Scientists Say Future Wind Turbines Could Be Recycled Into Delicious Gummy Bears – Futurism

Posted on by

It's a mouthwatering prospect.Food For Thought

Wind turbine blades arent easily recyclable, meaning that more and more of them are piling up in landfills,where the useless fiberglass husks are likely to remain forever. Thats not a problem that can be overlooked for a popular form of renewable energy, but chew on this: researchers at Michigan State University say theyve synthesized a new resin to use in the blades that can be recycled into gummy bears, and more.

The researchers created a novel thermoplastic resin strong enough to be used in turbine blades, and thats saying something, because they need to be robust enough to brunt hurricane-force winds. But when that hardy resin is thrown into an alkaline solution for digestion, its breakdown produces PMMA, or poly(methly methacrylate), a common acrylic thats used in everything from car taillights to windows. Another byproduct of the resins digestion is potassium lactate,which when purified can be used in food products including, yes, gummy candies.

"We recovered food-grade potassium lactate and used it to make gummy bear candies, which I ate," said researcher John Dorgan, who is presenting the research at the American Chemical Society this Tuesday, in a press release.

If the research bears out, in other words, it could herald an even more sustainable era for wind power.

"The beauty of our resin system is that at the end of its use cycle, we can dissolve it, and that releases it from whatever matrix its in so that it can be used over and over again in an infinite loop,"Dorgan added.

Would eating a gummy bear made from a turbine be gross? Dorgan doesnt think so.

"A carbon atom derived from a plant, like corn or grass, is no different from a carbon atom that came from a fossil fuel,"he said. Cant argue with that logic!

It all sounds promising and delicious. The next step, according to the researchers, is to start making smaller test blades out the new resin.

More on wind energy: Ironic! Norway is Building a Massive Wind Farm to Boost Oil Production

Continue reading here:

Scientists Say Future Wind Turbines Could Be Recycled Into Delicious Gummy Bears - Futurism

The Head of Facebook’s Beleaguered "Metaverse" VR Platform is Leaving the Company – Futurism

Posted on by

It's chaos over there.Metamates

Less than a year after Facebook rebranded as Meta and launched its Metaverse efforts, the head of its virtual reality platform is leaving the company for greener pastures.

Vivek Sharma, who until this weekend headed up Meta's Horizon VR platform as a vice president at the tech giant, confirmed toReuters that he's leaving the company to pursue outside opportunities.

"Thanks to [Sharma's] leadership," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement circulated by CNBC, "the Horizon product group has built a strong team with an ambitious vision, and it is just getting started."

The spokesperson also confirmed to news outlets that those who worked under Sharma, whose teams created the company's Horizon Worlds world-building VR and its virtual events division Horizon Venues, will now report to Metaverse vice president Vishal Shah.

So far, Meta has struggled to make its Metaverse vision compelling to a meaningful chunk of the population. The question now is whether Sharma's departure will help or hinder that potential transition.

Since announcing its Metaverse in October 2021 and changing the company name to Meta the following month, the ostensible transition has been rocky.

From a scary whistleblower warning and lots of expert detractions to the arguably more-damaging fact that everything we've seen so far of the Metaverse looks pretty "basic" the term used just this month by CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself to describe the graphics of his much-clowned-upon avatar it hasn't been an easy road for the nascent Metaverse, even as the company has poured billions into making it viable.

Sharma has so far declined further about his exit, so it's unclear whether he was force out or jumped ship, nevermind how the departure will effect Zuckerberg's vision long term.

From an optics perspective, though, it certainly doesn't look great.

READ MORE:Meta head of virtual reality platform Horizon leaving company [Reuters]

More on the Metaverse:People Are Going on Dates In the Metaverse and it Sounds Very Strange

Visit link:

The Head of Facebook's Beleaguered "Metaverse" VR Platform is Leaving the Company - Futurism

Startup Selling Luxurious Homes That Poke Out of the Ocean on Stalks – Futurism

Posted on by

"Every SeaPod that goes in the water gets us one step closer to restoring a marine ecosystem."SeaPods

Babe, wake up... ocean-borne, Q-tip-like smart homes just dropped, and they admittedly look pretty cool.

As USA Today reports, a Panama-based company called Ocean Builders has unveiled the SeaPod, a rounded, two-person, three-and-a-half-story luxury home that sprouts out of the ocean by way of long steel stalks. The stark white rendered interiors are decidedly modern, and each pod offers a breathtaking 360-degree view of the ocean. In the company's vision, drones will serve as life guards and deliver things like groceries and medicine, which seems convenient.

Sold yet? Good news: if you've got $295,000 to $1.5 million on hand, you can order one starting as soon as this September but it'll take a few years before you actually get to live in it, and whether the company can actually deliver on the futuristic homes remains to be seen.

On its website, Ocean Builders claims that the SeaPod, as well as its land-dwelling sibling, the GreenPod, is the world's first "eco-restorative home" essentially, the argument is that because a SeaPod would provide shade from the harsh Sun as well as a structure for sea life like coral and barnacles to attach to, building the pods will actually create a number of mini-habitats for a wide range of marine creatures.

"Every SeaPod that goes in the water," reads the company's site, "gets us one step closer to restoring a marine ecosystem."

Speaking of the environment: if you're worried about, you know, garbage, an autonomous vessel will apparently collect recycling, garbage, and other debris, while other, ahem, waste, will allegedly be incinerated into non-toxic ash, as per USA Today's report.

According to USA Today, Ocean Builders says that the first 100 pods will either be in production or delivered by the end of 2023, and the company is hoping to launch a rollout of 1,000 more structures over the following year.

"We are planting the SeaPod seed here in Panama," the company's CEO said in a statement, "but our eventual goal is to have SeaPod homes in every corner of the ocean, all around the world."

If you love the ocean, have just yourself or one other person to house, and have enough cash to luxuriously escape the pending climate catastrophe, the SeaPod could be a lovely fit for you. Although, gotta say all the incredible promises about these things might sound a bit too good to be true.

READ MORE: Fleets of futuristic homes that float above the sea are 'revolutionizing' aquatic living [USA Today]

More on future housing: This Futuristic Space Condo Is Designed to Squish into Spacex's Starship

See the original post here:

Startup Selling Luxurious Homes That Poke Out of the Ocean on Stalks - Futurism

Scientists Discover That Dogs Cry Tears of Joy When Reunited With Owners – Futurism

Posted on by

Here come the waterworks. Cry More

Dogs literally cry tears of joy when they see their owners after they've been away, scientists have found in the first study of its kind that is also totally going to make us cry, too.

Published in theCurrent Biology journal, this study by Japanese researchers found not only that dogs shed happy tears,but also that the love hormone oxytocin the same one that causes humans to feel emotional bonds with each other and with animals may be underlying that mechanism.

Researcher and paper co-writer Takefumi Kikusui of Azabu University in Japan said in a press release about the study that he first began to wonder about oxytocin tears in dogs when his standard poodle gave birth to puppies about six years ago. He noticed then that his dog had tears in her eyes as she nursed the puppies, and has been fascinated by the topic ever since.

The first part of the study, as the press statement notes, saw the Azabu scientists measuring the pups' tear volume before and after reuniting with their owners, and before and after reuniting with a random human they didn't know. The dogs' tear volume did increase when they saw their people, while seeing the unfamiliar person didn't produce the same effect.

Next, the researchers added an oxytocin solution to the dogs' eyes and they found that the tear volume was even higher when the solution was added after they were reunited with their owners. This suggested to the scientists that oxytocin may be associated with the release of tears, as it is when humans shed emotional tears.

"We had never heard of the discovery that animals shed tears in joyful situations, such as reuniting with their owners," Kikusui said, "and we were all excited that this would be a world first!"

So far, nobody has studied yet whether dogs shed tears when they're sad as well but once they do, those findings will probably unleash the waterworks in us, too.

