The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has greeted people on the auspicious occasion of Navratri. On the beginning of Navratri, Modi also prayed to Goddess Shailaputri and wished happiness, health and fortune the grace of the goddess.
“शक्ति की उपासना के महापर्व नवरात्रि की आप सभी को बहुत-बहुत शुभकामनाएं। आस्था और विश्वास का यह पावन अवसर हर किसी के जीवन में नई ऊर्जा और नए उत्साह का संचार करे। जय माता दी!”
“वन्दे वाञ्छितलाभाय चन्द्रार्धकृतशेखराम्।
वृषारूढां शूलधरां शैलपुत्रीं यशस्विनीम् ।।
देवी शैलपुत्री की आराधना के साथ आज से नवरात्रि का शुभारंभ हो रहा है। मेरी कामना है कि उनकी कृपा से हर किसी का जीवन सुख, सौभाग्य और आरोग्य से परिपूर्ण हो।”
Scientists have identified immune cell types that could be targeted to develop specific immunotherapies in chemotherapy-resistant breast cancers.
Researchers from King’s College London and The Institute of Cancer Research, London, with support from Breast Cancer Now, have performed a deep dive into the different immune markers within tumour tissues and blood samples of early breast cancer patients whose cancer failed to respond to chemotherapy given to them prior to surgery.
The research, published today in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, gives insight into the function of immune cells in patients with chemotherapy-resistant breast cancers. While chemotherapy may not kill cancer cells in these high-risk patients, immunotherapy, a type of treatment that helps the immune system to attack cancer cells, may provide a benefit.
To investigate the immune environment that surrounds these chemotherapy resistant tumours, researchers employed multiple and novel complementary technologies looking at proteins and genes on both pre-treatment and post-treatment breast cancer tissue. They also measured how 1,330 cancer and immune-related genes within cancer tissues were affected by chemotherapy.
Flax seeds help women combat menstrual complications and fight post-menopausal risk of breast cancer, say studies
They found that chemotherapy resistant cancer cells had very few immune cells around them, but chemotherapy did induce changes in several immune cell types. Specifically, they found increases in the number of “innate” (first responder) cells such as neutrophils and natural killer (NK) cells. NK cells help the body to fight infection and cancer. But analysis found the increased NK cells in patients with chemotherapy resistant disease lacked cytotoxic activity – the ‘killing instinct’.
Researchers also found immune-related genes associated with NK cells were those associated with cell inhibition or exhaustion, which meant NK cells were unable to fight cancer cells. This new insight into the behaviour of NK cells could be used to develop specific immunotherapies for these high-risk patients. This would need to be investigated in future clinical trials.
These findings also show that blood monitoring during chemotherapy may help predict chemotherapy response early, potentially allow for tailoring of treatment prior to surgery.
Lead author Dr Sheeba Irshad, Cancer Research UK Clinician Scientist at King’s College London said: “Chemotherapy resistance in aggressive early breast cancers is a major reason why cancer regrows after treatment, contributing significantly to people not surviving their disease. In order to find the right targets for drug developments, it’s important to have a deep understanding of the complex mechanisms that allow some cancer cells to resist treatment, then hide from our immune system to only re-emerge later when they’re harder to eradicate.
“Our work has identified several cell types that would be worth investigating further to understand how they are interacting with the resistant cancer cell and how we can tweak that for our benefit. I am excited to continue to investigate these findings further.”
chemotherapy
Professor Andrew Tutt, Director of the Breast Cancer Now Toby Robins Research Centre at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and of the Breast Cancer Now Research Unit at King’s College London, said: “Great strides have been made in harnessing immunotherapies to treat several types of cancer, but we need to do better to realise their potential for patients with breast cancer.
“This exciting work advances our understanding of the interaction between cancer cells and the immune system during treatment, and why existing treatments work well for some patients, but not others. I hope this research will help us to enhance the anti-cancer immune response in breast cancer, particularly for patients whose cancer has not responded well to chemotherapy.”
Dr Kotryna Temcinaite, Senior Research Communications Manager at Breast Cancer Now, said: “With an estimated 35,000 people living with incurable secondary (metastatic) breast cancer in the UK, it’s vital we develop smarter, more effective treatments to ensure fewer people hear the devastating news the disease has returned and spread to other parts of the body. This exciting early-stage research, which has been part-funded by Breast Cancer Now, helps to lay the groundwork for discovering a way to target breast cancer cells that resist chemotherapy treatment. We hope by building on these findings, scientists will ultimately be able to develop immunotherapy treatments that may help more people survive breast cancer.”
The cities of the ancient Maya in Mesoamerica never fail to impress. But beneath the soil surface, an unexpected danger lurks there: mercury pollution. In a review article in Frontiers in Environmental Science, researchers conclude that this pollution isn’t modern: it’s due to the frequent use of mercury and mercury-containing products by the Maya of the Classic Period, between 250 and 1100 CE. This pollution is in places so heavy that even today, it pose a potential health hazard for unwary archeologists.
Lead author Dr Duncan Cook, an associate professor of Geography at the Australian Catholic University, said: “Mercury pollution in the environment is usually found in contemporary urban areas and industrial landscapes. Discovering mercury buried deep in soils and sediments in ancient Maya cities is difficult to explain, until we begin to consider the archeology of the region which tells us that the Maya were using mercury for centuries.”
Ancient anthropogenic pollution
For the first time, Cook and colleagues here reviewed all data on mercury concentrations in soil and sediments at archeological sites across the ancient Maya world. They show that at sites from the Classical Period for which measurements are available – Chunchumil in today’s Mexico, Marco Gonzales, Chan b’i, and Actuncan in Belize, La Corona, Tikal, Petén Itzá, Piedras Negras, and Cancuén in Guatemala, Palmarejo in Honduras, and Cerén, a Mesoamerican ‘Pompeii’, in El Salvador –mercury pollution is detectable everywhere except at Chan b’i.
Concentrations range from 0.016 ppm at Actuncan to an extraordinary 17.16 ppm at Tikal. For comparison, the Toxic Effect Threshold (TET) for mercury in sediments is defined as 1 ppm.
