#Extreme exercise linked to blood poisoning Researchers have discovered that extreme exercise can cause intestinal bacteria to leak into the bloodstream, leading to blood poisoning.
Experts at Monash University monitored people participating in a range of extreme endurance events, including 24-hour ultra-marathons
and multi-stage ultra-marathons, run on consecutive days.""Blood samples taken before and after the events, compared with a control group,
proved that exercise over a prolonged period of time causes the gut wall to change, allowing the naturally present bacteria, known as endotoxins, in the gut to leak into the bloodstream.
This then triggers a systemic inflammatory response from the body's immune cells, similar to a serious infection episode.
Significantly the study found that individuals who are fit, healthy and follow a steady training program to build up to extreme endurance events,
develop immune mechanisms to counteract this, without any side effects. However individuals who take part in extreme endurance events
especially in the heat and with little training, put their bodies under enormous strain above the body's protective capacity.
With elevated levels of endotoxins in the blood, the immune system's response can be far greater than the body's protective counter-action.
In extreme cases, it leads to sepsis induced systemic inflammatory response syndrome, which can be fatal
if it is diagnosed not and treated promptly. The study, led by Dr Ricardo Costa, from the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, is the first to identify a link between extreme endurance exercise
and the stress it may place on gut integrity.""Nearly all of the participants in our study had blood markers identical to patients admitted to hospital with sepsis.
That's because the bacterial endotoxins that leach into the blood as a result of extreme exercise, triggers the body's immune cells into action."
"The 24-hour ultra-marathon study, published in the International Journal of Sports Medicine and the multi-stage ultra-marathon study, published in Exercise Immunology Reviews,
both by Dr Costa's team, reinforces current guidelines for people wanting to take part in extreme endurance events.
rather than jumping straight into a marathon, for example, with only a month's training, "he said.
But if you haven't done the training and you're unfit--these are the people who can get into trouble,
and heat stress s
#Comprehensive know-how and the full value chain, from technology development to complete systems Arraythe FBH develops the LED TECHNOLOGY in the UV-B and UV-C spectral range from the chip to the final
radiation module. Applications are wide-ranging and include medical diagnostics and fluorescence spectroscopy as well as UV curing and disinfection.
A further application field is plant lighting, for which the FBH has developed and manufactured a module enabling irradiation with UV-B light of a specific wavelength.
In this particular case, LEDS emitting at a wavelength around 310 nm are used to stimulate health-promoting secondary metabolites in plants.
The optical power can be adjusted flexibly between 0 and 100%.%The novel concept was tested successfully in experiments at the Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ.
An exhibition module is available at the trade fair booth. Arrayat the fair, the FBH exhibits novel dual-wavelength diode lasers that are suitable for use in miniaturized, portable laser measurement systems for Raman spectroscopy applications.
which are defined by gratings implemented into the semiconductor chip. Wavelength selection is realized by separately addressable sections within the laser.
enabling to measure Raman spectra under real-world conditions even in highly fluorescent environments and when exposed to daylight.
With these FBH tiny monolithic light sources on chip level, a compact SERDS measurement head that is only as small as a laser pointer was realized for the first time.
enabling in-situ measurements in various security and health relevant fields including biology, medicine, food control, and pharmacy.
The module is equipped also with a single-mode fiber output with standard FC/APC connector.
For rapid prototyping applications the FBH has developed DBR ridge waveguide (RW) lasers with 24 individually addressable emitters featuring a wavelength spacing>0. 3 nm and a spectral width<1 pm.
#Key to quick battery charging time University of Tokyo researchers have discovered the structure and transport properties of the"intermediate state"in lithium-ion batteries--key to understanding the mechanisms of charge
and discharge in rechargeable batteries. These findings may help accelerate battery reaction speed and significantly shorten battery charging time.
Although there is strong demand to minimize battery-charging time, the mechanisms of battery charge and discharge reactions have yet to be understood fully.
While the existence of an"intermediate state"that accelerates battery charge and discharge reactions has been suggested,
there was no firm experimental evidence to support its existence and previous research had suggested that the short lifetime of the intermediate state would render a systematic investigation of its properties impossible.
Now Professor Atsuo Yamada's research group at the University of Tokyo Graduate school of Engineering have developed a novel technique to stabilize the intermediate state.
The group found a striped pattern of layers of densely and loosely packed electrons. Lithium ions distribute themselves so as not to disturb this striped pattern.
In addition, the intermediate state showed high lithium/electron conductivity compared to the charged or discharged state.
