Tech

Manuel Eichelberger and Simon Tanner, two ETH doctoral students, store data in music. This means, for example, that background music can contain the access data for the local Wi-Fi network, and a mobile phone's built-in microphone can receive this data. "That would be handy in a hotel room," Tanner says, "since guests would get access to the hotel Wi-Fi without having to enter a password on their device."

To store the data, the two doctoral students and their colleague, Master's student Gabriel Voirol, make minimal changes to the music. In contrast to other scientists' attempts in recent years, the researchers state that their new approach allows higher data transfer rates with no audible effect on the music. "Our goal was to ensure that there was no impact on listening pleasure," Eichelberger says.

Tests the researchers have conducted show that in ideal conditions, their technique can transfer up to 400 bits per second without the average listener noticing the difference between the source music and the modified version (see also the audio sample). Given that under realistic conditions a degree of redundancy is necessary to guarantee transmission quality, the transfer rate will more likely be some 200 bits - or around 25 letters - per second. "In theory, it would be possible to transmit data much faster. But the higher the transfer rate, the sooner the data becomes perceptible as interfering sound, or data quality suffers," Tanner adds.

Dominant notes hide information

The researchers from ETH Zurich's Computer Engineering and Networks Laboratory use the dominant notes in a piece of music, overlaying each of them with two marginally deeper and two marginally higher notes that are quieter than the dominant note. They also make use of the harmonics (one or more octaves higher) of the strongest note, inserting slightly deeper and higher notes here, too. It is all these additional notes that carry the data. While a smartphone can receive and analyse this data via its built-in microphone, the human ear doesn't perceive these additional notes.

"When we hear a loud note, we don't notice quieter notes with a slightly higher or lower frequency," Eichelberger says. "That means we can use the dominant, loud notes in a piece of music to hide the acoustic data transfer." It follows that the best music for this kind of data transfer has lots of dominant notes - pop songs, for instance. Quiet music is less suitable.

To tell the decoder algorithm in the smartphone where it needs to look for data, the scientists use very high notes that the human ear can barely register: they replace the music in the frequency range 9.8-10 kHz with an acoustic data stream that carries the information on when and where across the rest of the music's frequency spectrum to find the data being transmitted.

From the loudspeaker to the mic

The transmission principle behind this technique is fundamentally different from the well-known RDS system as used in car radios to transmit the radio station's name and details of the music that is playing. "With RDS, the data is transmitted using FM radio waves. In other words, data is sent from the FM transmitter to the radio device," Tanner explains. "What we're doing is embedding the data in the music itself - transmitting data from the loudspeaker to the mic."

A boiling point of 5900 degrees Celsius and diamond-like hardness in combination with carbon: tungsten is the heaviest metal, yet has biological functions - especially in heat-loving microorganisms. A team led by Tetyana Milojevic from the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Vienna report for the first time rare microbial-tungsten interactions at the nanometer range. Based on these findings, not only the tungsten biogeochemistry, but also the survivability of microorganisms in outer space conditions can be investigated. The results appeared recently in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology.

As a hard and rare metal, tungsten, with its extraordinary properties and highest melting point of all metals, is a very unlike choice for a biological system. Only a few microorganisms, such as thermophilic archaea or cell nucleus-free microorganisms, have adapted to the extreme conditions of a tungsten environment and found a way to assimilate tungsten. Two recent studies by biochemist and astrobiologist Tetyana Milojevic from the Department of Biophysical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Vienna, shed light on the possible role of microorganisms in a tungsten-enriched environment and describe a nanoscale tungsten-microbial interface of the extreme heat- and acid-loving microorganism Metallosphaera sedula grown with tungsten compounds (Figures 1, 2). It is also this microorganism that will be tested for survivability during interstellar travel in future studies in outer space environment. Tungsten could be an essential factor in this.

From tungsten polyoxometalates as life-sustaining inorganic frameworks to the microbial bioprocessing of tungsten ores

Similar to ferrous sulfide mineral cells, artificial polyoxometalates (POMs) are considered as inorganic cells in facilitating prelife chemical processes and displaying "life-like" characteristics. However, the relevance of POMs to life-sustaining processes (e.g., microbial respiration) has not yet been addressed. "Using the example of Metallosphaera sedula, which grows in hot acid and respires through metal oxidation, we investigated whether complex inorganic systems based on tungsten POM clusters can sustain the growth of M. sedula and generate cellular proliferation and division." says Milojevic. Scientists were able to show that the use of tungsten-based inorganic POM clusters enables the incorporation of heterogeneous tungsten redox species into microbial cells. The organometallic deposits at the interface between M. sedula and W-POM were dissolved down to the nanometer range during fruitful cooperation with the Austrian Center for Electron Microscopy and Nanoanalysis (FELMI-ZFE, Graz)." Our findings add tungsten-encrusted M. sedula to the growing records of biomineralized microbial species, among which archaea are rarely represented," said Milojevic. The biotransformation of tungsten mineral scheelite performed by the extreme thermoacidophile M. sedula leads to the breakage of scheelite structure, subsequent solubilization of tungsten, and tungsten mineralization of microbial cell surface (Figure 3). The biogenic tungsten carbide-like nanostructures described in the study represent a potential sustainable nanomaterial obtained by the environmentally friendly microbial-assisted design.