Heavy users of mercury
What caused this prehistoric mercury pollution? The authors highlight that sealed vessels filled with ‘elemental’ (ie, liquid) mercury have been found at several Maya sites, for example Quiriqua in Guatemala, El Paraíso in Honduras, and the former multi-ethnic megacity Teotihucan in Central Mexico. Elsewhere in the Maya region, archeologists have found objects painted with mercury-containing paints, mainly made from the mineral cinnabar.
The authors conclude that the ancient Maya frequently used cinnabar and mercury-containing paints and powders for decoration. This mercury could then have leached from patios, floor areas, walls, and ceramics, and subsequently spread into the soil and water.
“For the Maya, objects could contain ch’ulel, or soul-force, which resided in blood. Hence, the brilliant red pigment of cinnabar was an invaluable and sacred substance, but unbeknownst to them it was also deadly and its legacy persists in soils and sediments around ancient Maya sites,” said co-author Dr Nicholas Dunning, a professor at the University of Cincinnati.
cinnabar/wikipedia
As mercury is rare in the limestone that underlies much of the Maya region, they speculate that elemental mercury and cinnabar found at Maya sites could have been originally mined from known deposits on the northern and southern confines of the ancient Maya world, and imported to the cities by traders.
Health hazards and the ‘Mayacene’
All this mercury would have posed a health hazard for the ancient Maya: for example, the effects of chronic mercury poisoning include damage to the central nervous system, kidneys, and liver, and cause tremors, impaired vision and hearing, paralysis, and mental health problems. It’s perhaps significant that one of the last Maya rulers of Tikal, Dark Sun, who ruled around 810 CE, is depicted in frescoes as pathologically obese. Obesity is a known effect of metabolic syndrome, which can be caused by chronic mercury poisoning.
More research is needed to determine whether mercury exposure played a role in larger sociocultural change and trends in the Maya world, such as those towards the end of the Classic Period.
Co-author Dr Tim Beach, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, said: “We conclude that even the ancient Maya, who barely used metals, caused mercury concentrations to be greatly elevated in their environment. This result is yet more evidence that just like we live today in the ‘Anthropocene’, there also was a ‘Maya anthropocene’ or ‘Mayacene’. Metal contamination seems to have been effect of human activity through history.”
The President of India, Droupadi Murmu presented the National Service Scheme Awards for the year 2020-2021 at Rashtrapati Bhavan today.Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Anurag Thakur and Minister of State for Youth Affairs & Sports Shri Nisith Pramanik attended the awards ceremony. Secretary, Youth Affairs, Shri Sanjay Kumar and Secretary, Sports, Smt. Sujata Chaturvedi and senior officers of the Ministry and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.
Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Department of Youth Affairs confers every year the National Service Scheme Award to recognize and reward outstanding contributions towards voluntary community service made by the Universities/ +2 Council, Programme Officers/NSS Units and NSS Volunteers, with a view to further promote NSS in the country. At Present, NSS has about 40 lakh volunteers on its rolls spread over the country.The details of National Service Scheme (NSS) Award for the year 2020-21 in 3 different categories are as under:
S. No.
Categories
No. of Awards
Value of Award
1
University/ +2 Council
2
First Award: Rs.5,00,000/- (for NSS Programme Development) with a Trophy to the University/ +2 Council.
A Certificate and a Silver Medal to the Programme Coordinator.
Second Award: Rs.3,00,000 lakh (for NSS Programme Development) with a Trophy to the University/ +2 Council.
A Certificate and a Silver Medal to the Programme Coordinator.
2
NSS Units and their Programme Officers
10+10
Rs.2,00,000/- to each NSS Unit (For NSS Programme Development), with a Trophy.
Rs. 1,50,000/- to each Programme Officer with a Certificate and a Silver Medal.
3
NSS Volunteers
30
Rs. 1,00,000/- to each Volunteer, with a Certificate and a Silver Medal.
NSS is a Centrally Sector Scheme which was launched in the year 1969 with the primary objective of developing the personality and character of the student youth through voluntary community service. The ideological orientation of the NSS is inspired by the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi. Very appropriately, the motto of NSS is “NOT ME, BUT YOU”(‘स्वयं से पहले आप’).
Briefly, the NSS volunteers work on issues of social relevance, which keep evolving in response to the needs of the community, through regular and special camping activities. Such issues include (i) literacy and education, (ii) health, family welfare and nutrition, (iii) environment conservation, (iv) social service programmes, (v) programmes for empowerment of women, (vi) programmes connected with economic development activities, (vii) rescue and relief during calamities, (viii) Swachhata activities, etc.
The Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) in association with Indian mission in the Guatemala (Latin America) is organizing a Made in India – Trade Show Exhibition on Indian arts & crafts and other products of Indian Handicrafts Manufacturers & Exporters from 22 – 24 September, 2022 in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Ten National master craft persons and exporters from all parts of India are displaying the wide range of variety of handcrafted products like home décor, home furnishing, carpets, furniture, lamps, fashion jewellery & accessories, incense, aroma and wellness products.
Shri Rakesh Kumar, Executive Director, EPCH informed that H.E. Mr. Guillermo Castillo, Vice President of Guatemala & acting President and H.E. Ambassador of India to Guatemala, Dr. Manoj Kumar Mohapatra inaugurated the Made in India Trade Show in Guatemala and have extended their full cooperation and support to EPCH for organizing Made in India – Trade Show Exhibition in their Region reflecting the indomitable spirit of the handicraft exporting fraternity to continue furthering the efforts to strengthen the Handicrafts Sector.
Mr.Guillermo Castillo, Vice President of Guatemala & acting President and H.E. Ambassador of India to Guatemala Dr. Manoj Kumar Mohapatra along with other dignitaries inaugurating Made in India – Trade Show Exhibition on Indian arts & crafts at Cayala, Guatemala City, Guatemala
Shri Raj Kumar Malhotra, Chairman, EPCH informed that this Made in India – Trade Show Exhibition on Indian arts & crafts will provide a viable business option to the exhibitors and buyers. It is expected that the Made in India – Trade Show Exhibition on Indian arts & crafts in association with Indian Missions will lead to enhance trade and people to people relations in the Latin American region.
