Knowledge Update

​London, July 5 (IANS) A team of Swedish astronomers has discovered a growing supermassive black hole in the centre of a galaxy located 70 million light years from Earth.

The team, led by astronomers from Sweden's Chalmers University of Technology, discovered the black hole in the centre of galaxy named "NGC 1377" with the help of Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) telescope in Chile. 

"We were curious about this galaxy because of its bright, dust-enshrouded centre. What we weren't expecting was this: a long, narrow jet streaming out from the galaxy nucleus," said researcher Susanne Aalto from Chalmers.

The observations revealed a jet which is 500 light years long and less than 60 light years across, travelling at a speed of nearly 800,000 km per hour. 

Most galaxies have a supermassive black hole in their centres. 

These black holes can have masses of between a few million to a billion solar masses. 

How they grew to be so massive is a long-standing mystery for scientists.

"The jets we usually see emerging from galaxy nuclei are very narrow tubes of hot plasma. This jet is very different. Instead, it's extremely cool and its light comes from dense gas composed of molecules," said study co-author Francesco Costagliola.

According to the researchers, the jet has ejected molecular gas equivalent to two million times the mass of the Sun over a period of only around half a million years -- a very short time in the life of a galaxy. 

The motion of the gas in the jet also surprised the astronomers. 

"The jet's unusual swirling could be due to an uneven flow of gas towards the central black hole. Another possibility is that the galaxy's centre contains two supermassive black holes in orbit around each other," said Sebastien Muller from Chalmers.​

London, July 5 (IANS) Have you ever wondered why some healthy people cannot defend themselves well against bacteria or fungi while others may get away with mild symptoms? Researchers, including one of Indian-origin, believe that genetic factors that control the immune cell response to pathogens could partly explain this varied response.

The team investigated the response of immune cells from 200 healthy volunteers when stimulated with a comprehensive list of pathogens outside the human body, and has correlated these responses with four million genetic variants (SNPs). 

The study was performed by scientists from University Medical Centre Groningen, Radboud University Medical Centre (both in the Netherlands) and Harvard Medical School (Boston, US). 

"We all encounter pathogens on a daily basis, but we don't all defend ourselves against bacteria or fungi, for example, in the same way. Some people experience mild symptoms, others may become violently ill or even die,” said Vinod Kumar, Assistant Professor of functional genomics and infectious diseases at University Medical Centre Groningen (UMCG).

"We wanted to discover how much individual genetic differences determine this variable response,” Kumar, who is one of the senior authors of the study, said.

The study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, focused on the role of cytokines, small peptides used by immune cells as signals to guide their response to an infectious agent. 

"We observed large differences in cytokine production between individuals,” explained Kumar.

"Their responses were also specific to the different pathogens,” Kumar noted.

This suggests that cytokines contribute to the varied responses to pathogens, and that each infection triggers a specific cytokine response pathway. Previous studies on unstimulated immune cells had shown little variation between individuals.

The next step was to investigate if the responses were under genetic control.

They identified six genomic regions that influence cytokine responses, suggesting that cytokine production is at least partly genetically determined

​London, July 5 (IANS) Two complimentary studies have for the first time revealed how two natural satellites of Mars -- Phobos and Deimos -- originated millions of years ago, rejecting the long-held hypothesis that the two Martian moons were asteroids captured by the Red Planet.

The first study was conducted by researchers from the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and Aix-Marseille University. It ruled out the capture of asteroids and showed that the only scenario compatible with the surface properties of Phobos and Deimos was that of a giant collision.

In the second study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, a team of international researchers used cutting-edge digital simulations to show how these satellites were able to form from the debris of a gigantic collision between Mars and a protoplanet one-third its size.

Due to their small size and irregular shape, Phobos and Deimos strongly resembled asteroids but no one understood how Mars could have "captured" them and made them into satellites with almost circular and equatorial orbits. 

In the first study, to be published in the Astrophysical Journal, CNRS researchers ruled out the possibility of a capture on the grounds of statistical arguments based on the compositional diversity of the asteroid belt. 

They showed that the light signature emitted by Phobos and Deimos is incompatible with that of the primordial matter that formed Mars.