READ MORE:Increase of tear volume in dogs after reunion with owners is mediated by oxytocin [Current Biology]

More animal love:Ambitious Researchers Want to Use AI to Talk To All Animals

Here is the original post:

Scientists Discover That Dogs Cry Tears of Joy When Reunited With Owners - Futurism

Alpha/Beta-hydrolase fold enzymes: structures, functions and mechanisms …

Posted on by

The alpha/beta-hydrolase fold family of enzymes is rapidly becoming one of the largest group of structurally related enzymes with diverse catalytic functions. Members in this family include acetylcholinesterase, dienelactone hydrolase, lipase, thioesterase, serine carboxypeptidase, proline iminopeptidase, proline oligopeptidase, haloalkane dehalogenase, haloperoxidase, epoxide hydrolase, hydroxynitrile lyase and others. The enzymes all have a Nucleophile-His-Acid catalytic triad evolved to efficiently operate on substrates with different chemical composition or physicochemical properties and in various biological contexts. For example, acetylcholine esterase catalyzes the cleavage of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, at a rate close to the limits of diffusion of substrate to the active site of the enzyme. Dienelactone hydrolase uses substrate-assisted catalysis to degrade aromatic compounds. Lipases act adsorbed at the water/lipid interface of their neutral water-insoluble ester substrates. Most lipases have their active site buried under secondary structure elements, a flap, which must change conformation to allow substrate to access the active site. Thioesterases are involved in a multitude of biochemical processes including bioluminiscence, fatty acid- and polyketide biosynthesis and metabolism. Serine carboxypeptidases recognize the negatively charged carboxylate terminus of their peptide substrates. Haloalkane dehalogenase is a detoxifying enzyme that converts halogenated aliphatics to the corresponding alcohols, while haloperoxidase catalyzes the halogenation of organic compounds. Hydroxynitrile lyase cleaves carbon-carbon bonds in cyanohydrins with concomitant hydrogen cyanide formation as a defense mechanism in plants. This paper gives an overview of catalytic activities reported for this family of enzymes by discussing selected examples. The current state of knowledge of the molecular basis for catalysis and substrate specificity is outlined. Relationships between active site anatomy, topology and conformational rearrangements in the protein molecule is discussed in the context of enzyme mechanism of action.

Read this article:

Alpha/Beta-hydrolase fold enzymes: structures, functions and mechanisms ...

Solving The Question Of Covid Variant Increased Fitness Is Like Deciphering A Rubik’s Cube – Forbes

Posted on by

Elche, Spain. April 26, 2016: Selective focus of a Rubik's cube on a computer

A hallmark of the Covid-19 pandemic is the successive waves of infection with one variant after another. Each variant appears more fit than its predecessor in terms of its ability to infect and spread in a population.

FIGURE 1: Successive waves of SARS-CoV-2 variants in the Covid-19 pandemic.

The ability of one virus to replace another is determined by its ability to evade the immune system of those previously infected or vaccinated, as well as intrinsic replication properties. It is essential to distinguish between these two properties as they work cooperatively to determine how fast a variant spreads through a population.

Most studies throughout the pandemic have focused on the ability of the virus to evade the immune system because of the importance of prior immunity. However, a few studies have investigated the intrinsic replication properties of the virus. Two recent studies have revealed previously unknown epidemiological properties.

The first by Wu et al. revealed that the incubation periods of successive variants are growing shorter. Their meta-analysis of 141 studies throughout the pandemic showed that the average incubation period of all cases was 6.57 days. For the Alpha variant specifically, the period was 5.00 days. For Beta, it was 4.50 days. For Delta, it was 4.41 days. For Omicron, it was only 3.42 days. This means later variants get the host sick sooner after the initial infection, and the virus moves much quicker from host to host.

A second paper by Reuschl et al. demonstrated that the ability of the virus to suppress interferon, the first line of defense for innate immunity, is increased amongst the latest variants.

These two properties are most likely associated with proteins other than the Spike. Specifically, the non-Spike structural proteins, namely E, M, and N, and the accessory proteins Orf3a through Orf10.

In a series of elegant experiments described by Syed et al., the Gladstone Institutes have examined the intrinsic replicative properties of the virus in the absence of the Orf proteins using a simplified virus-like particle. Virus-like particles are constructed only to contain specific proteins, allowing isolated testing of viral characteristics such as replication using luciferase enzymes to measure results.

In a previous study, the same group of researchers found that the N protein was critical to the virus replication of the Alpha variant. They found that the four mutations in most natural variants increase mRNA delivery and expression by about 10-fold, whereas other mutations such as R203M increase virus production between 50 to 150-fold, displaying the significant role the structural proteins can play in transmission pathogenesis.

Syed et al.

FIGURE 2: N Protein Enhanced Replication. (A) Map of SARS-CoV-2 N domains showing the locations of ... [+] observed mutations. Mutations that were observed to enhance signal are shown in bold. (B) RT-qPCR of supernatant collected from A549-ACE2 cells infected with WT and mutant SARS-CoV-2 at MOI of 0.1 at 24, 48, and 72 hours after infection.

In their recent study, they expand to analyze more recent variants and look at the effects of other proteins on replication outcomes, specifically, the structural proteins E, M, N, and S.

Using virus-like particles, they could individually examine the impact of mutations in each structural protein. First investigating the S protein, they found that the infectivity of the Delta Spike drops significantly compared to the ancestral B.1, whereas the Omicron Spike is roughly equivalent.

Next, they examined the N protein of the three viruses and B.1.1, which includes mutations R203K and G204R. The B.1.1 N is roughly six-fold more infectious than B.1, Delta N is 23.5-fold more infectious, and Omicron N is 26-fold more infectious, indicating the heavily mutated Delta and Omicron N proteins contribute significantly to virus infectivity.

Syed et al. then tested the M and E proteins, which is conjunction drop infectivity of both Delta and Omicron four-fold as compared to B.1. However, the Omicron M protein on its own remained as infectious as the B.1 isolate, indicating that the Omicron E protein contributes dropping infectivity.

Finally, they analyzed the different viruses with a complete set of S, N, E, and M proteins. B.1.1 was 5.3-fold more infectious than the ancestral B.1 strain, whereas Delta was only 3.7-fold more infectious, and Omicron was 4.6-fold more infectious (Figure 2).

FIGURE 3: Omicron structural gene variants alter the infectivity of SC2-VLPs. SC2-VLPs assembled in ... [+] packaging cells transformed with plasmids encoding S, E, M, and N genes and a luciferase mRNA fused to the SARS-CoV-2 packaging signal are tested for receptor-mediated cell transduction using a luciferase detection assay.

They also found that the cleavage and processing of Spike varied both between different S variants and when coexpressed with differing M and N variants. For example, Spike was less efficiently cleaved when all S, N, M, and E, were Omicron variants rather than an isolated Omicron Spike (Figure 3).

FIGURE 4: Western blot of cell lysates from cells transfected to generate VLPs stained for N, S, and ... [+] GAPDH as a loading control.

These results amplify the notion that N protein mutations play an essential role in the increased fitness of the virus. They also reveal complex interactions between the structural proteins, suggesting epistatic effects of mutated viral proteins working together to create a more infectious virus. For instance, introducing E, M, and N to an S protein may increase overall viral expression, or in some cases, it may even reduce the replication level.

These experiments add substantially to our understanding of the fitness of variants and how one virus can displace another. It involves not only immune evasion but also the ability of the virus to replicate and compensatory mutations throughout the genome that contribute to the viruss ability to spread throughout a population.

To solve a Rubik's Cube, you must have the nine pieces of each of the six sides correctly aligned. This is a good analogy for viral fitness. In addition to having optimal mutations in the Spike protein, there must also be optimal mutations in the E, M, and N proteins as well. In addition, there are many more dimensions to consider, as SARS-CoV-2 has roughly 30 proteins throughout the genome, akin to an immensely complicated 30-sided Rubiks Cube.

We await further studies that include the effects of accessory genes that are well known to play a role in the ability of the virus to counteract the immune system and possibly increase the rate of virus spread. This information would be critical to understanding current variants and what to expect from future iterations that may be more fit and possibly more dangerous or virulent.

Full coverage and live updates on the Coronavirus

Read the original post:

Solving The Question Of Covid Variant Increased Fitness Is Like Deciphering A Rubik's Cube - Forbes

Android app deals of the day: Limbo, Battle Chasers, Legacy 2 and 3, more – 9to5Toys

Posted on by

This offer has expired!Be sure to follow us on Twitter for the latest deals and more. Sign-up for our newsletters and have our best offers delivered to your inbox daily.

This afternoons collection of the best Android game and app deals is now ready to go down below the fold. Our software discounts are joined by notable deals on Samsungs new GalaxyZ Fold 4 and Flip 4 as well as its Galaxy S22 Ultra LED View and Flip Covers, but for now we are focused on the Google Play price drops. Our collection is headlined by titles like Limbo, Battle Chasers: Nightwar, Legacy 2 and 3, Alpha Launcher Prime, and YoWindow Weather. Hit the jump for a complete look at todays best Android app deals.

Todays Android hardware deals are headlined by Samsungs new GalaxyZ Fold 4 and Flip 4 at up to $160 off alongside ongoing price drops on Googles all-new Pixel 6a. Just make sure you also scope out Samsungs Galaxy S22 Ultra LED View and Flip Covers while they are 25% off before you dive into deals on theSanDisk 2TB Extreme Portable Solid-State Drive and everything in our smartphone accessories roundup.