That is, both lithium ions and electrons could move faster in the intermediate state, contributing significantly to accelerating lithium-ion battery charge
and discharge reactions. The findings were contrary to expectations.""The intermediate state showed a long lifetime,
We hope to develop rechargeable batteries with quick charging time by applying our findings to the design of materials
Most importantly, they also found that these stem cells can give rise to colonic tumors and sustain their growth.
Researchers at Lawson Health Research Institute have identified a new stem cell population in the colon linked to cancer growth.
Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in Canada. It is estimated that in 2015 that 25,100 Canadians will be diagnosed with colon cancer representing 13 percent of all new cancer cases.
Dr. Samuel Asfaha, a clinician-scientist at Lawson and an assistant professor of medicine at the Schulich School of medicine & Dentistry, Western University,
and his colleagues at Columbia University (New york), have identified a previously unknown, long-lived radiation-resistant stem cell population in the colon.
Most importantly they also found that these stem cells can give rise to colonic tumors and sustain their growth.
Tissue stem cells are unique cells essential for normal tissue maintenance and regeneration. Their unique characteristic of longevity,
however, makes them the most likely cell of origin for cancer. In this study, the researchers sought to identify
whether more than one tissue stem cell population exists within the colon which could be a source of colon cancer.
According to Asfaha, the identification of the cellular origin of cancer, specifically colorectal cancer, is critical to the understanding of how cancer arises
as well as for the identification of new targets for drug therapy.''The identification of more than one stem cell pool in the colon has proven challenging,'stresse Asfaha.'
'These findings are exciting as we have identified an important new target for cancer therapy. It is also proof that more than one stem cell can give rise to
and sustain tumors, telling us that our cancer therapy needs to target more than one stem cell pool.'
'Until now, the only stem cell population linked to colon cancer was radiation sensitive, leading physicians to believe that radiation therapy was effective.'
and we must find new forms of therapy to target the disease, 'says Asfaha a
#Sediment makes it harder for baby Nemo to breathe easy Researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral reef Studies at James Cook University have discovered that suspended sediment damages fish gills
and can increase the rate of disease in fish.""Suspended sediments result from flood plumes, coastal agricultural and industrial development and from dredging operations
"Fish gills are in direct contact with their environment and are the first line of defence in the animal's immune response,
"says study lead author, Phd Student Sybille Hess.""Sediment-exposed fish also increased the number of protective cells on their gills,
and high-energy costs and need their gills to be working as efficiently as possible, "says co-author Dr Jodie Rummer.
The gills of affected fish were also found to harbour disease-causing bacteria.""The presence of bacteria linked to fish disease on the gills of sediment-exposed fish suggests that exposure to,
and accumulation of sediment, may trigger the development of fish diseases, "says co-author Dr Tracy Ainsworth."
"This research underscores the necessity for future coastal developments to consider the adverse effects of sediment on fish
Researchers develop a faster way to treat the heart after a heart attack Stem cell have been the main focus of healing therapy research
For healing after a heart attack, the ideal time to administer these therapies is when reopening the clogged blood vessel
While stem cells show promise for heart attack treatment, the process of harvesting and reintroducing the cells
or weeks--is too slow for this window. A new study in the American Journal of Physiology--Heart and Circulatory Physiology reports a more practical approach called microsphere therapy that can be kept on hand
and administered more readily than stem cells. Heart attacks occur when the heart's blood vessel is blocked
and blood flow stops, cutting off oxygen to the heart. Reopening the blocked blood vessel is the first step in treating the heart,
researchers from Erasmus Medical center in The netherlands used a biodegradable material called Polyactive, which keeps proteins intact,
and tested the microspheres'effectiveness in pigs with induced heart attacks. The researchers observed that the microspheres were not toxic
and stayed in the heart for at least 35 days. The treatment reduced inflammation that occurs after blood flow is restored
The therapy, however, did not improve heart function. It also did not decrease the size of the area damaged by the heart attack or the composition of the scar.
According to the researchers, while the method needs to be optimized, the study shows that microsphere therapy can potentially be an"off-the-shelf and immediate alternative to stem cell therapy"for treating heart attacks and potentially other diseases s
#Risk of hepatitis E outbreak'very high'in earthquake-ravaged Nepal During the coming monsoon season, survivors of the recent earthquake that destroyed parts of Nepal face a"very high
"risk of a hepatitis E outbreak that could be especially deadly to pregnant women, according to a consensus statement from a group of infectious disease experts from around the world.
