Knowledge Update

​New York, Nov 25 (IANS) Taking a step further in identifying a possible therapy for the Zika infection, researchers have discovered the mechanism by which a human antibody previously identified to react with the Dengue virus, prevents Zika infection at a cellular level.

Previously, the antibody C10 was identified as one of the most potent antibodies able to neutralise Zika infection. The new study, published in the journal Nature Communications, determines how C10 prevents the infection.

"By defining the structural basis for neutralization, these studies provide further support for the idea that this antibody will protect against Zika infection, potentially leading to a new therapy to treat this dreaded disease," said Ralph Baric, Professor at University of North Carolina.

To infect a cell, virus particles usually undergo two main steps, docking and fusion, which are also common targets for disruption when developing viral therapeutics. 

During docking, the virus particle identifies specific sites on the cell and binds to them. With Zika infection, docking then initiates the cell to take the virus in via an endosome -- a separate compartment within the cell body. 

Proteins within the virus coat undergo structural changes to fuse with the membrane of the endosome, thereby releasing the virus genome into the cell, and completing the fusion step of infection.

Using a method called cryoelectron microscopy, which allows for the visualisation of extremely small particles and their interactions, the team visualised C10 interacting with the Zika virus under different pHs (potential of hydrogen, a scale of acidity), so as to mimic the different environments both the antibody and virus will find themselves in throughout infection. 

They showed that C10 binds to the main protein that makes up the Zika virus coat, regardless of pH, and locks these proteins into place, preventing the structural changes required for the fusion step of infection. 

Without fusion of the virus to the endosome, viral DNA is prevented from entering the cell, and infection is thwarted.

"Hopefully, these results will further accelerate the development of C10 as a Zika therapy to combat its effects of microcephaly (a birth defect) and Guillain-Barre (paralysis) syndrome," one of the researchers Lok Shee-Mei from Duke-National University of Singapore Medical School in Singapore.

​Madrid, Nov 25 (IANS) World famous architect Norman Foster has been selected to renovate part of the famous Prado art gallery here, the museum has confirmed.

Foster will work with Spanish architect Carlos Rubio on the 30 million euro ($33 million) refurbishment of the 17th century Hall of Realms (Salon de Reinos in Spanish), Xinhua

​London, Nov 25 (IANS) Internet search mechanisms will need to change to support the Internet of Things (IoT) whereby billions of devices will become connected, say experts.

"Search engines have come a long way since their original purpose of locating documents, but they still lack the connection between social, physical and cyber data which will be

​New York, Nov 25 (IANS) Do you find it difficult to remember lessons despite reading them over and over again because of the stress that examinations put? If yes, this new study may provide you a solution. Researchers have found that learning by taking practice tests, a strategy known as retrieval practice, can protect memory against the negative effects of stress. "Our results suggest that it is not necessarily a matter of how much or how long someone studies, but how they study," said corresponding author on the study Amy Smith from Tufts University in Massachusetts, US. In experiments involving 120 student participants, individuals who learned a series of words and images by retrieval practice showed no impairment in memory after experiencing acute stress. Participants who used study practice, the conventional method of re-reading material to memorise it, remembered fewer items overall, particularly after stress, showed the study published in the journal Science. "Typically, people under stress are less effective at retrieving information from memory," said senior study author Ayanna Thomas, Associate Professor at Tufts University. "We now show for the first time that the right learning strategy, in this case retrieval practice or taking practice tests, results in such strong memory representations that even under high levels of stress, subjects are still able to access their memories," Thomas added. The research team asked participants to learn a set of 30 words and 30 images. These were introduced through a computer programme, which displayed one item at a time for a few seconds each. To simulate note taking, participants were given 10 seconds to type a sentence using the item immediately after seeing it. One group of participants then studied using retrieval practice, and took timed practice tests in which they freely recalled as many items as they could remember. The other group used study practice. For these participants, items were re-displayed on the computer screen, one at a time, for a few seconds each. Participants were given multiple timed periods to study. The researchers found that participants who learned through study practice remembered fewer words overall, and those who were stressed remembered even less. "Even though previous research has shown that retrieval practice is one of the best learning strategies available, we were still surprised at how effective it was for individuals under stress. It was as if stress had no effect on their memory," Smith said.

​New York, Nov 24 (IANS) Researchers have developed a first-of-its-kind soft, flexible microfluidic device that easily adheres to the skin and connects wirelessly with a smartphone to measure the wearer's sweat to show how his or her body is responding to exercise.

Sweat is a rich, chemical broth containing a number of important chemical compounds with physiological health information, the researchers said.

The low-cost device, which is a little larger than a quarter and nearly the same thickness, connects wirelessly with a smartphone to analyse key biomarkers to help a person to find whether he/she needs to drink more water or energy drink to boost the electrolyte levels, or if something is medically going wrong in his/her body.

