Danger Dust

Vaccines provide a front-line defense against dangerous viruses, training adaptive immune cells to identify and fight specific pathogens.

But innate immune cells—the first responders to any bodily invader—have no such specific long-term memory. Still, scientists have found that they can reprogram these cells to be even better at their jobs, potentially fighting off seasonal scourges like the common cold or even new viral diseases for which vaccines have not yet been developed.

What the team found surprised them: 13 of the top 24 small molecule compounds that produced the most cytokines were glucocorticoids, a class of steroids. Hydrocortisone and prednisolone, for example, belong to this group.

But these steroids are known to suppress certain parts of the immune system, like inflammation.

Moving large amounts of regolith is a requirement for any long-term mission to the moon or Mars. But so far, humanity has only sent systems capable of moving small amounts of soil at a time—primarily for sample collection. Sending a large, dedicated excavator to perform such work might be cost-prohibitive due to its weight, so why not send a bulldozer attachment to a mobility unit already planned for use on the surface?

LANCE performed admirably well during its test phase. It leveled a 25m x 25m area, then moved on to some berm construction. As part of the testing, it quickly became apparent that operator efficiency made a massive difference in how quickly these operations were performed, so whoever ends up using the implement on the lunar surface would benefit from sufficient training beforehand.

Conclusions

This study utilized real time PTR-MS to examine the release of six odorous VOCs from cellulosic, wool and synthetic fibers/yarns exposed to the VOCs in an aqueous solution.

Shortly following treatment with the odorous sweat solution, cellulosic fibers released lesser amounts of nonpolar ketone and aldehyde VOCs into the headspace compared with wool, nylon, and polyester fibers.

This finding suggests that cellulosic fibers ad/absorb lower quantities of nonpolar compounds initially when transferred through an aqueous sweat solution than textiles composed of wool, nylon, and polyester fibers.

Conversely, textiles consisting of polyester and nylon fibers released higher quantities of nonpolar VOCs.

This research enhances our understanding of odorant transfer and absorption in various textiles through sweat. Clothing made from cellulosic fibers may tend to be less odorous than synthetic garments when worn, because they adsorb lower quantities of odorous nonpolar VOCs (and presumably odor-related precursors) initially.

Headworn tech from U-M startup could protect agricultural and industrial workers from airborne pathogens

An air curtain shooting down from the brim of a hard hat can prevent 99.8% of aerosols from reaching a worker’s face. The technology, created by University of Michigan startup Taza Aya, potentially offers a new protection option for workers in industries where respiratory disease transmission is a concern.

Our air curtain technology is precisely designed to protect wearers from airborne infectious pathogens, using treated air as a barrier in which any pathogens present have been inactivated so that they are no longer able to infect you if you breathe them in.

INTRODUCTION

The major human bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa causes multidrug-resistant infections, particularly in people with underlying immunodeficiencies or inflammatory lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis (CF). However, it remains unclear how P. aeruginosa has evolved into a highly adapted, globally disseminated pathogen.

Individuals with cystic fibrosis and other chronic inflammatory lung diseases are particularly vulnerable to colonization by Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Epidemic clones have emerged in certain patient groups that are associated with poor clinical outcomes and antimicrobial resistance. Weimann et al. investigated when and how such clones emerge by accessing international collections of clinical and environmental strains of P. aeruginosa amassed over the past century.

The authors distinguished 21 major clones based on pairwise single-nucleotide polymorphism distances and majority multilocus sequence type. 

A series of epidemic clones emerged and expanded between 1850 and 2000, indicating recent selective pressures, possibly driven by industrialization, associated pollution, and human population change and underpinned by major changes in bacterial physiology

Key Points

Question  Is there clinical evidence supporting the potential benefits of glucagon-like peptide receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) for the prevention of 13 obesity-associated cancers (OACs)?

Findings  This cohort study of more than 1.6 million patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) who had no prior diagnosis of 13 OACs found that patients with T2D treated with GLP-1RAs vs insulin had a significant risk reduction in 10 of 13 OACs, including esophageal, colorectal, endometrial, gallbladder, kidney, liver, ovarian, and pancreatic cancer as well as meningioma and multiple myeloma. No decrease in cancer risk was associated with GLP-1RAs compared with metformin.

Meaning  This study provides clinical data suggesting that GLP-1RAs may reduce the risk of specific OACs compared with insulins.

Conclusions and Relevance In this study, GLP-1RAs were associated with lower risks of specific types of OACs compared with insulins or metformin in patients with T2D. These findings provide preliminary evidence of the potential benefit of GLP-1RAs for cancer prevention in high-risk populations and support further preclinical and clinical studies for the prevention of certain OACs.

Penis cancer is thankfully rare, but cases are rising. Some experts predict a 77% increase in penis cancer by 2050.