The document, published in the Lancet June 16 and signed by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public health's Alain Labrique and six others, states that the conditions in the April tremor that killed 8
800 people and injured more than 23,000 have left conditions ripe for Hepatitis e virus (HEV), which is primarily spread from feces to mouth via contaminated water.
The researchers say that 500 pregnant women could die from the virus in the coming months
"Earthquake-affected areas are faced with a'perfect storm'of risk factors: large displaced populations with limited access to clean drinking water, lack of sanitary facilities, the approaching monsoon, overburdened healthcare infrastructure, large amounts of circulating HEV,
and an at-risk population that mostly lacks protective antibodies,"the researchers write. There are an estimated 20 million hepatitis E infections in the world annually.
While the virus can lead to liver disease, it mostly runs its course with few long-term complications.
Yet pregnant women have a mortality rate of 25 percent when infected by the virus. There is a safe and effective vaccine available,
the researchers say, but it is licensed currently only for use in China. The World health organization has recommended not its routine use
because there is a need for additional safety and efficacy data, particularly in pregnant women. They have said also,
if the vaccine were used in Nepal during monsoon season, which runs from July to September.
The group recommends that Nepalese health authorities actively work to identify cases of the disease where pregnant women are being treated;
that the Nepalese Ministry of Health should initiate a request for the vaccine and build a stockpile;
and develop targeted deployment strategies for the use of the vaccine, based on identification of high-risk populations and the available organizational capacity for safe implementation and monitoring of outcomes."
"Hepatitis E is neglected a virus that isn't well understood but we are now seeing that it is likely a major cause of maternal deaths in countries where it is common,
"says Labrique, Phd, an associate professor in the Bloomberg School's departments of international health and epidemiology."
#Researchers develop pioneering new method to map enzyme activity Researchers from Cardiff University have pioneered a new technique that will enable scientists to precisely pinpoint the areas on an enzyme that help to speed up chemical reactions.
It is hoped this precise pinpointing may shed light on why enzymes are much more efficient at speeding up chemical reactions compared to human-made catalysts
such as the creation of manufactured goods, biofuels and therapeutic drugs. Lead author of the study Professor Rudolf Allemann,
Distinguished Research Professor and Head of Cardiff University's School of Chemistry, said:""Enzymes are not only central to living systems,
but also to many industrial processes, such as the production of food, textiles, detergents, pharmaceuticals and other chemicals where environmentally friendly methods are of ever increasing importance."
and will lead to new candidates for biological and medical applications, and new production routes for enzymes of industrial use."
than human-made catalysts that are used in industry. It is estimated that human-made catalysts underpin the creation of 80-90%of all manufactured goods
. Whilst researchers have a good understanding of the chemistry of enzymes, they are less sure about how enzymes physically react with their targets,
the research team, consisting of researchers at Cardiff University's School of Chemistry, the University of Valencia and Jaume
I University in Spain, investigated the physical movements of the enzyme dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR). DHFR is a small enzyme that plays an essential role in the building of genetic material and proteins,
and was the first enzyme to be targeted for chemotherapy cancer treatment. Drugs were designed to bind strongly to DHFR to prevent it from working,
which would stop rapidly reproducing cells--such as cancer cells--from proliferating. The researchers altered the weight of DHFR by adding heavy isotopes--specifically carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen--onto certain segments of the enzyme.
bacteria-sensing gloves and more Inkjet printing is one of the most immediate and accessible forms of printing technology currently available, according to the researchers,
and ink-jet printing of biomolecules has been proposed previously by scientists. However, the heat-sensitive nature of these unstable compounds means printed materials rapidly lose functionality,
and protective properties that make it well-suited for a range of biomedical and optoelectronic applications.
This natural polymer is an ideal"cocoon"that can stabilize compounds such as enzymes antibodies and growth factors while lending itself to many different mechanically robust formats, said Fiorenzo Omenetto, Ph d.,senior author on the paper and associate dean for research and Frank C. Doble Professor
of Engineering at Tufts School of engineering.""We thought that if we were able to develop an inkjet-printable silk solution,
we would have a universal building block to generate multiple functional printed formats that could lead to a wide variety of applications in which inks remain active over time,
The researchers, who included collaborators from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, foresee wide potential for future investigation and application of this technology.
which he says could selectively react to different pathological agents. The ability to print antibiotics in topographical patterns could address the need for"smart"bandages,
where therapeutics are incorporated and delivered to match a complex injury. The published research was restricted to one ink cartridge,
but the scientists believe it could extend to multi-cartridge printing combining complex functions. In addition to Omenetto
Benedetto Marelli, Miaomiao Yang and Bo An, of the Department of Biomedical engineering at Tufts University;
Serdar Onses and John Rogers, of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and David Kaplan, of the Department of Biomedical engineering and Department of Chemical and Biological engineering at Tufts University.
