Category Archives: Physiology

Physiology

Professor Horace Barlow, neuroscientist who did groundbreaking work on visual perception obituary – Telegraph.co.uk

Following the outbreak of war, he went up to Trinity College, Cambridge, as a medical student, though he technically read Natural Sciences, which was the normal thing for medical students at Cambridge at the time.

He won a Rockefeller studentship to finish his clinical studies at Harvard Medical School, where he went after spending a year at the Medical Research Councils lab in London at Mount Vernon, working on problems of diving in relation to the war.

It was at Harvard that, with two fellow medical students, he first carried out research on vision, publishing papers on the effect of magnetic fields on the eye and on dark adaptation and light effects on the electric threshold of the eye.

By the time he returned to Britain, although he completed his medical training at University College Hospital, London, it was clear that he wanted to continue as a research neurophysiologist, and he returned to Cambridge to study Neurophysiology under Edgar (later Lord) Adrian.

Barlow was a fellow at Trinity College (1950-54), and a Fellow and lecturer in Physiology at Kings College, Cambridge (1954-64). In 1964 he crossed the Atlantic to take up an appointment as Professor of Physiology at the University of California, Berkeley.

There he researched many aspects of the physiology and psychology of vision, much of it in collaboration with Bill Levick. Among other things, he discovered that certain retinal cells fire signals when light passes over them in one direction but not in the opposite direction a discovery which stimulated enduring interest in the cellular mechanism behind this directional selectivity, which is now seen as the basis of motion perception.

Later, working with Colin Blakemore and Jack Pettigrew, Barlow discovered the brains mechanism of stereo vision by showing that signals from the two eyes converge on single cells in the visual cortex that respond to specific locations in 3D space.

In 1973 he returned to Cambridge, where he was Royal Society Research Professor of Physiology with a fellowship at Trinity College.

Soft-spoken, but resolute in his opinions and endlessly curious about the natural world, Barlow continued to write about the brain, working in his department and visiting Trinity well into his nineties. His definition of intelligence was the art of good guessing. He continued to be a presence at national and international meetings, taking great pleasure in meeting and educating younger scientists. He supervised the training of more than a dozen doctoral and postdoctoral students, and exerted a broad influence on thinking in the field through their influence as well as his own.

Barlow was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1969 and was awarded the Societys Royal Medal in 1993. In the same year he received the Australia Prize. He won the 2009 Swartz Prize from the Society for Neuroscience and the first Ken Nakayama Prize from the Vision Sciences Society in 2016.

Barlow married first, in 1954, Ruthala Salaman. The marriage was dissolved in 1970, and in 1980 he married, secondly, Miranda Weston-Smith, who survives him with their two daughters and a son, and four daughters from his first marriage.

Professor Horace Barlow, born December 8 1921, died July 5 2020

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Professor Horace Barlow, neuroscientist who did groundbreaking work on visual perception obituary - Telegraph.co.uk

Physiology

Community support urged for breastfeeding moms and babies – Press Publications Inc.