Papillomaviruses spread through skin contact and are probably humankind’s most commonly transmitted sexual infection. Over 70% of sexually active adults will contract papillomavirus infections, usually in adolescence.

The World Health Organization's cancer agency on Friday classified talc as "probably carcinogenic" for humans.

The decision was based on "limited evidence" that talc could cause ovarian cancer in humans, "sufficient evidence" it was linked to cancer in rats and "strong mechanistic evidence" that it shows carcinogenic signs in human cells.

Talc is a naturally occurring mineral which is mined in many parts of the world and is often used to make talcum baby powder.

Most people are exposed to talc in the form of baby powder or cosmetics, according to the Lyon-based IARC.

But the most significant exposure to talc occurs when talc is being mined, processed or used to make products.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa—an environmental bacteria that can cause devastating multidrug-resistant infections, particularly in people with underlying lung conditions—evolved rapidly and then spread globally over the last 200 years, probably driven by changes in human behavior, a new study has found.

People with conditions such as COPD (smoking-related lung damage), cystic fibrosis (CF), and non-CF bronchiectasis are particularly susceptible.

By mapping the data, the team was able to create phylogenetic trees—"family trees"—that show how the bacteria from the samples are related to each other. Remarkably, they found that almost seven in ten infections are caused by just 21 genetic clones, or "branches" of the family tree that have rapidly evolved (by acquiring new genes from neighboring bacteria) and then spread globally over the last 200 years.

This spread occurred most likely as a result of people beginning to live in densely-populated areas, where air pollution made our lungs more susceptible to infection and where there were more opportunities for infections to spread.

The ultimate blood substitute? The U.S. military is betting $46 million on it

Is mimicking the cells that carry hemoglobin the key to a blood substitute?

In 19th century New York City, Theodore Gaillard Thomas enjoyed an unusual level of fame for a gynecologist. The reason, oddly enough, was milk. Between 1873 and 1880, the daring idea of transfusing milk into the body as a substitute for blood was being tested across the United States. Thomas was the most outspoken advocate of the practice.

At the time, severe bleeding was often a death sentence. Blood transfusion was practiced, but it was something of a crapshoot. Medical science was still 3 decades removed from discovering blood types. Patients who received mismatched blood suffered discolored urine, itching, and a sometimes-fatal complication: hemolytic shock, wherein their own immune systems attacked the transfused cells.

Doctors in the U.S. were looking for something less risky to stabilize a hemorrhaging patient. 

It was not to be: Saline solutions, still used today, were introduced the next decade as a much less dangerous, if imperfect, stopgap measure for emergency bleeding.

The need for blood substitutes, however, survives. And last year in a downtown Baltimore laboratory, a white rabbit embodied the latest hope.

The bunny huddled in a black metal cage, a catheter going straight into its carotid artery. Days before, a portion of its blood had been siphoned out and replaced with an experimental blood substitute called ErythroMer. It is decidedly not milk. Developed by Allan Doctor, a bespectacled 61-year-old physician-researcher at the University of Maryland (UMD) School of Medicine, and colleagues, ErythroMer is made from “recycled” human hemoglobin—the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body—wrapped in a membrane to mimic a tiny cell. In the rabbit, the transfusion appeared to be working. The animal’s heart rate and blood pressure, displayed on a small monitor nearby, looked just fine

Silicosis is not a new occupational lung disease. For instance, it’s been reported since ancient times in stonemasons and miners who breathed in silica dust. In Australia, we’ve seen it for decades in construction and demolition workers.

However, until the past ten years or so, case numbers were low, both in Australia and internationally. That was until the introduction of engineered stone, a particularly potent source of silica dust. Some engineered stone contains 90% or more silica.

This led to an unprecedented re-emergence of the disease. An estimated one in four engineered stone workers has already developed silicosis as a result of their exposure. Many more will continue to be affected in the future.

While this ban is an incredible step forward and a win for public health, engineered stone is only part of the problem. We still see significant silica exposure in other industries, including construction, mining and tunnelling.

Wondering what’s in your water? Now you can find out.

The Watershed Pollution Map reveals a huge range of potential pollution sources that can harm rivers, lakes, groundwater, coasts and more.

It shows: river, lake and groundwater health | bathing water health | damaged and protected waters | sewage dumping | chemical pollution | urban and road pollution | substances being discharged into waters | years of Environment Agency sampling results | intensive pig and chicken farms | intensity of cattle farming | landfills, waste sites and contaminated land | big industrial sites | political constituencies for 2024 and 2019 | flood risk | economic deprivation

Click on the zoom + – to find your area. Click the little eye icon beside each layer to show/hide data and scroll down the menu to view more datasets.

Such disingenuous behavior around cancer is not uncommon, nor are such claims unique.

Across TikTok, videos on cancer-curing diets garner billions of views.