Omenetto and Kaplan are pioneers in the use of silk as an alternative to plastics. Omenetto's 2011 TED Talk called silk a"new old material"that could have a profound impact in many technical fields.
This work was supported by funding from the Office of Naval Research (N14-13-1-0596) and the AFOSR (FA9550-14-1-0015
#Important advance in the treatment, prevention of bacterial infection The technology is likely to have significant impact across a number of areas including dentistry,
where one in seven composite fillings fail within seven years and 86 percent of these failures are caused by bacterial infection.
Developed by Dr. Michele Barbour and her research group in the University's School of Oral and Dental Sciences,
Pertinax is a new formulation of chlorhexidine. Chlorhexidine is a proven antimicrobial agent, used widely to prevent
and treat a range of infections, but in its traditional formulation is effective for only a very short length of time.
Pertinax increases chlorhexidine's uses by improving its persistence where it is applied. This innovation has won Dr Barbour
and Pertinax the £25 000 Materials science Venture Prize awarded by The Worshipful Company of Armourers and Brasiers.'
enabling it to provide reliable protection against infection for very much longer than was previously possible.
'said Barbour, Senior Lecturer in Biomaterials in the School of Oral and Dental Sciences.''Our initial focus will be in the dental market,
'Research shows there is a clear need for long-acting antimicrobial products used in fillings and cements for crowns, bridges and orthodontic braces
and prevent persistent bacterial infections over a much longer time frame than is currently possible.'
which should help prevent some hard to treat infections affecting millions of people, 'said Professor Bill Bonfield, chairman of the Armourers and Brasiers Venture Prize judging panel.'
'Our prize looks to encourage scientific entrepreneurship in the UK and provide funding, which is often difficult to source,
to help bring new developments like this to market.''Pertinax has brought in Ashley Cooper, an experienced life sciences chief executive to guide the development of the technology and the company.
This includes catheters and wound care products, which are especially prone to infection by antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as MRSA.''
''We will be using the Venture Prize award money to help us develop a robust and scalable manufacturing process,
'said Barbour.''At the moment we are working with gram quantities and we need to scale this to kilogram and beyond for commercial application. n
#Beating advanced cancers: New epigenomic block for advanced cancer Array"If you think of late-stage cancer as a runaway car,
most of our drugs take a shot at a tire here and there, but sometimes they miss
and often they can't stop it entirely, "says Thai Ho, M d.,Ph d, . a Mayo Clinic oncologist and lead author of the study."
"We believe we have identified a mechanism that seizes the cancer's biological engine and could potentially stop it in its tracks."
"The new approach zeroes in on an epigenomic fingerprint in metastatic disease, in which the body often misinterprets a healthy genetic blueprint,
producing toxic cells that run afoul of the body's normal functions. Dr. Ho and his colleagues are currently validating a test based on the newly identified epigenomic fingerprint, called H3k36me3 loss,
which could help providers identify more aggressive cancers or find the best drug for the individual patient to further personalize medical care."
"This paper is the first report we know of translating this fingerprint into patient tissues,
and efforts are ongoing to expand this to tumors beyond kidney cancer, "says Dr. Ho.
The test and a potential treatment are based on an emerging discipline of medical research called epigenomics, the complex biological process through
which individual cells read their genetic blueprints and then determine what type of tissue to become.
Dr. Ho offers the example of honeybees as among the starkest examples of how epigenomics affects cellular function and an organism's fate.
But some bees become drones others sterile female workers, and still others the queen. Much of this differentiation can be attributed to epigenomics,
says Dr. Ho. In feeding a larval honeybee with copious amounts of a richly nutritious secretion called royal jelly,
the larva will eventually develop into a queen. Chemicals present in the royal jelly, but absent in nectar
and pollen, are thought to activate entirely different parts of the same bee genome--converting one larva into the queen while others,
such as workers and drones, are much smaller and have shorter life spans. Similarly, cancers often subvert a cell's normal epigenomic mechanisms to become more aggressive e
#First solar cell made of highly ordered molecular frameworks"We have opened the door to a new room,
"says Professor Christof Wöll, Director of KIT Institute of Functional Interfaces (IFG).""This new application of metal-organic framework compounds is the beginning only.