According to the second study, the Martian moons would have been created following a collision between the Red Planet and a primordial body one-third its size, 100 to 800 million years after the beginning of the planet's formation. 

The debris from this collision formed a very wide disk around Mars, made up of a dense inner part composed of matter in fusion, and a very thin outer part primarily of gas. 

In the inner part of this disk formed a moon one thousand times the size of Phobos which has since disappeared. 

After a few thousand years, Mars was surrounded by a group of approximately 10 small moons and one enormous moon. 

A few million years later, once the debris disk had dissipated, the tidal effects of Mars brought most of these satellites back down onto the planet, including the very large moon. 

Only the two most distant small moons, Phobos and Deimos, remained, the authors noted.​

Toronto, July 5 (IANS) Canadian researchers, including one of Indian-origin, have developed a new screening tool that could help emergency physicians uncover the sometimes dangerous hidden conditions that cause some people to faint.

The findings showed that syncope, or fainting, accounts for between 1 per cent and 3 per cent of all emergency department visits. 

In most cases, it is benign, but for about 10 per cent of people who visit the emergency room for fainting it can be a symptom of a potentially life-threatening condition like arrhythmia, or heart rhythm disturbance.

The nine-question Canadian Syncope Risk Score helps emergency doctors predict the risk of a patient experiencing an adverse event, such as potentially fatal irregular heart rhythm, heart attack and other cardiac events, gastrointestinal bleeding, and even death within a month after fainting.

"Fainting is a big problem. The way fainting patients are examined in emergency rooms varies greatly between physicians and hospitals," said Venkatesh Thiruganasambandamoorthy, Assistant Professor at the University of Ottawa in Canada. 

"We hope that this screening tool will make the process more consistent and improve the detection of serious conditions related to fainting," Thiruganasambandamoorthy added.

For the study, the team looked at 4030 patients. Of the total patients, 147 experienced a serious event in the month following discharge.

Signs of a common and harmless variety of fainting, such as being in a warm or crowded place, standing for a long time, or feeling intense fear, emotion or pain; a history of heart disease; abnormal electrocardiogram (ECG) measurements; higher levels of troponin, a protein specific to heart muscle are some of the factors that physicians can plug in to a screening tool.

When combined, these factors give the patient's total risk of an adverse event, from very low to very high.

Most fainting patients admitted to hospital do not need to be there. These patients can spend four to seven hours in the emergency department before a decision to discharge them is made, the researchers noted.

"If our tool can discharge low-risk patients quickly and safely, then I think we can reduce emergency room wait times and open up those resources to other patients," Thiruganasambandamoorthy noted.​

​New York, July 5 (IANS) Scientists have found that three-dimensional paper-based microbial fuel cells can create power in an environmentally-friendly way without the use of any outside power.

"All power created in this device is usable because no electricity is needed to run the fluids through the device. This is crucial in the advancement of these devices and the expansion of their applications," said senior author Nastaran Hashemi from the Iowa State University in Ames.

The team demonstrated a proof-of-concept, published in the journal TECHNOLOGY, that 3D paper-based microbial fuel cell (MFC) could take advantage of capillary action to guide the liquids through the MFC system and eliminate the need for external power. 

In the study, the paper-based MFC ran for five days and showed the production of current as a result of biofilm formation on anode. 

The system produced 1.3 µW (microwatt) of power and 52.25 µA (microampere) of current yielding a power density of approximately 25 W/m3. 

The biofilm formation on the carbon cloth during the test provided further evidence that the current measured was the result of the bio-chemical reaction taking place. 

This was important because the biofilm play a vital role in current production of a microbial fuel cell. 

According to the researchers, increased biofilm size and thickness ultimately leads to increased current production. 

The device for the first time demonstrated the longer duration of use and ability to operate individually, a development that could help increase the number of situations where microbial fuel cells can be applied.

The researchers are now exploring options to better control the voltage output and create constant current. 

​London, July 5 (IANS) Researchers have identified an RNA molecule that helps cancer cells in growing opportunistically, offering scientists a new target for drug development.