His Excellency H.E. Ambassador of India to Guatemala, Dr. Manoj Kumar Mohapatra informed that the Made in India – Trade Show Exhibition is an opportunity to portray diversity of India, which the world is appreciative of. This will also be an opportunity to present to the world India’s abundant skills, competitive edge and adherence to quality compliances to the world.
EPCH being a nodal agency, promoting exports of handicrafts from the Country to various destinations of the world and projecting India’s image abroad as a reliable supplier of high quality handicrafts goods & services. The Handicrafts exports during the year 2021-22 was Rs. 33253.00 Crores (US $ 4459.76 Million) registering a growth of 29.49% in rupee term & 28.90% in dollar terms over previous year. However, exports of Handicrafts to Latin America is Rs. 682 crores (USD 92 million) in year 2021-22.
Mr.Guillermo Castillo, Vice President of Guatemala & acting President and H.E. Ambassador of India to Guatemala Dr. Manoj Kumar Mohapatra along with participating national awardees and master craft persons during Made in India – Trade Show Exhibition on Indian arts & crafts at Cayala, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
New UMBC-led research in Frontiers in Microbiology suggests that viruses are using information from their environment to “decide” when to sit tight inside their hosts and when to multiply and burst out, killing the host cell. The work has implications for antiviral drug development.
A virus’s ability to sense its environment, including elements produced by its host, adds “another layer of complexity to the viral-host interaction,” says Ivan Erill, professor of biological sciences and senior author on the new paper. Right now, viruses are exploiting that ability to their benefit. But in the future, he says, “we could exploit it to their detriment.”
Not a coincidence
The new study focused on bacteriophages—viruses that infect bacteria, often referred to simply as “phages.” The phages in the study can only infect their hosts when the bacterial cells have special appendages, called pili and flagella, that help the bacteria move and mate. The bacteria produce a protein called CtrA that controls when they generate these appendages. The new paper shows that many appendage-dependent phages have patterns in their DNA where the CtrA protein can attach, called binding sites. A phage having a binding site for a protein produced by its host is unusual, Erill says.
Even more surprising, Erill and the paper’s first author Elia Mascolo, a Ph.D. student in Erill’s lab, found through detailed genomic analysis that these binding sites were not unique to a single phage, or even a single group of phages. Many different types of phages had CtrA binding sites—but they all required their hosts to have pili and/or flagella to infect them. It couldn’t be a coincidence, they decided.
The ability to monitor CtrA levels “has been invented multiple times throughout evolution by different phages that infect different bacteria,” Erill says. When distantly related species demonstrate a similar trait, it’s called convergent evolution—and it indicates that the trait is definitely useful.
A delta bacteriophage, the first identified in a new study in Frontiers in Microbiology to have binding sites for CtrA, a protein produced by the bacteriophage’s host that regulates the production of pili and flagella. The presence of these binding sites only in phages that require their host cells to have pili/flagella in order to infect them suggests that the phage is monitoring the presence of this protein in order to “decide” whether to stay put or replicate and emerge from its host cell./CREDIT:Tagide deCarvalho/UMBC
Timing is everything
Another wrinkle in the story: The first phage in which the research team identified CtrA binding sites infects a particular group of bacteria called Caulobacterales. Caulobacterales are an especially well-studied group of bacteria, because they exist in two forms: a “swarmer” form that swims around freely, and a “stalked” form that attaches to a surface. The swarmers have pili/flagella, and the stalks do not. In these bacteria, CtrA also regulates the cell cycle, determining whether a cell will divide evenly into two more of the same cell type, or divide asymmetrically to produce one swarmer and one stalk cell.
Because the phages can only infect swarmer cells, it’s in their best interest only to burst out of their host when there are many swarmer cells available to infect. Generally, Caulobacterales live in nutrient-poor environments, and they are very spread out. “But when they find a good pocket of microhabitat, they become stalked cells and proliferate,” Erill says, eventually producing large quantities of swarmer cells.
So, “We hypothesize the phages are monitoring CtrA levels, which go up and down during the life cycle of the cells, to figure out when the swarmer cell is becoming a stalk cell and becoming a factory of swarmers,” Erill says, “and at that point, they burst the cell, because there are going to be many swarmers nearby to infect.”
Listening in
“Everything that we know about phages, every single evolutionary strategy they have developed, has been shown to translate to viruses that infect plants and animals,” he says. “It’s almost a given. So if phages are listening in on their hosts, the viruses that affect humans are bound to be doing the same.”
There are a few other documented examples of phages monitoring their environment in interesting ways, but none include so many different phages employing the same strategy against so many bacterial hosts.
This new research is the “first broad scope demonstration that phages are listening in on what’s going on in the cell, in this case, in terms of cell development,” Erill says. But more examples are on the way, he predicts. Already, members of his lab have started looking for receptors for other bacterial regulatory molecules in phages, he says—and they’re finding them.
New therapeutic avenues
The key takeaway from this research is that “the virus is using cellular intel to make decisions,” Erill says, “and if it’s happening in bacteria, it’s almost certainly happening in plants and animals, because if it’s an evolutionary strategy that makes sense, evolution will discover it and exploit it.”
For example, to optimize its strategy for survival and replication, an animal virus might want to know what kind of tissue it is in, or how robust the host’s immune response is to its infection. While it might be unsettling to think about all the information viruses could gather and possibly use to make us sicker, these discoveries also open up avenues for new therapies.
“If you are developing an antiviral drug, and you know the virus is listening in on a particular signal, then maybe you can fool the virus,” Erill says. That’s several steps away, however. For now, “We are just starting to realize how actively viruses have eyes on us—how they are monitoring what’s going on around them and making decisions based on that,” Erill says. “It’s fascinating.”
Amazon Great Indian Festival 2022 sale has picked up but the numbers are not available still still compared Flipkart’s Big Billion Deal as both entered the second day on Saturday.