Limbo is an award-winning indie adventure, critically acclaimed for its captivating puzzle design and immersive sound and visuals. Its dark, misty spaces and haunting narrative will stay with you forever.

Add 9to5Toys to your Google News feed.Google News

FTC: 9to5Toys is reader supported, we may earn income on affiliate links

Subscribe to the 9to5Toys YouTube Channel for all of the latest videos, reviews, and more!

See the original post here:

Android app deals of the day: Limbo, Battle Chasers, Legacy 2 and 3, more - 9to5Toys

DeLorean’s 2040 Concept Car Is Ready to Go Back to the Future – Nerdist

Posted on by

DeLorean Motor Company is back in business, announcing new vehicles for the first time in over 40 years. And of course they come with some of the styling we know and love from the Back to the Future trilogys time travel device. The Omega 2040 is a concept car that looks a lot like a spaceship version of the classic DeLorean. But on monster truck wheels. Or maybe theyre more like a Mars rover. Its a two-seater four-wheel drive electric vehicle. There are solar panels on a large black windshield that runs over the top of the car and connects to the rear window. Like the DeLorean at the end ofBack to the Future, this concept car looks like it could fold its wheels right up and fly away.

DesignTAXI brought this beast to our attention and has a bunch more photos of the concept car. As does Yanko Design.Somehow not one of them shows whether or not the Omega 2040 has those iconic gull-winged doors though. Well just have to punch the year 2040 into the time machine to see if its for sale and take one for a test drive. Check out more images of the car here.

DeLorean also announced the Alpha 5, which looks more like the classic 80s car. Gull-wing doors and all. It debuted at a fancy car show recently but wont be ready to buy until 2024. Another concept car in the lineup is the Plasmatail, which sounds like Pokmon but actually looks to be a hatchback version of the Alpha 5.

If youre not interested in owning aluxury car, there are Playmobil andLEGO versions of the classic DeLorean. And also Gigawatt, a Transformer/DeLorean/time machine combination keeping all of space and time safe from Biff Tannen and his relatives.

Melissa is Nerdists science & technology staff writer. She also moderates science of panels at conventions and co-hosts Star Warsologies, a podcast about science and Star Wars. Follow her on Twitter @melissatruth.

Excerpt from:

DeLorean's 2040 Concept Car Is Ready to Go Back to the Future - Nerdist

Nanotechnology In Medicine: Huge Potential, But What Are The Risks?

Posted on by

Nanotechnology, the manipulation of matter at the atomic and molecular scale to create materials with remarkably varied and new properties, is a rapidly expanding area of research with huge potential in many sectors, ranging from healthcare to construction and electronics. In medicine, it promises to revolutionize drug delivery, gene therapy, diagnostics, and many areas of research, development and clinical application.

This article does not attempt to cover the whole field, but offers, by means of some examples, a few insights into how nanotechnology has the potential to change medicine, both in the research lab and clinically, while touching on some of the challenges and concerns that it raises.

The prefix nano stems from the ancient Greek for dwarf. In science it means one billionth (10 to the minus 9) of something, thus a nanometer (nm) is is one billionth of a meter, or 0.000000001 meters. A nanometer is about three to five atoms wide, or some 40,000 times smaller than the thickness of human hair. A virus is typically 100 nm in size.

The ability to manipulate structures and properties at the nanoscale in medicine is like having a sub-microscopic lab bench on which you can handle cell components, viruses or pieces of DNA, using a range of tiny tools, robots and tubes.

Therapies that involve the manipulation of individual genes, or the molecular pathways that influence their expression, are increasingly being investigated as an option for treating diseases. One highly sought goal in this field is the ability to tailor treatments according to the genetic make-up of individual patients.

This creates a need for tools that help scientists experiment and develop such treatments.

Imagine, for example, being able to stretch out a section of DNA like a strand of spaghetti, so you can examine or operate on it, or building nanorobots that can walk and carry out repairs inside cell components. Nanotechnology is bringing that scientific dream closer to reality.

For instance, scientists at the Australian National University have managed to attach coated latex beads to the ends of modified DNA, and then using an optical trap comprising a focused beam of light to hold the beads in place, they have stretched out the DNA strand in order to study the interactions of specific binding proteins.

Meanwhile chemists at New York University (NYU) have created a nanoscale robot from DNA fragments that walks on two legs just 10 nm long. In a 2004 paper published in the journal Nano Letters, they describe how their nanowalker, with the help of psoralen molecules attached to the ends of its feet, takes its first baby steps: two forward and two back.

One of the researchers, Ned Seeman, said he envisages it will be possible to create a molecule-scale production line, where you move a molecule along till the right location is reached, and a nanobot does a bit chemisty on it, rather like spot-welding on a car assembly line. Seemans lab at NYU is also looking to use DNA nanotechnology to make a biochip computer, and to find out how biological molecules crystallize, an area that is currently fraught with challenges.

The work that Seeman and colleagues are doing is a good example of biomimetics, where with nanotechnology they can imitate some of the biological processes in nature, such as the behavior of DNA, to engineer new methods and perhaps even improve them.

DNA-based nanobots are also being created to target cancer cells. For instance, researchers at Harvard Medical School in the US reported recently in Science how they made an origami nanorobot out of DNA to transport a molecular payload. The barrel-shaped nanobot can carry molecules containing instructions that make cells behave in a particular way. In their study, the team successfully demonstrates how it delivered molecules that trigger cell suicide in leukemia and lymphoma cells.

Nanobots made from other materials are also in development. For instance, gold is the material scientists at Northwestern University use to make nanostars, simple, specialized, star-shaped nanoparticles that can href=http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/243856.php>deliver drugs directly to the nuclei of cancer cells. In a recent paper in the journal ACS Nano, they describe how drug-loaded nanostars behave like tiny hitchhikers, that after being attracted to an over-expressed protein on the surface of human cervical and ovarian cancer cells, deposit their payload right into the nuclei of those cells.

The researchers found giving their nanobot the shape of a star helped to overcome one of the challenges of using nanoparticles to deliver drugs: how to release the drugs precisely. They say the shape helps to concentrate the light pulses used to release the drugs precisely at the points of the star.

Scientists are discovering that protein-based drugs are very useful because they can be programmed to deliver specific signals to cells. But the problem with conventional delivery of such drugs is that the body breaks most of them down before they reach their destination.

But what if it were possible to produce such drugs in situ, right at the target site? Well, in a recent issue of Nano Letters, researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US show how it may be possible to do just that. In their proof of principle study, they demonstrate the feasibility of self-assembling nanofactories that make protein compounds, on demand, at target sites. So far they have tested the idea in mice, by creating nanoparticles programmed to produce either green fluorescent protein (GFP) or luciferase exposed to UV light.

The MIT team came up with the idea while trying to find a way to attack metastatic tumors, those that grow from cancer cells that have migrated from the original site to other parts of the body. Over 90% of cancer deaths are due to metastatic cancer. They are now working on nanoparticles that can synthesize potential cancer drugs, and also on other ways to switch them on.

Nanofibers are fibers with diameters of less than 1,000 nm. Medical applications include special materials for wound dressings and surgical textiles, materials used in implants, tissue engineering and artificial organ components.

Nanofibers made of carbon also hold promise for medical imaging and precise scientific measurement tools. But there are huge challenges to overcome, one of the main ones being how to make them consistently of the correct size. Historically, this has been costly and time-consuming.

But last year, researchers from North Carolina State University, revealed how they had developed a new method for making carbon nanofibers of specific sizes. Writing in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces in March 2011, they describe how they managed to grow carbon nanofibers uniform in diameter, by using nickel nanoparticles coated with a shell made of ligands, small organic molecules with functional parts that bond directly to metals.

Nickel nanoparticles are particularly interesting because at high temperatures they help grow carbon nanofibers. The researchers also found there was another benefit in using these nanoparticles, they could define where the nanofibers grew and by correct placement of the nanoparticles they could grow the nanofibers in a desired specific pattern: an important feature for useful nanoscale materials.

Lead is another substance that is finding use as a nanofiber, so much so that neurosurgeon-to-be Matthew MacEwan, who is studying at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, started his own nanomedicine company aimed at revolutionizing the surgical mesh that is used in operating theatres worldwide.

The lead product is a synthetic polymer comprising individual strands of nanofibers, and was developed to repair brain and spinal cord injuries, but MacEwan thinks it could also be used to mend hernias, fistulas and other injuries.