For Amazon and other online retailers, cancer diet books are top sellers.

Online and off, snake-oil peddlers hawk miracle cancer cures not backed by any science, from alternative therapy to herbal remedies. For patients and loved ones, promises that something simple might cure or prevent cancer are understandably appealing. But far from being anticancer talismans, these purported treatments often come laden with insidious harm.

The notion that a particular diet, for example, can cause, or cure, cancer is ubiquitous but mistaken. Some foods are known carcinogens, such as alcohol and processed meat, with heavy consumption of the latter increasing absolute risk for colorectal cancer over a lifetime by approximately 1 percent. But there are no miracle diets that cure cancer, nor any particular diet responsible for it either.

A pair of hormones work in tandem to activate or suppress mosquitoes’ cravings for blood.

The findings reveal a possible mechanism for what drives mosquitoes’ attraction to people and other animals, which has remained a mystery until now. The discovery could provide new pesticide targets for preventing mosquito reproduction and disease transmission

The females of most mosquito species — including Aedes aegypti, the carrier of the viruses that cause dengue fever, yellow fever and zika — feed on animal blood for the development of their eggs. But once they’ve eaten a blood meal, their appetite for blood shuts down until after they lay their eggs.

Conclusion

Our study provides novel evidence for an positively and independently association between specific blood VOC exposures and the risk of developing OAB in U.S. adults, with blood furan being the most significant.

The results indicated that long-term exposure to VOCs may lead to an increased risk of developing OAB in adults, especially blood 2,5-dimethylfuran, benzene and furan. In addition, the concentration association between blood 2,5-dimethylfuran, benzene and furan and OAB risk suggests that long-term exposure to VOCs may lead to an increased risk of OAB, especially in the initial period presenting a significant increase.

The risk of OAB occurrence is more likely to be influenced by blood VOCs in certain specific populations, including young and middle-aged, male, non-hypertensive, and alcohol-drinking populations.

Finally, more prospective and experimental studies are needed to further validate the conclusions of this study and explore the pathological mechanisms.

Lung cancer has the highest rate of cancer mortality among both men and women, constituting almost 25% of all cancer-related deaths. For the best chance of long-term survival, early detection of lung cancer is of essential importance.

Liquid biopsies are minimally invasive approaches that can provide a view of the molecular landscape of the tumor microenvironment in bodily fluids (blood, urine, saliva, etc.).

In a clinical study evaluated on 40 patients, the EV-GLYPH assay successfully differentiates patients with early-stage malignant lung nodules from benign lung nodules.

These results reveal the potential to profile sEV glycans for noninvasive diagnostics and prognostics, opening up promising avenues for clinical applications and understanding the role of sEV glycosylation in lung cancer.

Fraunhofer researchers have developed a method of creating biogenic construction materials based on cyanobacteria. The bacteria multiply in a nutrient solution, driven by photosynthesis. When aggregates and fillers such as sand, basalt, or renewable raw materials are added, rock-like solid structures are produced. Unlike traditional concrete production, this process does not emit any carbon dioxide, which is harmful to the environment. Instead, the carbon dioxide is bound inside the material itself.

"I was having serious fatigue issues, it affected my marriage and maintaining my responsibilities around the household. I got blood tests back then and they found nothing.

“It was a real emotional rollercoaster at first but as time has gone on, I have just gotten more bitter and angry now.”

The 44-year-old said stonemasonry wasn’t just a trade for him but it was a passion he loved.

“I would brag to my mates that I did this kitchen or wall features and it was fancy stuff, high-end houses, it was a very hard pill to swallow,” he added.

“I get a bit frustrated as I was in this situation, doing what I did and loved it, but yet what I was doing was slowly ruining me.”

Since his diagnosis, the Victorian man hasn’t been able to work and he lives with debilitating health issues.

Unless he is sitting still, he is short of breath at all times, even from simple tasks such as making the bed or drying himself after a shower.

The dad of daughters, aged 10 and six, is also severely fatigued, and as the day progresses he gets worse “going downhill quickly”.

“I’m always tired. If I sneeze it hurts, I get chest pains, I get real sore and aches in my joints and knees, particularly in my legs and lower body, particularly in the afternoon. The afternoons are worse as the day progresses,” he said.

The workers are regularly exposed to silica dust as the jewellery and decorative items are made by polishing, chipping, and drilling agate stones, which contain more than 60 per cent free silica.

Inhaling silica dust impairs the immune system and increases the risk of developing tuberculosis.

The findings, published in Nature's Scientific Reports journal, showed that the "burden of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in India's agate stone workers is nearly double the national average (31 per cent)".

About 58 per cent were found to have LTBI — higher than the 41 per cent reported for high-risk groups.

Moreover, those indulged in polishing and chipping stones, which generate more dust and finer particles, showed higher LTBI positivity compared with those drilling.