Tungsten armor in outer space

"Our results indicate that M. sedula forms tungsten-bearing mineralized cell surface via encrusting with tungsten carbide-like compounds," explains biochemist Milojevic. This tungsten-encrusted layer formed around the cells of M. sedula may very well represent a microbial strategy to withstand harsh environmental conditions, such as during an interplanetary journey. Tungsten encapsulation can serve as a potent radioprotective armor against harsh environmental conditions. "The microbial tungsten armor allows us to further study the survivability of this microorganism in outer space environment," concludes Milojevic.

Fontainebleau (France), Singapore, Abu Dhabi, 9 July 2019: Behavioural nudges have emerged as the best way to improve healthy eating, according to a new paper by Pierre Chandon, Professor of Marketing at INSEAD, and Romain Cadario, Assistant Professor of Marketing at IÉSEG School of Management.

Ever since Richard Thaler won the Nobel Prize in Economics, "nudge" has been front and centre in the interest of researchers and policy makers. A simple definition of nudge is an intervention that attempts to influence behaviours without using economic incentives and while preserving freedom of choice.

In a meta-analysis of real-life experiments drawn from food science, nutrition, health economics, marketing and psychology, the authors find that behavioural nudges - facilitating action rather than providing knowledge or inducing feelings - can reduce daily energy intake by up to 209 kcal, the same number of calories as in 21 cubes of sugar.

"Just changing the amount of food on a plate or the location of the food - without necessarily educating people about nutrition content or convincing them that they should eat healthily - is the most effective intervention because you don't need to rely on changing people's beliefs or their goals," said Chandon. "There is tremendous potential to help people to eat better."

Seven ways restaurants and grocery stores can nudge food choices

In "Which Healthy Eating Nudges Work Best? A Meta-Analysis of Field Experiments" published in Marketing Science, Chandon and Cadario examined 299 results from 96 real-life field experiments. Their analysis was directly funded by INSEAD and IÉSEG.

The study identified seven different types of nudges and classified them into three broad categories, depending on how they worked: cognitive, affective and behavioural. Cognitive nudges provide information, such as nutrition counts or make healthy options more visible on the shelf or on the menu. Affective nudges seek to influence how people feel, without necessarily changing what they know, for example by touting the taste of the food, not its healthiness. Behavioural nudges try to directly change behaviours without necessarily changing what people think or what they want, for example by changing the amount of food on the plate or by making healthier foods easier to select and consume.

Table 1 shows the full list of nudges, with examples.

Which healthy eating nudges work best?

After the experiments were categorised, the professors collated the data and measured the effectiveness of each type of nudge using the standardised mean difference (also known as Cohen's d). By standardising the mean differences, we are able to compare the effectiveness of experiments using various units of measurements. To get a more intuitive grasp of nudge effectiveness, we computed the daily energy equivalent by multiplying the Cohen's d value and the standard deviation in daily energy intake for an adult (537 kcal).

Considering all healthy food nudge experiments as a whole, the standardised mean difference or d is only 0.23, which is not very impactful. By separating the experiment results into cognitive, affective and behavioural groups, it is clear that some nudges are better than others.

Figure 1: The effectiveness of seven nudge types

Cognitive nudges provide information. Information on its own was not as successful a nudge as providing context to the information or as simply making healthier options more visible. The expected daily calorie reduction for cognitive nudges was about 64 kcal, or six sugar cubes worth of calories.

In comparison, affective nudges had an expected daily reduction of 129 kcal, around the same as 13 cubes of sugar. Behavioural nudges led to a more substantial change in calorie intake when compared to cognitive and affective nudges, the authors found. On average, they could reduce daily calorie intake by 209 kcal or 21 cubes of sugar.

Designing the best nudge

In addition to classifying and quantifying the effects of nudge experiments the researchers also compared other facets of the experiments - those in grocery stores vs. cafeterias; adults vs. children studied; experiments in the U.S. vs. those outside; nudges that promoted healthy choices vs. those that discouraged unhealthy choices; and food consumption vs. selection.

"The strength of our meta-analysis is not only to categorize interventions and measure their effectiveness. Our results are also robust when controlling for various population and study characteristics such as location, respondents' age groups, study design or behavioural outcomes" Cadario said. It is important to control for these factors because they can be confounded with the type of nudge.

Cadario and Chandon found that the effect sizes for U.S. experiments were 47% greater there than the ones conducted in other countries. This could be for several reasons: larger portions, a higher proportion of overweight Americans, or perhaps because they tend to focus less on the experience of eating and more on the health effects.

They also found that nudge experiments were most successful at reducing unhealthy eating rather than increasing healthy eating or reducing total eating.

Overall, the authors found that the best nudge experiment scenario for healthy eating outcomes was behaviourally oriented, focusing on unhealthy food consumption in an onsite cafeteria frequented by adults in the U.S which produced an effect size 4 ½ times larger than the typical scenario.

Marketing and healthy choices

Cognitive interventions have merit from an ethical point of view. Information is of value itself. However, providing information about calories or nutrition without a context did not have much of an impact on the subjects' consumption.

"Change the shopping environment, the way information is displayed, the way products are displayed to influence customers to go in a particular direction. This is already happening, but the placement of healthy choices at the beginning or the end of the cafeteria line or the size of plates, glasses or portions can make an even bigger difference," Chandon explained.

Business schools like INSEAD and IÉSEG are at the centre of research on eating behaviour, at the intersection of many academic disciplines and the business world. Business scholars are informed by medicine and public health researchers and go on to present results to food companies, retailers and others on the front lines of food service in order to help them transition to a healthier and more sustainable business.