The end of this development line is far from being reached, "the physicist emphasizes. Metal-organic frameworks, briefly called MOFS, consist of two basic elements, metal node points and organic molecules,
Computations made by the group of Professor Thomas Heine from Jacobs University Bremen, which is involved also in the project,
suggest that the excellent properties of the solar cell result from an additional mechanism--the formation of indirect band gaps--that plays an important role in photovoltaics.
Nature uses porphyrines as universal molecules e g. in hemoglobin and chlorophyll, where these organic dyes convert light into chemical energy.
A metal-organic solar cell produced on the basis of this novel porphyrine-MOF is presented now by the researchers in the journal Angewandte Chemie (Applied Chemistry.
high efficiency resulting from an indirect electronic band gap?.""The clou is that we just need a single organic molecule in the solar cell,
"Wöll says. The researchers expect that the photovoltaic capacity of the material may be increased considerably in the future by filling the pores in the crystalline lattice structure with molecules that can release
and take up electric charges. By means of a process developed at KIT, the crystalline frameworks grow in layers on a transparent,
and also allows for the coating of larger plastic carrier surfaces, "Wöll says. Thanks to their mechanical properties, MOF thin films of a few hundred nanometers in thickness can be used for flexible solar cells or for the coating of clothing material or deformable components.
While the demand for technical systems converting sunlight into electricity is increasing, organic materials represent a highly interesting alternative to silicon that has to be processed at high costs before it can be used for the photoactive layer of a solar cell l
#A diode a few atoms thick shows surprising quantum effect A quantum mechanical transport phenomenon demonstrated for the first time in synthetic,
atomically-thin layered material at room temperature could lead to novel nanoelectronic circuits and devices, according to researchers at Penn State and three other U s. and international universities.
The quantum transport effect, called negative differential resistance (NDR), was observed when a voltage was applied to structures made of one-atom-thick layers of several layered materials known as Van der waals materials.
The three-part structures consist of a base of graphene followed by atomic layers of either molybdenum disulfide (Mos2
The potential of NDR lies in low voltage electronic circuits that could be operated at high frequency.""Theory suggests that stacking two-dimensional layers of different materials one atop the other can lead to new materials with new phenomena,
"says Joshua Robinson, a Penn State assistant professor of materials science and engineering whose student, Yu-Chuan Lin, is first author on a paper appearing online today, June 19, in the journal Nature Communications.
The paper is titled"Atomically Thin Resonant Tunnel Diodes Built from Synthetic Van der waals Heterostructures.""Achieving NDR in a resonant tunneling diode at room temperature requires nearly perfect interfaces,
which are possible using direct growth techniques, in this case oxide vaporization of molybdenum oxide in the presence of sulfur vapor to make the Mos2 layer,
they consulted an expert in nanoscale electronic devices, Suman Datta, who told them they were seeing a 2d version of a resonant tunneling diode,
a quantum mechanical device that operates at low power.""Resonant tunnel diodes are important circuit components, "says Datta, a coauthor on the paper and Penn State professor of electrical engineering."
"Resonant tunneling diodes with NDR can be used to build high frequency oscillators. What this means is we have built the world's thinnest resonant tunneling diode,
and it operates at room temperature!""Coauthor Robert Wallace of the University of Texas at Dallas says this collaborative work represents an important achievement in the realization of useful 2d integrated circuits."
"The ability to observe the resonant behavior at room temperature with synthesized 2d materials rather than exfoliated,
stacked flakes is exciting as it points toward the possibilities for scalable device fabrication methods that are more compatible with industrial interests.
The challenge we now must address includes improving the grown 2d materials further and obtaining better performance for future device applications,
The UT-Dallas coauthors provided the detailed atomic resolution materials characterization for the resonant tunneling diodes discovered at Penn State.
Datta credits a theoretical understanding of the electron transport in the 2d layered materials to his post-doc
Ram Krishna Ghosh, whose calculations show close correspondence to the experimental results. Datta cautions that the new resonant tunnel diode is just one element in a circuit
and the next step will require building and integrating the other circuit elements, such as transistors, in 2d."
"The take home message,"he says, "is that this gives us a nugget that we as device and circuit people can start playing around with and build useful circuits for 2d electronics."
"Other coauthors include Sarah Eichfield at Penn State, Rafik Addou, Ning Lu, Hui Zhu, Xin Peng,
and Lain-Jong Li, at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi arabia. The work was performed in conjunction with the Center for Two-dimensional and Layered Materials (2dlm) at Penn State and supported by the Semiconductor Research Corporation and DARPA through the Center for Low energy Systems Technology.
Work at UT-Dallas was supported also through the Southwest Academy on Nanoelectronics sponsored by the Nanoelectronics Research Initiative and NIST T
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