Microverse- Immune response against skin-dwelling viruses prevents cancer

OCTOBER 30, 2019, by Massachusetts General Hospital

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-10-immune-response-skin-dwelling-viruses-cancer.html

Early skin cancer that is colonized with a commensal papillomavirus looks like a wart to the immune system and is effectively eliminated. Keratin 6+ hyperplastic epidermis (red) and Ki67+ proliferative cells (green) mark a wart-like skin tumor. Cell nuclei are seen in blue. Credit: Jon Messerschmidt

Viruses get a bad rap as potential cancer-causers, but at least one class of viruses that commonly live on human skin—so-called "low-risk" human papillomaviruses—appear to play an unwitting role in protecting us against skin cancer according to a new study published in Nature.

Patients who have immune systems that are suppressed from diseases or medical therapy are at greatly increased risk for cancers linked to viral infections, particularly squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the skin. Although multiple studies have tried to show a link between human papillomavirus (HPV) infections and SCC, none have been able to show that HPVs actually drive the development of these common skin cancers, say Shawn Demehri, MD, Ph.D. investigator in the Center for Cancer Immunology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) department of Dermatology and the MGH Cancer Center, and colleagues.

Instead, working with experimental models and tissue samples from human skin cancer, they found that the presence of "commensal" papillomaviruses—low-risk forms of HPV that dwell on the skin of a large majority of people—appears to have an indirect protective rather than harmful effects against SCC.
"This is the first evidence that commensal viruses could have beneficial health effects both in experimental models and also in humans, and it turns out that this beneficial effect has to do with cancer protection. The role of these commensal viruses, in this case papillomaviruses, is to induce immunity that then is protecting patients from skin cancers," he says.

In patients with suppressed immune systems, the loss of immunity rather than the cancer-causing effects of HPVs is the reason for the more than 100-fold increase in risk for skin cancer, the investigators say.

Robust T cell immunity against an early cancer clone arising in the skin that has been colonized with a commensal virus. CD45+ leukocytes (grey) and CD3+ T cells (yellow) attacking cancer cells infected with commensal papillomavirus (red). Credit: Jon Messerschmidt.

Their findings suggest a novel method for preventing skin cancer using a vaccine based on T cells, the essential immune-system cells that identify other cells as abnormal or foreign and mark them for destruction.

"T cell-based vaccines against commensal HPVs may provide an innovative approach to boost this antiviral immunity in the skin and help prevent warts and skin cancers in high-risk populations," the researchers write.

They note that augmenting natural immunity against HPV immunity may further improve the effectiveness of immunotherapy against SCC using immune checkpoint inhibitors, drugs that take the brakes off the immune system and allow it to recognize and destroy cancerous cells.

There are more than 100 known strains of HPV, of which only 12 or so are classified as high risk, with some types linked to risk for cancers of the cervix, vagina, vulva, penis, and anus, and others linked to cancers of the head, neck, and oral cavity. Other types, such as those studied by Demehri and colleagues, are common hitchhikers in and on the human body, and are considered to carry low risk for causing serious diseases.

Demehri and colleagues conducted experiments with mouse models showing that those with intact immune systems and natural immunity against papillomaviruses, as well as mice that had adaptive immunity from transfer of T cells, were protected against skin cancer when exposed to ultraviolet light or chemicals known to cause skin cancer. They also tested human skin cancer samples for the presence and activity of 25 known commensal low-risk HPVs and found that viral activity and viral load were significantly reduced in the skin cancers compared with adjacent normal skin, "suggesting a strong immune selection against virus-positive malignant cells."

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Microverse- To survive in the human gut, bacteria need genetic 'passcode'

OCTOBER 30, 2019, by Howard Hughes Medical Institute

https://phys.org/news/2019-10-survive-human-gut-bacteria-genetic.html

Many Bacteroides species (a mixture of five shown in this color-enhanced micrograph) reside in the human gut and secrete toxins that bacteria must neutralize to survive. Credit: Kevin Cutler/Mougous Lab/UW/HHMI

Humans' guts are a dangerous place.
Bacteria living in people's intestines pump out toxins to deter microbial intruders. But each person's gut comes with its own set of toxins—an individualized "passcode" microbes must solve to survive, scientists report October 30, 2019, in the journal Nature.