August is National and World Breastfeeding Awareness Month, and on Aug. 1, Ohio. Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted signed a proclamation that Ohio is joining in the observance. The State of Ohio joins the Surgeon General and the United States Breastfeeding Committee in the belief that Ohio breastfeeding rates will improve if social policy and community norms support breastfeeding mothers and babies, the proclamation said. For this years Breastfeeding Awareness Month, Ohio has adopted the theme, Support Breastfeeding for a Healthier Planet. This theme focuses on the impact of infant feeding on the environment and climate change and the imperative to protect, promote and support breastfeeding for the health of the planet and its people. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life and continued breastfeeding with the addition of appropriate solid food for the first year and beyond. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that Ohios 2018 breastfeeding initiation rate of 81.9 percent ranks 36th in the nation. The CDC also states that rates of breastfeeding duration and exclusivity are lower among Black infants than among white infants. Increasing rates of breastfeeding initiation and supporting continuation of breastfeeding among Black women might help reduce disparities in breastfeeding duration. Strategies may include improving peer and family support, access to evidence-based maternity care, and employment support. In light of the financial and life-saving benefits of breastfeeding, all elements of the Wood County community must cooperate and support breastfeeding, said Jackie Mears, Wood County WIC (Women, Infants and Children) Director. Ultimately our whole society benefits from having healthier mothers, babies and children when breastfeeding is promoted, protected and supported. While breastfeeding is a personal choice, communities play a vital role in informing and supporting a mothers decision to breastfeed her baby, Mears said, adding that returning our communities to a breastfeeding supportive culture will take efforts by family, friends, employers, educational institutions, hospitals and businesses. The Wood County Health Department offers these suggestions for improving social policy and community norms to support breastfeeding mothers and babies.: Businesses and the community members can help mothers feel comfortable nursing in public. Hungry babies need to eat, and Ohio law allows breastfeeding in public. Businesses can show their support by placing the Breastfeeding Welcome Here universal sign for breastfeeding in their windows and educating their staff on the acceptance of breastfeeding in their establishments. Employers can also encourage employees and provide a private space (other than a bathroom) to pump. This will increase employee retention and reduce medical costs. Hospitals can adopt the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding as an indication that they are dedicated to supporting new mothers who choose to breastfeed. Educational institutions can support breastfeeding by presenting age-appropriate education on the anatomy and physiology of the human body. Breastfeeding mothers can reach out through groups and chatrooms on social media to get the support they need. For more information about breastfeeding, contact a member of the Wood County WIC Breastfeeding Team at 419-354-9661 or adonaldson@co.wood.oh.us. The mission of Wood County Health Department is to prevent disease, promote healthy lifestyles and protect the health of everyone in Wood County. The departments Community Health Center provides comprehensive medical services for men, women and children. All patients are welcome, including uninsured or underinsured clients, regardless of their ability to pay. Most third-party insurance is accepted. Visit http://www.WoodCountyHealth.org for more details.

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Community support urged for breastfeeding moms and babies - Press Publications Inc.

Physiology

Pizza Study Shows Body’s Resilience to ‘Pigging Out’ – HealthDay News

FRIDAY, Aug. 7, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Ever felt guilty for that occasional binge on high-calorie, fatty foods?

Relax: A new study of folks overindulging on pizza finds that if you're healthy and you don't 'pig out' regularly, your body deals with it just fine.

British researchers looked at the effects of eating until not just full, but so full that the participants could not take another bite. Then, they tested the blood of the 14 healthy young men who participated in the study to determine whether there were any changes in blood sugar, blood fats, insulin and other hormones.

The team discovered that even when the men had eaten double the amount of pizza that it would take to make them comfortably full, their blood tests showed no negative consequences.

"I think that's the really remarkable thing here, that we have a huge capacity to overeat and, despite that huge capacity, the body does really quite well at controlling blood sugars and blood fat after that meal," said study author James Betts, a professor of metabolic physiology at the University of Bath's Centre for Nutrition, Exercise and Metabolism.

Betts said it was notable both that the body's response kept blood sugar and lipids under control after such a big meal, and that it was possible for participants to consume so much excess food.

When eating until full, they averaged the equivalent of a large pizza. When eating until maximally full, they ate about two large pizzas, Betts said.

"We expected people to eat more when they were asked to go beyond full, but we expected that to be slightly more," Betts said. "We were really amazed that it was almost exactly 100% more."

The study was published online recently in the British Journal of Nutrition.

Betts and one of his co-authors stumbled upon the idea for the study while traveling to a conference. The only open airport restaurant was a McDonald's, so they each got a McMuffin breakfast sandwich.

"We ate those and enjoyed them and said, 'Oh, I could eat another one,'" Betts said. "That prompted a discussion of 'How many do you think you could eat?' and 'What would be the physiological responses to eating more and more?'"

While researching during the long flight, they discovered there had been no previous studies about eating beyond full, Betts said.

They chose pizza because it tastes good, so people would keep eating. Its high fat and carbohydrate content offered a big challenge to the body, Betts said.

Typically, blood sugar and blood lipids increase in response to how much a person eats, Betts said. A small meal will result in fewer changes than a medium meal, for example.

Yet, after overeating, blood sugar was no higher than after a normal meal. Blood lipids such as triglycerides were slightly higher, even though fat consumption was double. Insulin, which is released to control blood sugar, was 50% higher than normal. Hormones that increase feelings of fullness changed the most.