"Marketing is not about selling more. Marketing is about creating value for the firm by creating value for the customers. By giving people not just large portions at a low price, but quality, food companies can help their customers eat better, which is an important goal for many of them" said Chandon.

(Philadelphia, PA) - Like a sorting machine in an assembly line, a molecule known as VPS35 detects and removes defective proteins from neurons. And similar to other quality control processes, the VPS35 system goes a long way toward protecting health, according to new work by researchers at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University. They show for the first time that VPS35 clears the brain of a potentially harmful protein called tau, which otherwise accumulates and contributes to neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease.

The new findings were published online July 9 in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

"A major part of what VPS35 does is to sort out and transport dysfunctional proteins to degradation sites," explained senior investigator Domenico Praticò, MD, Scott Richards North Star Foundation Chair for Alzheimer's Research, Professor in the Departments of Pharmacology and Microbiology, and Director of the Alzheimer's Center at Temple at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine (LKSOM).

The buildup of defective proteins in neurons is a feature shared by Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and several other neurodegenerative conditions. Tau is one of the major proteins to amass in the brain and cause damage in these diseases, creating a condition described as tauopathy.

Previous work by other researchers had shown that the function of VPS35 is altered in Alzheimer's disease and that VPS35 activity is reduced in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. The relationship between VPS35 activity and tau accumulation was largely unexplored.

"We asked specifically whether the VPS35 system is important for clearing defective tau proteins," Dr. Praticò said. To answer this question, his team of researchers examined brain tissue from patients with either progressive supra-nuclear palsy (PSP) or Picks' disease. Unlike Alzheimer's disease, in which tau accumulation is secondary to that of beta-amyloid, in PSP and Picks' disease tau is the only protein to form deposits in the brain.

Analyses revealed that the brains of PSP and Pick's disease patients had VPS35 levels that were 50 percent lower than those of control subjects. When the researchers deliberately altered VPS35 levels in individual tauopathy-affected neurons in vitro, they discovered that they could directly control tau accumulation, for the first time implicating VPS35 in tauopathy. The VPS35-dependent effect on tau was mediated by the activity of cathepsin D, an enzyme that specializes in protein degradation.

Dr. Praticò's team also carried out experiments in mice with tau accumulation. VPS35 downregulation in these animals exacerbated memory and learning impairment and was associated with worsened motor function. Moreover, VPS35 reduction resulted in a loss of synaptic integrity between neurons in the animals' brains, significantly damaging neural communication.

"When tau lingers in cells, it is very bad for synapses, the places where neurons meet and exchange signals," explained Dr. Praticò. "In the animals we studied, there was a 40 to 50 percent loss in synaptic connectivity when VPS35 activity was reduced, which led to the types of cognitive and motor deterioration, including losses in memory and learning ability, seen in human tauopathy patients."

The discovery of the involvement of cathepsin D shed additional light on the relationship between VPS35 and tau. "Without VPS35, cathepsin D does not degrade tau, leaving tau to build up in the brain," Dr. Praticò said.

Dr. Praticò's team plans next to investigate the possibility of using a drug to put VPS35 back to work in the context of neurodegenerative disease. "The approach would be unique. Instead of targeting an enzyme, as other small molecules have been developed to do, we would be targeting an actual mechanism, which should be more viable," he said.

The ability to control infrared and terahertz waves using magnetic or electric fields is one of the great challenges in physics that could revolutionise opto-electronics, telecommunications and medical diagnostics. A theory from 2006 predicts that it should be possible to use graphene - a monoatomic layer of carbon atoms- in a magnetic field not only to absorb terahertz and infrared light on demand but also to control the direction of the circular polarisation. Researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, and the University of Manchester have succeeded in testing this theory and achieved the predicted results. The study, to be published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, shows that the scientists found an efficient way to control infrared and terahertz waves. It also shows that graphene is keeping its initial promises, and is making its way to be the material of the the future, whether on earth or in space.

"There exist a class of the so-called Dirac materials, where the electrons behave as if they do not have a mass, similar to the light particles, the photons", explains Alexey Kuzmenko, a researcher in the Department of Quantum Matter Physics in UNIGE's Science Faculty, who conducted this research together with Ievgeniia Nedoliuk. One of such materials is graphene, a monolayer of carbon atoms arranged in honeycomb structure, analogue to graphite used, in particular to make pencils.

The interaction between graphene and light suggests that this material could be used to control infrared and terahertz waves. "That would be a huge step forward for optoelectronics, security, telecommunications and medical diagnostics," points out the Geneva-based researcher.

Backing up an old theory via experimentation

A theoretical prediction from 2006 posited that if a Dirac material, is placed in a magnetic field, it will produce a very strong cyclotron resonance. "When a charged particle is in the magnetic field, it moves on a circular orbit and absorbs the electromagnetic energy at the orbiting, or cyclotron, frequency, as for example it happens in the Large Hadron Collider at CERN", explains Alexey Kuzmenko. "And when the particles have charge but no mass, as electrons in graphene, the absorption of light is at its maximum!"

To demonstrate this maximum absorption, the physicists needed a very pure graphene, so that the electrons travelling long distances would not scatter on impurities or crystal defects. But this level of purity and lattice order are very difficult to obtain and are only achieved when graphene is encapsulated in another two-dimensional material - boron nitride.