The massive festive season sales are offering big discounts on popular smartphones, large appliances, and other electronic items. If you’re looking to get all your Diwali shopping done online, here is a look at some on offer on Amazon Great Indian Festival 2022 sale:
Apple iPhone 12 now at: Rs. 46,499 (MRP Rs. 65,900)
Samsung Galaxy S22 5G now at: Rs. 52,999 (MRP Rs.85,999)
OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite now at: Rs. 18,499 (MRP Rs. 19,999)
Samsung Galaxy M13 now at: Rs. 9,499 (MRP Rs. 14,999)
iQoo Neo 6 5G now at: Rs. 27,999 (MRP Rs. 34,999)
Apple Watch SE now at: Rs. 23,900 (MRP Rs. 33,900)
Sony WH-1000XM4 wireless headphones now at: Rs. 19,990 (MRP Rs. 29,990)
2020 Apple Mac mini with M1 now at: Rs. 58,990 (MRP Rs. 64,900)
2021 iPad 10.2-inch now at: Rs. 25,999 (MRP Rs. 30,900)
Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro now at: Rs. 5,990 (MRP Rs. 17,990)
Sony Bravia 55-inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED Google TV now at: Rs. 61,000 (MRP Rs. 99,900)
Echo Dot (4th gen) combo with Wipro smart bulb now at: Rs. 2,299 (MRP Rs. 6,598)
Fire TV Stick now at Rs. 1,999 (MRP Rs. 4,999) while the 4K model is down to Rs. 2,999 (MRP Rs. 5,999).
Shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he will deploy citizens to fight Ukraine on Wednesday, long queues were witnessed at border with citizens flocking the borders to flee the country, which is finding huge manpower shortage to continue the Ukrainian war.
In an address, President Putin and military officials said 300,000 reservists would immediately be conscripted to fight in the unprovoked invasion after the warring country had lost significant ground in Ukraine amid recent counterattacks, said the report.
Putin on Wednesday ordered Russia’s first mobilisation since World War Two and warned the West he was not bluffing when he said he’d be ready to use nuclear weapons to defend Russia. He gave the citizens just four hours to pack their bags and say goodbyes to their families, said a report in Metro.
How to break an arm at home?
Soon after Putin’s announcement, the Google Search is inundated with the search string “how to break an arm at home”. It became the top search in Russia as Google Trends data showed a dramatic rise in the search term from 0 to 38 on a scale of 100, within 24 hours after the announcement.
On the other hand, the plane tickets out of Russia peaked $5,000 for one-way to neighbouring countries. Tens of thousands of Russians sought to flee the country, with five-hour long queues at the borders to Finland, Georgia, and Mongolia. Those who were lucky got the flight, but many others were blocked from departing despite a valid tickets or visa.
Social media groups started a variety of ideas and advice on how to get out of Russia while one news site in Russian gave a list of “where to run away right now from Russia.” But breaking the arm remains the best option for many who could not afford the above.
They are now searching for “how to break an arm at home” so they can be exempted from participating in the war, if aged between 18 and 65.
However, some Russian nationalists are adamant and have renewed calls for some kind of mobilisation to send more troops into the war campaign.
E-commerce major Flipkart witnessed record number of shoppers at 1.6 million users per second the moment it opened the ninth edition of its ‘Big Billion Days 2022’ festive sales on Friday.
Attributing the huge rush to its opening to shoppers from tier 2 and smaller cities, the number of Flipkart Plus customers using Early Access saw huge rise from its last year’s record, said the comnpany.
Electronic devices such as laptops, smartwatches and true wireless wearables saw the highest demand, while makeup and fragrance category floowed next. The groceries too saw a significant rise in customers, said the company in a statement.
“This year’s event is special for many reasons, like the growing strength of our seller and partner ecosystem and the innovations that have enabled access to greater inclusivity and affordability for consumers,” said Manjari Singhal, Flipkart’s Senior Director of sales.
Shopsy, the e-commerce platform by Flipkart for Bharat, drew a majority of customers from tier 2 cities and beyond and the number of kiranas partnering with Flipkart for the festive sales deliveries grew from 27,000 in 2019 to 2 lakh in 2022.
The company is expecting a sales pitch in the first festive week to touch $5.9 billion this year and predictions are at $11.8 billion worth gross merchandise value (GMV) during the entire festive month.
An unexpected ‘heat wave’ of 700 degrees Celsius, extending 130,000 kilometres (10 Earth diameters) in Jupiter’s atmosphere, has been discovered. James O’Donoghue, of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), has presented the results this week at the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 2022 in Granada.
Jupiter’s atmosphere, famous for its characteristic multicoloured vortices, is also unexpectedly hot: in fact, it is hundreds of degrees hotter than models predict. Due to its orbital distance millions of kilometres from the Sun, the giant planet receives under 4% of the amount of sunlight compared to Earth, and its upper atmosphere should theoretically be a frigid -70 degrees Celsius. Instead, its cloud tops are measured everywhere at over 400 degrees Celsius.
“Last year we produced – and presented at EPSC2021 – the first maps of Jupiter’s upper atmosphere capable of identifying the dominant heat sources,” said Dr O’Donoghue. “Thanks to these maps, we demonstrated that Jupiter’s auroras were a possible mechanism that could explain these temperatures.”
Just like the Earth, Jupiter experiences auroras around its poles as an effect of the solar wind. However, while Earth’s auroras are transient and only occur when solar activity is intense, auroras at Jupiter are permanent and have a variable intensity. The powerful auroras can heat the region around the poles to over 700 degrees Celsius, and global winds can redistribute the heat globally around Jupiter.
A panning-view of Jupiter’s upper atmospheric temperatures, 1000 kilometers above the cloud tops. Jupiter is shown on top of a visible image for context. In this snapshot, the auroral region (near the northern pole, in yellow/white) appears to have shed a massive, planetary-scale wave of heating towards the equator. The feature is over 130,000 kilometers long, or 10-Earth diameters, and is hundreds of degrees warmer than the background. For video see: https://youtu.be/gWT0QwSoVls/CREDIT:Hubble / NASA / ESA / A. Simon (NASA GSFC) / J. Schmidt. Credit: James O’Donoghue
Looking more deeply through their data, Dr O’Donoghue and his team discovered the spectacular ‘heat wave’ just below the northern aurora, and found that it was travelling towards the equator at a speed of thousands of kilometres per hour.
