Researchers have discovered a new method to fight secondary breast cancers that have been able to spread to the brain

 

A research conducted by researchers from the RCSI the University of Medicine and Health Sciences, as well as the Beaumont RCSI Cancer Centre (BRCC) has identified a possible novel method of treating secondary breast cancers that have been able to spread to the brain making use of existing treatments.

The study, which was published in Nature Communications, was supported through Breast Cancer Ireland with support from Breast Cancer Now and Science Foundation Ireland.

The majority of deaths related to breast cancer are the result of the treatment's relapse, which leads to the spreading of tumors to various organs throughout the body. If secondary breast cancer or metastatic breast cancer develops, it develops in the brain, it can be extremely dangerous, often giving patients just a few months of life.

The RCSI study was focused on tracking genetically the tumor's progression from the initial the diagnosis of breast cancer as primary to metastatic spread within the brain of cancer patients. The study found that more than 50% of tumors showed variations in the method they repaired their DNA which makes the tumors more susceptible to an existing medication known as PARP inhibitor. PARP inhibitors function by blocking cancer cells' ability to repair their DNA, resulting in cancer cells dying.

"There aren't enough treatments for patients suffering from breast cancer that has spread to brain, and research aimed at broadening treatment options is essential. This study is a significant improvement in moving just one step closer a possible treatment for those suffering from this deadly cancerous complication that is a complication of tumors of the breast.," commented Professor Leonie Young as the study's Principal Investigator.

"By uncovering these new vulnerabilities in DNA pathways in brain metastasis, our research opens up the possibility of novel treatment strategies for patients who previously had limited targeted therapy options," said the study's the study's lead author Dr. Damir Vareslija.

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Omicron causes US deaths at a higher rate than the delta wave of fall.

 
A patient is asked to take an swab of their nose for the COVID-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test, while a person is watching during the FEMA's COVID-19 test at a drive-through site on Pima Community College West Campus in Tucson, Ariz. on Monday, January. 24 2022. Omicron is the highly infectious coronavirus strain that has been sweeping across the nation, is driving to keep the American death toll up from in the last delta wave which is likely to increase for days , or even weeks. Credit: Rebecca Sasnett/Arizona Daily Star via AP

Omicron is the highly infectious coronavirus variant that is sweeping the United States, is pushing every day's American death toll up from in the last delta wave and is expected to increase for days , or even weeks.

The seven-day average for new COVID-19 deaths per day across the U.S. has been climbing from mid-November to 2,267 on Thursday , and surpassing the peak of 2,100 in September where delta was the predominant variant.

It is believed that omicron could be the main cause of disease that is circulating across the country. Even though it is a less serious illness for the majority of people, the fact that it's more easily transmitted means that there are more people who are sick and dying.

"Omicron will push us over a million deaths," said Andrew Noymer, a public health professor at the University of California, Irvine. "That will cause a lot of soul searching. There will be a lot of discussion about what we could have done differently, how many of the deaths were preventable."

The daily average death toll is currently at the same amount as month, in February when the nation was beginning to fall off its record-breaking 3,300 per day.

A greater number of Americans are taking precautionary steps to protect themselves from the virus than they did prior to the omicron outbreak as per an survey conducted by AP-NORC in the week of. Many people, exhausted from the crisis are returning to a normal level, hoping that prior vaccinations or previous infections will help protect the virus.

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Nanoparticles in the flu vaccine is a powerful protection. Researchers discover.

 

 A vaccine for influenza that is administered via the nose and made up of nanoparticles that boost immune response gives you a strong defense against different viruses of influenza, as per researchers at the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University.

The intranasal vaccine triggered multiple immune responses that led to strong cross protection for mice against the flu. The vaccine is comprised of nanoparticles made up of PEI-HA/CpG. PEI (polyethyleneimine) is a durable and flexible delivery system, can carry both antigens (hemagglutinin, and HA) that trigger an immune response within the body and adjuvants (CpG) which enhance the body's response to an antigen, thereby enhancing the immune response.

The comprehensive immune response and cross-protection were for a long time, showing protection from influenza for six months following vaccination. The findings were presented in the Journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

Intranasal vaccination is the best method for treating respiratory infections like influenza. Seasonal influenza vaccines usually trigger weak immune responses that swiftly decrease, leaving people vulnerable to new influenza strains. Innovations in the field of influenza vaccines will be required to safeguard against the wide variety strains of flu virus. Intranasal vaccination is a way to boost local mucosal immune response by preventing influenza-related infections at the point of entry for viruses.

