Culture

In 2009, 105 single-family homes in the city of Cordoba were demolished in order to expand the airport. At first, the debris from the demolition was going to be sent to a landfill, as is common procedure. But, the University of Cordoba came up with the idea to recycle all the debris in situ and use it to build an experimental stretch of road on the CH-2 highway that goes around the runway at the airport and also connects Cordoba with the town of Almodóvar. This stretch of road is used by over 9,000 vehicles on a daily basis. After ten years of research, the complete study was published. The results are very positive and the conclusion is that recycled materials from demolitions are a good alternative when building roadways.

Most research projects performed at a national or international level are done in the lab. "This research shows the feasibility of using these materials on a real project and for a long period of time", says José Ramón Jiménez, the researcher in charge of the study. This research was carried out with involvement from the company PLODER UICESA, contractor of the highway building project, and with the support of AENA and of the Guadalquivir Water Agency, owner of the highway.

One stretch of the road was built with natural aggregates, commonly used materials for these kinds of construction projects. In the experimental stretch of road two kinds of recycled materials were used: mixed recycled aggregates, from walls and structures of the homes, and recycled aggregates from concrete, which came from the foundations of the homes.

"The surface properties of the road were maintained in both cases", says the researcher. "In the case of mechanical properties, the development is even better in the case of recycled aggregates".

In addition to determining the good behavior of these materials, the research team wanted to do their part in contributing to sustainability in the construction sector. In order to do so, a mobile recycling plant was set up, which allowed for less carbon dioxide impact caused by transporting materials. The researcher highlights that in situ recycling is a viable alternative but "we have to be really careful" in this area. There are several cases in which these debris have been recycled illegally and without any kind of quality guarantee. Only materiales from recycling plants that can guarantee the quality of their materials should be used.

Building demolition generates a large amount of materials that usually end up in landfills. 2020 European regulations on waste make it compulsory to recycle 70% of construction and demolition waste. Nevertheless, Spain continues to fall far below that goal, with barely a 40% recycling rate. This study lays out a scientific basis to start repurposing these materials. "This is a real sample that can lead to government agencies and construction companies relying on recycled demolition and construction waste. We have no excuse to not reach the goals required by the EU", concludes José Ramón Jiménez.

Each year, an average of 120 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) worldwide is released through soil and vegetation respiration. Plants are capable of taking in nearly 123 gigatonnes through photosynthesis in the same period. But as humans release another ten gigatonnes of carbon dioxide into this cycle, mainly by burning fossil fuels such as crude oil and natural gas, there are seven gigatonnes of excess CO2. "And these seven gigatonnes are our big problem," says Thomas Dandekar who holds the Chair of Bioinformatics at the University of Würzburg. They fuel global warming and cause global temperatures to rise at an alarming rate.

While searching for a solution to fix this problem, Dandekar and his colleagues believe to have discovered a promising way forward: They are studying plants which are capable of absorbing residual carbon dioxide more effectively thanks to a modified metabolism. The scientists have now published their findings in the current issue of the journal Trends in Biotechnology.

Modulated metabolic networks calculated

Bioinformatics researchers usually work with mathematical computer models. Over the past months, Thomas Dandekar and his team have been studying whether the metabolic networks of plants can be modulated so as to enable the plants to fix more carbon dioxide. To achieve this, the scientists combined two different methods to modulate the metabolism of the plant cell. By performing complex calculations, they found out that this combination enables plants to absorb five times more carbon dioxide than in the normal state.

Now their theoretical calculations need to be tested in practice. Muhammad Naseem, a colleague of Dandekar, is in charge of conducting these experiments. Born in Pakistan, Naseem has a PhD in molecular biology. He works both in Würzburg and at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates where he has been a professor for two years. On 4 January, Naseem returned to Abu Dhabi. He plans to start the practical test there in the course of this year. "We will experiment with tobacco plants and thale cress, also known as Arabidopsis thaliana, which are both easy to modify," the scientist explains.

Less carbon and more yield

"If we continue on our current path, climate change will have disastrous consequences," Dandekar warns. The scientist expects that the average temperature could rise by up to four degrees compared to pre-industrial levels. He believes that the next decade must be used to find new ways of removing the carbon dioxide that has already been released into the atmosphere, reducing CO2 emissions and developing strategies to adapt to the consequences of climate change. If successful in practice, the Würzburg research would kill two birds with one stone: Not only do the modulated plants absorb more carbon dioxide, they also deliver higher yields.

According to Thomas Dandekar, the research project funded by the Free State of Bavaria could help large companies offset their carbon dioxide emissions. The bioinformatics expert has the cement industry in mind, for example, which has a massive carbon dioxide problem. Cement production is estimated to be responsible for four to eight percent of global CO2 emissions. Modified diatoms could help reduce these high emissions as the professor explains: "These fast-growing algae could be cultivated directly in the sand pits."

