‘Her Deepness’ on leading 100-plus marine expeditions, Donald Trump’s wrong-headed rollback of fishing prohibitions — and why she’s still diving at 90
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Oxalate buildup triggers systemic inflammation and cardiac damage, study shows
People with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have a significantly increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease. They also suffer from chronic inflammation, the causes of which are still only partly understood. Oxalic acid (oxalate) has so far been known primarily for its role in the formation of kidney stones. The molecule is a natural metabolic byproduct, is found in certain foods and is normally excreted by the kidneys in urine. However, when kidney function is impaired, oxalate accumulates in the body and can promote inflammatory processes.
The Experimental Biomedicine II department at Würzburg University Hospital (UKW), together with the Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC), a joint institution of Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Max Delbrück Center, investigated the immunological mechanisms linking oxalate-induced kidney damage with systemic inflammation and cardiovascular injury.
“In our research project, an oxalate-enriched diet activated the immune system systemically in mice. In other words, inflammatory processes spread throughout the body. This led not only to kidney damage, but also to pathological changes in the heart that reduced cardiac function,” says Dr. Hendrik Bartolomaeus. The scientist, who is part of Professor Alma Zernecke-Madsen’s team at UKW, shares senior authorship of the study with Dr. Nicola Wilck of ECRC. The study was published in Cardiovascular Research. Bartolomaeus previously worked in Wilck’s laboratory.
Nanoparticles could remove harmful immune molecules from blood
The immune system, the body’s defense network against infections and injuries, can sometimes become too active. In these cases, it can produce too many immune mediators, fragments of genetic material or proteins that regulate immune responses.
An excess of these molecules in the bloodstream can cause severe inflammation, sometimes leading to life-threatening medical conditions such as sepsis and acute lung injury. Sepsis is an extreme and life-threatening response to a bacterial, viral or fungal infection. Acute lung injury, on the other hand, occurs when inflammation causes fluid to leak into the lungs, impairing breathing and potentially leading to respiratory failure.
Some biomedical scientists and engineers have been trying to identify promising solutions to remove these excess immune mediators from the bloodstream. Some proposed approaches rely on lysosome-targeting chimeras (LYTACs), molecules that could remove proteins outside or on the surface of cells, directing them to lysosomes (i.e., organelles that dispose of or recycle food particles and other cell waste).
Machine learning improves identification of asthma risk in children
A machine learning tool that analyzes information already captured in a child’s electronic health record helped pediatricians more accurately assess asthma risk in standardized clinical case scenarios, according to a pilot randomized clinical trial led by a Regenstrief Institute researcher. The study was published in Scientific Reports.
The study evaluated a machine learning-enabled clinical decision support tool called the Passive Digital Marker, which uses routinely collected EHR data to classify young children as having a high or low risk of developing persistent asthma.
Asthma is one of the most common chronic childhood diseases, but predicting which young children with wheezing or other respiratory symptoms will go on to develop persistent asthma remains difficult. While some children outgrow these symptoms, others require ongoing treatment, making early risk assessment an important but challenging part of pediatric care.
CD8+ T cells in atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease
In this Review, Hossam Abdelsamed and colleagues discuss the different phenotypes and functions of CD8+ T cell subsets at different stages of atherosclerosis, as well as their roles in common comorbidities of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The authors also highlight potential therapeutic strategies targeting CD8+ T cells and key knowledge gaps in our understanding of the role of these cells in atherosclerosis.
AI unlocks QLED recipe that doubles efficiency and boosts lifetime 40-fold
A technology has been developed that allows artificial intelligence to inversely determine the process conditions for quantum-dot light-emitting diode (QLED) devices—conditions that previously required extensive trial and error to identify.
When applied to actual devices, the technology roughly doubled efficiency and extended operational lifetime more than 40-fold, raising expectations that it could accelerate the development of next-generation displays.
Seoul National University’s College of Engineering announced that a joint research team led by Professor Jeonghun Kwak of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Professor Jaehoon Lim of Sungkyunkwan University’s Department of Energy Science has developed an AI-based platform that inversely designs the optimal solvent properties for arranging quantum dots uniformly and densely during the fabrication of QLEDs.
Scientists use relay synthesis to create key building blocks of reserve antibiotic to combat resistance
Chemists from Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg have achieved an important research success in the fight against resistant bacteria. The team led by scientist Professor Dr. Dieter Schinzer from the Institute of Chemistry has succeeded in producing key building blocks of the naturally occurring substance Neosorangicin A in the laboratory for the first time. This means it is now possible to develop Neosorangicin A in a targeted manner as a promising reserve antibiotic candidate to combat antibiotic resistance in the future.
To artificially produce the naturally occurring substance, the scientists used what is known as relay synthesis—instead of immediately creating the entire complex molecule, they first synthesized the critical sections, which served as staging points en route to the complete substance. The research success lies not only in the components produced but also in proof of the development process. The results have just been published in the journal Chemistry—A European Journal.