"The intimate skin interface created by this wearable, skin-like microfluidic system enables new measurement capabilities not possible with the kinds of absorbent pads and sponges currently used in sweat collection," said John A. Rogers, Professor at the Northwestern University, US.

For the study, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the team tested the device on two groups of cyclists. 

The device, which is designed for one-time use for a few hours, was placed directly on the skin of the forearm or back of the athletes.

It showed accurate accounts of the acidity of sweat and concentrations of glucose, chloride and lactate and could even detect the presence of a biomarker for cystic fibrosis.

To get the data, individuals had to use a smartphone to capture the photo of the device. An app then analyses that photo to display the relevant information.

"The sweat analysis platform we developed will allow people to monitor their health on the spot without the need for a blood sampling and with integrated electronics that do not require a battery but still enable wireless connection to a smartphone," said Yonggang Huang, Professor at the Northwestern University, US.

In the future, it may be more broadly used for disease diagnosis, the researchers added.

Melbourne, Nov 25 (IANS) An Australian Nobel Prize-winning scientist is developing a drug to counter allergies and asthma, a statement said on Friday.

Still in its initial stage the the drug can be taken as tablets, capsules, liquids or powder, Xinhua news reported. 

Barry Marshall, a microbiology professor from University of Western Australia, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology in 2005 for stomach ulcer research, is working on the new drug.

The medication, named Immbalance, aims to suppress an overactive immune system.

"This actually arose from work we were doing on helicobacter, the stomach bug, for which Robin Warren and I won the Nobel Prize a few years ago," Marshall said on Friday.

"We've discovered the way it survives in your body is by suppressing the immune system so you can't get rid of it.

"I can't guarantee that it's going to cure allergy sufferers... we think this kind of thing will bring people who are hyper reactive... down into the normal range."

Marshall, who spent the last seven years developing the drug, said that it can be formulated as tablets, capsules, liquids or powder.

"Children could spread the powder on their cereal or put it in a drink and over the course of a few months could suppress their allergic response," he said in a UWA media release.

"We think it's going to be 100 percent safe. It won't remove your immune system; it will just take the edge off."

Kathmandu, Nov 24 (IANS) The Patanjali Group, owned by Indian yoga guru Ramdev, opened its new factory in Nepal on Thursday, aiming to produce various fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) in a bid to expand its business across the border.

​Riyadh, Nov 24 (IANS) World's top crude oil producer Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil company of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, said it made a major advancement in its POWERS technology that will simulate oil migration problems in the Kingdom in a fraction of the time it once took and help discover new oil and gas fields.

Washington, Nov 23 (IANS) Using a 8.2-meter telescope on the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii, an international team of researchers has found what could be the faintest dwarf satellite galaxy of our Milky Way.

Called Virgo I, the new dwarf satellite galaxy lies in the direction of the constellation Virgo at a distance of 280,000 light years from our Sun, Xinhua news agency reported.

It has an absolute luminosity of -0.8 in the optical waveband and such a remote galaxy with faint brightness has not been identified in previous sky surveys.

Its discovery suggested the presence of a large number of yet-undetected dwarf satellites in the halo of the Milky Way, according to the study published this week in The Astrophysical Journal.

"This discovery implies hundreds of faint dwarf satellites waiting to be discovered in the halo of the Milky Way," study leader Masashi Chiba, a professor from the Tohoku University in Japan, said in a statement.

"How many satellites are indeed there and what properties they have, will give us an important clue of understanding how the Milky Way formed and how dark matter contributed to it."

So far, some 50 satellite galaxies to the Milky Way have been identified.

​London, Nov 24 (IANS) With the onset of Christmas season, millions of parents will lie to their children about the existence of Santa Claus or Christmas Father. A new study has suggested that this lie may damage their bond.

The study, published in Lancet Psychiatry, showed that the children's trust in their parents may be undermined by the Santa lie.

"The morality of making children believe in such myths has to be questioned. All children will eventually find out they've been consistently lied to for years, and this might make them wonder what other lies they've been told," asked Christopher Boyle, Professor at the University of Exeter in Britain.

But, according to the authors, the Christmas father fantasy may not be purely for the children.

Parents may not be motivated by purely creating magic for their children, but by a desire to return to the joy of childhood themselves.

For adults, it's a chance to go back to a time when they believed in magic.

"Many people may yearn for a time when imagination was accepted and encouraged, which may not be the case in adult life," Boyle said.

"The persistence of fandom in stories like Harry Potter, Star Wars and Doctor Who well into adulthood demonstrates this desire to briefly re-enter childhood," added Kathy McKay from the University of New England, Australia. 

However, the study contended that lying to children may sometimes be right.

"An adult comforting a child and telling them that their recently deceased pet will go to a special place (animal heaven) is arguably nicer than telling graphic truths about its imminent re-entry into the carbon cycle," Boyle observed.