The findings suggest that there's not a one-size-fits-all approach to probiotics or live biotherapeutics, the microbial supplements that promote the growth of healthy bacteria, says study coauthor Joseph Mougous, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator at the University of Washington (UW). His team's work is an early step toward figuring out how scientists might instead tailor beneficial microbes to different people.

"Manipulating gut microbes to promote health holds lots of promise," he says, "but the rules for colonizing the gut are unclear." Now, scientists have a better idea of what it takes for a bacterium to take up residence.

The human gut is rife with bacteria. Feces contains about 100 billion bacterial cells per gram, and gut bacteria outnumber human cells 10 to 1. These microbes, collectively called the gut microbiome, take on all sorts of maintenance-type work, Mougous says. They digest food, keep the gut's surface intact, provide vitamins, and kick bad bacteria out. "The gut microbiome is very important for human health—that much we certainly know," he says.

Over the last decade, Mougous's team has worked out the details of a bacterial defense mechanism called the type VI secretion system. It's like a molecular syringe that slams toxins into neighboring cells. The toxins break down cell walls, cleave membranes, and chew up cells' energy source. "They're pretty insidious," he says.

Different Bacteroides species (five shown) colonize human intestines, along with many other species of bacteria. These microbes, known collectively as the gut microbiome, play a key role in people's health. Credit: Kevin Cutler/Mougous Lab/UW/HHMI

Bacteria use immunity genes to neutralize these toxins and protect themselves. Invaders that lack the right genes get booted from the gut. Mougous's team had thought that toxin and immunity genes came together in pairs, like a lock and key. But an analysis of data from more than 1,000 human fecal samples revealed something surprising.

Immunity genes from the gut bacteria Bacteroides fragilis vastly outnumbered toxin genes. All those extra immunity genes, the team discovered, actually belonged to other bacteria. Those bacteria had stolen B. fragilis's genes to protect themselves from its toxins. That means the genes must be crucial for bacteria to survive in the gut, Mougous says—something scientists hadn't known before.
Mougous's team, including microbiologist Benjamin Ross, worked with UW's Elhanan Borenstein on the genomic analysis. Borenstein has since moved to Tel Aviv University, and Ross is now at Dartmouth College. "This collaboration was a lot of fun because it took both of our groups into new areas," Mougous says.

Experiments in the lab showed that the immunity genes cluster together on stretches of DNA that can jump from bacterial strain to bacterial strain. In lab dishes and in living mice, bacteria given these genes immediately became resistant to B. fragilis's toxins.

What's more, human fecal samples had unique combinations of toxin and immunity genes, the team found. "So what it takes to survive in one person's microbiome might not be the same in another person's microbiome," Mougous says.

The results could help explain why it's so hard for people to tinker with their microbiome compositions, he says. "Generalized approaches for colonizing the gut with certain bacteria may never succeed—and may need to be individualized."

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First South American insect that emits blue light is discovered

OCTOBER 31, 2019, by André Julião, FAPESP

https://phys.org/news/2019-10-south-american-insect-emits-blue.html

Larvae of a fungus gnat found in Iporanga, São Paulo State, Brazil, have bioluminescent properties previously observed only in species native to North America, New Zealand and Asia. This study paves the way for new biotech applications. Credit: Henrique Domingos / IPBio

Brazilian researchers have discovered a new species of fungus gnat (Keroplatidae) whose larvae emit blue light. The small fly inhabits an Atlantic Rainforest reserve in São Paulo State. This is the first record of a blue bioluminescent species in the Neotropics. Many bioluminescent insects and fungi have been studied in the region, but all emit green, yellow or red light. The new species has been named Neoceroplatus betaryiensis and is described in an article in Scientific Reports.

"The larvae were found while bioluminescent mushrooms were being collected and drew attention because they emitted blue light. Fungi and fireflies don't emit blue light, so it had to be a new species," Cassius Stevani, a professor at the University of São Paulo's Institute of Chemistry (IQ-USP) and last author of the article, told.

The study was part of the Thematic Project "Electronic chemiexcitation in biological systems: bioluminescence and photochemistry in the dark", for which Etelvino José Henriques Bechara, a professor at IQ-USP, is principal investigator.

According to Stevani, species that emit blue light had previously been found only in North America, New Zealand and Asia. This one was found in Reserva Betary, a privately held Atlantic Rainforest reserve in Iporanga, São Paulo State, bordering the Upper Ribeira State Tourist Park (PETAR).