Tackling two problems of humanity

Adapting to a changing climate is currently even more important for countries outside of Europe than for Germany, as Muhammad Naseem explains. The consequences are already clearly noticeable especially in the United Arab Emirates. Based on model forecasts, climate researchers warn that temperatures in the major cities on the Persian Gulf could rise to 50 or even 60 degrees Celsius. Such temperature levels would be unbearable even by Arabian standards. "The big problem is that the United Arab Emirates is among the countries with the highest carbon dioxide emissions per capita in the world," Muhammad Naseem says. He emphasises the urgency of curbing CO2 emissions.

Naseem considers the idea of combining two modulation methods a blessing because it would enable two problems of humanity to be addressed - provided that the computer analyses are congruous with the behaviour of the plants in the field. "The two problems of climate change and feeding the world population are closely connected," says the life scientist. Climate change causes scorched fields, withering plants and complete crop failure due to drought in some regions. Plants with modulated metabolic pathways could not only fix more CO2, they also produce more biomass due to the genetic modification.

More research funding is needed for active strategies against climate change

Of course, these new research findings are not the only strategy to mitigate climate change. Marine cloud brightening, which involves small, white, low altitude clouds that cool the ocean by reflecting the bright sun-light, or eco-diesel made from carbon dioxide using hydrogen from solar cells are two other promising approaches. "Whichever path or mix of strategies we choose has to be explored carefully for ten years before it is implemented," Dandekar cautions. It is imperative to boost funding of research and critical exploration of active strategies to combat climate change given the worldwide lack of willingness to actually cut carbon emissions. "Otherwise, come 2030, we will be powerless with no means of defending ourselves against the increasingly severe consequences of climate change and carbon dioxide increase."

New research from the Prevention Research Center of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation suggests that legalization and greater retail availability of recreational marijuana is positively associated with marijuana use among adolescents.

The researchers investigated whether legalization of recreational marijuana sales in 2015 and retail availability of marijuana in Oregon counties were associated with higher levels of adolescent marijuana use and related beliefs.

Using survey data gathered every other year from 2010 to 2018 from 6th, 8th and 11th graders 35 Oregon counties, this study assessed changes in past-30-day marijuana use and beliefs, including:

perceived availability of marijuana,

perceived parent approval of marijuana use, and

lower levels of perceived risk of marijuana use.

Comparisons were made in counties that allowed recreational marijuana sales compared to counties that did not.

The results of the study show that:

Higher rates of past-30-day marijuana use and more favorable beliefs were found in counties that allow recreational marijuana sales both before and after legalization;

Prevalence of past-30-day marijuana use increased after legalization both in counties that did and did not allow sales;

The relationship between allowing recreational marijuana sales and adolescent marijuana use was accounted for by greater retail marijuana availability and favorable beliefs.

Overall, this study shows that there was a statewide increase in the prevalence of marijuana use among Oregon adolescents after legalization in 2015, and that greater retail availability of marijuana in counties that permit recreational marijuana sales is positively associated with both marijuana use and beliefs favorable toward its use among adolescents.

Said lead author, Dr. Paschall, "Our study indicates that statewide legalization of recreational marijuana use and greater retail availability of marijuana in Oregon communities may be contributing to an increase in marijuana use among adolescents. Greater local restrictions on numbers of licensed marijuana retail outlets, hours of operation and advertising, and higher taxes on marijuana products may help to reduce both retail and social availability of marijuana."

Improved ship utilization rates and investments in environmentally sustainable technologies for enhanced energy efficiency would significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions within navigation. A recent study carried out in the Laboratory of Industrial Management at Åbo Akademi University also indicates that such measures would contribute to lowering of freight costs.

The results were obtained by combining emission abatement analysis and investment calculation.

"Through operational and technological measures it is possible to reduce both emissions and freight costs. Moreover, if the same cargo volume can be shipped using less fuel, the shipping companies will gain major savings in terms of fuel costs", explains Research Director Magnus Gustafsson from the Laboratory of Industrial Management at Åbo Akademi University.

The shipping sector generates significant carbon dioxide emissions, which is harmful for both the environment and the society. In recent years, the branch has witnessed both internal willingness and external pressure to reduce emissions, but development has been complicated by the tough competition in shipping.

Digitalisation offers tangible solutions. For instance, new digital planning and booking systems would facilitate smarter use of routes while also diminishing traffic with half-empty vessels or with no cargo onboard.

"By sailing fewer nautical miles with little or no cargo, it is possible to improve the capacity utilization rate and eliminate emissions caused by the so-called ballast traffic", says Henry Schwartz, Doctoral Student in Industrial Management at Åbo Akademi University.

"Our model demonstrated that solar panels, optimized propellers and cold ironing - the possibility to connect to land power network at ports - are among the economically profitable investments in new technologies. In contrast, for example, wind power installations did not appear profitable."

Japan -- Findings from a 700,000-year-old fossil bone indicate that a close relative of the most abundant seabird species in the North Atlantic, the modern dovekie, or 'little auk', used to thrive in the Pacific Ocean and Japan.

Seabirds are top predators in the marine ecosystem, and their distributions are shaped by numerous environmental factors in the ocean. As such, extensive scientific inquiries have been conducted on how seabirds respond to fluctuating oceanic environments in the ecologic and geologic timescales.