The study showed that NEAT1, a non-coding RNA, plays an important role in the survival of highly dividing cells -- and in particular of cancer cells. 

These findings can help develop new drugs that target NEAT1, in order to kill cancer cells more effectively.

As a non-coding RNA, NEAT1 is not translated into a protein. It does, however, contribute to the formation of so-called 'paraspeckles', subnuclear particles that can be found in the cell nuclei of cancer cells. 

The function of these particles has remained obscure. Although highly conserved through evolution, NEAT1 appears to be dispensable for normal embryonic development and adult life as mice lacking the non-coding RNA are viable and healthy.

"In our study, we have found that the expression of NEAT1 in the cell nucleus is regulated by p53. This protein plays an important role in protecting people against cancer and is known as 'the guardian of the genome',” Carmen Adriaens, PhD student at Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.

The researchers also found that NEAT1/paraspeckles are required for the survival of highly dividing cancer initiating cells and that mice lacking NEAT1 are protected from developing skin cancer. 

This means that cancer cells can 'hijack' the survival principle of NEAT1 for their own good.

"We expected NEAT1 to be a tumor suppressor, since it is regulated by p53. Instead, it turned out that NEAT1 helps cancer cells in growing opportunistically,” Professor Jean-Christophe Marine from VIB-KU Leuven said.

"They use the survival mechanisms put in place by NEAT1 to survive standard chemotherapeutics. Our research shows that cancer cells die more effectively after removing NEAT1/paraspeckles from the cell nucleus. In other words: the loss of NEAT1 leads to increased chemosensitivity and cell death,” Marine explained.

The findings appeared in the journal Nature Medicine.

"Therefore, our findings can help develop new drugs targetting NEAT1 in order to kill cancer cells more effectively," Marine said.​

New York, July 6 (IANS) Accuracy is the paramount principle of trust, followed by timeliness and clarity, when it comes to news, a new study has said.

The research, conducted by Media Insight Project -- an initiative of the American Press Institute and the Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research -- found that in the digital age, several new factors like intrusiveness of ads, navigability, load times and having the latest details also play critical role in making a publisher competent and worthy of trust.

The study reaffirmed that consumers do value broad concepts of trust like fairness, balance, accuracy and completeness. 

The team found that accuracy is the paramount principle of trust. Eighty-five per cent of US citizens rated it as extremely or very important that news organisations get the facts right -- higher than any other general principle. 

The second most valued factor was trust although it had more to do with timeliness. Three-quarters of adults (76 per cent) said it was critical to them that a news report be up to date with the latest news and information. 

The third most cited factor that determined why people rely on a news source was related to clarity, with 72 per cent respondents saying it was extremely or very important to them that a news report be concise and gets to the point.

When it comes to online news, people cited three specific factors as most important: That ads not interfere with the news (63 per cent); that the site or app loads fast (63 per cent); and that the content works well on mobile phones (60 per cent). 

The reasons people trust and rely on a news source vary by topic, according to the study. 

For example, people are significantly more likely to say that expert sources and data are an important reason they turn to a source for news about domestic issues than about lifestyle news (76 per cent vs 48 per cent). 

People are far more likely to want their source to be concise and get to the point for national politics (80 per cent) than sports (61 per cent). 

Similarly, people care more that their sources for sports and lifestyle present the news in a way that is entertaining (54 per cent and 53 per cent) than say the same about political news (30 per cent).

The research, featuring a combination of ethnographic activities and focus groups, was conducted from February 24 through March 2 this year.​

​New York, July 6 (IANS) Argentine Tango dance has the potential to significantly improve balance and reduce falls risk among cancer patients post treatment, finds a study that addresses the prevalent side effects of cancer treatment.

According to researchers nearly 70 per cent of cancer patients treated with chemotherapy will experience peripheral neuropathy as a side effect post treatment. 

Peripheral neuropathy is weakness, numbness or loss of sensation in the hands, fingers, feet and toes and pain from nerve damage. 

The findings revealed that after just five weeks of Argentine tango, medial and lateral sway decreased by 56 per cent indicating that this is a promising balance intervention for cancer survivors experiencing impaired balance post treatment.

