most universal, simplest and most accessible of media.

In the current crisis caused by covid-19, radio has again stood out as being an essential medium to stay informed, according to the study by Rodero (2020). The results indicate that radio is the medium that scores highest for its treatment of information about the pandemic.

The main goal of a recent article published in Index.comunicación by Emma Rodero, director of the UPF Media Psychology Lab at the Department of Communication, and María Blanco-Hernández, a researcher at the International University of La Rioja, was to demonstrate the influence of radio in crisis situations and describe the main initiatives that the medium is implementing relating to covid-19.

Thus, the authors have conducted a review of the state of affairs that has revealed the importance of radio in such situations. In addition, a detailed analysis of the information provided by the main domestic and international radio stations after the onset of the pandemic has allowed collating the most interesting initiatives implemented in each of them.

Increase in radio listening during the pandemic around the world

In Spain, the study by Rodero (2020) recorded an increase in radio consumption during the pandemic of almost one point. Most listeners tuned in between one and two hours a day; between 30 minutes and an hour and between two and three hours. The peak slot continued to be mornings, but due to lockdown, listening was more spread throughout the day, with increased listening especially in the afternoon and at midday. The broadcasters that experienced the highest increase were conventional general stations, while music stations suffered a decrease.

This upward trend in consumption during the pandemic has also been recorded in other countries. In the UK, Radiocentre has recorded an increase in commercial radio listening of 1 hour and 45 minutes. Broadcasters with a younger audience, like Fun Kids, have extended their broadcasting hours targeting children. The BBC puts increased consumption at 18%. In Italy, according to the Association of European Radios, the number of listeners has increased by 2.4%. In the United States there has been a 28% increase in consumption. In Chile, four out of five people heard the radio during the week, and two thirds did so daily. In Australia, listeners have heard an average of 1 hour and 46 minutes of radio a week during the pandemic and 72% of Australians are listening to as much or more radio during this crisis. In India, 82% of the population has been listening to radio during the pandemic with a 23% increase. In South Africa, a survey by the National Association of Broadcasters estimated at 36% the number of listeners who claim to be listening to more radio due to the pandemic.

Adaptation of labour relations, formats and content

Radio stations have had to adapt to the new situation with professionals working from home and schedules modified to include content on the coronavirus. As in other crises, listening has increased, and the medium is helping to alleviate the psychological effects of the pandemic.

The study reflects some specific cases of adaptation such as that of Cadena Cope, "where between just 20 and 30% of workers have attended the workplace in person", or the case of the United Kingdom "where community radio stations have innovated and improved their ingenuity presenting programmes, providing entertainment and information". It also cites the case of Ràdio UNDAV (National University of Avellaneda) in Argentina, which has created a procedure manual for radio operators explaining the technical mechanisms through which to perform tasks remotely. In the field of music, one of the initiatives that has had greatest reach in Spain is the proposal by Jordi Cruz of Cadena 100. The idea was to use the song entitled Resistiré (I will resist) by Dúo Dinámico (1988) as the anthem of the pandemic, in order to raise the spirits of all citizens.

The study concludes that the technical simplicity of radio has been an ally in allowing the stations to continue broadcasting regularly. Radios worldwide have responded with all kinds of initiatives. Many have dedicated special programmes or podcasts to the pandemic, some with up-to-date information, others reviewing the history or the causes of the pandemic, others reflecting the reality and its effects, and others with a clear mission to help clear up doubts about the disease.

This central role of radio is also seen in the number of initiatives that different stations around the world have organized, such as competitions and acts of solidarity to help all those affected. Once again, as has happened at other times of emergency in history, radio is playing a major role.

Transportation - Taking to the skies

If air taxis become a viable mode of transportation, Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have estimated they could reduce fuel consumption significantly while alleviating traffic congestion.

Air taxis, small aerial vehicles that provide point-to-point, on-demand travel, have proven to save time, but their impact on fuel use remains largely unquantified.

An ORNL study focused on the energy used by air taxis between downtown Los Angeles and Los Angeles International Airport, a route in which congestion is severe during peak hours.