"The North Pacific has been one of the most intently investigated regions, but the fossil record of seabirds in the Pleistocene Epoch, about 2.6 to 0.01 million years ago, has been scarce," explains first author Junya Watanabe of Kyoto University's School of Science. "This has led to a frustrating lack of information in this critical time period concerning the origin of modern seabird communities."

In recent years, Watanabe and his team had been investigating seabird fossils from several locations in Chiba and Tokyo prefectures, gaining new insight on the Pleistocene seabird community in the region.

The group had been successful in identifying 17 fossils representing at least 9 species of birds: three species of ducks, a loon, an albatross, a shearwater, a cormorant, an extinct penguin-like seabird called mancalline auk, and a dovekie. Most of these species can be found in the region today; however, the presence of a dovekie was completely unexpected.

Watanabe explains his findings published in Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

"At first it confused us that the fossil didn't match any of the Pacific auks, but once we compared it with Atlantic ones, the similarity with the modern dovekie was apparent. It is not clear whether the present fossil is from the same species or a very close cousin, but we are positive it at least comes from the same lineage."

The dovekies we know today are mostly restricted to the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans, with their rare sightings in Japan considered accidental visits. Given the unlikeliness of such accidental visitors to be preserved as fossils, the new findings suggest that dovekies were once fairly common in Japan and the Pacific.

He continues, "Now the question is why dovekies are so rare in the North Pacific today, it's almost paradoxical given their abundance in the North Atlantic. That question remains unexplained, at least until recovery and investigation of further fossil materials."

Interestingly, local decline and extinction events in the past are common in many seabird groups. Deciphering possible causes of such events requires integration of knowledge from various disciplines, including paleontology, paleoclimatology, oceanography and seabird ecology. Watanabe and his team see this as a challenging but rewarding endeavor.

A new analysis of the clinical trials of HPV vaccines to prevent cervical cancer raises doubts about the vaccines' effectiveness. The analysis, published by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, assessed 12 published Phase 2 and 3 randomised controlled efficacy trials of the HPV vaccines Cervarix and Gardasil.

The analysis, carried out by researchers at Newcastle University and Queen Mary University of London, revealed many methodological problems in the design of the Phase 2 and 3 efficacy trials, leading to uncertainty regarding understanding the effectiveness of HPV vaccination.

The researchers found that the trials were not designed to detect cervical cancer, which takes decades to develop. Women in the trials were followed up for six years or less, apart from one trial extension to just under nine years. While the researchers found evidence that vaccination prevents low grade abnormal cell changes, they said this is not clinically important because no treatment is given.

Lead researcher Dr Claire Rees, of Queen Mary University of London, said: "Trials may have overestimated efficacy by combining high-grade cervical disease with low-grade cervical changes that occur more frequently but often resolve spontaneously without progressing. We found insufficient data to clearly conclude that HPV vaccine prevents the higher-grade abnormal cell changes that can eventually develop into cervical cancer."

Dr Rees added: "Abnormal cell changes are likely to have been overdiagnosed in the trials because cervical cytology was conducted at 6-12 months rather than at the normal screening interval of 36 months. This, too, means that the trials may have overestimated the efficacy of the vaccine, again because some of the lesions would have regressed spontaneously."

The researchers also found that the trial populations had limited relevance and validity for real world settings. The women in the trials were older than the target population.

Calling for women to still attend regular cervical screening, co-author of the study, Professor Allyson Pollock, of Newcastle University, said: "We have good evidence that cervical screening significantly reduces the risk of cervical cancer in women regardless of whether they have been vaccinated."

About 800,000 years ago, the giant straight-tusked elephant Palaeoloxodon migrated out of Africa and became widespread across Europe and Asia.

It divided into many species, with distinct types in Japan, Central Asia and Europe -- even some dwarf forms as large as a small donkey on some Mediterranean islands.

In a new study by scientists in Spain, Italy and the UK, including University of Bristol PhD student Hanwen Zhang, published in the journal, Quaternary Science Reviews, some order has been brought into our understanding of all these species.

The most intriguing feature of the straight-tusked elephant, apart from its absolutely enormous size, is the massive, headband-like crest on the skull roof which projects down the forehead. When the celebrated Victorian Scottish geologist Hugh Falconer studied the first fossil skull of Palaeoloxodon found in India, he remarked that the head seemed 'so grotesquely constructed that it looks the caricature of an elephant's head in a periwig'.

For a long time, palaeontologists thought that the European species, Palaeoloxodon antiquus, had a rather slenderly built skull roof crest; whereas the Indian species Palaeoloxodon namadicus, is characterised by an extremely robust skull crest that extends near to the base of the trunk from the top of the skull.

But some Palaeoloxodon skulls, found in Italy and Germany, with almost the same exaggerated skull crest as the Indian form, led a few experts into suspecting these might all be single species.