The heat wave was probably triggered by a pulse of enhanced solar wind plasma impacting Jupiter’s magnetic field, which boosted auroral heating and forced hot gases to expand and spill out towards the equator.
“While the auroras continuously deliver heat to the rest of the planet, these heat wave ‘events’ represent an additional, significant energy source,” added Dr O’Donoghue. “These findings add to our knowledge of Jupiter’s upper-atmospheric weather and climate, and are a great help in trying to solve the ‘energy crisis’ problem that plagues research into the giant planets.”
Wearable sensors styled into t-shirts and face masks
Imperial researchers have embedded new low-cost sensors that monitor breathing, heart rate, and ammonia into t-shirts and face masks.
Potential applications range from monitoring exercise, sleep, and stress to diagnosing and monitoring disease through breath and vital signs.
Spun from a new Imperial-developed cotton-based conductive thread called PECOTEX, the sensors cost little to manufacture. Just $0.15 produces a metre of thread to seamlessly integrate more than ten sensors into clothing, and PECOTEX is compatible with industry-standard computerised embroidery machines.
First author of the research Fahad Alshabouna, PhD candidate at Imperial’s Department of Bioengineering, said: “The flexible medium of clothing means our sensors have a wide range of applications. They’re also relatively easy to produce which means we could scale up manufacturing and usher in a new generation of wearables in clothing.”
The research team embroidered the sensors into a face mask to monitor breathing, a t-shirt to monitor heart activity, and textiles to monitor gases like ammonia, a component of the breath that can be used to track liver and kidney function. The ammonia sensors were developed to test whether gas sensors could also be manufactured using embroidery.
Fahad added: “We demonstrated applications in monitoring cardiac activity and breathing, and sensing gases. Future potential applications include diagnosing and monitoring disease and treatment, monitoring the body during exercise, sleep, and stress, and use in batteries, heaters, anti-static clothing.”
The research is published today in Materials Today.
Mask
Seamless sensors
Wearable sensors, like those on smartwatches, let us continuously monitor our health and wellbeing non-invasively. Until now, however, there has been a lack of suitable conductive threads, which explains why wearable sensors seamlessly integrated into in clothing aren’t yet widely available.
Enter PECOTEX. Developed and spun into sensors by Imperial researchers, the material is machine washable, and is less breakable and more electrically conductive than commercially available silver-based conductive threads, meaning more layers can be added for to create complex types of sensor.[1]
Lead author Dr Firat Guder, also of the Department of Bioengineering, said: “PECOTEX is high-performing, strong, and adaptable to different needs. It’s readily scalable, meaning we can produce large volumes inexpensively using both domestic and industrial computerised embroidery machines.
“Our research opens up exciting possibilities for wearable sensors in everyday clothing. By monitoring breathing, heart rate, and gases, they can already be seamlessly integrated, and might even be able to help diagnose and monitor treatments of disease in the future.”
Next, the researchers will explore new application areas like energy storage, energy harvesting and biochemical sensing, as well as finding partners for commercialisation.
This study was funded by the Saudi Ministry of Education, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC, part of the UKRI), Cytiva, Imperial’s Department of Bioengineering, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the US Army.
‘Sign Language Day’ with the theme ‘Sign Languages Unite Us’ was celebrated under Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav by the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC), an autonomous body under the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, M/o Social Justice and Empowerment on 23rd September 2022 at C.D. Deshmukh Auditorium, India International Centre (IIC), New Delhi.
Ever since the United Nations declared 23rd September as the International Day of Sign Languages, the ISLRTC celebrates it every year on 23rd September. This year National Implementation Committee (NIC) chaired by Home Minister inter-alia approved the event – “Sign Language Day” on 23rd Sep, 2022 to be conducted and celebrated by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment” (Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities), under “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” celebration.
As per the plan of action, approximately 3,200 organizations/ institutions were roped in for celebrating Sign Language Day-2022 under Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. The objective of the Sign Language Day celebration was to sensitize the general public about the importance of Indian Sign Language in the lives of persons with hearing disabilities.
Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment, Km. Pratima Bhoumik was the Chief Guest. Sh. Rajesh Aggrawal, Secretary, DEPwD, and Sh. Rajesh Yadav, Joint Secretary, DEPwD & Director, ISLRTC, and Sh. A.S. Narayanan, President, National Association of Deaf also graced the occasion.
Via a video message, The President of India said that she feels proud and happy that entire world is adopting the principle of Indian culture i.e. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (All world is a family) and it be seen through the celebration of Sign language day throughout the world.
Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment, Km. Pratima Bhoumik mentioned that Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) are an integral part of our society and to provide them full accessibility is the utmost priority of the Government. Continuous efforts are being made to ensure the empowerment and mainstreaming of PwDs to make an inclusive society. She said that Sign language also plays an important role in the education of deaf people because it is easier for deaf people to get education and higher education through sign language. This day brings all the deaf people together socially across the country. Through sign language, our deaf brothers and sisters are getting inspiration and direction to move ahead in their lives. This year Sign Language Day celebration is being celebrated under the Amrit Mahotsav of Azadi, which will certainly lead to a positive success in increasing public awareness about the importance of sign language.
Addressing on the occasion, Sh. Rajesh Aggrawal, Secretary DEPwD highlighted the social significance of sign language as it integrates the deaf community socially as well as culturally. He praised the efforts of ISLRTC for doing commendable service to the people with hearing disability. Secretary, DEPwD, Shri.Rajesh Aggrawal mentioned that all the possible efforts will be made that every district to have an Indian Sign Language interpreter to facilitate accessible communication for Deaf persons.
Sh. Rajesh Yadav, Joint Secretary, DEPwD and Director, ISLRTC welcomed all the dignitaries and participants. He also presented a brief account of the remarkable works and achievements of ISLRTC in a short span of time from its establishment in 2015.
In his address, Shri A.S. Narayanan, President of the National Association of the Deaf thanked Prime Minister, Minister of State, SJ&E, DEPwD and ISLRTC for constantly promoting Indian Sign Language and Education of the Deaf to include them in the mainstream of the society. He informed that he has requested the Government for including Indian Sign Language (ISL) in the forthcoming Census.