Currently, the surgical meshes used to repair the protective membrane that covers the brain and spinal cord are made of thick and stiff material, which is difficult to work with. The lead nanofiber mesh is thinner, more flexible and more likely to integrate with the bodys own tissues, says MacEwan. Every thread of the nanofiber mesh is thousands of times smaller than the diameter of a single cell. The idea is to use the nanofiber material not only to make operations easier for surgeons to carry out, but also so there are fewer post-op complications for patients, because it breaks down naturally over time.

Researchers at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) have recently demonstrated a new way to make nanofibers out of proteins. Writing recently in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, the researchers say they came across their finding almost by chance: they were studying certain cylinder-shaped proteins derived from cartilage, when they noticed that in high concentrations, some of the proteins spontaneously came together and self-assembled into nanofibers.

They carried out further experiments, such as adding metal-recognizing amino acids and different metals, and found they could control fiber formation, alter its shape, and how it bound to small molecules. For instance, adding nickel transformed the fibers into clumped mats, which could be used to trigger the release of an attached drug molecule.

The researchers hope this new method will greatly improve the delivery of drugs to treat cancer, heart disorders and Alzheimers disease. They can also see applications in regeneration of human tissue, bone and cartilage, and even as a way to develop tinier and more powerful microprocessors for use in computers and consumer electronics.

Recent years have seen an explosion in the number of studies showing the variety of medical applications of nanotechnology and nanomaterials. In this article we have glimpsed just a small cross-section of this vast field. However, across the range, there exist considerable challenges, the greatest of which appear to be how to scale up production of materials and tools, and how to bring down costs and timescales.

But another challenge is how to quickly secure public confidence that this rapidly expanding technology is safe. And so far, it is not clear whether that is being done.

There are those who suggest concerns about nanotechnology may be over-exaggerated. They point to the fact that just because a material is nanosized, it does not mean it is dangerous, indeed nanoparticles have been around since the Earth was born, occurring naturally in volcanic ash and sea-spray, for example. As byproducts of human activity, they have been present since the Stone Age, in smoke and soot.

Of attempts to investigate the safety of nanomaterials, the National Cancer Institute in the US says there are so many nanoparticles naturally present in the environment that they are often at order-of-magnitude higher levels than the engineered particles being evaluated. In many respects, they point out, most engineered nanoparticles are far less toxic than household cleaning products, insecticides used on family pets, and over-the-counter dandruff remedies, and that for instance, in their use as carriers of chemotherapeutics in cancer treatment, they are much less toxic than the drugs they carry.

It is perhaps more in the food sector that we have seen some of the greatest expansion of nanomaterials on a commercial level. Although the number of foods that contain nanomaterials is still small, it appears set to change over the next few years as the technology develops. Nanomaterials are already used to lower levels of fat and sugar without altering taste, or to improve packaging to keep food fresher for longer, or to tell consumers if the food is spoiled. They are also being used to increase the bioavailablity of nutrients (for instance in food supplements).

But, there are also concerned parties, who highlight that while the pace of research quickens, and the market for nanomaterials expands, it appears not enough is being done to discover their toxicological consequences.

This was the view of a science and technology committee of the House of Lords of the British Parliament, who in a recent report on nanotechnology and food, raise several concerns about nanomaterials and human health, particularly the risk posed by ingested nanomaterials.

For instance, one area that concerns the committee is the size and exceptional mobility of nanoparticles: they are small enough, if ingested, to penetrate cell membranes of the lining of the gut, with the potential to access the brain and other parts of the body, and even inside the nuclei of cells.

Another is the solubility and persistence of nanomaterials. What happens, for instance, to insoluble nanoparticles? If they cant be broken down and digested or degraded, is there a danger they will accumulate and damage organs? Nanomaterials comprising inorganic metal oxides and metals are thought to be the ones most likely to pose a risk in this area.

Also, because of their high surface area to mass ratio, nanoparticles are highly reactive, and may for instance, trigger as yet unknown chemical reactions, or by bonding with toxins, allow them to enter cells that they would otherwise have no access to.

For instance, with their large surface area, reactivity and electrical charge, nanomaterials create the conditions for what is described as particle aggregation due to physical forces and particle agglomoration due to chemical forces, so that individual nanoparticles come together to form larger ones. This may lead not only to dramatically larger particles, for instance in the gut and inside cells, but could also result in disaggregation of clumps of nanoparticles, which could radically alter their physicochemical properties and chemical reactivity.

Such reversible phenomena add to the difficulty in understanding the behaviour and toxicology of nanomaterials, says the committee, whose overall conclusion is that neither Government nor the Research Councils are giving enough priority to researching the safety of nanotechnology, especially considering the timescale within which products containing nanomaterials may be developed.

They recommend much more research is needed to ensure that regulatory agencies can effectively assess the safety of products before they are allowed onto the market.

It would appear, therefore, whether actual or perceived, the potential risk that nanotechnology poses to human health must be investigated, and be seen to be investigated. Most nanomaterials, as the NCI suggests, will likely prove to be harmless.

But when a technology advances rapidly, knowledge and communication about its safety needs to keep pace in order for it to benefit, especially if it is also to secure public confidence. We only have to look at what happened, and to some extent is still happening, with genetically modified food to see how that can go badly wrong.

Written by Catharine Paddock PhD

Excerpt from:

Nanotechnology In Medicine: Huge Potential, But What Are The Risks?

Medical applications of nanotechnology – PubMed

Posted on by

Nanotechnologies are new areas of research focusing on affecting matter at the atomic and molecular levels. It is beyond doubt that modern medicine can benefit greatly from it; thus nanomedicine has become one of the main branches of nanotechnological research. Currently it focuses on developing new methods of preventing, diagnosing and treating various diseases. Nanomaterials show very high efficiency in destroying cancer cells and are already undergoing clinical trials. The results are so promising that nanomaterials might become an alternative to traditional cancer therapy, mostly due to the fact that they allow cancer cells to be targeted specifically and enable detailed imaging of tissues, making planning further therapy much easier. Nanoscience might also be a source of the needed breakthrough in the fight against atherosclerosis, since nanostructures may be used in both preventing and increasing the stability of atherosclerotic lesions. One area of interest is creating nanomaterials that are not only efficient, but also well tolerated by the human body. Other potential applications of nanotechnology in medicine include: nanoadjuvants with immunomodulatory properties used to deliver vaccine antigens; the nano-knife, an almost non-invasive method of destroying cancer cells with high voltage electricity; and carbon nanotubes, which are already a popular way of repairing damaged tissues and might be used to regenerate nerves in the future. The aim of this article is to outline the potential uses of nanotechnology in medicine. Original articles and reviews have been used to present the new developments and directions of studies.

Continued here:

Medical applications of nanotechnology - PubMed

Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis Articles Highlight the Potential of Nanotechnology to Detect Clinically Useful Biomolecules – PR Newswire

Posted on by

XI'AN, China, Aug. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The advent of nanotechnology has led to exciting innovations across all fields of healthcare. While drug delivery and disease treatment are the most commonly discussed medical applications of nanotechnology, recent studies published in Volume 12 Issue 3 of Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis highlight three innovations in nanotechnology that allow more efficient biomolecular detection for patient monitoring.

The first study, first made available online on September 16, 2021, describes the development of a nanosensor that allows highly sensitive electrochemical evaluation of rutin, an important anticancer compound. Most previous methods of rutin detection have only been effective under acidic conditions. However, they cannot be applied for rutin evaluation in clinical samples (non-acidic), which is necessary for drug monitoring and individualized drug delivery plans. A team of researchers solved this problem by combining 3D porous carbon (PC) and cobalt tungstate (CoWO4) nanosheets to obtain a nanosensor that detects rutin in clinical samples. They modified glass electrodes with this nanosensor and tested its efficacy in the electrochemical detection of rutin in human serum samples. They found that this nanodetector offered high sensitivity and could detect rutin concentrations as low as 0.45 ng/mL. Hence, the PC/CoWO4-based sensor showed potential as an excellent tool for electroanalysis and can be used for developing new laboratory devices for faster clinical decision-making.

Like rutin, paracetamol, a common fever- and pain-reducing agent, also needs to be evaluated during treatment. Although the simultaneous monitoring of paracetamol and dopamine, a neurotransmitter and biomarker, can help assess a patient's status, it is challenging because these two biomolecules interfere with each other. Addressing this problem, the second study, first made available online on September 1, 2021, focused on the development of nanoparticles for the simultaneous evaluation of these two compounds in clinical samples. In this study, researchers from Fujian, China developed double-shelled spherical nanoparticles and tested their efficacy for paracetamol and dopamine detection in human serum and saliva. Owing to the intelligent design and the presence of double shells, the nanoparticles had several advantages, such as high conductivity and long-time durability. Using these nanoparticles, dopamine and paracetamol levels as low as 40 and 50 nmol/L, respectively, could be detected with high sensitivity and reliability from clinical samples.