Hanwen Zhang, who is based in Bristol's School of Earth Sciences, said: "Just like modern elephants, Palaeoloxodon went through six sets of teeth in their lifetimes. This means we can tell the age of any individual with confidence by looking at its fossilised teeth.

"When we looked at a series of skulls from Italy, Germany and India, we found a consistent pattern: the skull crest developed from being very small, not protruding beyond the forehead in juveniles to being larger and more protruding in young adults, eventually becoming very stout in aged adults."

The study's lead author, Asier Larramendi, an independent researcher from Spain, added: "As I plotted various skull and limb bone measurements for these incredible prehistoric elephants, it became clear that the Indian Palaeoloxodon form a distinct group from the European ones; even in European skulls with quite pronounced crests, the skull roof never becomes as thickened as in the Indian specimens.

"This tells us we once had two separate species of these enormous elephants in Europe and India.

"Besides the funky skull roof crest, the head of the straight-tusked elephant is also remarkable for being huge, the largest of any elephant ever - some 4.5 feet from the top of the skull roof to the base of the tusk sheaths!

"Therefore, the skull crest probably evolved to provide additional attachment areas for extra neck muscles, so the animal did not fall on its head."

Hanwen Zhang said: "Having gotten to the bottom of the antiquus/namadicus problem, it then became apparent that other fossil skull materials found in Asia and East Africa represent distinct, possibly more evolutionarily conservative species of Palaeoloxodon.

"Even in fully mature adults with the last set of teeth in place, the skull roof crest remains comparatively unpronounced. This is the case with the earliest Palaeoloxodon from Africa, some Asian species retained this condition."

Researchers from the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences have shown a possible link between a genetic variation and the widespread type of cardiac arrhythmia, atrial fibrillation.

The scientists conducted the study in zebrafish, which is a recognised scientific animal model within cardiac research.

Here, researchers from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and the Max Planck Institute in Germany put special focus on the gene pitx2c. The result came as a surprise to them, says Assistant Professor Pia Lundegaard from the Department of Biomedical Sciences.

'It seems that we may also have to think of atrial fibrillation as an atrial cardiomyopathy - that is, a challenged heart - rather than as a purely electrical disorder', she says.

Defects in muscle fibres and mitochondria

Contrary to expectations, the researchers did not find any disturbances in the ion channels that spread electrical signals between the heart's muscle cells.

Instead, they found defects in the structure of the heart muscle itself and in the mitochondria that normally function as the cell's power plant. The defects already occurred in the foetal stage of the fish and deteriorated exponentially with age.

'Usually the structure of a cross-section of the sarcomeres - the muscle fibres - shows a very fine grid structure. But in these fish, it is clear that the structure is disorganised from a very early stage', explains Pia Lundegaard, adding:

'At the same time, we can see in our pictures that there are too many mitochondria. So, it seems that the heart is trying to compensate for the defective muscle fibres. This indicates that there is a structural defect in the heart which over time will cause a rhythm defect'.

Antioxidant prevents defects

According to the research study, the increased number of mitochondria appears to aggravate the negative spiral, the reason being that also the mitochondria are defective and gradually increase the level of so-called oxidative stress.

In other words, they create an unhealthy environment in the cell where different proteins are broken down.

At the same time, however, the researchers found that early and ongoing treatment with the antioxidant NAC seemed to counteract the defect and in the long term prevent atrial fibrillation in the fish.

However, Pia Lundegaard from the Department of Biomedical Sciences emphasises that heart patients should not stockpile antioxidants such as NAC for that reason.

She points out that the studied gene is just one of many possible factors behind atrial fibrillation, which is also greatly influenced by the individual's lifestyle.

In addition, to better demonstrate the effect of the studied gene, the gene defect has been designed to be stronger in the test fish than commonly seen in humans.

Better control procedures

The improved understanding of the disease nevertheless provides greater insight into the reason why some atrial fibrillation medications may not always work as well as one might wish.

Therefore, Pia Lundegaard hopes that the result of the new research will be that more practitioners reconsider the possible causes behind rhythm disorders.

'The rhythm disorder may be secondary to what is actually the problem. We hope that in the future, we can develop better control procedures that will prevent some people's hearts from being worn down for a long time and eventually fail', she says.

The next step for the research group is to investigate other genes associated with atrial fibrillation. Likewise, the group will investigate whether antioxidants other than NAC can prevent the disorder.

IKBFU scientists developed the composition of the capsule shell for the enzyme needed in the treatment of a hereditary disease called "phenylketonuria". Phenylpyrovirogradnaya oligophrenia is a disease that results in degradation of the amino acid called phenylalanine. This amino acid presents in protein-containing food. High levels of phenylalanine can cause problems of mental development throughout life. If diet therapy is not used among children under two, then such violations lead to irreversible deviations in the development of the brain. Increasing the level of phenylalanine in the blood of an adult can reduce the level of mental abilities and reaction speed.

