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“We need to be prepared for and reduce risks in space for those living now on the International Space Station and for those who might live there in the future,” said Dr. Kali Kniel. “It is important to better understand how bacterial pathogens react to microgravity in order to develop appropriate mitigation strategies.”


As human spaceflight has advanced, so has the food that astronauts eat during their respective missions. This has evolved from dehydrated food during the Apollo missions to regular food that astronauts can get shipped from Earth. But an astronaut’s diet expanded thanks to a 2020 study published in Frontiers in Plant Science that evaluated space-grown lettuce in the International Space Station (ISS) with promising results. While that study exhibited “negative results” for human pathogens, a recent study published in Scientific Reports has demonstrated that human pathogens could infect space-grown lettuce, specifically leafy green vegetables, that could lead to food safety concerns during spaceflight from the microgravity conditions where the plants are grown.

For the study, the researchers simulated microgravity conditions by rotating plants at 2 rotations per minute (RPM), 4 RPM, and unrotated and with and without S. enterica Typhimurium, which is a known salmonella bacterium, and later with Bacillus subtilis strain UD1022. The team analyzed changes in how much each bacteria invaded the plant’s pores, which function as the primary mechanism during photosynthesis for discharging oxygen and taking in carbon dioxide.

The study, authored by five MIT researchers and titled Beyond AI Exposure, delves deep into the practicalities of replacing human labor with AI in the US, focusing on tasks that lend themselves to computer vision, such as those performed by teachers, property appraisers, and bakers.


Like many of us, you might find yourself nodding to a familiar digital doomsday chorus that vibrates through offices and coffee shops alike: AI will take my job!

Is this looming threat substantiated, or simply a manifestation of our shared anxiety in the wake of constant technological advancement? A new study from MIT CSAIL, MIT Sloan, The Productivity Institute, and IBM’s Institute for Business Value is set to challenge our long-held beliefs.

MachineLearning clinical prediction models fail to generalize across trial data, a new Science study finds. The results “require reexamination of the practical challenges that precision medicine is facing.” Learn more in a new Science Perspective:


The prediction of individual treatment responses with machine learning faces hurdles.

Frederike H. Petzschner [email protected] Authors Info & Affiliations

Science.

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20240123/New-study-reveals…tment.aspx ASMicrobiology


In a recent study published in the American Society for Microbiology, researchers developed a novel rabbit infection model to investigate meropenem’s resistance development potential and antibacterial efficacy.

Study: Molecular pharmacodynamics of meropenem for nosocomial pneumonia caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Image Credit: Sam Rana/Shutterstock.com.

Background

A research team led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has developed “supramolecular ink,” a new technology for use in OLED (organic light-emitting diode) displays or other electronic devices. Made of inexpensive, Earth-abundant elements instead of costly scarce metals, supramolecular ink could enable more affordable and environmentally sustainable flat-panel screens and electronic devices.

“By replacing precious metals with Earth-abundant materials, our ink technology could be a game changer for the OLED industry,” said principal investigator Peidong Yang, a faculty senior scientist in Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division and professor of chemistry and materials science and engineering at UC Berkeley.

“What’s even more exciting is that the technology could also extend its reach to organic printable films for the fabrication of wearable devices as well as luminescent art and sculpture,” he added.

Language models offer promises in encoding quantum correlations and learning complex quantum states. This Perspective discusses the advantages of employing language models in quantum simulation, explores recent model developments, and offers insights into opportunities for realizing scalable and accurate quantum simulation.

Summary: A new study identified a crucial link between anxiety disorders and the brain receptor TACR3, as well as testosterone. This groundbreaking research found that rodents with high anxiety had low TACR3 levels in the hippocampus, a key area for learning and memory.

Notably, the study showed that testosterone deficiency-related anxiety could be addressed by targeting TACR3. This discovery opens new therapeutic possibilities for treating anxiety disorders, especially in individuals with hypogonadism.