The final study, which reports the design of a fluorescent probe for the detection of the biomarker hypochlorite, a chemical that generates atherogenic lipoprotein granules that may induce heart disease, neurodegenerative diseases, arthritis, and even cancer, was first made available online on October 9, 2021. The researchers used an intricate process to design a glowing, fluorescent hypochlorite probe called hypochlorite chemiluminescence probe 1 (HCCL-1). They then modified this probe using three different methods to design three new probes: HCCL-2, HCCL-3, and HCCL-4, and found that HCCL-2 presented high photon emission. In the presence of hypochlorite, HCCL-2 showed high sensitivity and selectivity for hypochlorite monitoring both in vitro and in vivo. The developed probes can help us detect small molecules easily and provide a powerful method for analyzing and detecting diseases involving hypochlorite.

Together, these highly encouraging advances pave the way for the design of new and advanced nanosensors for chemical detection.

Reference

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpha.2021.09.007

Title of original paper: Highly sensitive electrochemical determination of rutin based on the synergistic effect of 3D porous carbon and cobalt tungstate nanosheets

Journal: Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis

Media Contact: Fen QiuXi'an, China[emailprotected]+86-131-5206-8068

SOURCE Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis

Excerpt from:

Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis Articles Highlight the Potential of Nanotechnology to Detect Clinically Useful Biomolecules - PR Newswire

Beyond Earth: The Impact of Ukraine-Russia Conflict on Outer Space – Modern Diplomacy

Posted on by

Beginning in February 2022, Russia started to launch a special military operation by deploying military troops to Ukraines territory. Starting by shelling a few locations in the east, north, and south, the Russian military attacked Bakhmut in the Donbas region. The Russian army enlarged its action to different locations, including Mariupol. There are various backgrounds from the war. From Putins administration perspective, he wants unity among the Eastern Slavs (Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians) because they came from the same Rus Commonwealth, and they expect can work together and share a common political understanding in the future. Moreover, the Putin administration claimed the West (EU and USA) was using Ukraine and Belarus as part of an anti-Russia Project.

Back then to 2014, Russia annexed Crimea and intervened in Donbas by using commonwealth and a similar identity to people in Crimea. The conflict influenced many sectors at an international level, like trade, global agenda, monetary, G20 meetings, and the post-covid development process. However, we are missing something more important from the post-conflict aspect: outer space.

Russian in Space Activity

In the historical record, Russia was the leading actor in space activity; from Yuri Gagarin, the first cosmonaut that reached the galaxy, Russias capability in space can not be underestimated. Through Roscosmos, the Russian national entity in space, Russia achieved many goals in space activity (Even in the Soviet era). Russia became the first country to send humans to space by using spacecraft, the first country to send the first satellite in the world (Sputnik 1), and the first country with a space station (Salyut). In the modern era, Russia has become a superpower country that has space weapons. Moskow shows their interest in space weapons for military purposes. For instance, Russia has the first Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBs) as a nuclear-delivery system. Russia also has the advanced kinetic satellite intercept and can use on the ground and intercept satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Furthermore, Russia has the most advanced capability in kinetic satellite jamming, GPS signal interference by using mobile electronic warfare systems, Krona optical surveillance system for satellite detection, and satellite bodyguards, which can protect the other Russian satellites from threats in the galaxy.

From the beginning, Russia established the first rudimentary station in the world by linking the two Soyuz vehicles in 1969. After that, the USA developed its own space station called US Skylab. After 24 years and finishing more than 30 missions, Russia plays an important role in the ISS. in late July 2022, Russia contributed a few significant technologies to ISS, namely: Full configuration docking system, Orlan MKS spacesuit, and Fedor robot that the first humanoid cosmonaut with safety purposes. In the past, Russia contributed various modules, and the critical technology in ISS was The Zvezda Service Module. The Zvezda is a former part of the Mir-2 space station in the Soviet era and is still in use until now.

Impact on Space Activity

After the war began, the EU state members embargoed Russia from economic activity, followed by the USA. The crisis dragged us to the edge of a cliff. According to the Consilium EU, member states of the EU applied six months embargo packages, covering; finance, energy, technology, dual-use goods, industry, transport, and luxury goods. After various embargoes and monetary limitations, Moscow responded to the EU policies by cutting oil distribution to EU countries. The Putin administration also applied for trade payments with Russian currency. The conflict between two countries transformed into a multi-state conflict. Before we jump too deep into this issue, it is essential to know about the ISS functional. International Space Station or popularly called ISS, was multilateral cooperation among countries in the world. The primary purpose of ISS was to explore potential resources in space. ISS has 15 state members and elaborates on achieving various missions, such as technology development and maintaining services sectors such as telecommunication, banking, commercial, and education.

The Putin administration knows about Russian power. As we already have seen above, Russian space capabilities can not be underestimated. Facing the embargoes that the West launched, Moscow decided to leave the ISS in 2024, according to Yuri Borisov, Head of state-controlled space corporation Roscosmos, and focus on building their space station. With all Russias contributions to the ISS, this orbital outpost depends on Russian modules that have existed for a long time, such as the Zvezda service module and a few modules belonging to Russia. The next question mark on our heads is, what is the impact of Russia leaving the ISS? For instance, Zvezda, the vital contribution from Russia, had a necessary task in ISS operation. This module was the core to providing living quarters as well as refueling capability to the fledgling ISS. Moreover, the Zarya Control module has the capability to maneuver and power suppliers at the initial phase of the stations life and later became a storage vehicle for cargo and propellant. NEP, Science and Power platform, is also necessary. This module has a special truss and was expected to carry an array of solar panels, power-generating concentrators, radiators, and scientific payloads.

Future Space Rivalry

Due to the cost and limitations of technology, space should be administered by cooperation among countries. Transferring knowledge and technology is a key to managing space peacefully. However, international actors and significant nations around the globe are trapped in competition. Bring outer space to the anarchy world. Each major government was weaponizing outer space with high-tech arms. Today, China has established its own space outpost called Tiangong, providing its satellites with security arms, testing their space weapon, and creating a billion space debris. India has tested their FOBs and attached satellite jamming in various locations on the entire land, and the EU has launched a mega constellation project in the near future to boost telecommunication services and secure their assets in space. We can assume that, after Russia leaves ISS and builds its own space station, space rivalry will become more complex and uncontrollable, especially since many private sectors and developing countries show their interest in space.

Related

See the original post:

Beyond Earth: The Impact of Ukraine-Russia Conflict on Outer Space - Modern Diplomacy