The UNIGE researchers teamed up with the group from the University of Manchester led by André Geim - the 2010 Nobel Prize winner in Physics for discovering graphene - to develop extremely pure graphene samples. These samples, which were exceptionally large for this type of graphene, were nevertheless too small to quantify the cyclotron resonance with well-established techniques. This is is why the Geneva researchers built a special experimental setup to concentrate the infrared and terahertz radiation on small samples of pure graphene in the magnetic field. "And the result of the experiment confirmed the theory from 2006!" adds Alexey Kuzmenko.

Custom-controlled polarisation

The results demonstrated for the first time that a colossal magneto-optical effect occurs indeed if a layer of pure graphene is used. "The maximum possible magneto-absorption of the infrared light is now achieved in a monoatomic layer," says Alexey Kuzmenko.

In addition, the physicists found that it was possible to choose which circular polarisation - left or right - should be absorbed. "Natural or intrinsic graphene is electrically neutral and absorbs all the light, regardless of its polarisation. But if we introduce electrically charged carriers, either positive or negative, we can choose which polarisation is absorbed, and this works both in the infrared and terahertz ranges," continues the scientist. This ability plays a crucial role, especially in the pharmacy, where certain key drug molecules interact with light depending on polarization direction. Interestingly, this control is considered promising for the search of life on exoplanets, since it is possible to observe the signatures of the molecular chirality inherent in the biological matter.

Finally, the physicists found that to observe a strong effect in the terahertz range, it is sufficient to apply magnetic fields, which could be generated already by inexpensive permanent magnet .

Now that the theory has been confirmed, the researchers will continue to work on magnetically adjustable sources and detectors of terahertz and infrared light. Graphene continues to surprise them

Scientists at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research (BDR) in Japan have developed the first microchip valve powered by living cells. Earthworm muscle tissue allowed for a high contractile force that could be sustained for minutes, and unlike electrically controlled valves, did not require any external power source such as batteries.

For several decades, researchers have been trying to combine microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) with living material. Bio-MEMS have many applications, ranging from improved drug delivery and optical and electrochemical sensors to organs-on-chips. The team of researchers from RIKEN BDR and Tokyo Denki University have been developing a bio-MEMS that is driven by real muscle, which could be useful in surgical implants. Building on their on-chip micropump design, the new study is the proof-of-concept for an on-chip muscle-driven valve.

In mechanics, an actuator is the part of a machine that controls a mechanism by making it move, such as the opening and closing of a valve. Actuators require a power source and a control signal, which are typically electric current or some kind of fluid pressure. The main advantage for using muscles as actuators in bio-MEM systems is that they can be powered the same way as they are in living bodies: chemically. For muscles, the signal for contraction is the molecule acetylcholine--which is delivered by neurons--and the energy source is adenosine triphosphate (ATP)--which exists inside muscle cells.

"Not only can our bio-MEMS work without an external power source, but unlike other chemically driven valves that are controlled by acids, our muscle-driven valve runs on molecules that are naturally abundant in living organisms," says first author Yo Tanaka from RIKEN BDR. "This makes it bio-friendly and especially suited for medical applications in which the use of electricity is difficult or not advised."

The team initially determined that a small 1 cm × 3 cm sheet of earthworm muscle could produce an average contractile force of about 1.5 milli-newtons over a 2-min period when stimulated by a very small amount of acetylcholine. Using this data, they build a microfluid channel and valve on a 2 cm × 2 cm microchip that could be controlled by the contraction/relaxation of earthworm muscle.

To test the system, they used a microscope to monitor fluorescently labeled microparticles in liquid as they flowed through the microchannel. When acetylcholine was applied, the muscle contacted. The resulting force was transduced to a bar that was pushed down to close the valve, which successfully stopped the flow of liquid. When the acetylcholine was washed away, the muscle relaxed, the valve re-opened, and the fluid flowed again.

"Now that we have shown that on-chip muscle-driven valves are possible, we can work on improvements that will make it practical," says Tanaka. "One option is to use cultured muscle cells. This might enable mass-production, better control, and flexibility in terms of shape. However, we will have to account for the reduction in the amount of force that can be produced this way compared with real muscle sheets."

TAMPA, Fla. - For over a century, cancer treatment research has primarily focused on developing new and better drugs. The introduction of new drugs, particularly in the past 20 years, has significantly improved patient outcomes when the tumor is localized to one region of the body. Unfortunately, many patients with wide-spread metastatic disease still succumb to their cancer. The problem is not that the new drugs are ineffective. In fact, the initial responses are often excellent, sometimes producing complete disappearance of the tumor. But a small number of cells evolve resistance and eventually allow the tumor to return. In a new article published by Cancer Research, Moffitt Cancer Center researchers propose the evolutionary dynamics of background extinctions suggest this focus on finding new and better drugs may have neglected opportunities to develop new and better treatment strategies to improve outcomes with currently available drugs.

Science has produced a wide range of very effective new cancer drugs. Each drug or combination of drugs is typically administered according to a "standard of care" that teaches any treatment that reduces the tumor size should continue until the tumor recurs or progresses (i.e. significantly increases in size on imaging studies). The Moffitt team proposes this strategy actually may be missing an opportunity to cure some metastatic cancers through evolution-based sequencing of currently available drugs.

According to Robert Gatenby, M.D., co-founder and director of Moffitt's Center of Excellence for Evolutionary Therapy, the optimal result of treatment for metastatic cancers, in evolutionary terms, is extinction of the cancer population. At first glance, the current strategy that applies treatment at the maximum possible dose seems like it should be the best approach because of its similarity to the famous dinosaur extinction caused by a meteor impact. "Although the goal of creating a mass extinction of cancer cells is intuitively appealing, the dinosaur analogy is actually a cautionary tale because the effects are so indiscriminate. While the impact did eliminate the Dinosauria superorder, it also destroyed many non-dinosaur species. The problem with MTD (Maximum Tolerated Dose) therapy is similar because it is always limited by the toxic effects on normal cells. It is very difficult to kill all of the cancer cells with a single treatment without also killing the patient," explained Gatenby.