Connie Diekman, a food nutrition consultant in St. Louis, said the study documents what scientists already understand about the body and its ability to process food. Sometimes people get confused when wondering whether they are eating right, should consume fewer carbs, eat fewer fats or should try something like a Keto diet or intermittent fasting, Diekman said.

"I think it does demonstrate very nicely that our body knows what to do with the food we eat. It knows how to fuel us well," Diekman said.

Of course, Diekman added, constant overeating would challenge how well insulin can do its job and how well the body can move fat without having a lingering impact on blood lipids. This shows that it's OK to have a larger meal for a special occasion, she said.

"You should enjoy the meal," Diekman said, "and then you get back to your regular eating plan."

The study was limited to individuals who were healthy and lean. They ranged in age from 24 to 37. Only men volunteered. A future study may look at the impact of overeating on people who are overweight or have health issues, Betts said.

Though a one-time indulgent meal appears to be fine for a healthy person, Betts said that he hopes the message is clear that this isn't meant for people who are unhealthy or for indulging all the time.

"If you've got a diet that is already really very healthy and an active lifestyle to go with it, then these overindulgences can be even more frequent without imbalancing everything else," Betts said. "How often is too often really comes down to wider choices in the lifestyle."

More information

There's more on eating healthy at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

SOURCES: James Betts, Ph.D., professor, metabolic physiology, Centre for Nutrition, Exercise and Metabolism, University of Bath, England; Connie Diekman, M.Ed., R.D., L.D., food nutrition consultant, St. Louis; British Journal of Nutrition, April 6, 2020, online

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Pizza Study Shows Body's Resilience to 'Pigging Out' - HealthDay News

Physiology

Brain scientists haven’t been able to find major differences between women’s and men’s brains, despite over a century of searching – The Conversation…

People have searched for sex differences in human brains since at least the 19th century, when scientist Samuel George Morton poured seeds and lead shot into human skulls to measure their volumes. Gustave Le Bon found mens brains are usually larger than womens, which prompted Alexander Bains and George Romanes to argue this size difference makes men smarter. But John Stuart Mill pointed out, by this criterion, elephants and whales should be smarter than people.

So focus shifted to the relative sizes of brain regions. Phrenologists suggested the part of the cerebrum above the eyes, called the frontal lobe, is most important for intelligence and is proportionally larger in men, while the parietal lobe, just behind the frontal lobe, is proportionally larger in women. Later, neuroanatomists argued instead the parietal lobe is more important for intelligence and mens are actually larger.

In the 20th and 21st centuries, researchers looked for distinctively female or male characteristics in smaller brain subdivisions. As a behavioral neurobiologist and author, I think this search is misguided because human brains are so varied.

The largest and most consistent brain sex difference has been found in the hypothalamus, a small structure that regulates reproductive physiology and behavior. At least one hypothalamic subdivision is larger in male rodents and humans.

But the goal for many researchers was to identify brain causes of supposed sex differences in thinking not just reproductive physiology and so attention turned to the large human cerebrum, which is responsible for intelligence.

Within the cerebrum, no region has received more attention in both race and sex difference research than the corpus callosum, a thick band of nerve fibers that carries signals between the two cerebral hemispheres.

In the 20th and 21st centuries, some researchers found the whole corpus callosum is proportionally larger in women on average while others found only certain parts are bigger. This difference drew popular attention and was suggested to cause cognitive sex differences.

But smaller brains have a proportionally larger corpus callosum regardless of the owners sex, and studies of this structures size differences have been inconsistent. The story is similar for other cerebral measures, which is why trying to explain supposed cognitive sex differences through brain anatomy has not been very fruitful.

Even when a brain region shows a sex difference on average, there is typically considerable overlap between the male and female distributions. If a traits measurement is in the overlapping region, one cannot predict the persons sex with confidence. For example, think about height. I am 57". Does that tell you my sex? And brain regions typically show much smaller average sex differences than height does.