Workers' low income, poor nutrition, and overcrowded living conditions increase their susceptibility to LTBI, the study showed.

As engineered stone ban comes into effect, war on silicosis far from over, doctor warns

In short: The manufacture, supply and installation of engineered stone benchtops is banned from July 1. 

Doctors and industry experts warn the war on silicosis is far from over.

What's next? There are calls for increased training for medical staff to diagnose the disease earlier. 

A 'generation of pain and suffering' still to come

Roger Singh has sat at the hospital bedside of young men dying of the disease.

For the Shine Lawyers dust diseases national practice leader, silicosis seemed a disease of a bygone era until a flood of cases came across his desk from 2015.

Too little too late

For silicosis suffers like Dean Morris, the new laws bring up mixed emotions.

The 45-year-old worked as a stonemason in Victoria for more than two decades.

It wasn’t just a job, it was a career he was proud of.

"It just adds to it, that doing what you love has in a way ruined my life," he said.

"I have seven friends who have also been diagnosed and more I know through the industry."

As many as 4 million people in India scratch out a living searching through landfills for anything they can sell

The putrid smell of burning garbage wafts for miles from the landfill on the outskirts of Jammu in a potentially toxic miasma fed by the plastics, industrial, medical and other waste generated by a city of some 740,000 people. But a handful of waste pickers ignore both the fumes and suffocating heat to sort through the rubbish, seeking anything they can sell to earn at best the equivalent of $4 a day.

“If we don’t do this, we don’t get any food to eat," said 65-year-old Usmaan Shekh. “We try to take a break for a few minutes when it gets too hot, but mostly we just continue till we can't.”

The landfills themselves seethe internally as garbage decomposes, and the rising heat of summer speeds and intensifies the process. That increases emissions of gases such as methane and carbon dioxide that are dangerous to breathe. And almost all landfill fires come in summer, experts say, and can burn for days.

An inescapable form of human pollution is seeping into our bodies in ways we never fully realized.

University of Birmingham scientists have shown using models of human tissue that 'forever chemicals' like PFAS (per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances) are surprisingly capable of passing through our skin.

When these stubbornly persistent materials were first created more than half a century ago, companies like DuPont – the maker of Teflon – were aware that some of these non-stick, waterproof substances were "highly toxic" when inhaled and "moderately toxic" when ingested.

As far back as 1961, secretly held company documents show that Teflon's head toxicologist knew that some types of long-lasting PFAS should not make contact with the skin.

Fast forward to 2024, and independent scientists are only now beginning to show that the skin is a significant source of exposure for some of the most widespread and well-studied PFAS chemicals out there.

Today, PFAS are found in numerous products designed especially for our dermis, including cosmetics as ubiquitous as sunscreen, moisturizers, and cleansers.

Air pollution is a severe risk to human health and the environment, particularly from fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone (O3). Despite global efforts, many cities continue to face significant exposure risks from these pollutants.

PM2.5 and O3 originate from similar sources and interact in complex ways, compounding their harmful effects. Addressing these intertwined pollutants requires innovative strategies. Due to these challenges, it is necessary to conduct in-depth research to develop effective strategies for joint PM2.5 and O3 control.

Dr. Chao He, lead author of the study, stated, "Our findings underscore the critical need for integrated pollution control strategies. By addressing PM2.5 and O3 together, we can more effectively reduce the health risks and environmental impacts associated with these pollutants."

Silica-Related Diseases

Silica dust exposure may contribute to several serious, debilitating and life-altering health conditions. Lung cancer and silicosis are among the more severe conditions caused by silica dust.

Health Conditions Related to Silica Dust

Autoimmune disorders

Bronchitis

Cardiovascular impairment

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Emphysema

Kidney disease

Lung cancer

Silicosis

Pulmonary silicosis is a debilitating condition that causes the formation of silicotic nodules in the lungs. These lesions tend to group in the upper lobes. They can lead to impaired lung function and eventually death. Silica dust exposure is the only cause of silicosis.

Repetitive tasks carried out by ancient Egyptian scribes—high-status men with the ability to write who performed administrative tasks—and the positions they sat in while working may have led to degenerative skeletal changes, according to a study published in Scientific Reports.

They identified degenerative joint changes that were more common among scribes compared to men with other occupations. These were in the joints connecting the lower jaw to the skull, the right collarbone, the top of the right humerus (where it meets the shoulder), the first metacarpal bone in the right thumb, the bottom of the thigh (where it meets the knee), and throughout the spine, but particularly at the top.

The authors also identified bone changes that could be indicative of physical stress caused by repeated use in the humerus and left hip bone, which were more common among scribes than men with other occupations. Other skeletal features that were more common among scribes were an indentation on both kneecaps and a flattened surface on a bone in the lower part of the right ankle.