Director of the IKBFU's Institute of Living Systems, Olga Babich told us:

"Today scientists are looking for new ways of treatment of hereditary diseases. Phenylketonuria is one of such diseases, it causes accumulation of toxic products in blood due to the metabolism malfunction in a body which it caused by insufficient amount of phenylalanine amino acid. The frequency of distribution of phenylketonuria among children in the world on average is one out of ten thousand newborns and varies from 1: 200000 to 1: 4370. In Russia, the frequency of phenylketonuria averages 1: 7000. The most common is the classic form of phenylketonuria, in which present-day diet therapy (exclusion of phenylalanine from the diet) is the only effective treatment".

According to the scientist, there are more ways of treating this disease emerging now. For example, one of the ways is enzymotherapy - enzyme treatment. But in Russia those methods are not used due to the lack of available technologies. While the most promising is the use in the treatment of an enzyme called "L-phenylalanine-ammonium lyase", both in the form of injections and capsules/pills, which breaks down phenylalanine to safe products. The therapeutic use of this enzyme is limited by its instability, especially in the acidic environment of the stomach. Therefore, the main challenge for scientists is to develop a stable capsule for the enzyme L-phenylalanine-ammonium lyase.

Olga Babich emphasized:

"As part of this study, a team of scientists developed the capsule shell composition for the L-phenylalanine-ammonium lyase enzyme based on polysaccharides: agar-agar, carrageenan and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose. The effect of different storage temperatures of the enzyme in encapsulated form on its activity was also studied. We found that for all of the proposed capsule formulations, the most suitable storage temperature for the drug is 25 ° C. At capsule storage temperatures of 4 ° C and 30 ° C after 6 months, a significant decrease in enzyme activity was noted, up to 90%. The next stage of research will be devoted to studying the mechanisms of destruction of capsules with L-phenylalanine-ammonium lyase under model conditions close to the conditions of the human gastrointestinal tract, since in the future the developed capsules will be used for replacement therapy of phenylketonuria".

Scientists of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich have developed a tool to eliminate essential proteins from cells with a flash of light. The new method makes it possible to study the function of essential proteins.

Proteins not only provide much of the structural architecture of cells, they also perform most of the executive functions by acting as highly specific chemical catalysts. Hence, they are intimately involved in all fundamental biological processes, including metabolism, growth and cell division. Conversely, alterations in their shapes and activity result in the development of disorders. In order to understand the processes controlled by proteins, it is necessary to understand how each of them works. Biologists normally deduce the role of a protein by analyzing what happens when it is damaged or deleted altogether. Experimentally, this is usually accomplished by mutating or deleting the gene that encodes it. However, in the case of proteins that are essential for the survival of the organism, or of cell types that are required for a particular process, this approach is not very informative, as such mutants tend to die before it can provide insights into the protein's actual function. Researchers led by Professor Heinrich Leonhardt at LMU's Biocenter have now developed a tool that gets around this problem. Their method makes use of either light or specific chemicals to trigger the selective degradation of the protein of interest. The procedure, and a review of the results so far obtained with it, are reported in the journal Nature Communications.

"In order to develop this technology, we reprogrammed the cell's waste-disposal system," says Leonhardt. Proteins that are defective or are no longer required are normally designated for disposal by enzymatically attaching a molecule called ubiquitin to them. The ubiquitin marker is then recognized by a molecular complex called a proteasome, which essentially acts as a shredder of the tagged proteins. The system developed by Leonhardt and his colleagues makes use of small antibodies known as nanobodies to target the protein of interest. The nanobody then brings a specialized ligase for the attachment of the ubiquitin marker - and the target protein is consigned to the proteasome for destruction.

In order to be able to control whether and when a target molecule is labelled and degraded, the scientists have incorporated an additional switch. The target molecule is only marked when the scientists activate this switch with light or small chemical molecules. "In this way, we can regulate the levels of proteins continuously. It's just like using a dimmer, we can set the desired concentration of any given protein and observe the effects on cellular processes," Leonhardt explains.

The LMU researchers first used the system to investigate a protein that plays a critical role in DNA replication. As it is essential for viability it cannot be genetically disabled. "We used the new method to temporarily deplete this protein in cells, and were able to elucidate its involvement in DNA repair," says Wen Deng, lead author of the new study. The results showed that the protein acts as a central scaffold, to load other DNA repair proteins and efficiently fix the DNA damage.

One other advantage of the new tool is that it can be employed in whole organisms. In cooperation with the research group of Professor Barbara Conradt the researchers used the system to study cell death in in the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans, which is an established model organism in biology. At certain stages in the development of this worm, one of the two daughter cells produced by specific cell divisions is specifically eliminated. "By depleting the executioner protein with the aid of the new system, we were able to prevent the loss of the corresponding daughter cell and gain insights into the process of programmed cell death," says Leonhardt.

Since the ubiquitin-proteasome system is found not only in all higher organisms, but also in Archaea and even in some bacteria, the team assumes that their approach to the targeted regulation of protein degradation will be broadly applicable. It could therefore make an important contribution to efforts to understand the functions of vital proteins.