Biologists Isaias Santos and Grant Johnson, a US-born technical trainee with a scholarship from São Paulo Research Foundation—FAPESP, participated in the collection expedition. Both work at the Biodiversity Research Institute (IPBio), a nongovernmental organization that runs Reserva Betary, offering tourism, environmental education and research opportunities there. Many of the world's species of bioluminescent mushrooms can be found on the property.

The new species of bioluminescent insect was described by entomologist Rafaela Falaschi, currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Ponta Grossa (UEPG). The species epithet (betaryiensis) refers to the Betary, a tributary of the Ribeira.

Different light patterns
According to Stevani, adults of the species do not emit light. The bioluminescent larvae live hidden in tree trunks and have three lanterns, one in the tail and two near the eyes.

However, one of the specimens collected by the researchers emitted light at various points on its body. The larva was taken to the laboratory, where it pupated. The pupa remained bioluminescent, but a wasp emerged instead of a fungus gnat.

The researchers concluded that the wasp also belongs to a new species in the parasitoid family Ichneumonidae, which lay eggs in the larvae of beetles, moths and other insects. It is unclear, however, if the different pattern of light emission observed in the specimen is due to an infection caused by the wasp, if it indicates a new species of gnat, or if the pattern is related to sexual dimorphism in N. betaryiensis (different morphological traits in males and females).

New system
In addition to the importance of any new species to the production of knowledge about biodiversity, insects that emit blue light are extremely rare, and the discovery suggests the possibility of unearthing a new system of bioluminescence that could have applications in analysis and biotechnology, such as in marking specific cells or genes in biological studies or pollution biosensors, for example.

Like all bioluminescent organisms, the new species generates light via a reaction between luciferin, a substrate, and luciferase, an enzyme that catalyzes it. In assays performed to study the phenomenon, the two compounds are typically isolated by producing an extract of the insect and separating it into portions. One is stored on ice to preserve its enzymes, including luciferase. The other is heated to eliminate the enzymes and leave only the substrate luciferin.

To begin characterizing the bioluminescent system in N. betaryiensis, the research group led by Vadim Viviani, a professor at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) in Sorocaba, São Paulo State, used luciferin and luciferase purified in their laboratory from another species capable of emitting blue light, Orfelia fultoni, which inhabits the Appalachian Mountains in the US and Canada.

"Thanks to having luciferase and luciferin from O. fultoni already purified in our lab, we were able to analyze cross-reactions with the new species. Light was emitted in all combinations. We also show that larvae of this fungus gnat contain a luciferin-storing protein known as SBF, which is short for substrate-binding fraction, as does O. fultoni. Therefore, both species have the same biochemical system," said Viviani, who leads a research group on bioluminescence and biophotonics funded by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), a federal government agency.

In 2000, Viviani and researchers Thérèse Wilson and J. Woodland Hastings produced the first characterization of O. fultoni's bioluminescent system while Viviani was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University in the US. Since then, he has worked steadily on the biochemical characterization of luciferin and luciferase in these insects.

Viviani is the principal investigator for the Thematic Project "Arthropod bioluminescence" funded by FAPESP. His group recently discovered a species of the genus Neoditomyia in the caves of Intervales State Park, an Atlantic Rainforest remnant in the south of São Paulo State. This species produces luciferin and its SBF but does not emit light. When the substrate was blended with luciferase from O. fultoni and the new species, however, it emitted blue light.

Genetic analysis also shows that the new species is closely related to Neoditomyia and O. fultoni.

Based on their knowledge of other species, the researchers now plan to isolate and investigate the luciferin and luciferase produced by N. betaryiensis, which is rarer and less easily found than the North American species.

"We already have luciferin and luciferase from O. fultoni, the North American species, and from the Neoditomyia found in Intervales. They have been purified and partially characterized by our lab at UFSCar. This enabled us to conduct this initial study and will also facilitate the isolation of luciferin and cloning of luciferase from Neoceroplatus in the future," Viviani said.

Once isolated, the substances will be cloned, and their structure will be determined. The group at UFSCar will work on the luciferase, and Stevani's group at IQ-USP will be responsible for analyzing the luciferin.