Neuroscientist Daphna Joel and her colleagues examined MRIs of over 1,400 brains, measuring the 10 human brain regions with the largest average sex differences. They assessed whether each measurement in each person was toward the female end of the spectrum, toward the male end or intermediate. They found that only 3% to 6% of people were consistently female or male for all structures. Everyone else was a mosaic.

When brain sex differences do occur, what causes them?

A 1959 study first demonstrated that an injection of testosterone into a pregnant rodent causes her female offspring to display male sexual behaviors as adults. The authors inferred that prenatal testosterone (normally secreted by the fetal testes) permanently organizes the brain. Many later studies showed this to be essentially correct, though oversimplified for nonhumans.

Researchers cannot ethically alter human prenatal hormone levels, so they rely on accidental experiments in which prenatal hormone levels or responses to them were unusual, such as with intersex people. But hormonal and environmental effects are entangled in these studies, and findings of brain sex differences have been inconsistent, leaving scientists without clear conclusions for humans.

While prenatal hormones probably cause most brain sex differences in nonhumans, there are some cases where the cause is directly genetic.

This was dramatically shown by a zebra finch with a strange anomaly it was male on its right side and female on its left. A singing-related brain structure was enlarged (as in typical males) only on the right, though the two sides experienced the same hormonal environment. Thus, its brain asymmetry was not caused by hormones, but by genes directly. Since then, direct effects of genes on brain sex differences have also been found in mice.

Many people assume human brain sex differences are innate, but this assumption is misguided.

Humans learn quickly in childhood and continue learning alas, more slowly as adults. From remembering facts or conversations to improving musical or athletic skills, learning alters connections between nerve cells called synapses. These changes are numerous and frequent but typically microscopic less than one hundredth of the width of a human hair.

Studies of an unusual profession, however, show learning can change adult brains dramatically. London taxi drivers are required to memorize the Knowledge the complex routes, roads and landmarks of their city. Researchers discovered this learning physically altered a drivers hippocampus, a brain region critical for navigation. London taxi drivers posterior hippocampi were found to be larger than nondrivers by millimeters more than 1,000 times the size of synapses.

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So its not realistic to assume any human brain sex differences are innate. They may also result from learning. People live in a fundamentally gendered culture, in which parenting, education, expectations and opportunities differ based on sex, from birth through adulthood, which inevitably changes the brain.

Ultimately, any sex differences in brain structures are most likely due to a complex and interacting combination of genes, hormones and learning.

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Brain scientists haven't been able to find major differences between women's and men's brains, despite over a century of searching - The Conversation...

Physiology

NIH researchers reframe dog-to-human aging comparisons – National Institutes of Health

News Release

Thursday, July 9, 2020

Comparing epigenetic differences between humans and domestic dogs provides an emerging model of aging.

One of the most common misconceptions is that one human year equals seven dog years in terms of aging. However, this equivalency is misleading and has been consistently dismissed by veterinarians. A recent study, published in the journalCell Systems, lays out a new framework for comparing dog-to-human aging. In one such comparison, the researchers found the first eight weeks of a dogs life is comparable to the first nine months of human infancy, but the ratio changes over time. The research used epigenetics, a process by which modifications occur in the genome, as a biological marker to study the aging process. By comparing when and what epigenetic changes mark certain developmental periods in humans and dogs, researchers hope to gain specific insight into human aging as well.

Researchers performed a comprehensive analysis and quantitatively compared the progression of aging between two mammals, dogs and humans. Scientists at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and collaborators at the University of California (UC) San Diego, UC Davis and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine carried out the research.

All mammals experience the same overarching developmental timeline: birth, infancy, youth, puberty, adulthood and death. But researchers have long sought specific biological events that govern when such life stages take place. One means to study such a progression involves epigenetics gene expression changes caused by factors other than the DNA sequence itself. Recent findings have shown that epigenetic changes are linked to specific stages of aging and that these are shared among species.

Researchers focused on one type of epigenetic change called methylation, a process in which molecules called methyl groups are attached to particular DNA sequences, usually parts of a gene. Attaching to these DNA regions effectively turns the gene into the "off" position. So far, researchers have identified that in humans, methylation patterns change predictably over time. These patterns have allowed the creation of mathematical models that can accurately gauge the age of an individual called "epigenetic clocks."