Weaving atomically thin seams of light with in-plane heterostructures – Nanowerk

Posted on by

Aug 27, 2022(Nanowerk News) Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have developed a way to produce high quality monolayers of a selection of different transition metal dichalcogenides which meet over an atomically thin seam.By coating this layer with an ion gel, a mixture of an ionic liquid and a polymer, they could excite light emission along the seam. The light was also found to be naturally circularly polarized, a product of the customizable strain across the boundary.Tungsten diselenide and tungsten disulfide monolayers combine over an atomically thin seam in an in-plane heterostructure. (Image: Tokyo Metropolitan University)The team reported thir findings in Advanced Functional Materials ("Efficient and Chiral Electroluminescence from In-Plane Heterostructure of Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Monolayers").Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have become ubiquitous through their revolutionary impact on nearly all forms of lighting. But as our needs diversify and performance demands grow, there is still a clear need for even more power efficient solutions.One such option involves the application of in-plane heterostructures, where ultra-thin layers of different materials are patterned onto surfaces to produce boundaries.(left) Tungsten disulfide and tungsten diselenide regions observed using optical microscopy. (right) Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) image of the boundary between the two different TMDCs. (Image: Tokyo Metropolitan University)In the case of LEDs, this is where electrons and holes (mobile voids in semiconducting materials) recombine to produce light. The efficiency, functionality, and scope of applications for such structures are determined not only by the materials used but by the dimensions and nature of the boundaries, which has led to a great deal of research into controlling their structure at the nanoscale.A team of researchers led by Associate Professor Yasumitsu Miyata of Tokyo Metropolitan University, Assistant Professor Jiang Pu and Professor Taishi Takenobu of Nagoya University have been investigating the use of a class of materials known as transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), a family of substances containing a group 16 element from the periodic table and a transition metal.They have been using a technique known as chemical vapor deposition to controllably deposit elements onto surfaces to create atomically thin monolayers; much of their work has been to do with how such monolayers can be varied to create patterns with different regions made of different TMDCs.(left) Optical microscope image of an in-plane heterostructure with two electrodes attached. (right) Once a voltage is applied, light is seen to be emitted from the interface between the two different TMDCs. (Image: Tokyo Metropolitan University)Now, the same team have succeeded in significantly refining this technology. They redesigned their growth chamber so that different materials could be moved closer to the substrate in a set sequence; they also introduced additives to change the vaporization temperature of each component, allowing for optimized conditions for the growth of high-quality crystalline layers.As a result, they succeeded in using four different TMDCs to create six different types of sharp, atomically thin seams. Furthermore, by adding an ion gel, a mixture of an ionic liquid (a fluid of positive and negative ions at room temperature) and a polymer, a voltage could be applied across the seams to produce electroluminescence, the same basic phenomenon underlying LEDs.Positive and negative ions in the ionic liquid are mobile even while the polymer network keeps the gel rigid. When a voltage is applied, ions migrate and induce the transport of electrons and holes, which in turn recombine at the interface to create light. (Image: Tokyo Metropolitan University)The customizability of their setup and the high quality of their interfaces makes it possible to explore a wide range of permutations, including different degrees of misfit or strain between different TMDCs.Interestingly, the team discovered that the boundary between a monolayer of tungsten diselenide and tungsten disulfide produced a handed form of light known as circularly polarized light, a direct product of the strain at the seam. This new degree of control at the nanoscale opens up a world of possibilities for how their new structures may be applied to real devices, particularly in the field of quantum optoelectronics.

Go here to see the original:

Weaving atomically thin seams of light with in-plane heterostructures - Nanowerk

White, red, and blue signals alert you to dangerous germs – Nanowerk

Posted on by

Aug 29, 2022(Nanowerk News) Osaka Metropolitan University scientists have developed a simple, rapid method to simultaneously identify multiple food poisoning bacteria, based on color differences in the scattered light by nanometer-scaled organic metal nanohybrid structures (NHs) that bind via antibodies to those bacteria. This method is a promising tool for rapidly detecting bacteria at food manufacturing sites and thereby improving food safety.The findings were published in Analytical Chemistry ("Simultaneous Optical Detection of Multiple Bacterial Species Using Nanometer- Scaled MetalOrganic Hybrids").Introducing antibodies that specifically bind to bacteria into nanometer-scaled hybrid structures of polymer-coated metal nanoparticles and then using these structures as test labels, OMU scientists successfully detected food poisoning bacteria E. coli O26, E. coli O157, and S. aureus as white, red, and blue scattered light under the microscope. (Image: Shiigi, Osaka Metropolitan University)According to the World Health Organization (WHO), every year food poisoning affects 600 million people worldwidealmost 1 in every 10 peopleof which 420,000 die. Bacterial tests are conducted to detect food poisoning bacteria at food manufacturing factories, but it takes more than 48 hours to obtain results due to the time required for a bacteria incubation process called culturing. Therefore, there remains a demand for rapid testing methods to eliminate food poisoning accidents.Responding to this need, the research team led by Professor Hiroshi Shiigi at the Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka Metropolitan University, utilized the optical properties of organic metal NHscomposites consisting of polyaniline particles that encapsulate a large number of metal nanoparticlesto rapidly and simultaneously identify food poisoning-inducing bacteria called enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (E. coli O26 and E. coli O157) and Staphylococcus aureus.The team first found that organic metal NHs produced stronger scattered light than metal nanoparticles of the same size. Since the scattered light of these NHs is stable in the air for a long period of time, they are expected to function as stable and highly sensitive labeling materials. Furthermore, it has been revealed that these NHs exhibit different colors of scattered light (white, red, and blue) depending on the metal elements of the nanoparticles (gold, silver, and copper).Then the team introduced antibodies that bind specifically to E. coli O26, E. coli O157, and S. aureus into the organic metal NHs and used these NHs as labels to evaluate the binding properties of the antibody-conjugated NHs to specific bacterial species.As a result, E. coli O26, E. coli O157, and S. aureus were observed as white, red, and blue scattered light, respectively, under the microscope.Furthermore, when adding predetermined amounts of E. coli O26, E. coli O157, and S. aureus to rotten meat samples containing various species of bacteria, the team succeeded in using these labels to simultaneously identify each bacterial species added. This method can identify various types of bacteria by changing the antibodies to be introduced. In addition, since it does not require culturing, bacteria can be rapidly detected within one hour, increasing its practicality as a new testing method.Professor Shiigi commented, "We aim to establish new detection principles and testing methods through the development of unique nano-biomaterials. Through this development, we hope to contribute not only to food safety and security, but also to the formation of a safe and affluent society in terms of stable supply and quality control of functional foods, medical care, drug discovery, and public health.

Read more here:

White, red, and blue signals alert you to dangerous germs - Nanowerk

BSO and GBH Host ‘An Evening With Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, And Sarah Botstein’ at Symphony Hall Next Month – Broadway World

Posted on by

Boston public media producer GBH and the Boston Symphony Orchestra will host THE U.S. AND THE HOLOCAUST: An Evening with Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, and Sarah Botstein on Monday, September 12, 2022 at 7 p.m. at Symphony Hall, Boston.

This special event is being presented in connection with the release of THE U.S. AND THE HOLOCAUST, a new three-part documentary directed and produced by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, and Sarah Botstein. The film explores America's response to one of the greatest humanitarian crises in history.

THE U.S. AND THE HOLOCAUST: An Evening with Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, and Sarah Botstein will feature clips from the film, followed by a behind-the-scenes conversation with the filmmakers. Music from the film will be performed live by musicians Kyle Sanna and Johnny Gandelsman, who performed the music in the documentary. The discussion will be moderated by Pam Johnston, general manager of GBH News. Tickets are $15-$25 and are available now at bso.org/events and at the box office at Symphony Hall, Boston.

Inspired in part by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's "Americans and the Holocaust" exhibition and supported by its historical resources, THE U.S. AND THE HOLOCAUST examines the rise of Hitler and Nazism in Germany in the context of global antisemitism and racism, the eugenics movement in the United States, and race laws in the American South.

The film features interviews with some of the country's leading scholars on the period, including Daniel Greene, Rebecca Erbelding, Peter Hayes, Deborah Lipstadt, Daniel Mendelsohn, Daniel Okrent, Nell Irvin Painter, Mae Ngai, and Timothy Snyder. On-camera witnesses include Susan Hilsenrath Warsinger, Eva Geiringer [Schloss], Joseph Hilsenrath, Marlene Mendelsohn, Sol Messinger, and Guy Stern, who recently turned 100 years old.

THE U.S. AND THE HOLOCAUST will air September 18, 19, and 20, at 8-10 p.m. ET on GBH 2, PBS.org, and the PBS Video app. Funding for THE U.S. AND THE HOLOCAUST was provided by Bank of America; David M. Rubenstein; the Park Foundation; the Judy and Peter Blum Kovler Foundation; Gilbert S. Omenn and Martha A.Darling; The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations; and by members of The Better Angels Society. Funding was also provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by public television viewers.

Read the original post:

BSO and GBH Host 'An Evening With Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, And Sarah Botstein' at Symphony Hall Next Month - Broadway World

The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, August 29, 2022 | FlaglerLive – FlaglerLive.com

Posted on by

Weather: Showers likely. A slight chance of thunderstorms in the morning, then thunderstorms likely in the afternoon. Some thunderstorms may produce heavy rainfall in the afternoon. Highs around 90. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.Monday Night: Mostly cloudy. Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly in the evening. Some thunderstorms may produce heavy rainfall. Lows in the lower 70s. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60 percent.

Today at the Editors Glance:

In Court: Circuit Judge Terence Perkins holds arraignments, pleas, sentencing and bond hearings throughout the day.

The Flagler County School Board holds a closed-door session to discuss an ongoing collective bargaining dispute with its service workers union, who have been promised a minimum pay of $15 an hour, but who are arguing that those above that threshold should be getting some higher pay as well. The meeting is at 8:30 a.m. in the superintendents conference room.

Nar-Anon Family Groupsoffers hope and help for families and friends of addicts through a 12-step program, 6 p.m. at St. Mark by the Sea Lutheran Church, 303 Palm Coast Pkwy NE, Palm Coast, Fellowship Hall Entrance. See the website, http://www.nar-anon.org, or call (800) 477-6291. Find virtual meetingshere.