Rather than using the dynamics of mass extinctions, Moffitt researchers believe that a more effective approach can be found in the evolutionary dynamics of background extinctions. The group, which includes two physicians and an evolutionary biologist, explained that most species are lost not from catastrophic single-hits but rather from multiple events that subtly reduce a population through several different steps. Typically, a species begins to slide toward extinction when an initial force, such as changing climate or introduction of a predator, significantly reduces the overall population leaving behind survivors that are often clustered in small, isolated, groups that are much less genetically diverse. The damaged surviving population is then vulnerable so that even small evolutionary or ecological changes can drive them to extinction. Importantly, however, the initial changes that reduced the population (the "first strike") will not cause extinction because the remaining individuals are resistant. So, a background extinction requires a new "second strike" that is different from the "first strike." However, in most cases, the "second strike" does not need be as powerful because the remaining population is less diverse and often isolated into small clusters containing only a few individuals.

The research team proposes the dynamics of background extinctions suggest an alternative strategy for treatment of metastatic cancers. Many currently available therapies can produce a complete remission, meaning no remaining tumor can be detected. However, in most cases, similar to the "first strike," a small number of resistant cancer cells remain hidden and eventually lead to tumor recurrence. The important lesson from background extinctions is that this remaining population is resistant to the "first strike" treatment; continuing the same therapy is unlikely to be successful.

The research team suggests extinction of even large metastatic cancers may be possible by administering a sequence of drugs that can collectively eliminate the entire cancer population even though none of them alone could have had this effect. The initial treatment that reduces the cancer population but cannot entirely eliminate it is the "first strike." Rather than continuing to use this treatment until the tumor recurs, the background extinction model suggests the "first strike" drug should be stopped once a remission is achieved and that different "second strike" drugs should be applied immediately because the cancer population is most vulnerable to extinction. Waiting to change treatment until the tumor progresses is probably too late because a cancer population must contain several billion cells before it can be observed on CAT scans or MRI scans.

The group pointed out this multiple-stage treatment principle is very similar to the sequence of different treatments that, after decades of clinical trials, has been found to cure children with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). When put into context of the background extinction model, the strategy of pediatric ALL treatment, "is to use the first strike to deliver substantial damage to the tumor population and then simply continue to 'kick them when they are down,'" said Joel Brown, Ph.D., evolutionary biologist and senior member of Moffitt's Integrated Mathematical Oncology Department.

BEER-SHEVA, Israel...July 9, 2019 - Dogs can be trained to respond to haptic vibration commands while wearing a modified canine vest developed by an interdisciplinary research team at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU).

The paper, "Vibrotactile Vest for Remote Human-Dog Communication," will be presented at the World Haptics Conference on July 12 in Tokyo, Japan. Haptics technology simulates the senses of touch and motion, which is especially helpful in a remote operation or computer simulation where the user is not able to interact with and feel physical objects.

The technology may be useful for delivering remote commands to dogs for use in search and rescue, assisting disabled handlers, and other service animal applications.

"Our research results showed that dogs responded to these vibrotactile cues as well or even better than vocal commands," says Prof. Amir Shapiro, director of the Robotics Laboratory within BGU's Department of Mechanical Engineering. "Our current proof-of-concept study shows promising results that open the way toward the use of haptics for human-canine communication."

The modified, commercially available mesh canine vest contains four small vibrating motors positioned over a dog's back and sides that can be used to train or direct dogs to respond to different vibrations sent via wireless remote control. The handler can elicit different commands by controlling the site and duration of vibrations. In this demonstration video, Tai, a six-year-old Labrador retriever/German shepherd crossbreed, responds to several distinct commands, such as "spin," "down," "to me," or "backpedal."

The haptic vest may also be used with existing dog training devices that detect posture and automate reward systems. "Integrating devices will allow us to further advance the potential of fully or partially autonomic dog training to assess general behavior, responsiveness to commands and the effectiveness of rewarding dogs for desired behavior," says Prof. Shapiro.

Future research will test the haptic vest technology on different breeds, ages and training experience, and will integrate more advanced devices into search and rescue, military work dog and service dog programs.

In work that could open a floodgate of future applications for a new class of nanomaterials known as MXenes (pronounced "Maxines"), researchers from Texas A&M University have discovered a simple, inexpensive way to prevent the materials' rapid degradation.

Two-dimensional MXene nanosheets have promise in applications ranging from energy storage to water purification. However, MXenes have an Achilles' heel: they rapidly degrade when kept in the open.

According to the Texas A&M team, the solution to this problem involves exposing MXenes to anything in a family of compounds best represented by a natural dietary supplement such as vitamin C.

"With these findings, shelf-stable MXenes become possible and engineering-grade MXene-based materials can become a practical reality," the researchers wrote in a paper for the upcoming issue of the online journal Matter.

Interesting Properties

Discovered in 2011 by a team at Drexel University, MXenes are sheets of materials only a few atoms thick that are mostly composed of layers of metals like titanium interleaved by carbon and/or nitrogen.