But these epigenetic clocks have only been successful in predicting human age. They do not seem to be valid across species, such as in mice, dogs, and wolves. To see why the epigenetic clocks in these other species differed from the human version, researchers first studied the epigenetic changes over the lifetime of a domestic dog and compared the resultsobtained with humans.

Dogs are a useful model for such comparisons because much of their environment, diet, chemical exposure, and physiological and developmental patterns are similar to humans.

"Dogs experience the same biological hallmarks of aging as humans, but do so in a compressed period, around 10 to 15 years on average, versus over 70 years in humans. This makes dogs invaluable for studying the genetics of aging across mammals, including humans," said Elaine Ostrander, Ph.D., NIH Distinguished Investigator and co-author of the paper.

Dr. Ostrander and her colleagues in Trey Ideker's laboratory at UC San Diego took blood samples from 104 dogs, mostly Labrador retrievers, ranging from four weeks to 16 years of age. They also obtained previously published methylation patterns from 320 people, whose ages ranged from 1 to 103 years. The researchers then studied and compared the methylation patterns from both species.

Based on the data, researchers identified similar age-related methylation patterns, specifically when pairing young dogs with young humans or older dogs with older humans. They did not observe this relationship when comparing young dogs to older humans and vice versa.

The study also found that groups of specific genes involved in development can explain much of the similarity, which had similar methylation patterns during aging in dogs and humans.

"These results suggest that aging can, in part, be explained by a continuum of changes beginning in development," said Dr. Ideker. "The programs of development are expressed incredibly strongly at defined periods when the pup is in the womb and childhood. But equally strongly are systems that clamp down to stop it. In a sense, we are looking at aging as the residual 'afterburn' of those powerful forces."

The researchers also attempted to correlate the human epigenetic clock with dogs, using this as a proxy for converting dog years to human years.

The new formula is more complicated than the "multiply by seven" method. When dogs and humans experience similar physiological milestones, such as infancy, adolescence and aging, the new formula provided reasonable estimates of equivalent ages. For example, by using the new formula, eight weeks in dogs roughly translates to nine months in humans, which corresponds to the infant stage in both puppies and babies. The expected lifespan of senior Labrador retrievers, 12 years, correctly translates to 70 years in humans, the worldwide average life expectancy.

The group acknowledges that the dog-to-human years formula is largely based on data from Labrador retrievers alone. Hence, future studies with other dog breeds will be required to test the formula's generalizability. Because dog breeds have different life spans, the formula may be different among breeds.

Dr. Ostrander noted, "It will be particularly interesting to study long-lived breeds, a disproportionate number of which are small in size, versus breeds with a shorter lifespan, which includes many larger breeds. This will help us correlate the well-recognized relationship between skeletal size and lifespan in dogs."

The study also demonstrates that studying methylation patterns may be a useful method to quantitatively translate the age-related physiology experienced by one organism (e.g., humans) to the age at which physiology in a second organism is most similar (e.g., dogs). The group hopes that such translation may provide a useful tool for understanding aging and identifying ways to maximize healthy lifespans.

"This study, which highlights the relevance of canine aging studies, further expands the utility of the dog as a genetic system for studies that inform human health and biology," said Dr. Ostrander.

This press release describes a basic research finding. Basic research increases our understanding of human behavior and biology, which is foundational to advancing new and better ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat disease. Science is an unpredictable and incremental process each research advance builds on past discoveries, often in unexpected ways. Most clinical advances would not be possible without the knowledge of fundamental basic research.

NHGRI is one of the 27 institutes and centers at the National Institutes of Health. The NHGRI Extramural Research Program supports grants for research, and training and career development at sites nationwide. Additional information about NHGRI can be found at https://www.genome.gov.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH):NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.

NIHTurning Discovery Into Health

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NIH researchers reframe dog-to-human aging comparisons - National Institutes of Health

Physiology

Lung physiology and immune function could spare children from severe COVID-19 – News-Medical.Net

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Jul 8 2020

Differences in lung physiology and immune function in children could be why they are more often spared from severe illness associated with COVID-19 than adults, according to pediatric and adult physicians at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and Baylor College of Medicine, who teamed up to investigate the disparity.