"We already have the molecular formula for luciferin. We know how many atoms of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur and other elements it contains, but we don't know how these atoms are linked. We need to perform experiments using nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, among other techniques, in order to elucidate the structure. I expect that to happen soon," said Stevani.

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Modern Living - Vegetarian ate 1 burger, got hooked and became a butcher

Vegetarian ate 1 burger, got hooked and became a butcher

By Hannah Sparks,  New York Post,  October 29, 2019

https://nypost.com/2019/10/29/vegetarian-ate-1-burger-got-hooked-and-became-butcher/

Tammi Jonas, Facebook photo

That must have been some burger!

Tammi Jonas, a longtime vegetarian living in Victoria, Australia, had a surprising — but undeniable — craving for a hamburger while pregnant with her third child. Just one prime patty after many meat-free years.

Now, she’s a professional butcher and a pig farmer.

The 49-year-old stopped eating meat when she was 19 —  after reading Australian philosopher Peter Singer’s book “Animal Liberation,” published in 1975. She maintained her V-card successfully through two pregnancies, but while carrying her third child, she also became “dangerously anemic.”

After the iron supplements failed, she pondered if protein would be the best way to get healthy for her and her baby.

“I was at work one day and just thought: ‘A burger would fix this,'” Jonas told 10 Daily.

Over time, the reluctant meat-eater gradually worked her way back into an omnivorous lifestyle.

Tammi Jonas, Facebook photo

“I went back to red meat, so beef and lamb, once a week throughout the pregnancy, and it was some years longer before I had any pork or poultry,” said Jonas, who explains that her beef with meat isn’t about killing animals.

“I never thought it was immoral to take an animal’s life for food,” she said. “I’ve always been comfortable with my place in the food chain, but I thought it was immoral to treat [animals] cruelly, to not allow them to go outside and breathe fresh air and to be confined in crowds in sheds.”

Jonas knew firsthand what went down on farms, having grown up on a cattle ranch in rural Oregon before moving to Australia in the ’90s. So her move back to the land didn’t surprise her.

Tammi Jonas, Facebook photo

Although she fears that slaughtering the pigs off-site is too much for her hogs to handle — and she’s still coming to terms with that.

“I think they find all of that stressful, and we’d like to take that part of the stress out of our system and be able to walk them to a death they didn’t know was coming,” she said, adding that she feels “most justified” as a meat-eater when she knows they experienced “no fear, no pain.”

Jonas continues to support the cause of vegetarians, but hopes to find “the best way to eat on a finite planet,” and said farms like hers can “help reverse, or at least mitigate climate change.” She just hopes her vegetarian friends can accept her new lifestyle — while also calling out the booming plant-based meat industry.

“Hats off to you if you don’t want to participate in any livestock production, but try not to have too hard a go at those of us who are trying to restore landscapes with livestock,” she said, adding, “and doing a much better job of it than your vegan impossible burger.”

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Bird bacteria is key to communication and mating

OCTOBER 29, 2019, by Michigan State University

https://phys.org/news/2019-10-bird-bacteria-key.html

Danielle Whittaker, BEACON researcher, used dark-eyed juncos to demonstrate how bacteria in a bird's preen gland determines the scent of the bird. Credit: BEACON

Birds use odor to identify other birds, and researchers at Michigan State University have shown that if the bacteria that produce the odor is altered, it could negatively impact a bird's ability to communicate with other birds or find a mate.

Smell is a basic sense vital for the survival of humans and animals. It warns of danger, aids in finding food, and even helps communicate and find a mate. But if something interferes with the ability to smell, or more precisely with the smell itself, there can be consequences.

The researchers discovered that scents emitted by songbirds are produced by certain bacteria in preen glands. These bacteria identify a bird to other birds. If the bacteria is removed or changed, the bird will not express the correct information. The results have been published in a new paper in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

"This is the same process as in humans. We each have bacteria on our bodies that create smells like armpit odor that is unique to each person," said Danielle Whittaker, lead author and managing director of the BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action. "The odors produced by birds are unique to them and allow other birds to gain crucial information regarding the mating process. Alter that bacteria and the bird could be less attractive to potential mates."

Birds communicate with odors to determine the stage of reproduction process, quality or hormonal state of a potential mate. Like humans putting on deodorant or perfume, birds preen by rubbing their bill over the preen gland and then rubbing the oil over their feathers and body.