Due to their nanothickness and the variety of elements they can be composed of (other nanomaterials like graphene contain only carbon), "these materials tend to have really interesting properties, like high electrical conductivity and high catalytic activity," said Dr. Micah Green, an associate professor who led the work and has joint appointments in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Texas A&M.

As a result of those properties, MXenes have generated a great deal of interest and enthusiasm in the research community with potential applications in everything from batteries to electronic sensors.

"But there has been one problem lurking in the background," said Green. MXenes degrade, or oxidize, quickly. "They fall apart and stop being nanosheets. This happens in a matter of days."

Although other researchers have found that techniques like drying or freezing MXenes can delay their degradation, "They're still not going to last for years," he said. "And no one wants a material that doesn't have a long shelf life."

Texas A&M tackled the problem through an interdisciplinary team of experts in nanomaterials, ceramics and polymers.

The other faculty members involved in the work are Dr. Miladin Radovic, professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and Dr. Jodie Lutkenhaus, associate professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Department of Chemical Engineering.

Toward a Solution

The team ultimately found that exposing a typical MXene to a solution of sodium L-ascorbate stopped the nanosheet from degrading. Plus, several related compounds, including vitamin C, also worked. According to Green, the effect lasts. He also noted that the team made the discovery about a year ago and the treated MXenes are still stable.

To further investigate the phenomenon leading to the improved stability, the team completed molecular dynamics simulations of the interactions between the MXenes and the antioxidants. They found that the ascorbate molecules appear to associate with the MXene nanosheet, preventing it from interacting with water molecules and as a result, shielding it from oxidation.

The team is excited because their "method appears to work with a variety of different MXenes," Green said. The Matter paper focuses on the most common MXene (Ti3C2Tx), but other types of MXenes are even more unstable. So much so that "people have doubted whether those materials could ever find applications. With this technique, that could change."The researchers are currently exploring the stability of these additional MXenes using the same approach.

"Our hope is that everybody who works on MXenes, including people in industry, will use our technique to protect their materials," said Green.

The movie Finding Nemo could have a much darker sequel - as artificial light in coral reefs leaves the famous fish unable to reproduce offspring, according to a new study.

Results by Flinders University and the University of Melbourne published in Biology Letters show an increasing amount of artificial light at night (ALAN) in coral reefs, even at relatively low levels, masks natural cues which trigger clownfish eggs to hatch after dusk.

Lead author Dr Emily Fobert, Research Associate in biodiversity and conservation at Flinders University, says test eggs that were incubated in the presence of artificial
light had a zero success rate of hatching, with no offspring surviving as a result.

"The overwhelming finding is that artificial light pollution can have a devastating effect on reproductive success of coral reef fish," says Dr Fobert

"When ALAN is present, no eggs hatched but when the light was removed during the recovery period, eggs from the ALAN exposure hatched like normal, so the presence of light is clearly interfering with an environmental cue that initiates hatching in clownfish."

"The results indicate increasing amounts of light have the potential to significantly reduce the reproductive fitness of reef fish who settle in a habitat near shore lines."

Dr Fobert monitored 10 breeding pairs of clownfish exposed to an overhead LED light which imitated commercially available and widely used lights near coral reefs.

Coastlines near reefs are exposed to artificial light at night by increasing numbers of housing developments, promenades, ports, harbours and dockyards- which use LED lights that penetrate into seawater.

While tourists hotspots include floating accommodation above coral reefs, some of these fancy overwater bungalows even have glass floors with lights shining directly on the reefs below so guests can see the fish at night.

"These findings likely extend to other reef fish as many share similar reproductive behaviours, including the timing of hatching during early evening," says Dr Fobert.

Co-author Professor Stephen Swearer from the School of BioSciences at the University of Melbourne says that clownfish, along with many other fish species that lay adhesive eggs on coral reefs, are at risk because their larvae usually hatch a few hours after dusk.

"The presence of ALAN could compromise their natural spawning rhythms," he says.

Senior author and founder of the Saving Nemo Conservation Fund, Professor Karen Burke da Silva, says improved understanding about the impact of ALAN on coral reefs can help develop solutions for stressed ecosystems.

"Artificial light at night is becoming a greater concern among ecologists, as light is spreading globally, and the impacts on organisms can be severe, but very little research has been done around ALAN in the marine environment."

Platelet cells, which prevent mammals from bleeding non-stop, first evolved around 300 million years ago in an egg-laying animal similar to the modern duck-billed platypus, finds joint research by UCL and Yale University.

This event was a prerequisite for the origin of placental development in mammals, including human beings.

The paper, published as a peer-reviewed opinion piece in Biology Letters, suggests that platelet cells were critical in the evolution of eutherian mammals, to which humans belong, and which are distinguished by a deep invasive placenta (haemochorial placentation), by where maternal blood comes in direct contact with the fetus.

Co-led by Professors John Martin (UCL Division of Medicine) and Günter Wagner (Yale University), the research finds that platelet cells, which clot blood caused by cuts or lesions, enabled haemochorial placentation, helping the mother prevent haemorrhaging at birth.

In the paper researchers show that an egg-laying animal similar to a modern duck-billed platypus started creating platelets - possibly by chance - and these were passed on when this animal group diverged around 300 million years ago into monotremes (the first mammal group), of which the existing duck-billed platypus and echidna are living descendants, marsupials (also mammals) and eutherian mammals, which include modern humans.

UCL Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, John Martin, said: "We have shown with convincing evidence that platelets occurred 300 million years ago even before monotremes arose.

"This unique feature subsequently allowed the placenta to develop, which led to the eutherian mammals and therefore human beings.