The perspectives paper was recently published in American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology.

According to the paper, only about 1.7% of the first 149,082 cases in the U.S. were infants, children, and adolescents younger than 18 years old. Authors noted that children under 18 make up 22% of the U.S. population. Only three pediatric deaths were identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as of April 2020.

"These profoundly decreased rates of symptomatic infection, hospitalization, and death are well beyond statistical significance, require further examination, and may hold the key to identifying therapeutic agents," the authors wrote.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2s, called ACE2, are the doors that allow SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, to enter the body's cells. Children naturally have less ACE2 in the lungs than adults.

ACE2 are important for viral entry and there seems to be less of them in children, because they increase with age."

Matthew Harting, MD, MS, assistant professor in the Department of Pediatric Surgery at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth, pediatric surgeon with UT Physicians, and senior author of the paper

Harting is also director of the pediatric ECMO program providing advanced cardiac and respiratory support at Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital.

In addition to fewer ACE2 receptors, the authors note the immune system in children responds to viruses differently than that of adults, leaving less opportunity for severe illness in pediatric patients. There are several different mechanisms behind the differences, including the retention of T-cells in children, which are able to fight off or limit inflammation.

"T-cells have a viral response and also an immune modulator response. In severe cases of adult COVID-19 patients, we've seen that those T-cells are reduced, so the ability to fight the virus is also reduced. In kids, those T-cells seem to be maintained, so they are still able to prevent the virus," said Harry Karmouty-Quintana, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at McGovern Medical School, and a co-author of the paper.

Lung tissue in children naturally has a higher concentration of regulator T-cells. Patients with higher levels of T-cells also have higher levels of Interleukin 10 (IL-10), also known as human cytokine synthesis inhibitory factor, an anti-inflammatory cytokine.

"IL-10 inhibits the inflammation of other components like IL-6 that are detrimental. Adults tend to experience hyperinflammatory state, where kids do not," Karmouty-Quintana said. "In preclinical studies in mice, IL-10 has also shown to decrease with age."

The paper's findings were made possible through collaboration in a multidisciplinary group made up of pediatric and adult physicians and scientists in pediatric surgery, adult critical care, neonatology, and molecular biology.

"We, as physicians, have been challenged with the question of how to treat COVID-19 and we're learning in real time," said Bindu Akkanti, MD, associate professor of critical care medicine with McGovern Medical School, attending physician in critical care with Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, and a study co-author. "I knew that to figure out the best way to treat adults, we needed to get a team together to get to the bottom of why children were being spared from severe illness related to the virus. So, I reached out to Dr. Karmouty-Quintana and we teamed up with Dr. Harting and two other physicians in the Texas Medical Center to start investigating." Akkanti also sees pulmonary patients at UT Physicians.

"Collaborations like this between adult and pediatric providers are really important and this disease highlights where we can learn a lot when we compare the way it behaves in younger kids with older people," Harting said. "Even now as we're learning about effective treatments, we're seeing younger people handle this disease better than older people. Moving forward, physicians and scientists need multidisciplinary collaboration to continue learning - this is just another step in the right direction to attack this virus."

Krithika Lingappan, MBBS, was the first author of the paper and Jonathan Davies, MD, was a co-author. Both Lingappan and Davies are assistant professors of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and neonatologists with Texas Children's Hospital.

As a result of the collaboration, the team has begun a new study using blood samples from patients in different stages of COVID-19 to continue to understand how to treat the virus and the disparities in disease progression between children and adults.

Source:

Journal reference:

Lingappan, K., et al. (2020) Understanding the age divide in COVID-19: why are children overwhelmingly spared?. American Journal of Physiology - Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology. doi.org/10.1152/ajplung.00183.2020.

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Lung physiology and immune function could spare children from severe COVID-19 - News-Medical.Net

Physiology

Sensors were allowed to prove themselves by test with increased pre-night temperature in tomato – hortidaily.com

In 'The Road to Digital Green Fingers' project, researchers increased the pre-night temperature in a tomato cultivation by one degree for four weeks. In this way, the crop was 'bullied' to see how far it could go, but especially also to understand the physiology behind the measurements. The better that goes, the easier it will be to cultivate remotely later on.

"The crop is now recovering," said Alex van Klink of the Delphy Improvement Center, responsible for the research for the project, about the treatment that was stopped in week 24. He saw that the crop started to consume assimilates faster. "In itself we can explain from the physiology what the raising of the pre-night temperature does, but the question for us is mainly whether you can also catch it with sensors and then also can understand it."

Alex in the test greenhouse

Understanding measurementsIn the latter, the researchers from Delphy and Wageningen University & Research are interested in and various other parties as well, namely AgroEnergy, 2Grow, De Ruiter Seeds, Hazera Seeds, Signify and Ludvig Svensson. All parties are primarily concerned in understanding plant reactions with the sensor network. In this way, plant responses can be measured before they are visible to the naked eye. Ultimately, this should lead to the application of the knowledge in order to start controlling the cultivation.

More objective measuringUsing a combination of, among other things, sap flow sensors and scales to measure the weight of the plant, the researchers are mapping balance or imbalance in water consumption, assimilates, but also in growth height and fruits.

"By using sensors for more objective measuring in the near future, you can see things that the grower or advisor cannot see with the naked eye. That means that the grower can soon be less in the greenhouse and also that you can limit the movements of advisers from greenhouse to greenhouse. An advantage with the high virus pressure that is present in, for example, tomatoes."

Six treatments testedIn total, six treatments will be tested in the project, which runs until mid-September and for which financial support was obtained from the Topsector Tuinbouw & Uitgangsmaterialen. "With EC, lighting and irrigation, well also be looking for the limit again. And in case we would cross it, that will also be instructive. We have that advantage over production growers."

A follow-up test can then be carried out with the acquired knowledge. In this way, greenhouse horticulture is progressing step by step towards autonomous cultivation, but not without people that will be able to keep in step with the technology and also will be able to fully rely on it. The latter is an important condition for the grower with green fingers in order to relinquish control.

For more information:Delphywww.delphy.nl

Alex van Klinka.vanklink@delphy.nl

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Sensors were allowed to prove themselves by test with increased pre-night temperature in tomato - hortidaily.com

Physiology

Trial to see if immune booster can protect cancer patients from Covid-19 – ThePrint

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New Delhi: As the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage through the world, scientists are making new revelations about the virus every day.

Here are some of the latest research developments on the Covid-19 front.

Scientists in Canada have launched clinical trials focussed on strengthening the immune system for cancer patients one of the most vulnerable populations to protect them from Covid-19.

The trial involves IMM-101, an inactivated bacteria that broadly stimulates the innateimmune system, which is the first to kick in when the body encounters a novel pathogen.

The researchers hope that boosting cancer patients immune systems with IMM-101 will protect them from developing severe Covid-19 and other dangerous lung infections.

The researchers said that an effective vaccine providing specific protection against Covid-19 could take another year or more to develop. Meanwhile, they believe the IMM-101 may be able to protect cancer patients from developing a serious Covid infection.

Also read: Asthma does not increase risk or severity of Covid-19, says new study

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A review of Covid-19 patients has shown that cases of brain complications linked to the coronavirus infection, such as confusion, stroke and inflammation of the brain, are occurring across the globe.

Published in The Lancet Neurology, the study has found that strokes, delirium and other neurological complications have been reported from most countries with large outbreaks of the disease.

The infection caused by the novel coronavirus has been mostly associated with problems such as difficulty in breathing, fever and cough. However, it is now becoming clear that other problems can also occur in patients.

For this study, researchers analysed findings from Covid-19 studies across the globe that reported on neurological complications. The review included studies from China, Italy and the US. It found nearly 1,000 patients with Covid-19-associated brain, spinal cord and nerve diseases.

While these complications are uncommon, the large number of Covid-19 cases globally means the overall number of patients with neurological problems is also likely to be high.

Naturally occurring molecules called resolvins can be harnessed to control the life-threatening immune reaction, called a cytokine storm, in Covid-19 patients, scientists have said.

A cytokine storm is when the bodys immune system overreacts and begins attacking healthy cells too.

The cytokine storm in Covid-19 patients can lead to respiratory failure, organ damage and potential death.