Viruses are probably the most peculiar "life forms" known to us, with each species having unique characteristics. One thing common to all viruses is that they attack a "host" cell and hijack its machinery, using it for its own replication. A type of large virus, called "giant virus," has interesting ways of attacking its host organism--an amoeba. Virologists have been trying to understand what makes these viruses so unique for some time now, but to observe them, complex techniques are required. A method called phase-contrast microscopy is commonly used to study all types of cells, including amoebal cells. But, this technique relies heavily on the variation in the conditions of the cell and its background, and sometimes this leads to disruptions in the image produced--for example "halo" (in which the cell is surrounded by a bright light) and "shade-off" (in which the inside of the cell and background are of a similar intensity). This is why, to dig deeper into exactly how giant viruses infect amoebal cells, more efficient cell-tracking techniques are needed. Just earlier this month, scientists from the Tokyo University of Science, led by Professor Masaharu Takemura, had reported the discovery of two new species of pandoravirus and mimivirus--both families of giant viruses infecting amoebae--from a riverbank in Japan. Prof Takemura says that continual discovery of viruses from soil is crucial from the standpoint of understanding the ecology of giant viruses.

More importantly, in a brand new study published in Frontiers in Microbiology, a team of scientists at Tokyo University of Science, once again led by Prof Takemura, tried to understand the behavior in which amoebal cells infected with different types of giant viruses. For this, they devised a new cell-tracking method that tackles the issues of conventional analysis methods. Prof Takemura elaborates on the motivation of the study, "Our aim was to understand how giant viruses infect amoebae in the natural environment and how this has affected to evolution of eukaryotes. For this, we wanted to develop a technique to quantitatively detect the time-dependent, sequential changes in cellular number, size, shape, and direction and distance of cell motility."

In their study, Prof Takemura and his team focused on amoebae that were infected by a family of giant virus called "marseillevirus". To understand the behavior of host cells infected with this particular type of virus, the scientists developed a new algorithm that can trace individual amoebal cells in a population of amoebae using time-lapse phase-contrast microscopic images. They named this algorithm as "Phase-contrast-based Kinetic Analysis Algorithm for Amoebae" or PKA3. Using PKA3, the scientists revealed new, interesting aspects of how amoebae react to a giant virus attack. For example, they quantitatively showed that giant virus-infected amoebal cells formed aggregates or "bunches." They inferred that this could be either an antiviral strategy of the host or how the virus spreads, shedding light on the manner in which the viral infection takes place. What's more, they managed to detect changes in the number of cells and the appearance of marseillevirus-infected amoebae much faster than by conventional methods. Interestingly, they could also analyze the time taken by amoebae to respond to a viral infection, providing useful information on the life cycle of amoebae and viruses and the relationship between them. Prof Takemura says, "Our algorithm was successful in visualizing the movement of cells in images produced by phase-contrast microscopy, a method widely used in cell biology. Also, it allowed quantification of various parameters. This research will greatly contribute to the demonstration of amoeba behavior infected with the giant virus."

Apart from studying giant viruses, this new algorithm could be used for various other applications, such as to study the dynamics of cancer cells, lymphocytes, macrophages, and neurons. In general, it could reveal new cellular phenomena by tracking exactly how these cells migrate. Prof Takemura concludes by saying, "Our new analytical method could be applied to all cells that can be observed with a phase-contrast microscope and can potentially be applied to various fields including cell biology, medicine, and biotechnology."

Indeed, a technique like this--which can potentially make cell biology research easier--was much needed!

Creating sustainable markets poses particular obstacles: a sustainable market must be continuously shaped and reshaped. This is the conclusion of three researchers in business administration and innovation at Linkoping University, who have used the Swedish biogas market as a case.

Supply and demand for biogas have increased considerably in Sweden during the past decades, but domestic production has ceased to grow in recent years. However, hopes are now high for a significant expansion, not least as several international companies have entered the market. These include Finnish Gasum, French AirLiquide (owner of Fordonsgas), and suppliers of biogas facilities such as Hitachi Zosen Inova. From its initial form as a local and regional phenomenon operated by municipalities and public transport companies, the market has now become both national and international, to a certain extent. Sweden now imports biogas, mainly from Denmark and other countries through the gas pipeline on the western coast of Sweden.

Only a few studies have examined how sustainable markets arise, are created and shaped. Three researchers at Linkoping University, who are also active in the national Biogas Research Center (BRC), have now published an article about this in the Elsevier journal Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions. Based on previous research into sustainable transitions and the shaping of markets, they have developed a general framework that they use to analyse the development of the Swedish biogas market.

They draw three conclusions. The first is that exchange practices must be enabled for a market to arise, in which the actors also must agree on what kind of value the exchange involves. For a long period, the biogas market grew in local and regional contexts, and the actors were forced to frequently justify their choices. The use of biogas was questioned, and this led to intense debate in many municipalities, such as Helsingborg, Jönköping and Skövde. In the true meaning of the word, a "market" for biogas has only existed during the past 10-15 years.