"Our modeling, which can be applied to any congested route, showed that diverting 3-20% of traffic on this route could reduce the traffic and vehicle fuel use from 15-74%," ORNL's Zhenhong Lin said. "The key insight is that if only a small share of travelers in congested areas switched to air taxis, you would create a win-win-win outcome for commuters, the economy and the environment."

Media Contact: Jennifer Burke, 865.414.6835, burkejj@ornl.gov

Image: https://www.ornl.gov/sites/default/files/2020-11/airTaxi_730x457.jpg

Caption: An ORNL model using air taxis on the heavily traveled route between downtown Los Angeles and Los Angeles International Airport revealed that fuel consumption is significantly reduced if even a small percentage of commuters switched to air taxis. Credit: Andy Sproles/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Biology - Fungi speak

Oak Ridge National Laboratory and collaborators have discovered that signaling molecules known to trigger symbiosis between plants and soil bacteria are also used by almost all fungi as chemical signals to communicate with each other.

As researchers study how these signals regulate fungal growth, this understanding could inform development of hardier crops and treatments for fungal diseases in plants and humans.

The molecules are called LCOs, short for lipo-chitooligosaccharides, and are used by bacteria to form nodules on plant roots where bacteria convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form that fuels plant growth. The study demonstrated that diverse species across the fungal kingdom also produced LCOs, which play roles in shaping fungal communities.

"Preliminary findings indicate that LCOs benefit fungi associated with plants but not those that do not interact with plants," ORNL's Jessy Labbe said. "This inspires questions about how we might use these mechanisms to our benefit."

Media Contact: Kim Askey, 865.576.2841, askeyka@ornl.gov

Image: https://www.ornl.gov/sites/default/files/2020-11/IMG_8444.JPG

Caption: Fungi use signaling molecules called LCOs to communicate with each other and to regulate growth. Credit: Jessy Labbe/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Radiation - Video game visualization

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are developing a first-of-a-kind toolkit drawing on video game development software to visualize radiation data.

Using data sets originally produced by ORNL for analysis of NASA radioisotope power systems, the toolkit leverages gaming development software such as Unreal Engine® to couple three-dimensional radiation transport results with CAD geometries in a cinematic -- yet scientific -- format.

Visualization of radiation data is difficult because it is multidimensional and affected by interactions with physical materials such as a nuclear-powered spacecraft. This visualization process makes it possible to illustrate nuanced results and highlight specific features of radiation fields. These techniques can be used to inform the design phase of any nuclear project or to communicate radiation results.

An overview of these visualization techniques was presented by ORNL's Mike Smith and Scott Greenwood at the American Nuclear Society Virtual Winter Meeting in November.

Media Contact: Lynne Degitz, 865-466-6383, degitzlk@ornl.gov

Image: https://www.ornl.gov/sites/default/files/2020-11/Radiation%20-%20video%20game%20visualization.jpg

Caption: The image shows a visualization of a radiation transport simulation for a spaceflight radioisotope power system and complex interactions of radiation fields with operational environments. Credit: Michael B. R. Smith and M. Scott Greenwood/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Climate - Global change, global analyses

Diverse evidence shows that plants and soil will likely capture and hold more carbon in response to increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, according to an analysis published by an international research team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

But that change in land-based carbon storage, called the terrestrial sink, is likely to slow in the future, allowing more carbon dioxide to build in the atmosphere and accelerating the pace of environmental change.

More than 60 scientists integrated evidence from experiments, remote sensing, forest inventories and other sources to improve understanding of the interrelated processes that influence carbon storage. Building this scientific consensus began with a workshop in 2018.

"Bringing together experts with this breadth of experience was critical in tackling these complex questions," said ORNL's Anthony Walker, who led the workshop. "Tying the many lines of evidence together using a systems approach and a standard metric for CO2 response provided great insights into what we know and where additional data are needed."

Media Contact: Kim Askey, 865.576.2841, askeyka@ornl.gov

Image: https://www.ornl.gov/sites/default/files/2020-11/Climate%20%E2%80%93%20Global%20change%20analyses.jpg

Caption: Scientists assessed the many interrelated processes that determine how plants respond to increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide and how that might change in the future. Credit: Dobie Gillispie/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy