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On 02 Jun 2020, ScienceDaily said the following...

Link to news story:

Well, that's not quite right...


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June 2, 2020
Source:
University of Alberta
Summary:
Geologists are proposing a new model for explaining the eruption of
diamond-bearing kimberlites in Northern Alberta.


FULL STORY =============================================================================== A new study by University of Alberta geologists is proposing a new model for explaining the eruption of diamond-bearing kimberlites in Northern Alberta.

=============================================================================== The research demonstrates that 90 to 70 million years ago, the movement of an ancient slab of oceanic rocks buried hundreds of kilometres beneath Earth's surface caused the eruption of diamond-bearing kimberlite in Northern Alberta. "We are able to provide a new theory about why we have diamond-bearing kimberlites in Northern Alberta, which has been a source of debate for decades," explained Yunfeng Chen, who conducted this research as part of his graduate studies with Jeffrey Gu, professor in the Department of Physics. "Our work is based on geological, paleomagnetic, and seismic data from our collaborators both at the University of Alberta and around the world."
The model enables scientists to match the seismic structures with the time and location of kimberlite eruptions in the area, explaining how these diamonds came to Earth's surface in the Late Cretaceous period -- and providing key insight for those on the hunt for other deposits in the region.
"The kimberlites in Northern Alberta were discovered in relatively young parts of Earth's crust -- an unconventional setting for diamond-bearing kimberlites," added Chen. "This distant location relative to other major kimberlite groups in North America plus the large variability of compositions further highlight the complex nature of the origins of kimberlite."
The multidisciplinary study combines the work of geophysical imaging, geochronological dating, and plate motion calculation.
"What we have observed in Northern Alberta is similar to Hawaii," said Gu. "In both scenarios, a relatively stationary mantle heat source essentially burned through the migrating plates above it, leaving 'scars' on the Earth's surface. Diamonds were carried to the surface through this 'upwelling' process."
A key difference is that the generation of the mantle upwelling in Northern Alberta took place no deeper than 700 kilometres below surface, whereas the ongoing Hawaii 'plume' appears to have occurred much deeper, at approximately 2,900 kilometres under Earth's surface.

=============================================================================== Story Source:
Materials provided by University_of_Alberta. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

=============================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Shu-Huei Hung, Erdinc Saygin, Lei Wu, Larry M. Heaman, Yu Jeffrey Gu,
Yunfeng Chen. Reconciling seismic structures and Late Cretaceous
kimberlitemagmatism in northern Alberta, Canada. Geology, 2020; DOI:
10.1130/G47163.1 ===============================================================================

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June 2, 2020
Source:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, News Bureau
Summary:
Researchers looked at metabolic markers in the blood of 30 Humboldt
penguins nesting in the Punta San Juan Marine Protected Area in Peru. The
scientists discovered metabolic differences between penguins nesting in
sheltered burrows and those in more exposed areas. Nesting success is
critical to the Humboldt penguins' survival as a species.


FULL STORY =============================================================================== From March to December every year, Humboldt penguins nest in vast colonies on the Peruvian and Chilean coasts. The lucky ones find prime habitat for their nests in deep deposits of chalky guano where they can dig out sheltered burrows. The rest must look for rocky outcrops or other protected spaces that are more exposed to predators and environmental extremes.

=============================================================================== In a new study, researchers looked at metabolic markers in the blood of 30 Humboldt penguins nesting in the Punta San Juan Marine Protected Area in Peru. The scientists wanted to know if there were metabolic differences between penguins nesting in the guano-rich burrows and in the exposed areas.
Nesting success is critical to the Humboldt penguins' long-term survival as a species. Decades of aggressive guano harvesting in the late 19th and early 20th centuries -- a practice eventually replaced with more sustainable methods -
- depleted the Peruvian coastline and near-shore islands of their historical bird guano deposits that provided habitat for nesting penguins. Guano mining, climate change and other threats have led to a dramatic decline in Humboldt penguin populations across their range. Today, there are only about 32,000 of the birds -- down from hundreds of thousands less than a century ago -- and their numbers continue to fall.
"Punta San Juan and other protected marine areas and reserves along the coast of Peru still provide some protected sites with good guano deposits that the penguins are able to dig into to make their nests," said Dr. Michael Adkesson, the vice president of clinical medicine for the Chicago Zoological Society, which operates Brookfield Zoo.
Adkesson led the research with David Schaeffer, a professor emeritus of veterinary clinical medicine at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and Jeff Levengood, a researcher with the Illinois Natural History Survey.
"We know from studies by Peruvian biologists that penguins produce more chicks with higher survival rates when they are able to dig burrow nests into guano deposits," Adkesson said. "So we wanted to see if we could detect -- based on the blood of these birds -- metabolic differences that would indicate the penguins nesting in less ideal nest sites were using more energy to deal with the fact that they're more exposed to the weather and predators."
The task was a challenge because few studies have analyzed blood metabolites in birds and the researchers did not have a hypothesis about what they would find, said Schaeffer, who, with Levengood, conducted the statistical analyses of 19 saccharide metabolites.
Their work revealed that penguins in sheltered and unsheltered locations had consistent -- and distinct -- patterns of several sugars in their blood. The blood sugars that best predicted the birds' nesting habitat included arabinose, maltose, glucose-6-phosphate and levoglucosenone.
That last sugar is a metabolic byproduct of exposure to a pollutant, levoglucosan, which is generated by the burning of cellulose. Setting fire to agricultural waste is common in regions near the nesting colony. Forest fires also generate levoglucosan. This metabolite was higher in the birds in exposed nests.
"This unexpected finding is one of the few indicators that we have that the unsheltered penguins are being exposed to more air pollution than their counterparts in burrows," Schaeffer said.
The differences in the other saccharides likely reflect the extra metabolic stresses the penguins in exposed nest sites experience, the researchers said. More research is needed to tease out the relationships between these metabolites and their health.
"This is another tool in the toolbox of understanding what's going on with the penguins in this region," Adkesson said. "We know the penguins can adapt to the lack of good nesting habitat to some extent, but it's not ideal for the long- term survival of the species. We hope that by looking at what's going on in their blood we can better predict how changes in the environment will affect their health and reproductive success, with the ultimate goal of shaping conservation strategies that protect the penguins and their habitat."

=============================================================================== Story Source:
Materials provided by University_of_Illinois_at_Urbana-Champaign,_News_Bureau. Original written by Diana Yates. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

=============================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. David J. Schaeffer, Jeffrey M. Levengood, Michael J. Adkesson. Effects of
nest type and sex on blood saccharide profiles in Humboldt penguins
(Spheniscus humboldti): Implications for habitat conservation. PLOS ONE,
2020; 15 (5): e0233101 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0233101 ===============================================================================

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June 2, 2020
Source:
University of Texas at Austin
Summary:
A new study has found that some antivirals are useful for more than
helping sick people get better -- they also can prevent thousands of
deaths and hundreds of thousands of virus cases if used in the early
stages of infection.


FULL STORY =============================================================================== A new study from researchers at The University of Texas at Austin has found that some antivirals are useful for more than helping sick people get better - - they also can prevent thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of virus cases if used in the early stages of infection.

=============================================================================== The study, published today in the journal Nature Communications, focused on influenza and has implications for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. By modeling the impact of a pair of leading flu drugs, the team found significant differences in effects between oseltamivir, an older antiviral treatment for flu that patients know by the name Tamiflu, and a newer one, baloxavir, which is sold under the brand name Xofluza.
The researchers found that the newer treatment -- by effectively and rapidly stopping virus replication -- dramatically reduced the length of time that an infected person is contagious and, therefore, better limited the spread of flu. "We found that treating even 10% of infected patients with baloxavir shortly after the onset of their symptoms can indirectly prevent millions of infections and save thousands of lives during a typical influenza season," said Robert Krug, a professor emeritus of molecular biosciences, writing for a blog that accompanied the paper.
Early basic research discoveries by Krug informed the development of baloxavir. Krug and a team of epidemiological modelers headed by Lauren Ancel Meyers, a professor of integrative biology, concluded from the study that having a similarly effective antiviral treatment for the coronavirus would help to prevent thousands of infections and deaths. Creating such an antiviral would take time and new strategies in public health planning, but the benefits for patients, communities and health care settings could be profound.
"Imagine a drug that quashes viral load within a day and thus radically shortens the contagious period," said Meyers, who models the spread of viruses including the virus that causes COVID-19. "Basically, we could isolate COVID-19 cases pharmaceutically rather than physically and disrupt chains of transmission."
To date, most COVID-19 drug research efforts have prioritized existing antivirals that can be deployed quickly to treat the most seriously ill patients coping with life-threatening symptoms. The scientists acknowledge it would represent a shift to develop a new antiviral for the coronavirus, to be used early in an infection with the aim of curtailing viral replication, just as baloxavir does for flu.
"It may seem counterintuitive to focus on treatments, not for the critically ill patient in need of a life-saving intervention, but rather for the seemingly healthy patient shortly after a COVID-19 positive test," Krug said. "Nonetheless, our analysis shows that the right early-stage antiviral treatment can block transmission to others and, in the long run, may well save more lives."
Postdoctoral researcher Zhanwei Du carried out many of the modeling studies. UT graduate student Ciara Nugent and Alison P. Galvani of the Yale School of Public Health co-authored the paper, "Modeling mitigation of influenza epidemics by baloxavir." The team also wrote a companion blog post about the implications for COVID-19.
The research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, including through the Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study (MIDAS) program.

=============================================================================== Story Source:
Materials provided by University_of_Texas_at_Austin. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

=============================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Zhanwei Du, Ciara Nugent, Alison P. Galvani, Robert M. Krug, Lauren Ancel
Meyers. Modeling mitigation of influenza epidemics by baloxavir. Nature
Communications, 2020; 11 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-16585-y ===============================================================================

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June 2, 2020
Source:
Florida Atlantic University
Summary:
More than 1,000 bottlenose dolphins live in Florida's Indian River Lagoon
year-round. Although extensively studied, what they do at nighttime is
still a mystery. Using satellite telemetry, scientists provide the first
documentation that these dolphins have a larger range that encompasses
more habitats than previously thought. They regularly leave the brackish
waters of the estuarine system and, not only travel into the ocean, but
swim substantial distances -- up to 20 kilometers -- up freshwater
rivers, creeks, and canals.


FULL STORY =============================================================================== More than 1,000 bottlenose dolphins live in the Indian River Lagoon year-round. This estuarine system along the southeast coast of Florida is a narrow and convoluted ecosystem with interconnected bodies of water, a handful of ocean inlets, and numerous small rivers, creeks and canals that release freshwater into the lagoon. While this population of dolphins in the lagoon has been studied extensively, what they do at nighttime is still a mystery.

=============================================================================== Researchers from Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in collaboration with Seven Degrees of Mapping LLC, and Hubbs- SeaWorld Research Institute, are the first to use satellite telemetry on this dolphin population, providing unique insights into their behavioral ecology during the overnight hours. Detailed information about their nocturnal movements and habitat use will give scientists a more complete ecological understanding of this population. These dolphins face many direct and indirect threats including boat strikes, entanglements, and environmental contamination. Results of the study, published in the journal Animal Biotelemetry, provide the first documentation of Indian River Lagoon dolphins regularly leaving the brackish waters of the estuarine system and, not only traveling into the ocean, but swimming substantial distances -- up to 20 kilometers -- up freshwater rivers, creeks, and canals. These journeys do not appear to be extended stays in freshwater, which can be detrimental to dolphin health, but instead involve many brief trips upriver. Findings reveal that they have a larger range that encompasses more habitats than previously thought.
The study also highlights how much variation occurs within a population -
- researchers found individual differences with almost every aspect studied in these dolphins. Individual spatial use varied by dolphin, with home ranges and core areas of different sizes spaced throughout the southern region of the lagoon. Researchers also discovered extensive individual variation in niche preferences.
"There are many possible reasons for the difference in space use and movement patterns, including prey preference and distribution such as traveling between nearby hotspots versus long distances between food sources or the size or age of the dolphins," said Greg O'Corry-Crowe, Ph.D., project lead and a research professor at FAU's Harbor Branch. "For example, two of the dolphins in our study were smaller and younger, while the other two were larger and older. The differences we observed could also be linked to more complex aspects that are influenced by social factors, differences in predator avoidance strategies, and individual response to human disturbance."
One of the areas showing less variation was inlet use. Three out of four dolphins exhibited a strong nocturnal preference for habitats close to inlets, with one individual regularly using multiple inlets. Inlets may be important nocturnal foraging habitats as well as corridors for movement between ecosystems.
Satellite telemetry is a powerful research tool that tracks the movement of an animal using orbiting satellites that detect signals emitted from a transmitter attached to the animal. For the study, the researchers attached satellite tags (SPOT 100 tags, Wildlife Computers) on the lower third of the trailing edge of the dorsal fin of four male dolphins, aged 6 to 21 years. The satellite tags recorded location data via the Argos satellite system. The tags were set to transmit constantly until 250 transmissions were reached in each 24-hour cycle. Satellite tags remained active between 129 and 140 days.
O'Corry-Crowe, Elizabeth F. Hartel, M.S., lead author, Seven Degrees of Mapping LLC, and co-author Wendy Noke Durden, M.S., Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute, suggest that incorporating satellite telemetry into long-term studies of bottlenose dolphins in other regions may provide essential information about their movements and habitat use that is not otherwise readily available. "Collectively, findings from our study highlight the need for greater consideration of the nocturnal habits of cetacean species when conducting risk assessments, developing conservation action, and planning new research," said O'Corry-Crowe.