In the influenza virus HA is an important protein which plays an important role in the initial stages of the virus's infection. Influenza is a protein that includes a head region as well as a stalk region. The current influenza vaccines trigger immune responses to the HA head region, however this head region can be highly variable and can result in lower efficiency against various strains. In addition, the HA stalk is considered to be more stable for different strains of influenza viruses.

The antigens of protein that are administered intravenously are typically less likely to trigger an immune response, therefore adjuvants are required to create extremely effective intranasal vaccines. Adjuvants, like CpG are able to enhance and alter immune responses, which can increase the effectiveness and range of protection.

"The PEI-HA/CpG nanoparticles show good potential as a cross-protective influenza vaccine candidate," said Dr. Baozhong Wang, corresponding author of the study as well as a professor at the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State. "The mixture with PEI as well as CpG in the nanoparticles PEI-HA/CpG contributed to the multiple immune responses that resulted in a robust cross-protection. The integration in the combination of CpG and antigens within the same nanoparticle increased the immune response of cells.

"Our results revealed that the nanoparticles significantly enhanced HA immunogenicity, or the ability to provoke an immune response, providing cross protection against different influenza virus strains. The conserved HA stalk region induced substantial antibodies in the nanoparticle immunization groups."

"Nanoparticle platforms have shown intriguing characteristics and great potentials in the development of next-generation cross-protective influenza vaccines," stated the researcher Dr. Chunhong Dong, the primary researcher of the study and postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Biomedical Sciences. "However, challenges exist to the successful research and development of nanoparticle vaccines. Though no apparent adverse effects were observed in the study, a more comprehensive safety evaluation of the nanoparticle adjuvant system is needed before clinical trials."

 

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The Songbirds use magnetic navigation to utilize the magnetic field on Earth to stop their migration

 

In their journey Reed warblers utilize magnetic information to act as a stop signal'. They use the magnetic inclination of their feet in particular signalling the birds that they've arrived to their final destination. Credit: Thomas Miller

A study that was published on the 21st of April in Science has revealed the way in which birds find their breeding grounds after traveling over two continents.

The research, which is part of an international collaborative led by researchers from Oxford University University of Oxford and including researchers of Oldenburg University. University of Oldenburg, suggests that the data gathered from the earth's magnetic field can tell birds where and when they should stop their migration. This lets them precisely target the same breeding location year after year across thousands of miles.

The way that birds perceive magnetic field on Earth has been the focus of extensive research. Birds may even be able to see magnetic fields and may utilize this capability to identify the direction they're to and also where they're.

Professor. Joe Wynn, formerly of the University of Oxford and now an investigator in the Institute for Avian Research, Germany said"that "whilst we know an increasing amount about how birds inherit migratory information from their parents, how they return to the same site year-on-year with pinpoint accuracy has remained elusive. It's quite exciting, therefore, that we've been able to find evidence that magnetic cues could be used by songbirds trying to re-locate their homes." He first came up with the idea to study the issue during his time as an invited scientist within the biologist's research group Dr. Dr. Henrik Mouritsen at the University of Oldenburg. Mouritsen was also involved in the analysis of data in the research.

You've arrived in your desired location

The researchers analyzed the data of over 18,000 Reed warblers to determine if they used magnetic field of the Earth when they found their breeding grounds. Reed warblers are tiny birds that travel over their territory across the Sahara Desert each year to spend the summer in Europe.

They discovered that, when the magnetic field of Earth changed the places that birds returned to changed which suggests that birds retreated to a magnetic target that was moving. Birds seemed to utilize magnetic information to act as a stop sign', and the magnetic inclination of particular telling birds they had arrived at their breeding area.

The project utilized 'ringing' information. For more than a century the rings, which are uniquely numbered, have been affixed to legs of birds from all over Europe.

Dr. Wynn added that "Ringing data are a fantastic way to answer questions about migration, simply because they've been gathered for so many years across a very large area...and when looking at where birds and ringed and then recovered, it seems that reed warblers use a single magnetic coordinate a bit like a 'stop sign'; when they reach the right magnetic field value, they stop migrating."

Why should we use magnetic fields to aid in how to return?