During the programme, several important resource materials were launched:-
An ISL Dictionary app called Sign Learn was launched which is available in both Android and iOS versions.
ISLRTC had signed an MoU with National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) on 06th October, 2020 for converting NCERT textbooks from Class I to XII into Indian Sign Language (digital format) to make the textbooks accessible to children with hearing disabilities. This year ISL e-content of NCERT textbooks of class VI was launched.
Under Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Centre launched ISL version of selected books of National Book Trust’s Veergatha series.
With the joint effort of ISLRTC and NCERT, a total of 500 academic words in Indian Sign Language were launched. These 500 academic words are words used at the secondary level, which are often used in history, science, political science, mathematics.
The Centre conducted 5th Indian Sign Language Competition, 2022, a national-level competition held for Deaf students and interpreters to showcase their ISL skills, creativity and knowledge. For the Competition, entries were invited on jokes, stories and essays in Indian Sign Language. During the Sign Language Day programme, all the winners of the 5th ISL competition were distributed trophy and certificate by Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment, Km. Pratima Bhoumik.
In the above event, vice chancellor MDU, Rohtak, Joint Director (NCERT) and other dignitaries from the field were also present.
The programme also included cultural performances like songs and mime in ISL by the interpreter trainees and Deaf teacher trainees.
To provide a boost to the growing indigenous drone industry, Hon’ble Raksha Mantri had launched the “MEHAR BABA COMPETITION-II” on 06 April 2022 at Air Headquarters (Vayu Bhawan). The competition is aimed at developing technology for a “Swarm Drone Based System to Detect Foreign Objects on Aircraft Operating Surfaces”. The competition is named after the legendary Air Commodore Mehar Singh, MVC, DSO – affectionately also known as Mehar Baba. The first edition of the competition was launched in October 2018 and had culminated in October 2021.
All aircraft operators face a challenge in keeping the aircraft operating surfaces clean and clear of Foreign Object Debris (FOD). Very often, this is a labour-intensive task that needs to be repeated over a day. This manpower could be more gainfully employed if personnel could focus solely on their core tasks. Furthermore, visual spotting of FOD in low light conditions becomes rather challenging.
MEHAR BABA COMPETITION -II
Hence, the IAF is seeking innovative solutions towards detection of FOD without physical employment of manpower on the aircraft operating surfaces.
Registration for this competition is open to Indian citizens and Indian registered entities only.
The last date for registration is 02 October 2022. All relevant details regarding this competition have been placed at https:/lndianairforce.nic.in/mehar-baba/#.
Lunar enthusiasts of all ages are challenged to help identify features on the Moon that might pose a hazard to rovers or astronauts exploring the surface.
The 2022 EXPLORE Lunar Data Challenge is focused on the Archytas Dome region, close to the Apollo 17 landing site where the last humans set foot on the Moon 50 years ago this December.
The Machine Learning Lunar Data Challenge is open to students, researchers and professionals in areas related to planetary sciences, but also to anyone with expertise in data processing. There is also a Public Lunar Data Challenge to plot the safe traverse of a lunar rover across the surface of the Moon, open to anyone who wants to ‘have a go’, as well as a Classroom Lunar Data Challenge for schools, with hands-on activities about lunar exploration and machine learning.
Announcing the EXPLORE Machine Learning Lunar Data Challenge during the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 2022 in Granada, Spain, this week Giacomo Nodjoumi said: “The Challenge uses data of the Archytas Dome taken by the Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission. This area of the Moon is packed craters of different ages, boulders, mounds, and a long, sinuous depression, or rille. The wide variety of features in this zone makes it a very interesting area for exploration and the perfect scenario for this Data Challenge.”
The Archytas Dome region of the lunar surface is the target area for the EXPLORE Lunar Data Challenges 2022./CREDIT: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University/EXPLORE/Jacobs University. https://exploredatachallenges.space/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Archytas2.png
The Machine Learning Lunar Data Challenge is in three steps:
Participants should train and test a model capable of recognising craters and boulders on the lunar surface.
They should use their model to label craters and boulders in a set of images of the Archytas zone.
Finally, they should use the outputs of their models to create a map of an optimal traverse across the lunar surface to visit defined sites of scientific interest and avoid hazards, such as heavily cratered zones.
The public and schools are also invited to use lunar images to identify features and plot a journey for a rover. Prizes for the challenges include vouchers totalling 1500 Euros, as well as pieces of real Moon rock from lunar meteorites.
The EXPLORE project, which is funded through the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Programme, gathers experts from different fields of science and technical expertise to develop new tools that will promote the exploitation of space science data.
This composite image of the moon using Clementine data from 1994 is the view we are most likely to see when the moon is full. Credit: NASA
“Through the EXPLORE Data Challenges, we aim to raise awareness of the scientific tools that we are developing, improve their accuracy by bringing in expertise from other communities, and involve schools and the public in space science research,” said Nick Cox, the Coordinator of the EXPLORE project.
The deadline for entries closes on 21 November 2022 and winners will be announced in mid-December on the anniversaries of the Apollo 17 mission milestones.
Plastics, now ubiquitous in the modern world, have become a rising threat to human and environmental health. Around the planet, evidence of plastic pollution stretches from grocery bags in the deep sea to microplastics in our food supplies and even in our blood.
Seeking solutions to counteract the rise in plastic trash, scientists at the University of California San Diego have developed new biodegradable materials that are designed to replace conventionally used plastic. After proving their polyurethane foams biodegrade in land-based composts, an interdisciplinary team of scientists including UC San Diego biologist Stephen Mayfield and chemists Michael Burkart and Robert “Skip” Pomeroy have now shown that the material biodegrades in seawater. The results are published in the journalScience of the Total Environment.
The researchers are working to address a plastic pollution problem now described as a global environmental crisis. In 2010, researchers estimated that 8 billion kilograms of plastic enter the ocean in a single year, with a steep escalation predicted by 2025. Upon entering the ocean, plastic waste disrupts marine ecosystems, migrates to central locations and forms trash gyres such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which covers an area more than 1.6 million square kilometers. These plastics never degrade, but rather break up into ever-smaller particles, eventually becoming microplastics that persist in the environment for centuries.