=============================================================================== Story Source:
Materials provided by Florida_Atlantic_University. Original written by Gisele Galoustian. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

=============================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Elizabeth F. Hartel, Wendy Noke Durden, Greg O'Corry-Crowe. Testing
satellite telemetry within narrow ecosystems: nocturnal movements and
habitat use of bottlenose dolphins within a convoluted estuarine system.
Animal Biotelemetry, 2020; 8 (1) DOI: 10.1186/s40317-020-00200-4 ===============================================================================

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June 2, 2020
Source:
University of Virginia Health System
Summary:
Scientists have a new resource to help them better understand COVID-19 as
they develop treatments and vaccines.


FULL STORY =============================================================================== Biomedical scientists working with COVID-19 have a new tool to help them better understand the virus and feel confident about the structural models they are using in their research.

=============================================================================== Wladek Minor, PhD, of the University of Virginia School of Medicine, and other top structural biologists have led an international team of scientists to investigate the protein structures contained in the virus -- structures that are vital to developing treatments and vaccines. The team has created a Web resource (https://covid-19.bioreproducibility.org/) that provides scientists an easy way to see the progress of the structural biology community in this area. It also includes the team's assessment of the quality of the individual models and enhanced versions of these structures, when possible.
"We have carefully analyzed the available models of SARS-CoV-2 proteins and present the results with the aim of helping the broad biomedical community. Structural models are ultimately the interpretation of the original researchers and sometimes are suboptimal. This is why a second set of eyes to validate important structures is so crucial," said Minor, of UVA's Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics. "In most cases, only minor corrections could be suggested. However, in several cases, the revisions were significant, especially in the sensitive area of protein-ligand complexes that are critical for follow-up research, like drug discovery work. The current health crisis demands that all SARS-CoV-2 structures are of the highest quality possible."
Science at Lightning Speed
When the threat of the coronavirus became apparent, scientists worldwide responded at an unprecedented pace to determine the atomic structure of the virus and its protein constituents.
Researchers are using the resulting structural models in a variety of applications, ranging from structure-based drug design to planning a range of biomedical experiments. For that reason, it is essential that the atomic models are as accurate as possible. Because of the urgency of the pandemic, most of these structures are deposited in the Protein Data Bank (PDB), a global repository of macromolecular structures, before publication and peer review.


=============================================================================== The members of the team, who are experts in structure validation and interpretation, noticed opportunities to improve several SARS-CoV-2 models using state-of-the-art refinement approaches. That led them to create the new web resource. It is updated with new structures weekly, in sync with the PDB. In some cases, the team has worked with the researchers who generated the original structure to ensure that the site contains the most accurate models. This team has longstanding experience in correcting biomedically important structural models -- for instance, in the field of antibiotic resistance. "Working on a project driven by strong international collaborations is an enormous opportunity for younger scientists, like Ivan Shabalin and Dariusz Brzezinski, who will undoubtedly lead other highly impactful studies in the near future," Minor said.
"It is extremely rewarding to be able to add my expertise to a project that has the potential to make an immense impact on the lives of millions of people," Shabalin said.
COVID-19 Resource
The team has described the new resource in a free access article published in the FEBS Journal.
Project collaborators include Alexander Wlodawer, of the National Cancer Institute (NCI); Zbigniew Dauter, of the NCI & Argonne National Laboratory; Shabalin, of UVA; Miroslaw Gilski, of A. Mickiewicz University (AMU) & Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry (IBCH), Polish Academy of Sciences; Brzezinski, of the Poznan University of Technology & IBCH, Poland, and UVA; Marcin Kowiel, of IBCH; Bernhard Rupp, of k.k. Hofkristallamt USA and Medical University Innsbruck, Austria; and Mariusz Jaskolski of AMU and IBCH.
The work was supported by the National Institutes of Health's National Cancer Institute, Center for Cancer Research, grant R01-GM132595; the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, contract HHSN272201700060C; the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange, grant No. PPN/BEK/2018/1/00058/U/ 00001 and the Austrian Science Foundation.

=============================================================================== Story Source:
Materials provided by University_of_Virginia_Health_System. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

=============================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Alexander Wlodawer, Zbigniew Dauter, Ivan Shabalin, Miroslaw Gilski,
Dariusz Brzezinski, Marcin Kowiel, Wladek Minor, Bernhard Rupp, Mariusz
Jaskolski. Ligand&#8208;centered assessment of SARS&#8208;CoV&#8208;2
drug target models in the Protein Data Bank. The FEBS Journal, 2020; DOI:
10.1111/febs.15366 ===============================================================================

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