The magic of mushrooms: Can this fungus help delay or prevent depression?

The magic of mushrooms: Can this fungus help delay or prevent depression?: Bioactive compounds contained within an edible mushroom may delay or prevent the onset of neurological conditions like depression, investigations have concluded.

California measles outbreak reportedly involves Orthodox Jewish community.

An ongoing measles outbreak in California is reportedly affecting a local Orthodox Jewish community.20 cases of measles have been confirmed so far, including 18 in the county encompassing Los Angeles. The outbreak has largely been limited to unvaccinated people in a single social group and the disease is spreading among personal contacts in the group. According to the Los Angeles Times, a rabbi who runs a Jewish health care foundation in the city said county health officials told him the outbreak was affecting the Orthodox Jewish population. The outbreak began in early December, about 5 months after a new state law eliminating all nonmedical vaccine exemptions, including those based on personal beliefs, took effect in California. The health department could not confirm vaccination against measles in any of the 18 patients in Los Angeles County and has reached out to leaders of the affected social group to encourage vaccination. According to the CDC, two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine are about 97% effective at preventing measles. There has been a dramatic decline in measles in the United States from an estimated 3 to 4 million cases a year prior to the launch of a vaccination program in 1963 to just 70 documented cases in 2016, according to the CDC.

Mathematical model limits malaria outbreaks.

Mathematical models can effectively predict and track malaria transmission trends, ultimately quantifying the efficiency of various treatment and eradication strategies in high-risk regions. In a new paper by authors from Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics explain a malaria transmission model that considers three distinct factors: climate, the extrinsic incubation period (EIP), and the vector-bias effect. One of the most common infectious diseases in the world, malaria causes public health problems and depresses the economy of infected areas. When untreated or treated improperly, the disease can result in fatalities. Despite impressive control measures and increased prevention techniques, which have reduced the global malaria mortality rate by 29% over the last six years, 3.3 billion people throughout 97 countries and territories still face a risk of infection. According to the World Health Organization, there were 212 million cases of malaria in 2015; approximately 429,000 resulted in death. Sub-Saharan Africa continues to exhibit a disproportionately high number of outbreaks and fatalities. Mathematical models can effectively predict and track malaria transmission trends, ultimately quantifying the efficiency of various treatment and eradication strategies in high-risk regions. In a paper publishing in the SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics on January 24th, Xiunan Wang and Xiao-Qiang Zhao explain a malaria transmission model that considers three distinct factors: climate, the extrinsic incubation period (EIP), and the vector-bias effect. Using data from Maputo Province, Mozambique to simulate transmission trends, the authors ultimately present a possible way to limit the disease's transmission.

African trees kill both malaria mosquitoes and the parasite.

A new study has shown that African trees kill both malaria mosquitoes and the parasite. Scientists from the University of Oslo, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences have examined the bark from two African trees and found substances that can kill both the mosquitoes that transmit malaria, and the parasite itself. Malaria is one of the world's most serious infectious diseases and affects more than 200 million people each year. Traditional healers in West Africa have for many years used extracts from the bark of two trees in the citrus family (Rutaceae) to treat malaria, which is a widespread disease in the region and kills hundreds of thousands of people worldwide every year. Researchers at the School of Pharmacy at the University of Oslo in Norway have now shown that bark from the trees contains substances that not only kill the malaria parasite, but also the mosquitoes that transmit the disease. The scientists found several interesting substances both in the so-called Olon tree (Zanthoxylum heitzii) that is found from Cameroon to Congo, and in a related tree from Mali. The most interesting and active compounds were found in the Olon tree, but also the bark of Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides from Mali contains active substances. The scientists used extracts from the bark of the Olon tree and found that it contained at least one compound that kills the mosquitoes that transmit the malarial parasite,but the bark also contains another substance that kills the parasite itself. More than 30 species of the mosquito genus Anopheles kan infect humans with the malaria parasite,the scientists worked with both water-based and alcohol-based extracts from the bark of the two trees, and it turns out that the extracts with alcohol contains more of the active substances. The substance that kills the mosquito is called pellitorine and was found in the bark of both trees. The scientists also found that a mixture of four main substances from the bark of the Olon tree had a higher toxicity than pellitorine alone, even if the other ingredients were not toxic separately, this suggests that there is a synergistic effect between the ingredients. The scientists has now shown that the bark of the Olon tree from Congo contains at least two interesting compounds: Pellitorine that kills malaria mosquitoes, and dihydronitidin that kills the malaria parasite.