"During birth, safe disconnection of the placenta from the uterus is essential for the survival of the mother and child, so without platelets, neither would have survived and the evolutionary step to eutherian mammals, including human beings, would never have happened."

This research was undertaken as part of the 'Yale UCL Collaborative': a strong relationship between the two universities designed to increase creativity.

Yale Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Günter Wagner, said: "The unique presence of platelets in mammals explains why deeply invasive placentation is limited to mammals, even though live birth is found in many other animal lineages, but not invasive placentation."

The authors met through the 'Yale UCL Collaborative', which promotes joint research and student exchange, and this year is celebrating 10 years, since its inception.

Professor Martin said: "The primary goal of the Yale UCL Collaborative is to reach higher levels of creativity and quality of idea than we would have achieved alone.

"Through this partnership, I have been able to work with Professor Wagner, a world-leading expert in evolutionary biology, and test and challenge my theory of the evolution of eutherian placentation.

"Through this joint research we have concluded the origins of platelets ultimately led to human evolution."

A new study demonstrates that just one hour of exposure to blue light at night - the kind of light produced by the screens of our many devices - raises blood sugar levels and increases sugar consumption in male rats. This study, led by Anayanci Masís-Vargas and colleagues from the University of Strasbourg and University of Amsterdam, was presented this week at the annual conference of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB) in Utrecht, Netherlands.

Previous research has shown a strong correlation between obesity and the levels of artificial light at night. Much of the artificial light we are now exposed to comes from LED lights and LED screens, which emit high levels of blue light. Retinal cells of the eye are sensitive to this blue light and directly convey information to areas of the brain that regulate appetite

In their study, Masís-Vargas and colleagues, exposed rats to nighttime blue light and measured their food consumption and glucose tolerance the following day. It should be noted that, in order to better model human light exposure, the rats used in this study were diurnal, meaning awake during the day and asleep at night, rather than the typical nocturnal laboratory rats which are awake during nighttime hours. The authors found that after only one hour of nocturnal blue light exposure, glucose tolerance was altered in male rats, a warning sign of pre-diabetes.

To investigate what happens with appetite control and food choice after exposure to blue light at night, the rats were given the option to choose among a nutritionally balanced food (standard rodent food), water, lard, and sugar water. After the exposure to blue light, they observed that the male animals drank more sugar that night than during the nights with no blue light exposure.

These studies show clearly that being exposed to light, especially blue light, at night is disruptive and that screen use at night may increase our tendency to snack on sugary foods and disrupt our ability to process that sugar, especially in males. Though the rats were tested after only one night of light exposure, over time, this could lead to weight gain and the development of diabetes.

"Limiting the amount of time that we spend in front of screens at night is, for now, the best measure to protect ourselves from the harmful effects of blue light. In case it is necessary to be exposed to devices at night, I would recommend the use of apps and night mode features on the devices, which turn the screens more orange and less blue or the use of blue light filtering googles that are already available in the market." Masís-Vargas says.

Are our personalities and behaviors shaped more by our genes or our circumstances? While this age-old "nature vs. nurture" question continues to confound us and fuel debates, a growing body of evidence from research conducted over recent decades suggests that parental environment can have a profound impact on future generations.

Results of a new Dartmouth study published this week in the journal eLife -- which examined how environmental stressors put on fruit flies (Drosophilia melanogaster) can influence the phenotypes of their offspring--are adding some intriguing findings to the mix.

"While neuronally encoded behavior isn't thought to be inherited across generations, we wanted to test the possibility that environmentally triggered modifications could allow 'memory' of parental experiences to be inherited," explains Julianna "Lita" Bozler, a PhD candidate in the Bosco Lab at the Geisel School of Medicine, who served as lead author on the study.

When exposed to parasitoid wasps--which deposit their eggs into and kill the larvae of fruit flies--Drosophila melanogaster females are known to shift their preference to food containing ethanol as an egg laying substrate, which protects their larvae from wasp infection.

For the study, the fruit flies were cohabitated with female wasps for four days before their eggs were collected. The embryos were separated into two cohorts--a wasp-exposed and unexposed (control) group--and developed to maturity without any contact with adult flies or wasps. One group was used to propagate the next generation and the other was analyzed for ethanol preference.

"We found that the original wasp-exposed flies laid about 94 percent of their eggs on ethanol food, and that this behavior persisted in their offspring, even though they'd never had direct interaction with wasps," says Bozler.

The ethanol preference was less potent in the first-generation offspring, with 73 percent of their eggs laid on ethanol food. "But remarkably, this inherited ethanol preference persisted for five generations, gradually reverting back to a pre-wasp exposed level," she says. "This tells us that inheritance of ethanol preference is not a permanent germline change, but rather a reversible trait."

Importantly, the research team determined that one of the critical factors driving ethanol preference behavior is the depression of Neuropeptide-F (NPF) that is imprinted in a specific region of the female fly's brain. While this change, based in part on visual signals, was required to initiate transgenerational inheritance, both male and female progeny were able to pass on ethanol preference to their offspring.

"We're very excited about the findings that Lita, and her lab partner, Balint Kacsoh have made," says Giovanni Bosco, PhD, a professor of molecular and systems biology at Geisel, who directs the Bosco Lab. "They are allowing us to better understand not only the biology and epigenetics of fruit flies, but also some of the foundational mechanisms upon which biologic inheritance is based.