The US Open begins in Flushing meadows, Queens. Unfortunately, Palm Coasts Reilly Opelka, now ranked 28th in the world after a difficult summer, had to pull out because of injuries. Medvedev is seeded first, Nadal second, Djokovic, currently sixth in the world, is not playing, since hes unvaccinated (and Moderna, the vaccine manufacturer, is a top sponsor of the US Open this year).

Keep in mind, I: Private Behind the Scenes Tour at the Sea Turtle Hospital at Whitney Laboratory Let one of our Sea Turtle Biologists guide you through our Hospital. Youll learn about who we are, what we do and meet our current patients. Behind the Scenes Tours of the Sea Turtle Hospital are a great way to see the day to day activities at the Hospital. Please be aware tours last an hour to an hour and a half depending on group questions. Participants will spend that time standing and walking between various areas of the Hospital, occasionally on unpaved surfaces and steps. School aged children are welcome on this tour. COST: $200, for up to five people. Reservations are required. For questions, email[emailprotected] Whitney Laboratory Sea Turtle Hospital, St. Augustine.

Keep in Mind, II: The Flagler Youth Orchestra Strings Program, a special project of the Flagler County School District, is launching its eighteenth season. Visit the string programs website at http://www.flagleryouthorchestra.org to enroll online. Enrollment is open now and until Sept. 14. An open house and information session will be held August 31 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Flagler Auditorium, 5500 State Road 100, in Palm Coast. Flagler Countys public, private, charter and home-schooled students, 8 years old and older, may sign up to play violin, viola, cello, or double bass. Beginner, intermediate and advanced musicians are welcome. Tuition is free. Limited instrument scholarships are available. Students will learn about the enriching world of classical music and many other genres while receiving comprehensive string instruction in a player-friendly environment twice a week after school. One-hour classes are held at Indian Trails Middle School on Mondays and Wednesdays between 3:30 and 6:30 p.m., depending on your childs time slot. Some scheduling restrictions apply. Attend the August 31st orientation at the Flagler Auditorium to learn more about the strings program and how to get started. For more information about the program, call (386)503-3808 or email [emailprotected].

Notably: Todays notable birthdays are a trifecta of paradoxes: Theres John Locke (1632), founding father to our founders and the religion of political liberty who nevertheless was a slave trader, not just owner. Theres Michael Jackson (1958), superstar of superstars and shadowy pedophile. And theres Oliver Wendell Holmes, on whom Ill concentrate todays cake and ice cream. Holmes was considered to be part of the minuscule liberal wing of the Supreme Court, along with Louis Brandeis (a more authentic liberal), during one of the courts most acidly conservative eras (an era the Thomas court is now mirroring). But he was also a fanatical war lover, a supporter of eugenics, and the author of one of the most repugnant opinions authored at the Supreme Court, Buck v. Bell, the 1927 decision upholding the right of government to sterilize the mentally disabled, itself a dog-whistle for the poor. Holmess words drip with contempt, if not hatred, the way Orwell inThe Road to Wigan Pier at one point describes what we were taughtthe lower classes smell. The smell of their sweat, the very texture of their skins, were mysteriously different from yours. Read these lines of Holmess and you get the same sense of disgustfirst from his prose, then for him, for being a man capable of writing this prose. But before you read this passage, take note of the line right before the one about imbeciles: The principle that sustains compulsory vaccination is broad enough to cover cutting the Fallopian tubes. So anti-vaxxers are not completely, entirely without some historical context for their opposition, however subconscious it may be: when the government wields the tools of public health, it can very well be a slippery slope, as Buck v. Bell proved, and the people at the lower ends of the scales pay: The decision allowed 30 states to adopt laws to that effect. I think Albert Alschuler had it right when he called Holmess jurisprudence law without value. Heres Holmes:

The judgment finds the facts that have been recited and that Carrie Buck is the probable potential parent of socially inadequate offspring, likewise afflicted, that she may be sexually sterilized without detriment to her general health and that her welfare and that of society will be promoted by her sterilization, and thereupon makes the order. In view of the general declarations of the Legislature and the specific findings of the Court obviously we cannot say as matter of law that the grounds do not exist, and if they exist they justify the result. We have seen more than once that the public welfare may call upon the best citizens for their lives. It would be strange if it could not call upon those who already sap the strength of the State for these lesser sacrifices, often not felt to be such by those concerned, in order to prevent our being swamped with incompetence. It is better for all the world, if instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime, or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind. The principle that sustains compulsory vaccination is broad enough to cover cutting the Fallopian tubes. Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11, 25 S. Ct. 358, 3 Ann. Cas. 765. Three generations of imbeciles are enough. (See the full decision.)

Now this: Dedicated, of course, to Jill Woolbright.

The Live Calendar is a compendium of local and regional political, civic and cultural events. You can input your own calendar events directly onto the site as you wish them to appear (pending approval of course). To include your event in the Live Calendar, please fill out this form.

For the full calendar, go here.

Viewing life as a race or contestan occasion for functioning and nothing more was a basic Holmesian theme. When Yale University awarded Holmes an honorary degree in 1886, he responded: I never heard anyone profess indifference to a boat race. Why should you row a boat race? Why endure long months of pain in preparation for a fierce half-hour that will leave you all but dead? Does any one ask the question? . Is life less than a boat race? At a law school dedication in 1902, Holmes observed, Art, philosophy, charity, the search for the north pole, the delirium of every great moment in mans experience- all alike mean uneconomic expendituremean wastemean a step toward death. He then remarked an explorers account of his search for the pole rather loses than gains in ideal satisfaction by the pretence of a few trifling acquisitions for science.

From Albert Alschulers Law Without Values: The Life, Work and Legacy of Justice Holmes (2000).

The Cartoon and Live Briefing Archive.

See original here:

The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, August 29, 2022 | FlaglerLive - FlaglerLive.com

The West has a Caste System and this is Just the Latest Proof – The Dharma Dispatch

Posted on by

It must take incredible levels of evil to demonise the rest of the world based on nothing but skin colour. But then, skin-colour racism was just the industrialised Wests avatar of a far more ancient racism: dividing the world into believers and heathens. The heathen, like the Kaffir was condemned by birth. He needs saving or slaughter. There is no middle path.

In a truly brilliant essay, Michael Crichton, one of the last great novelists of our own time, tore apart an even more contemporary version of Western racism.

"Imagine that there is a new scientific theory that warns of an impending crisis, and points to a way out.

This theory quickly draws support from leading scientists, politicians and celebrities around the world. Research is funded by distinguished philanthropies, and carried out at prestigious universities. The crisis is reported frequently in the media. The science is taught in college and high school classrooms.

I dont mean global warming. Im talking about another theory, which rose to prominence a century ago.

Its supporters included Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Winston Churchill. It was approved by Supreme Court justices Oliver Wendell Holmes and Louis Brandeis, who ruled in its favor. The famous names who supported it included Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone; activist Margaret Sanger; botanist Luther Burbank; Leland Stanford, founder of Stanford University; the novelist H. G. Wells; the playwright George Bernard Shaw; and hundreds of others. Nobel Prize winners gave support. Research was backed by the Carnegie and Rockefeller Foundations. The Cold Springs Harbor Institute was built to carry out this research, but important work was also done at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford and Johns Hopkins. Legislation to address the crisis was passed in states from New York to California It was said that if Jesus were alive, he would have supported this effort.

Today, we know that this famous theory that gained so much support was actually pseudoscience. The crisis it claimed was nonexistent. And the actions taken in the name of theory were morally and criminally wrong. Ultimately, they led to the deaths of millions of people.

THE THEORY WAS EUGENICS, and its history is so dreadful and, to those who were caught up in it, so embarrassing that it is now rarely discussed The theory of eugenics postulated a crisis of the gene pool leading to the deterioration of the human race. The best human beings were not breeding as rapidly as the inferior ones the foreigners, immigrants, Jews, degenerates, the unfit, and the feeble minded.

More:

The West has a Caste System and this is Just the Latest Proof - The Dharma Dispatch

Ovid turns to gene therapy startup to restock drug pipeline – BioPharma Dive

Posted on by

Ovid Therapeutics has struck a deal with young biotechnology company Gensaic, hoping the startups method of delivering genetic medicines can yield new brain drugs.

Under the deal, the partners will develop up to three gene-based treatments for neurological conditions Ovid is targeting. The New York biotech will get rights to license any gene therapies that emerge from the deal, so long as the two can agree on terms. Ovid also invested $5 million in the startup and committed to participate in future financing rounds.