Danielle Whittaker discovered that scents emitted by songirds are produced by certain bacteria in preen glands. Credit: Nicole M. Gerlach

The researchers injected antibiotics directly in the preen gland of dark-eyed juncos, which changed both the bacterial communities and the odors. They also cultured bacteria directly from the preen oil and measured the odors produced by the bacteria alone, which included the same odors present in preen oil.

"Bacteria can change for a number of reasons, including from the environment, infections, hormones or social interactions," Whittaker said. "This is the same for humans. Our personal smells are impacted by our microbiomes. Take antimicrobial products for instance. They seem like a great idea for staying clean, until you realize they can negatively change your microbiome. The same thing goes for birds and other animals."

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Incredible Japanese Woodworking Tools Have Used for Soroban Processing - Crazy Ancient Hand Tools

Woodworking Enthusiasts, 11 May 2018

Unshu soroban is a type of abacus made in the towns of Nita and Yokota in Nita rural district, Shimane prefecture. 

The traditional handcraft methods are still upheld and the abacus is produced with care from selecting the materials to the end. The materials are all completely natural and birches mainly come from Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, or Iwate prefecture or distylium racemosum from Kagoshima prefecture are used to produce the beads. 

The frame is crafted with ebony, Macassar ebony or special reinforced plywood, while the rods are crafted with processed bamboo or soot colored bamboo. 

General Production Process

 1. Beads production 

2. Rods making 

3. Frame assembling 

4. Frame strenthening 

5. Upper and lower frames

Incredible Japanese Woodworking Tools Have Used for Soroban Processing - Crazy Ancient Hand Tools That Will Open Your Mind!

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Evolution - Garden of Eden in Africa: Humanity's first home traced to Botswana

Garden of Eden in Africa: Humanity's first home traced to Botswana

A study provides a window into the first 100,000 years of the history of modern humans.

Sky News , 29th October , 2019

https://news.sky.com/story/garden-of-eden-in-africa-humanitys-first-home-traced-to-botswana-study-11847991

The Paul de Vos oil painting depicts the Garden of Eden

The real Garden Of Eden has been traced to the African nation of Botswana, according to a major study of DNA.

Scientists believe our ancestral homeland is south of the Zambezi River in the country's north.

The conclusion comes after the study of maternal genetic lineage of anatomically modern humans, finding it was closest to those living in the area, which includes northern Botswana, Namibia to the west and Zimbabwe to the east.

The area includes northern Botswana, Namibia to the west and Zimbabwe to the east

For 70,000 years, our ancestors thrived in the area before changes in climate turned what was Africa's largest lake into what is now the Kalahari Desert.

This forced the population to migrate elsewhere between 130,000 and 110,000 years ago.

It also sparked the development of their genetic, ethnic and cultural diversity, the researchers said.

The first group to the northeast, the second to the southwest and the third remained in the area.

The southwest group, in contrast to the northeast group, seemed to do well, possibly because they were able to adapt to marine foraging.

The once verdant region is now part of the Kalahari Desert

The group that remained eventually adapted to the drier land and their maternal descendants can still be found in the Kalahari region today.

Professor Vanessa Hayes, from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and University of Sydney, and extraordinary professor at the University of Pretoria, led the study.

She said blood samples from volunteers in South Africa and Namibia allowed researchers to compare the DNA code - mitogenome - which she described as "like a time capsule of our ancestral mothers, accumulating changes slowly over generations".

She added: "It has been clear for some time that anatomically modern humans appeared in Africa roughly 200,000 years ago.

"What has been long debated is the exact location of this emergence and subsequent dispersal of our earliest ancestors."

The study is published in the journal Nature.

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Climate- SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA SETS A NEW ALL-TIME LOW TEMPERATURE RECORD IN BOOKS DATING BACK TO 1913

OCTOBER 29, 2019 CAP ALLON

https://electroverse.net/southern-australia-sets-a-new-all-time-low-temperature-record-in-books-dating-back-to-1913/

A surprise mid-Spring Antarctic freeze just blasted southern Australia, with some spots registering their lowest back-to-back temps this late in the year in more than a century.

Conditions conspired to deliver South Australia’s Kingscote a bone-chilling low of 0C (32F) — the town’s coldest temperature this late in the season for more than 25 years.