"Of particular interest, are the conserved signaling functions of NPF and its mammalian counterpart NPY in humans," he says. "We hope that our findings may lead to greater insights into the role that parental experiences play across generations in diseases such as drug and alcohol disorders."

Did you know that 90% of cancer patients die from distant metastasis? The latter occurs when cancer cells have the ability to move within the patient's body and invade its healthy tissues. In a study published in Nature Communications, researchers from the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM) have shown the key role that a protein called Ran plays in the mobility of ovarian cancer cells. They demonstrated these cells cannot migrate from cancerous sites without the help of Ran.

Implicated in cancer development and survival, Ran is often referred to as a shuttle protein mostly supporting transport between the inside of a cell and its nucleus. In ovarian cancer cells, the team of researchers, led by Dr. Anne-Marie Mes-Masson and Dr. Diane Provencher, showed Ran acts as a taxi to the cell membrane for another protein, RhoA, which is important in cell migration.

"In normal cells, RhoA can make its way directly to the cell membrane but in ovarian cancer cells it cannot. It has to link to Ran first in order to reach the cell membrane. It really needs a ride," said Mes-Masson, a researcher at the CRCHUM, professor at Université de Montréal and member of the Institute du cancer de Montréal. "In our study, we showed that in cancer cells where we inhibit the action of Ran, RhoA gets broken down. Without RhoA, cancer cells lose then their ability to move, migrate and invade healthy tissues."

Thanks to the vast expertise in biochemistry of the first author, Dr. Kossay Zaoui, the science team was able to explain at least in part why Ran is so important in a cancer cell. In many cancers high expression of Ran is often associated with poor outcomes.

"We have previously demonstrated that Ran is a good therapeutic target. Our study helps us understand when and in which cancer patients our approach might be most beneficial. As healthy cells do not need Ran to move around, we can target the cancer cells without touching the healthy cells. Based on our findings, it is probable that inhibiting Ran will also be a winning strategy in other cancers," said Dr. Provencher, a researcher at CRCHUM, Head of the Division of Gynecology Oncology, professor at Université de Montréal and member of the Institute du cancer de Montréal.

The researchers have already begun to develop small molecules that can inhibit Ran and are testing them in the preclinical models they have developed to show that they can slow or eliminate cancer development. They hope one day that these new drugs will make their way into the clinic to be used to treat ovarian cancer patients.

The Importance of Our Biobank

For three decades, Drs. Provencher and Mes-Masson have collaborated to create the largest biobank of ovarian cancer specimens from women who have consented to participate in their research program. They managed to develop and characterize cell lines from tumour tissues, and these cell lines were essential to conduct this work.

These cell lines are now used by ovarian cancer research groups worldwide to conduct ovarian cancer research. The patient's precious contribution to research is fuelling the type of new discoveries that both researchers hope will help cure this deadly disease.

According to the Canadian Cancer Society, 2,800 Canadian women were diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2017 and 1,800 died from the disease. It is the fifth leading cause of death in North America.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va.--Do the nutritional supplements people take or the diets they adhere to actually protect them against cardiovascular problems and death?

Maybe not, suggests a new umbrella review of meta-analyses and randomized controlled trials by Safi Khan, an assistant professor in the West Virginia University School of Medicine. His findings appear in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

He and his colleagues analyzed 277 randomized controlled trials--in which nearly 1 million adults participated--to find out how various nutritional supplements and diets influenced mortality rates and cardiovascular outcomes.

Of the 16 nutritional supplements considered, only two seemed beneficial: folic acid and omega-3, long-chain fatty acids. The findings suggest that taking folic acid may protect against stroke and that taking omega-3s may reduce the risk of heart attack and coronary heart disease.

"The reason we conducted this study was that millions of people in the United States and across the world consume supplements or follow certain dietary patterns, but there was no good-quality evidence to suggest that these interventions have any effect on cardiovascular protection," Khan said.

The researchers considered whether the supplements and diets changed the rates of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, heart attack, stroke and coronary heart disease. They also evaluated the quality of the evidence that underpinned the trials' findings.

They found that taking both calcium and vitamin may actually be harmful. The meta-analysis indicated--with moderate certainty--that taking a combination of calcium and vitamin D may increase the risk of stroke.

But taking calcium or vitamin D alone seemed to have no effect on mortality or cardiovascular outcomes whatsoever. Neither did any of the other supplements that the meta-analysis addressed, such as multivitamins, iron, folic acid, beta-carotene and antioxidants.

When the researchers turned their attention to diets, they discovered that eating less salt improved all-cause mortality rates in people with normal blood pressure. It also made cardiovascular-related deaths rarer among hypertensive people. But reducing sodium was the only diet that demonstrated any benefit. The other seven--which included eating less or different types of fat, adopting a Mediterranean diet and increasing fish-oil intake--had no effect.

"Reduced salt intake was associated with improving overall survival and cardiovascular mortality. This is something that can be backed up with logic because there is a sufficient amount of data, in various studies, that shows low salt intake basically improves hypertension, which directly influences cardiovascular outcome," Khan said.

Evidence supporting the benefits of folic acid and omega-3s--and the detriment of combining calcium and vitamin D supplements--was less robust. For instance, the inclusion of one study from China--where diets are not usually rich in naturally occurring folic acid--may have had a disproportionate effect on the folic-acid results. And most studies relied on food diaries, which aren't always reliable.

"The randomized controlled trials lacked precision. They had issues in terms of methodology, in terms of the target population and in terms of when and where these studies were conducted," Khan said. "So you have to take these findings with a pinch of salt."