A sustainable Blueview shoe biodegrades in ocean water after 11 weeks./CREDIT:Daniel Zhen, Algenesis Inc.
Working with study coauthor Samantha Clements, a marine biologist and scientific diver at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the UC San Diego researchers conducted a series of tests of their biodegradable polyurethane materials—currently used as foams in the first commercially available biodegradable shoes (sold by a spinoff company called Blueview)—at Scripps’ Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Pier and Experimental Aquarium. The pier’s location provided scientists the access and a unique opportunity to test materials in the natural nearshore ecosystem, which is the exact environment where rogue plastics are most likely to end up.
The team found that an assortment of marine organisms colonizes on the polyurethane foam and biodegrades the material back to their starting chemicals, which are consumed as nutrients by these microorganisms, in the ocean environment. Data from the study suggest that the microorganisms, a mix of bacteria and fungi, live throughout the natural marine environment.
Plastic/Ians
“Improper disposal of plastic in the ocean breaks down into microplastics and has become an enormous environmental problem,” said Mayfield, a professor in the School of Biological Sciences and director of the California Center for Algae Biotechnology. “We’ve shown that it’s absolutely possible to make high performance plastic products that also can degrade in the ocean. Plastics should not be going into the ocean in the first place, but if they do, this material becomes food for microorganisms and not plastic trash and microplastics that harm aquatic life.”
Shoes, including flip-flops, the world’s most popular shoe, make up a large percentage of plastic waste that ends up in the world’s oceans and landfills. To fully test and analyze their polyurethane materials, developed at UC San Diego over the last eight years, the study joined experts in biology, polymer and synthetic chemistry and marine science. Foam samples were exposed to tidal and wave dynamics and tracked for molecular and physical changes using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the material started to degraded in as little as four weeks. The researchers then identified microorganisms from six marine sites around San Diego that are capable of breaking down and consuming the polyurethane material.
“No single discipline can address these universal environmental problems but we’ve developed an integrated solution that works on land—and now we know also biodegrades in the ocean,” said Mayfield. “I was surprised to see just how many organisms colonize on these foams in the ocean. It becomes something like a microbial reef.”
Though expected a little later, Indian rupee has plunged to its lowest today touching Rs.81 per US dollar, amid gloomy prospects of markets around the world in view of a steep rise in interest rates by the US Federal reserve by 0.75 percentage points, vowing to further hike in the future.
On Thursday, experts expected the Indian rupee to hit 82 levels in a month’s time but it has been precipitated on Friday to Rs. 80.71 and per US dollar by afternoon, it plummeted to Rs.81 level.
In fact, since August, the Indian rupee has been touching Rs.80 level before trying to emerge stronger against the American dollar.
Researchers have used the mathematical equations of chaos theory to analyse the data from long-term monitoring of an electronically tagged narwhal. They have extracted previously undetected diurnal patterns within what initially appeared to be irregular diving and surface resting behavior, using records extending across 83 days.
“While animal-borne ocean sensors continue to advance and collect more data, there is a lack of adequate methods to analyse records of irregular behavior,” says Hokkaido University geophysicist Evgeny A. Podolskiy, first author of the research published in the journal PLOS Computational Biology.
Podolskiy developed the procedure to find behavioral patterns in seemingly intractable complexity with Mads Peter Heide‐Jørgensen at the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources.
Narwhals (Monodon monoceros) are relatively small whales found in Arctic seas, famous for their long single tusks and called the unicorns of the sea. They are one of the most endangered Arctic species due to climate change, human activity, and predation by such invasive species as killer whales. The narwhals are notable for undertaking dives to extreme depths of more than 1,800 metres. Their life cycle is tightly coupled with sea ice, which is rapidly declining.
A pod of adult male narwhals, Greenland, September 2019 (Photo: Carsten Egevang; This image may exclusively be used in relation to this press release. The image can not be included in media archives for use apart from the above and not be handed over to third parties, without prior acceptance by the photographer)./CREDIT: Carsten Egevang
Podolskiy and Heide‐Jørgensen combined their expertises in signal processing and biologging to understand the full diversity of behaviors of a satellite-tagged narwhal. Mathematical techniques developed as part of chaos theory can interpret complicated and seemingly chaotic behavior in dynamic systems to reveal states called ‘attractors’, which the systems tend to develop towards. In essence, the approach identifies significant patterns that would otherwise be difficult to detect.
The analysis of the behavior of the electronically tagged narwhal, inspired by Podolskiy’s previous work on turbulence, revealed a daily pattern of activity and how it was affected by changing seasons, features of narwhal behavior that were previously unrecognised. The animal rested nearer to the surface around noon, but when they did dive at that time the dives were very deep. During twilight and at night the dives became more shallow but also more intense, possibly due to hunting for squid, which is known for diurnal vertical migration. It was also found that increased sea ice constrains the narwhal’s surface activity, and is correlated with more intense diving.
“Our approach is relatively simple to implement and can map and label long term data, identifying differences between the behavior of individual animals and different species, and also detecting perturbations in behavior caused by changing influences,” the authors suggest.
The researchers expect that their new method may be especially useful for assessing the challenges to narwhals and other Arctic animals posed by climate change and the loss of sea ice. Such information may prove vital in adopting policies to protect endangered species in the face of natural change and increased human activity.
Under various interventions taken up by the Ministry of Women and Child Development jointly with Ministry of Ayush, close to 4.37 lakh Anganwadi Centres have set up Poshan Vatikas. Additionally, so far, 1.10 lakh medicinal saplings have also been planted across some of the selected districts of 6 States.
Under ongoing Poshan Maah 2022, activities for setting-up nutri-gardens or retro-fitting Poshan Vatikas with backyard poultry / fishery units is being carried out in a big way across the country.
So far, more than 1.5 lakh events on retrofitting Poshan Vatikas with backyard poultry and fishery units have been reported. Also, more than 75 thousand sensitization camps have been conducted to promote millets and backyard kitchen gardens. Interestingly, to replicate the model of Poshan Vatikas at/around new AWCs, close to 40 thousand land identification drives for nutri-gardens/Poshan Vatikas have also been reported under Poshan Maah so far.