"Initially, the market was solely within the public sector, while now large commercial companies have entered and brought with them more strict demands for profitability. You must be able to set a price and communicate all the benefits, such as the biofertiliser produced", says Mikael Ottosson, associate professor in marketing at the Division of Business Administration. He is one of three authors of the article, together with Hans Andersson, senior lecturer in business administration, and Professor Thomas Magnusson, who carries out research on innovation at the Division for Project, Innovations and Entrepreneurship.

The second requirement is to construct a narrative about the sustainable technology and product.

"Sustainability is directed towards the future and needs storytelling. You must make it credible that the solution offered can help to create a sustainable society. This is important not least to attract investors and to gain public investment support and subsidies", says Thomas Magnusson.

Finally, the third requirement is to prove the system, and provide reliable evidence that the technology works in practice. The requirements here are severe.

"The burden of proof lies with people who want to change things. In the case of wind power, the advocates have had to provide counter-arguments against many types of misgiving, such as that peaks in power generation will overload the network in stiff winds. Biogas has faced objections following problems with engines, empty filling stations and a bus that caught fire", Mikael Ottosson tells us.

"What is new is always seen as the poor relatives from the countryside who must prove themselves and deliver at least the same quality as what is already in place, independently of the sustainability aspect. This makes sustainability an additional component that must be considered, in addition to price and quality", he says.

The conclusions constitute three parts of a conceptual framework, each of which contributes to creating different types of value in a market.

The advantages and enablers of biogas are also its Achilles heel. Certain conditions must be fulfilled: not only must substrate be available, but there must be surrounding agricultural land where the biofertiliser can be used. But who should drive the large volume growth?

"The municipal level was optimal during the construction. Building a national or international market for biogas is more challenging than for other sustainable technologies. Solar panels and wind turbines are standard products today that can be pushed to the market and installed. Instead, biogas solutions are often based on local collaborations in networks with many different stakeholders", says Mikael Ottosson.

In the case of biogas, Sweden is unique in the degree to which the gas is used as vehicle fuel. Other countries mainly produce electricity and heat from biogas. The number of biogas-fuelled vehicles is now increasing again in Sweden, although not to the extent predicted by proponents. This may be due to a lack of models available. Even so, between January and November 2019, 5,000 new biogas cars were registered in Sweden. A major advance for biogas is, however, expected when both Volvo and Scania launch new engines for heavy trucks powered by liquid gas.

"Markets are created and recreated: the phenomenon is rather circular. But the main questions are, as always: Who will take the costs and make the investments required in the construction of a sustainable market? and: How much is to be financed by the public sector?", Hans Andersson states.

A novel composite film -- created by the bonding of an antimicrobial layer to conventional, clear polyethylene plastic typically used to vacuum-package foods such as meat and fish -- could help to decrease foodborne illness outbreaks, according to researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.

The antimicrobial lining of the film is comprised of a pullulan-based biopolymer produced from starch syrup during a fermentation process, which is already approved for use in foods. Pullulan, a water-soluble "polysaccharide," is essentially a chain of sugar, glycerin and cellulose molecules linked together. To kill pathogens such as Salmonella, Listeria and pathogenic E. coli, researchers infused the pullulan with Lauric arginate, made from naturally occurring substances and already approved for use in foods.

Development of the composite antimicrobial film is important because 76 million cases of foodborne illnesses occur each year in the U.S. alone, resulting in 300,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In light of this problem and the commercial potential of this discovery, Penn State has applied for a provisional patent on the composite antimicrobial film.

The pullulan film slows the release of the antimicrobial, disbursing it at a predictable rate to provide continuous bacteria-killing activity, explained researcher Catherine Cutter, professor of food science. She added that without being impregnated into the film, the antimicrobial would run off the surface of a food product, such as meat; or evaporate.

Lauric arginate was chosen as the antimicrobial because it is a remarkable, broad-spectrum antimicrobial compound that proved highly effective in killing and limiting the growth of pathogens that cause foodborne illness, noted Cutter, assistant director of food safety and quality programs for Penn State Extension.

"Lauric arginate is a safe, completely nontoxic ingredient," she said. "It is hydrolyzed in the human body by chemical and metabolic pathways, which quickly break it into its naturally occurring components -- lauric acid and L-arginine."

Cutter's research group in the Department of Food Science has been experimenting with antimicrobial films made of pullulan for a decade. But she credits Abdelrahim Hassan, who spearheaded the latest study, for devising a procedure to fuse the pullulan-based antimicrobial layer to the polyethylene plastic -- allowing the novel composite to be born. Hassan, who was a visiting scholar in Cutter's lab when the research was conducted, is an associate professor of food safety and technology at Beni-Suef University in Egypt.

"Hassan figured out a way to get the pullulan to attach to polyethylene," Cutter said. "He modified the formulation of pullulan and changed the hydrophobicity of the plastic. These steps were important because polyethylene repels everything -- nothing sticks to it. So, the challenge was, how could we get pullulan to adhere to it."

Before settling on Lauric arginate, the researchers experimented with other food-grade antimicrobials incorporated into the antimicrobial layer such as thymol and nisin. The antimicrobial activity of the resulting composite films was evaluated against cocktails of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus.