Scientists Have Created Heat-Sensing “Skin” for Robots.

Scientists Have Created Heat-Sensing “Skin” for Robots.Drawing inspiration from nature, scientists have created a heat-sensing film that would allow robots to detect temperature changes in their environment. Developed by the team from ETH Zurich in Switzerland, the material mimics how the natural membrane of a snake works to help the animal identify nearby prey. Surprisingly, the researchers were able to achieve this using pectin — a low-cost substance that’s primarily used to thicken jam. To make the film, a pectin solution was mixed with calcium chloride and then dehydrated to create a transparent, flexible material. Unlike traditional electronics, which detect temperature changes via currents of electrons, this film senses temperature variations through ion currents, which is the process used by snakes. Any change in the nearby temperature would affect the film’s resistance, which the researchers could measure via electrodes along the film’s edges. To test the film, the team microwaved a teddy bear to 37° C (98.6° F) and measured how it affected the film from various distances. Results showed that the membrane was able to recognize the warmed bear from as far away as one meter. It could also detect temperature changes as small as 10 millikelvin — that’s twice as sensitive as human skin. Pectin films are ultra-low cost and scalable, insensitive to pressure and bending, and can be used to augment temperature sensing when integrated in synthetic skin platforms. This could be particularly useful in creating artificially intelligent (AI) robots, as covering a robot’s entire body with this film would essentially give it a layer of “skin” capable of 360-degree thermal sensing. source

New Study Supports the Link Between Autism and Gut Microbes

New Study Supports the Link Between Autism and Gut Microbes. The study in which autistic children were given daily fecal microbial transplants yielded improvements in gastrointestinal symptoms by 80% and behavioral symptoms by 20-25%. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of developmental disorders categorized by a range of symptoms and behaviors. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimate that 1 in 68 children fall on this spectrum. That number continues to rise as awareness of the condition grows. A new method of treating ASD is being investigated by researchers from Arizona State University, Ohio State University, and the University of Minnesota. Using past research that concluded that there were ties between ASD and gut microbe diversity as a foundation, the team attempted to make the gut microbiome of children with autism more closely resemble that of non-ASD children. The researchers hoped that by performing fecal microbial transplants, which are typically used to treat recurrent C. difficile colitis, a condition that can cause serious digestive problems, the composition of the treated children’s microbiome would be changed and symptoms of the disorder would be mitigated. The study involved 18 children between the ages of seven and 16 with autism. Each child took part in a 10-week course of treatment involving antibiotics, a bowel cleanse, and daily fecal microbial transplants. The testing produced some promising results, including an 80 percent improvement of gastrointestinal symptoms and 20 - 25% improvement in autism-related behaviors such as social skills and sleeping habits. source

Wound healing in horses using protein from the orf virus.

A recent study has shown that specific proteins from the orf virus can assist in wound healing in the horse. Researchers from Canada and New Zealand recently showed the healing potential in a specific proteins from the orf virus, a parapoxvirus that causes a highly contagious skin disease in ungulates and humans. The concept is perfectly safe and very promising, as the virus was not smeared on the wound,and wound was irrigated and kept clean. Previous studies had shown that recombinant proteins (IL-10 and VEGF-E), derived from the virus worked well in the skin cells and wounds of mice, so the researchers tested the proteins’ effects in equine skin cells in a laboratory. The results, was satisfactory.