Poshan Vatikas or Nutri- gardens being set up across the country to provide easy and affordable access to fruits, vegetables, medicinal plants and herbs.
Launched on 8th March, 2018, by the Hon’ble Prime Minister, POSHAN Abhiyaan aims to improve nutritional outcomes for children, adolescents, pregnant women & lactating mothers. The Abhiyaan is a key component of Mission Poshan 2.0 which seeks to address the challenges of malnutrition in children, adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers through a strategic shift in nutrition content and delivery and by creation of a convergent eco-system to develop and promote practices that nurture health, wellness and immunity.
A key plank of the goal to enable the right kind of nourishment are the Poshan Vatikas or Nutri-gardens that are being set up across the country to provide easy and affordable access to fruits, vegetables, medicinal plants and herbs. The idea is simple; to provide a fresh and regular supply of locally produced fruits, vegetables and medicinal plants to women and children straight from a nutri-garden at or near an Anganwadi Centre.
Poshan Vatikas or Nutri- gardens being set up across the country to provide easy and affordable access to fruits, vegetables, medicinal plants and herbs.
Poshan Vatikas can play an important role in enhancing dietary diversity by providing key micronutrients through local fruits and vegetables. Poshan Vatikas are a good example of convergent action on-ground. Beyond the reward of locally available wholesome produce, it will reduce external dependency and make communities atmanirbhar for their nutritional security.
Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have spotted signs of a ‘hot spot’ orbiting Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the centre of our galaxy. The finding helps us better understand the enigmatic and dynamic environment of our supermassive black hole.
“We think we’re looking at a hot bubble of gas zipping around Sagittarius A* on an orbit similar in size to that of the planet Mercury, but making a full loop in just around 70 minutes. This requires a mind blowing velocity of about 30% of the speed of light!” says Maciek Wielgus of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany, who led the study published today, Sept 22, 2022 in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
The observations were made with ALMA in the Chilean Andes — a radio telescope co-owned by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) — during a campaign by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration to image black holes. In April 2017 the EHT linked together eight existing radio telescopes worldwide, including ALMA, resulting in the recently released first ever image of Sagittarius A.
To calibrate the EHT data, Wielgus and his colleagues, who are members of the EHT Collaboration, used ALMA data recorded simultaneously with the EHT observations of Sagittarius A. To the team’s surprise, there were more clues to the nature of the black hole hidden in the ALMA-only measurements.
By chance, some of the observations were done shortly after a burst or flare of X-ray energy was emitted from the centre of our galaxy, which was spotted by NASA’s Chandra Space Telescope. These kinds of flares, previously observed with X-ray and infrared telescopes, are thought to be associated with so-called ‘hot spots’, hot gas bubbles that orbit very fast and close to the black hole.
The flares were long thought to originate from magnetic interactions in the very hot gas orbiting very close to Sagittarius A*, and the new findings support this idea. “Now we find strong evidence for a magnetic origin of these flares and our observations give us a clue about the geometry of the proces,” says co-author Monika Mościbrodzka from Radboud University.
The observations confirm some of the previous discoveries made by the GRAVITY instrument at ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), which observes in the infrared. The data from GRAVITY and ALMA both suggest the flare originates in a clump of gas swirling around the black hole at about 30% of the speed of light in a clockwise direction in the sky, with the orbit of the hot spot being nearly face-on.
Nanoengineers at the University of California San Diego have developed microscopic robots that can swim around in the lungs, deliver medication and clear up life-threatening cases of bacterial pneumonia, according to a study published in Nature Materials..
The so-called microrobots safely eliminated pneumonia-causing bacteria in the lungs and resulted in 100% survival. By contrast, untreated mice all died within three days after infection. Made of algae cells whose surfaces are speckled with antibiotic-filled nanoparticles, the algae provide movement, which allows the microrobots to swim around and deliver antibiotics directly to more bacteria in the lungs.
The nanoparticles containing the antibiotics are made of tiny biodegradable polymer spheres that are coated with the cell membranes of neutrophils, which are a type of white blood cell. What’s special about these cell membranes is that they absorb and neutralize inflammatory molecules produced by bacteria and the body’s immune system. This gives the microrobots the ability to reduce harmful inflammation, which in turn makes them more effective at fighting lung infection.
CPAP treatment, which is often used at home to help people with sleep problems, helps to keep the lungs open and makes breathing easier / CREDIT Lancaster University
The work is a joint effort between the labs of nanoengineering professors Joseph Wang and Liangfang Zhang, both at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. Wang is a world leader in the field of micro- and nanorobotics research, while Zhang is a world leader in developing cell-mimicking nanoparticles for treating infections and diseases. Together, they have pioneered the development of tiny drug-delivering robots that can be safely used in live animals to treat bacterial infections in the stomach and blood. Treating bacterial lung infections is the latest in their line of work.
“Our goal is to do targeted drug delivery into more challenging parts of the body, like the lungs. And we want to do it in a way that is safe, easy, biocompatible and long lasting,” said Zhang. “That is what we’ve demonstrated in this work.”
The team used the microrobots to treat mice with an acute and potentially fatal form of pneumonia caused by the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This form of pneumonia commonly affects patients who receive mechanical ventilation in the intensive care unit.
The researchers administered the microrobots to the lungs of the mice through a tube inserted in the windpipe. The infections fully cleared up after one week. All mice treated with the microrobots survived past 30 days, while untreated mice died within three days.
Treatment with the microrobots was also more effective than an IV injection of antibiotics into the bloodstream. The latter required a dose of antibiotics that was 3000 times higher than that used in the microrobots to achieve the same effect. For comparison, a dose of microrobots provided 500 nanograms of antibiotics per mouse, while an IV injection provided 1.644 milligrams of antibiotics per mouse.
The team’s approach is so effective because it puts the medication right where it needs to go rather than diffusing it through the rest of the body.
“These results show how targeted drug delivery combined with active movement from the microalgae improves therapeutic efficacy,” said Wang.
And if the thought of putting algae cells in your lungs makes you squeamish, the researchers say that this approach is safe. Next steps include studies to validate the microrobot treatment and scaling it up before testing it in larger animals and eventually, in humans.