In addition, the fishing port town of Robe recorded 0.8C (33.4F) — it’s lowest in 15 years

And Stenhouse Bay registered 8.3C (46.9F) — its coldest temp this late in 14 years.

Things turned even-more impressive further east:

The mercury in Rutherglen, Victoria plunged to -2.1C (28.2F) on Sunday morning and then -0.9C (30.4F) on Monday morning — temperatures well below the town’s October average minimum of 6C (42.8F), and the first pair of mornings below zero this late in the year in record books dating back to 1913.

Eyeing forward, yet more anomalous cold looks set to engulf the majority of Australia early next week.

Latest GFS runs show Antarctic air plunging deep into the continent as we head into November:

GFS TEMP ANOMALY (C)

Nov 4                                                            Nov5

The cold times are returning in line with historically low solar activity.

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Climate- THE CONTINENTAL U.S. JUST SET IT’S COLDEST-EVER OCTOBER TEMPERATURE, BREAKING THE PREVIOUS RECORD FROM 1917

OCTOBER 29, 2019 CAP ALLON

https://electroverse.net/the-continental-u-s-just-set-its-coldest-ever-october-temperature/

The western U.S. was blasted by a yet ANOTHER brutal Arctic air mass yesterday, Oct 28, with this one delivering the COLDEST TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED IN THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES.

Peter Sinks, Utah –east of Logan– broke the Lower-48’s cold temperature record for the month of October on Monday morning with a staggering reading of minus 35 degrees.

The area is know for it’s cold temperatures thanks to its high elevation (8,164 ft) as well as its unique topography, said Chicago meteorologist Tom Skilling.

“It is a basin a half mile (804.67 meters) in diameter with no outlet, like a large bowl. Cold air collects in the basin on clear, calm nights,” Skilling said. “Very low temperatures can occur there, especially during outbreaks of arctic air in the winter.”

The weather station located at the bottom of the sink took the -35F (-37.2C) reading at approximately 6:15AM on Monday morning, Oct 28 — beating-out the previous record low of -33F (-36.1C) set way back in 1917 (just after weak solar cycle 14, which was similar to the cycle we’ve just experienced, 24).

Forgive me but I’d like to type it again, the Lower-48 just broke it’s coldest-ever temperature record for the month of October. And in addition, and perhaps even more astonishingly, the record may not even last that long — another all-time low mark is expected to be reached overnight Wednesday.

Brutal Arctic air will continue to be funneled southwards from Canada by a dominant meridional (wavy) jet stream flow, which itself is associated with historically low solar activity.

“That dip in the jet stream will slowly migrate eastward late in the week taking the colder air with it,” reports the Weather Channel.

In neighboring Colorado, record-breaking cold is forecast Tuesday and Wednesday, with the front expected to expand eastward, hitting the Great Plains on Wednesday, the Mississippi and Ohio River Valleys on Thursday, and the East Coast late Friday and into Saturday, according to the NSW — record cold and snow are predicted throughout the vast region.

GFS TEMP ANOMALY (C) OCT 28 to NOV 4

Observations reveal the lower-latitudes are COOLING, and cooling fast.

Yes, far-northern regions like Alaska and the Arctic may-well be warming ‘slightly’ (seen again by those lingering reds and pinks in the above weather map) but quite frankly who cares, no one lives up there, and as NASA succinctly identifies in their Maunder Minimum Temperature Reconstruction Map below —

 some regions of the planet actually warm during periods of global cooling:

Temp change between 1780 (a year of normal solar activity) and 1680 (a year within the depths of the Maunder Minimum) — NASA.

And for those concerned by a little Arctic sea ice melt, and the consequences for sea levels, don’t be so ridiculous — at least 90% of the planet’s ice is safely locked up in Antarctica which has been growing for as long as we can tell, comfortably offsetting the comparatively tiny losses observed at its northern cousin.

Don’t be fooled by poisonous political ideologies.
The cold times are returning to the lower-latitudes –where us humans reside– in line with historically low solar activity.

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Microverse- Could more coffee bring a healthier microbiome?

OCTOBER 28, 2019, by Elizabeth Heubeck, Healthday Reporter

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-10-coffee-healthier-microbiome.html

(HealthDay)—Debating whether or not you should have that second cup of coffee?

New research that links caffeine consumption to a healthy gut microbiome—the trillions of microorganisms that live in your digestive tract and affect your overall health— may prompt you to pour generously.