"Films containing nisin were ineffective; thymol disrupted some pathogens but not others; and Lauric arginate inhibited the growth of the four types of bacteria," Hassan said.

Based on these preliminary results, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus were experimentally inoculated onto raw beef, raw chicken breast and ready-to-eat turkey breast, vacuum packaged with the composite antimicrobial film, sealed and placed into refrigerated storage for up to 28 days.

In findings published today (Jan. 20) in the International Journal of Food Microbiology, Hassan and Cutter reported that the composite antimicrobial film containing Lauric arginate significantly reduced foodborne pathogens on the experimentally inoculated surfaces of the raw and ready-to-eat muscle foods after refrigerated storage.

Cutter believes that the findings from this research will be of interest to the packaging and muscle food industries, as well as regulatory agencies that seek to reduce pathogens in the food supply. Although there was thought not long ago that biopolymers could entirely replace plastic in food packaging, Cutter believes that the composite nature of the antimicrobial film is still needed.

"Polyethylene exhibits many desirable properties, such as strength, transparency, gas permeability and water resistance," she said. "The novel composite film can give us antimicrobial properties and at the same time provide the strength and all the other desirable properties of polyethylene that the industry is still looking for."

Future research in Cutter's lab will evaluate how the composite antimicrobial film affects the shelf life of food products, and investigate consumer perceptions and acceptability of the novel film.

Opposing desires to congregate and maintain some personal space drive fruit flies to form orderly clusters, according to a study published today in eLife.

Many animals ranging from swarming insects to wildebeests form large, orderly groups. This collective behaviour is often crucial to survival. It may help animals find food, escape predators, enhance the way they sense their surroundings and augment their decision making. But the processes that enable these group gatherings are not well understood.

It can be difficult to study large animal groups in the wild, but studying smaller animals in the laboratory can help scientists tease apart the processes that drive animal clustering step by step. For this work, researchers in China looked at what drives clustering in the sociable fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.

"Analysing the aggregation process in fruit flies would help us understand how individuals interact to form a social group and what senses are used during this process," says lead author Lifen Jiang, a PhD student at the School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei. "Looking at this process in fruit flies may give us some insight into more complex collective behaviours in other animals."

In their experiments, Jiang and the team discovered that fruit flies placed in shallow, covered dishes spontaneously form clusters with regular spacing between flies. By observing the flies, the scientists learned that these formations are driven by fly-fly interactions in which the flies use their legs and wings to touch each other and then establish some personal space. But when the team systematically interfered with their senses, including sight, odour and touch, this stopped the flies from forming these neat clusters. "Depriving fruit flies of their senses resulted in abnormal responses to encountering another fly and a high failure rate of cluster formation," Jiang explains.

The researchers then showed that the flies' physical interactions with each other switch on their sensory nerve cells. Without these cells, they are unable to establish the usual socially acceptable distances between themselves and other flies that are necessary to form organised clusters.

"Our findings suggest that self-organisation in flies might rely on just a few simple rules," says senior author Yan Zhu, PhD, Professor at the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing. "More studies are now needed to determine whether similar rules govern gatherings in larger animals."

(Boston)--Virginity testing is a complex, culturally mediated practice that is poorly understood by Western clinicians. Although there is published literature on the ethics of 'virginity' testing and on the lack of reliability of a hymen examination to determine 'virginity', little practical guidance has been published for clinicians who may encounter requests for virginity testing in the clinical setting.

Now, a researcher from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) is providing recommendations for primary care physicians who are asked to perform this procedure.

"While advocating for global elimination of the practice of virginity testing as a human rights violation, clinical practice is often more complicated and ethically nuanced, the clinician must act in the best interest of the patient which might include performing an evaluation. Upholding human rights does not have to be incompatible with providing a needed service to a patient, even if the practice does not fit into our social norm," explains the author of the article Sondra Crosby, MD, associate professor of medicine at BUSM.

According to Crosby changing social norms, attitudes and practices about 'virginity' testing will not occur easily and change must come from within the culture and be spearheaded by members of the community. "Engagement with religious and community leaders is crucial for enacting change," adds Crosby, who also is an associate professor of Health Law, Ethics & Human Rights at Boston University School of Public Health and a physician at Boston Medical Center.

She believes education about the lack of reliability and the possible harms of virginity testing should be provided in communities who follow this practice, through training community members, reading materials and inclusion in other reproductive health discussions. "Simply condemning the practice is not sufficient to successfully promote change, nor does it help the women we are obligated to protect."

Crosby recommends if a physician has a large population of patients from countries or communities where 'virginity' testing is practiced, they should use routine or other visits to discuss this issue and provide education on the matter. "While it is not possible to determine if someone is a "virgin" based on examination of the hymen, 'virginity' testing can be discussed as part of comprehensive sexual education and counselling during well-visits for all genders, adults and adolescents, as well as during pediatric and teenage preventive exams. Such conversations can help build trust; assess knowledge, attitudes and practice of at-risk patients; and allow the physician to anticipate future requests."

This article appears online in the journal BMJ Global Health.