The deal is the latest step in a rebuilding plan for Ovid, a biotech former Teva and Bristol Myers Squibb executive Jeremy Levin formed seven years ago.

Levins plan in starting Ovid was to grab medicines overlooked elsewhere, license them and develop them for rare brain diseases. That strategy led Ovid to two medicines the company developed for Angelmans syndrome and rare forms of epilepsy, and helped the biotech to go public in 2017.

Ovid hasnt been successful, however. The Angelmans drug failed a Phase 3 trial in 2020, erasing more than half of the companys value. One year later, Ovid, aiming to bolster its dwindling cash reserves, sold rights to the epilepsy drug back to Takeda. Though Ovid can still receive milestone payments and royalties from the drug, which is now in late-stage testing, its only remaining in-house programs are in preclinical testing. At just over $2 apiece, shares trade near all-time lows.

Recently, Ovid has taken steps to restock its pipeline. One experimental medicine for treatment-resistant epileptic seizures could start human trials later this year, while a licensing deal with AstraZeneca and a related partnership with Tufts University could yield other drug candidates that might follow in 2024.

The alliance with Gensaic adds up to three more prospects, while pushing Ovid into the field of gene therapy.

Gensaic was seeded in 2021 as M13 Therapeutics and is currently housed in Cambridge, Massachusetts biotech startup incubator LabCentral. Over the past two years, the company has won awards in multiple startup competitions for its research into a method of gene therapy delivery designed to overcome the limitations of standard approaches.

Many gene therapies rely on modified viruses to send genetic instructions into the bodys cells. Those delivery vehicles are used in multiple products approved for rare inherited diseases, but they also come with weaknesses, too. One commonly used tool, the adeno-associated virus, can only carry a relatively small amount of genetic cargo and is sometimes shut down by the body. Another, the lentivirus, also has limited packaging capacity and has been linked in rare cases to the development of cancers.

Gensaic instead aims to use tiny particles derived from phages, the viruses that infect bacteria, to deliver genetic material. Gensaic claims these particles can be engineered to target multiple tissue types among them the lung and brain and can carry much larger genes. Gensaic believes they may have the potential to be administered more than once, too, though that hasnt yet been proven.

In a statement, Levin said the approach appears to be optimal for carrying substantial genetic cargo across the blood-brain barrier, a filtering mechanism the body uses to keep foreign substances out of the brain.

We believe it may hold the potential to treat a broad continuum of diseases in the brain, Levin said.

Here is the original post:

Ovid turns to gene therapy startup to restock drug pipeline - BioPharma Dive

New Pittsburgh biomanufacturing center to accelerate cell and gene therapy innovation – BioPharma-Reporter.com

Posted on by

The Pitt BioForge Biomanufacturing Center will be fully equipped with its enabling technologies, including gene editing, induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) and cell, vector, and protein engineering capabilities.

The new facility is expected to generate more than 170 permanent full-time jobs, 900 construction jobs and 360 off-site support jobs.

This announcement supports the region's rise as a leader in cell and gene therapy and advances our vision of bringing an entirely new commercial manufacturing sector to the area," said Patrick Gallagher, Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh.

In November last year, the Richard King Mellon Foundation announced a $100m grant to the University of Pittsburgh to create the Pitt BioForge Biomanufacturing Center: representing the largest single-project grant in the Foundation's 75-year history.

Now, the 30-year agreement with Cambridge, Massachusetts cell and gene therapy developer ElevateBio will see ElevateBio extend its manufacturing footprint to Pittsburgh, building on its first BaseCamp biomanufacturing facility in Waltham, Massachusetts (the companys new disruptive business model addresses challenges in CGT with a suite of technologies; alongside the BaseCamp manufacturing capability; to create an end-to-end technology platform offering).

To realize our vision of transforming the cell and gene therapy field for decades to come, broadening our footprint across metropolitan areas is a key priority for us, and we are thrilled that the University of Pittsburgh will be home to one of our BaseCamp facilities, said David Hallal, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ElevateBio. Weve identified Pittsburgh as an ideal location to extend our BaseCamp presence as it sits at the intersection of science, technology, and talent.

Pitt Senior Vice Chancellor for the Health Sciences, Dr. Anantha Shekhar, said the University of Pittsburgh a top recipient of NIH research funding has exceptional emerging research but to date has lacked access to high-quality process science and manufacturing capabilities.

As we position ourselves to become the next global hub for life sciences and biotech, we were in search of the right partner to help us realize our vision, and ElevateBios expertise and reputation in cell and gene therapy made them the perfect partner to accelerate our ability to build our biomanufacturing center of excellence.

Sam Reiman, Director of the Richard King Mellon Foundation, added:This partnership between two national life-science powerhouses the University of Pittsburgh and ElevateBio - is a consequential step forward in realizing our shared vision to make Pittsburgh a national and international biomanufacturing destination.

Pitt BioForge is a generational opportunity to bring extraordinary economic-development benefits to our region, and life-changing cell and gene therapies to patients - distribution that will be accelerated and enhanced by Pitts partnership with UPMC. ElevateBio could have chosen to locate its next biomanufacturing hub anywhere in the world; the fact they are choosing to come to Pittsburgh is another powerful validation of our region, and the Pitt BioForge project at Hazelwood Green.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the County of Allegheny also provided incentive grants to ElevateBio in support of this partnership.

Read the rest here:

New Pittsburgh biomanufacturing center to accelerate cell and gene therapy innovation - BioPharma-Reporter.com

Trinity team’s new gene therapy shows promise for treating eye condition affecting millions across the globe – Ophthalmology Times

Posted on by

Researchers from Trinity College Dublin have developed a new gene therapy approach that shows promise for treating the dry form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) a progressive eye disease that affects up to 10% of adults over 65 years of age and is a leading cause of severe vision impairment and blindness in this age group.

According to a Trinity College Dublin news release, dry AMD cases represent around 85% to 90% of all AMD cases and there are no treatments available to treat or prevent disease progression,underlining the need for developing treatment options for this debilitating disease.

In adults, many diseases of aging have been found to have defects of mitochondrial function, including AMD.

The news release noted that the team, in Trinitys School of Genetics and Microbiology, developed a new gene therapy (ophNdi1) that is the first of its kind to directly target mitochondrial function in cells that are malfunctioning in AMD. Mitochondria are known as the powerhouses of the cell because they manage the production of energy but their performance dips greatly in dry AMD and this is linked to a deterioration in sight.

The new gene therapy cleverly uses a virus to access the cells that are suffering and deliver the code needed to give the failing mitochondria a lifeline, enabling them to generate extra energy and continue to function in supporting vision.

Jane Farrar, PhD, the studys senior author, noted that the therapy has shown benefit in multiple models of dry AMD, offering hope that it could one day progress to a treatment that could help millions across the globe.

Critically, this study provides the first evidence in models that directly modulating bioenergetics in eye cells can provide benefit and improve visual function in dry AMD, Farrar said in a news release. In doing so, the study highlights the energy powerhouses of the cell, mitochondria, as key targets for dry AMD.

Sophia Millington-Ward, PhD, first author and research fellow in Trinitys School of Genetics and Microbiology, pointed out that the novel gene therapy targeting cellular energy, or mitochondrial function, that investigators explored for dry AMD consistently provided benefit in the model systems tested.

Many retinal cells, essential for vision, require particularly high levels of energy compared to most other cells, which makes them particularly vulnerable to mitochondrial dysfunction, she said. The therapy we are developing directly targets mitochondrial function and increases energy production levels in the retina, which leads to better visual function in disease models of dry AMD.

Millington-Wardnoted that although there is further work to be done before this could be made available as a treatment for patients, the results give us hope that we are getting closer to a solution to this challenging, debilitating condition.

The Research team in Trinity is funded by Enterprise Ireland and the European Regional Development Fund under Irelands European Structural and Investment Funds programme 1014-2020, Science Foundation Ireland, Fighting Blindness Ireland Health Research Charities Ireland, EU Marie Curie Innovative Training Network, Health Research Board Ireland, Health Research Charities and the Irish Research Council (StarT).

Reference

1. Sophia Millington-Ward, PhD; Jane Farrar, PhD; Arpad Palfi; G.J. Farrar; Naomi Chadderton; Laura K. Finnegan; Iris J.M. Post; Matthew Carrigan Tom Gardiner; Elisa Peixoto, et.al; AAV-mediated gene therapy improving mitochondrial function provides benefit in age-related macular degeneration models. Clinical and Translational Medicine. Published August 23, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1002/ctm2.952.

Read the original:

Trinity team's new gene therapy shows promise for treating eye condition affecting millions across the globe - Ophthalmology Times