In recent years, numerous studies have demonstrated associations between coffee consumption and lowered health risks of all sorts—from type 2 diabetes to certain cancers to Parkinson's disease.

Simultaneously, accumulating evidence suggests that the makeup of your gut microbiome can affect your health, either by promoting or reducing the risk of diseases.

Connecting the dots between these two health premises, a new study found the microbiomes of regular coffee drinkers were considerably healthier than those who consumed little to no coffee.

"We still need to learn more about how the bacteria and the host [our bodies] interact to impact our health," said lead study author Dr. Li Jiao, an associate professor of medicine-gastroenterology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

But her advice for now? "If you love coffee, enjoy it. Follow your gut."

The new findings were to be presented Monday at the American College of Gastroenterology annual meeting, in San Antonio, Texas.

In the study, scientists for the first time ever took gut microbiome samples directly from various parts of the colon during colonoscopies. (Other studies have examined just stool samples).

Overall, the 34 participants who drank two or more cups of coffee daily throughout the previous year exhibited better gut microbiome profiles than those who consumed less or no coffee, Jiao's team reported.

Heavy coffee drinkers' bacterial species were more abundant and more evenly distributed throughout the large intestine, richer in anti-inflammatory properties, and considerably less likely to include Erysipelatoclostridium, a type of bacteria linked to metabolic abnormalities and obesity.

Jiao said it remains uncertain why coffee exerts such a positive influence on the gut microbiome. But she suggested that caffeine or other nutrients in coffee may impact the metabolism of bacteria and, in turn, how the bacterial metabolites—the end products of that metabolism—affect your body.

While scientists may not completely understand the mechanisms behind coffee's impact on the microbiome, they are becoming increasingly convinced of the importance of gut contents to overall health.

"The gut microbiome seems to be the missing link between diet and the incidence of chronic diseases," said Dr. Hana Kahleova, director of Clinical Research at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. She was not involved with the study.

For instance, explained Kahleova, individuals who eat a typical Western diet high in fat and processed foods tend to house in their gut more endotoxins, toxic components of "bad" bacteria associated with obesity, insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease. Conversely, she suggested that coffee's polyphenols and other antioxidants, compounds naturally found in plant foods, are likely what's providing a healthier microbiome.

But you don't have to rely on coffee for your gut to absorb these health benefits. "All plants in their natural state are rich in fiber, polyphenols and antioxidants that help us fight cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease," Kahleova said.

That's good news for people who don't drink coffee, and don't plan to start. Benefits notwithstanding, coffee isn't for everyone. It can aggravate a sensitive stomach, worsen insomnia or pose a danger to individuals with certain heart conditions.

But for the countless number of people who love coffee and can't imagine cutting it out of their diet, this study may come as a relief. It turns out that drinking one or two cups of coffee a day probably won't induce any harm, and may even provide some protective health benefits.

Because this research was presented at a medical meeting, it should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

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2,076-pound great white shark is swimming the East Coast

By Hannah Sparks,  New York Post ,  October 28, 2019

https://nypost.com/2019/10/28/2076-pound-great-white-shark-is-swimming-the-east-coast/

Unama'ki, a 2,076-pound great white shark, was tagged by researchers in September. ocearch.org

There’s a monster of a shark swimming down the East Coast.

The hefty predator — a female great white — is 15-feet, 5-inches-long and weighs a whopping 2,076 pounds.

Her name is Unama’ki, an indigenous Nova Scotian term meaning “land of the fog.” She was originally discovered and tagged on the East Coast of Canada in September by the nonprofit OCEARCH, in collaboration with SeaWorld researchers.

On Oct. 12,  Unama’ki was traced to Myrtle Beach, S.C. By Saturday, she made an appearance in the Florida Keys, CNN reported.

Unama’ki is considered the second-biggest they’ve ever tracked, according to WSOC-TV.

“As a big mature female, Unama’ki has the potential to lead us to the site where she gives birth and exposes a new white shark nursery,” OCEARCH said in a statement.

The public can track her ongoing movements using the agency’s “Unama’ki Travel Log.”

“Shark activity is at its peak in Florida waters during April through October,” The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) write on their website, adding that sharks also play an important role “maintaining balance” within their state’s aquatic ecosystems.

But don’t expecting any “Jaws” carnage.