“The study showed that Argentine Tango has measurable effects on balance -- but our patients report really enjoying dance as therapy. It is a fun, social way to do the necessary work and our initial data shows it has some positive impact for restoring balance," said Mimi Lamantia from The Ohio State University in the US.

In addition, the patients also found that the Argentine tango was more easier to adhere than the traditional physical therapy. 

"So many patients tell us that it is difficult to stay committed to physical therapy because it is hard and feels like work,” Lamantia added.

Long-term neuropathy in the feet and toes can be especially problematic because it affects a person's balance and gait. This puts them in an elevated fall risk when they are engaging in daily life activities.

"That's a big deal because many more people are surviving cancer. Dealing with the issues that impact a person's quality of life after cancer is extremely important," noted another researcher Lise Worthen-Chaudhari from The Ohio State University.

For the study, the team designed a dance intervention course that involved 20 sessions of adapted Argentine Tango. Patients participated in one-hour sessions twice a week for 10 weeks.

Researchers measured patients' standing postural sway (eyes closed) with a computer-aided force platform at the beginning of the dance intervention series and at completion of the 10-weeks of instruction. Patients were also asked to report satisfaction with the intervention.

Initial data from the first three patients who participated in the Argentine Tango study will be presented at the 2016 annual meeting of American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine in Chicago.​

​New York, July 6 (IANS) Analysis of fossil remains dating 50 million years represent a new species that is a previously unknown relative of the modern-day ostrich, researchers say.

The bird fossils were found more than a decade ago, completely intact with bones, feathers, and soft tissues in a former lake bed in Wyoming in the US. 

"This is among one of the earliest well-represented bird species after the age of large dinosaurs," said study co-author Sterling Nesbitt, Assistant Professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech).

"You can definitely appreciate how complete these fossil are," Nesbitt added.

The new species is named Calciavis grandei -- with "calci" meaning "hard/stone," and "avis" from the Latin for bird, and "grandei" in honour of famed paleontologist Lance Grande.

The bird is believed to be roughly the size of a chicken, and similar to chickens, were mostly ground-dwelling, only flying in short bursts to escape predators.

Two fossils of Calciavis dating from the Eocene epoch -- roughly between 56 million and 30 million years ago -- were found by fossil diggers within the Green River Formation in Wyoming, a hot bed for extinct fish. 

"These are spectacularly preserved fossils, one is a nearly complete skeleton covered with feather remains, the others are nearly are nearly as complete and some show soft tissue remains," Nesbitt said.

The findings were published in the Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History.

"The new bird shows us that the bird group that includes the largest flightless birds of today had a much wider distribution and longer evolutionary history in North America," Nesbitt said.

"Back when Calciavis was alive, it lived in a tropical environment that was rich with tropical life and this is in stark contrast to the high-desert environment in Wyoming today," Nesbitt pointed out.

​London, July 6 (IANS) Infections with two types of malaria parasite lead to greater health risks because one species helps the other to thrive, new research has found.

The researchers sought to understand what happens when the two most common malaria parasites cause infection at the same time, as they are known to attack the body in different ways.

They found that one type of parasite leads to the second species being provided with more of the resources it needs to prosper.

In people, a parasite known as P. falciparum infects red blood cells of all ages, while another - P. vivax - attacks only young red blood cells.

"Our findings also challenge ideas that one species will outcompete the other, which explains why infections involving two parasite species can pose a greater health risk to patients," said one of the researchers Sarah Reece, Professor at University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

Experiments in mice with equivalent malaria parasites showed that the body's response to the first infection produces more of the type of red blood cell that the second parasite needs.

In response to the first infection, millions of red blood cells are destroyed. The body responds by replenishing these cells. These fresh cells quickly become infected by the second type of parasite, making the infection worse, the researchers said.

The finding could explain why infections with both P. falciparum and P. vivax in people often have worse outcomes for patients than single infections, the team noted.

Until recently, it was unclear how two parasite species interacted during co-infections.

The study, published in the journal Ecology Letters, was carried out in collaboration with the University of Toronto. ​