In a study published in the Cancer and Metastasis Reviews, researchers have said that controlling the local and systemic inflammatory response in Covid-19 may be as important as anti-viral therapies.

They suggest that a family of molecules naturally produced by the human body may be harnessed to resolve inflammation in patients with severe Covid-19. This would reduce the acute respiratory distress and other life-threatening complications associated with the viral infection.

Resolvins can actively turn off inflammation. Researchers have previously demonstrated that resolvins and related molecules can play a role in preventing cancer metastasis and progression.

These are current clinical trials on these molecules, to look at their use against other inflammatory diseases. Scientists have suggested that they could be re-deployed for the management of Covid-19.

Scientists have identified the differences in lung physiology and immune function in children that could explain why they are less susceptible to severe Covid-19 illness than adults.

Published in the American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology, the study suggests that children naturally have less ACE2 in the lungs than adults. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2s, called ACE2, allow SARS-CoV-2 to enter the bodys cells.

According to the study, only about 1.7 per cent of the first 1,49,082 cases in the US were under 18 years of age.

The findings from the study require further examination, and may hold the key to identifying therapeutic agents, researchers have said.

Months of self-isolation and social distancing can trigger stressors in the body that increase vulnerability to upper respiratory viruses and perhaps coronavirus, a study has suggested.

To slow the spread of coronavirus, many communities issued stay-at-home measures, increasing interpersonal stressors like loneliness, loss of employment and familial conflict.

According to an article published in the Perspectives on Psychological Science, these stressors may be powerful predictors of how a person will respond if exposed to coronavirus.

In a series of studies, researchers found that participants experiencing interpersonal stressors had a greater chance of developing upper respiratory illnesses when exposed to cold viruses.

Interpersonal stressors might play a similar role in response to the coronavirus, increasing a persons vulnerability to Covid-19.

The study indicates that social support may offer a protective shield against respiratory infection and illness.

Also read: CanSino, Moderna, Novavax: A list of Covid vaccines under clinical trials across the world

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Physiology

Jeremy Xu Joins Ingredion as Senior Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer – GlobeNewswire

WESTCHESTER, Ill., July 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE: INGR), a leading global provider of ingredient solutions, today announced that Jeremy Xu has been named senior vice president, and chief innovation officer, effective October 1. In this capacity, Xu will be responsible for advancing the Companys focus on specialty growth platforms, identifying new growth opportunities and overseeing the Ingredion Idea Labs innovation centers. Xu will report to Jim Zallie, president and chief executive officer.Xuwill succeed Tony DeLio who will be retiring in February 2021 after 14 years of service.

Xu joins the Company from Royal DSM, where he spent four years leading a global business unit in the nutritional ingredients space. Before that role, he spent 16 years at DuPont serving in a variety of leadership roles across Asia and the U.S.

Jeremy is an accomplished global leader with a strong reputation for successfully driving innovation and growth while cultivating high-performing, agile teams, said Zallie. Jeremy brings a global perspective and deep specialty food ingredient experience, which is critical as we identify new opportunities for our customers. We look forward to having an executive of his caliber join the Ingredion team.

Xu holds a bachelors degree in biology and biomedical engineering from Zhejiang University in China and earned a doctorate in biochemistry and molecular biology as well as a masters degree in business administration from Purdue University. He also holds a masters degree in plant physiology from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Xu is fluent in English, Mandarin and Cantonese. Xu will relocate to the New Jersey area from Switzerland with his family.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE: INGR) headquartered in the suburbs of Chicago, is a leading global ingredient solutions provider serving customers in more than 120 countries. With 2019 annual net sales of more than $6 billion, the company turns grains, fruits, vegetables and other plant-based materials into value-added ingredient solutions for the food, beverage, animal nutrition, brewing and industrial markets. With Ingredion Idea Labsinnovation centers located around the world and more than 11,000 employees, the Company co-creates with customers and fulfills its purpose of bringing the potential of people, nature and technology together to make life better. Visitingredion.comfor more information and the latest Company news.

CONTACTS:Investors: Tiffany Willis, 708-551-2592Media: Becca Hary, 708-551-2602

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Jeremy Xu Joins Ingredion as Senior Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer - GlobeNewswire