Dr. Wynn explains that "Magnetic information seems to be pretty stable, meaning the magnetic field doesn't change very much in a given location year-on-year. Aiming for a specific magnetic value during migration might make sense then, and the cue we think birds are using, inclination, appears the most stable aspect of the magnetic field. We think this gives the birds the best chance of making it back to the breeding site."

In the end, Dr. Wynn said that "the trans-continental migration of birds that weigh less than a teaspoon is remarkable for so many reasons, but the ability to precisely pinpoint the breeding site from half the world away is perhaps the most extraordinary aspect of all. That we can investigate this using data gathered by scientists and bird-watchers alike is extremely exciting, and we hope that this use of citizen science data inspires others to go out, watch birds and get excited about science more generally."

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Extreme exoplanet and its complex exotic atmosphere

 

  An international team comprising researchers at The University of Bern and the University of Geneva as well as the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS analyzed the atmosphere of one of the most extreme planets with great depth. The results from this hot, Jupiter-like planet that was first characterized with the help of the CHEOPS space telescope, may help astronomers understand the complexities of many other exoplanets--including Earth-like planets.
The air of Earth isn't a uniform envelope but rather consists of distinct layers that possess distinct characteristics. The lowest layer that spans from sea level beyond the highest mountain peaks, for example--the troposphere--contains most of the water vapor and is thus the layer in which most weather phenomena occur. The stratosphere, the layer that is above it, is the one with an ozone layer, which protects us from sun's dangerous ultraviolet radiation.

In a recent study that was published in Nature Astronomy, an international group of researchers headed by researchers from the University of Lund show for the first time that the atmosphere of one of the most extreme planets could have similar layers, but with different features.

A sultry and exotic ambience

WASP-189b is a star that is beyond our solar system. It is situated 322 light years away Earth. The extensive observations conducted by the CHEOPS space telescope in the year 2020 discovered, among other things, this planet lies 20x closer the star it hosts as Earth can be to Sun and has a daily temp of about 3200 Celsius. Recent studies using the HARPS instrument located at la Silla Observatory situated in Chile this time in the very first instance have allowed the scientists to look more in-depth inspection of the atmosphere of the Jupiter-like planet.

"We measured the light coming from the planet's host star and passing through the planet's atmosphere. The gasses in its atmosphere absorb some of the starlight, similar to Ozone absorbing some of the sunlight in Earth's atmosphere, and thereby leave their characteristic 'fingerprint." Through the aid of HARPS and HARPS, we could identify the chemical compounds that were responsible," lead author of the study and doctoral student at Lund University, Bibiana Prinoth says. Based on the findings of the research the gases that left their footprints on the WASP-189b's atmosphere comprised of vanadium, iron, chromium manganese, magnesium, and iron.

A "Ozone layer" on a scorchingly hot planet?

One of the most interesting substances they discovered is a gas that contains titanium called titanium oxide. Although titanium oxide is rare in the world of Earth however, it may play a significant role in the WASP-189b atmosphere, similar to the role of ozone in the atmosphere of Earth. "Titanium oxide absorbs short wave radiation, such as ultraviolet radiation. Its detection could therefore indicate a layer in the atmosphere of WASP-189b that interacts with the stellar irradiation similarly to how the Ozone layer does on Earth," study co-author Kevin Heng, a professor of Astrophysics of the University of Bern and a member of the NCCR PlanetS, explains.

In fact, the researchers discovered indications of such a layer as well as other layers that are located on the extremely hot Jupiter-like planet. "In our analysis, we saw that the 'fingerprints' of the different gasses were slightly altered compared to our expectation. We believe that strong winds and other processes could generate these alterations. And because the fingerprints of different gasses were altered in different ways, we think that this indicates that they exist in different layers--similarly to how the fingerprints of water vapor and ozone on Earth would appear differently altered from a distance, because they mostly occur in different atmospheric layers," Prinoth clarifies. These findings could change the way scientists study exoplanets.

A different approach to look at exoplanets

"In the past, astronomers often assumed that the atmospheres of exoplanets exist as a uniform layer and try to understand it as such. But our results demonstrate that even the atmospheres of intensely irradiated giant gas planets have complex three-dimensional structures," study co-author and associate senior lecturer at Lund University Jens Hoeijmakers points out.

"We are convinced that to be able to fully understand these and other types of planets--including ones more similar to Earth, we need to appreciate the three-dimensional nature of their atmospheres. This requires innovations in data analysis techniques, computer modeling and fundamental atmospheric theory," Kevin Heng concludes.

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