The commission assures the public that sharks are not to be feared: According to the FWC, humans are “30 times more likely to be struck by lightning in Florida than to be bitten by a shark.”

Still, just a few days ago a woman in Polynesia lost both of her hands to a hungry shark. Three other not life-threatening shark bites occurred in Florida this past August. And earlier this summer, one woman vacationing in the Bahamas lost her life while snorkeling with her family to a gang of three sharks.

The FWC urges coastal tourists “to become more aware of sharks and more educated about sharks and related issues.”

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Americans’ love of drugs may soon bring Mexico’s collapse

By Bob McManus,  New York Post, October 27, 2019

https://nypost.com/2019/10/27/americans-love-of-drugs-may-soon-bring-mexicos-collapse/

An avocado vendor in Mexico City. AP photo

Buy an avocado, boost a Mexican drug lord? Soon enough, it seems.

Reports from south of the border say Mexican avocado farmers are taking up arms to protect their increasingly valuable crop from the country’s ­rapacious cartels, always on the lookout for a quick buck.

But considering the ease with which cartel gunmen dispatched the Mexican army in a pitched battle in Sinaloa State this month, one would guess that the odds don’t favor the ­avocado farmers.

Or Mexico itself, for that matter — and this has ominous ­implications for the United States, too.

Flush North Americans — think millennials, in particular — love avocados; they will pay top dollar for them, which sets the market into motion. Most often this means good things. But not always.

Think cocaine and other ­illicit drugs.

As with avocados, drug dollars follow demand: A recent RAND Corporation study reports that Americans spent just shy of $150 billion on illegal narcotics in 2016. The bulk of this money goes to Mexico, which also has become a major conduit into the United States for synthetic opioids like Chinese-manufactured fentanyl, upping the cartels’ take.

Americans, in other words, love their illegal chemicals, they have the ready cash to indulge themselves — and they are not particularly mindful of the consequences of this for others.

Hence the emergence of the Mexican drug cartels, not the sole supplier of the American drug market, but pretty much at the top of the list. Mexico’s fragile political institutions, and its long history of overtly corrupt local government, made it fertile territory for the rise of extra­legal quasi-governments.

The recently concluded federal-court trial of Joaquin Guzman — “El Chapo” in the headlines — revealed the extent to which the Sinaloa cartel he once headed has insinuated itself into Mexico’s power structure.

Guzman is in federal prison now, presumably for life, but the cartel is chugging along. On the small end of the scale, it is Sinaloa gunmen who are cornering the avocado trade — while on the other, the organization is one of the globe’s major players in illegal drugs, other organized crime and money-laundering.

It is not to be trifled with, as the Mexican army discovered this month when it took two of Guzman’s sons into custody — igniting an eight-hour battle with Sinaloa gunman in the city of Culiacan. The gunbattle ended with an ignoble surrender of government troops and the release of the prisoners.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador explained: “Many people were at risk, and it was decided to protect people’s lives. I agreed with that.” He seemed not to have had much choice.

It also seems that the matter of who controls the Mexican state of Sinaloa effectively was resolved in armed conflict — and it isn’t AMLO.

The implications of this are obvious: Mexico just failed a fundamental test of governmental legitimacy: It is either unable, or unwilling, to protect its citizens from organized lawlessness. (The avocado farmers, of course, already knew that.)

And this, in turn, ratifies a warning from US Joint Forces Command that Mexico is slipping toward national collapse — and this was before government troops were losing all-out gunbattles with criminals.

It doesn’t take much imagination to anticipate what such a collapse would mean for the United States. A legitimate refugee crisis would dwarf the manufactured border chaos that convulsed American politics this year. And it remains that Mexico is America’s third largest trading partner, amounting to some $557 billion in business in 2017.

Potential solutions are elusive. Enhanced law enforcement stands only to drive up drug prices and cartel profits. And a more radical approach — attempting to remove profits through drug legalization — would encounter so many legal, cultural and moral barriers in the United States that it is an ­effective nonstarter.

So the crisis is likely to proceed.

But as it does, don’t lose sight of one core truth: America is, and has long been, the world’s largest importer of illegal drugs, and Americans aren’t being forced to use them.

As the philosopher Walt Kelly once noted: “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” Mexico likely wouldn’t disagree.

Twitter: @RLMac2

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