IMAGE: Scanning electron miniature of Escherichia coli, which is one of many types of bacteria found in mammalian intestines. view more
Reputation: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health
Is Gut Microbes the main way to solve anxiety?
A mouse study suggests that the genetic contribution to anxiety is partially mediated by the gut microbiome
Le Greta Lorge
The incidence of anxiety disorders, already the most common mental illness in many countries, including the US, has increased through the epidemic of coronavirus infection. A study led by researchers in the Berkeley Lab Biology District provides evidence that taking care of our gut midges may help alleviate some of that anxiety.
The team used a series of genetically engineered mice called the Co-operative Cross (CC) to study connections among genes, gut microbiome composition, and anxiety-like behavior. They initially classified 445 mice over 30 CC rays as high or low ambiguity based on the behavior in the light / dark box: a box with two sections – one visible and illuminated, the other black and unlit – connected by an opening. The extent to which rodent native invasion to bright open spaces replaces (or does not) the instinct to study a novel environment as a rough analog for high (or low) anxiety.
The researchers then analyzed genome-wide association (GWAS) analysis, comparing high- and low-anxiety mice, and also analyzed and compared gut microbiome coordination in animals with anxiety. high. They identified specific genetic changes and families of gut microbes associated with anxiety-like behaviors, including host genes that indirectly influence by altering the abundance of specific microorganisms in the gut.
“We hope this study will inform a future study to evaluate treatments for anxiety that address both the host genome and microbiome,” said co-lead author Antoine Snijders , a staff scientist in the Department of Biological Systems and Engineering.
The study was conducted in collaboration with Dr. Xiaoqing Jin, visiting scholar from Zhongnan Hospital in Wuhan University.
A closer look inside Tsetse flies
3D images at the Berkeley Lab Advanced Light Source give us new insights into the reproductive biology of parasite-borne flies
To better understand the specific reproductive biology of tsetse flies, which are carriers of the parasites that cause a deadly disease called African sleeping sickness, researchers studied the organs and bones of tsetse flies that using Berkeley Lab’s powerful 3D X-ray imaging device.
The imaging approach introduced new insights into how the specialized biology of flies regulates courtship and reproductive processes, including the specific lactation of female flies and the delivery of one fully developed larva per birth cycle – but most other insect species lay eggs. The ALS conducts X-rays and other types of light for a wide range of scientific experiments simultaneously.
Fly samples were prepared at different stages of the reproductive cycle, and researchers ultimately aim to link the image data together with gene expression and biochemical data from the same stages of this cycle.
“We want to understand the changes that are taking place through this process, how the process is being centralized, and whether it can be manipulated to get women back into the wild from breeding,” said Geoffrey Attardo, assistant professor of entomology and nematology at UC Davis – a major deterrent to the spread of disease.In 2015, some 3,500 people died from African sleep disorders, and it is now estimated that Approximately 11,000 people are infected.The disease is fatal if left untreated with medication.
Attardo led an investigation, which was published in the journal Insects, detailing the work of ALS imaging. The ALS tests yielded better results than expected, he said.
While some other methods require separation and staining processes that involve damage to the fine specimens, “This project allowed us to create a detailed 3D image of the breeding figs in their native context, with very little experimental treatment, “he said.
ALS tests provided the first detailed insight into the overall structure of a sperm delivery structure called a spermatophore that completely encloses a female fly’s uterus after breeding, for example, and detailed images of genital tract tissues. other related to lactation and childbirth.
“I love it as an ALS employee, I can help enable science that is making a difference in the world,” said Dula Parkinson, ALS staff scientist and Diffraction and Imaging Program director who participated in the study.
Terrorist Framework has the potential to reduce energy demand in buildings
Researchers make the case for movement in how we think about heating and cooling needs in buildings
By Kiran Julin
Heating and cooling buildings are a major part of global energy demand and a major source of CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions, and in the coming decades the demand for energy for heating and cooling – also known as thermal energy – is expected to grow. – very much. Scientists and engineers have made great strides in reducing the energy demand of a building by improving energy efficiency in building technologies and reducing energy loss through the walls and windows of the building.
Now, researchers are concerned that simply tackling the problem through energy-efficient technology and design will reach its practical limits. So researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), the national renewable energy laboratory, and UC Berkeley have launched a new framework that will determine the minimum thermal energy required to charge to keep the building comfortable.
In a study recently published in the journal Joule they argue for working out the minimum theoretical load to significantly reduce the energy required for heating and cooling buildings.
“Our work shows that conventional thermal loads in buildings are more than an order of magnitude higher than the lowest thermal loads,” said Associate Lab Director Ravi Prasher Berkeley Lab for Power Technologies and corresponding author of the paper. “In fact, the theoretical minimum thermal load showed that the energy used to heat or cool an entire building for the comfort of occupants could be between 19 to 40 times lower.”
The theoretical minimum thermal load does not measure the amount of heating or cooling needed to make an uncomfortable place comfortable, but instead establishes a new baseline for the comfort of residents with various construction parameters. By applying this baseline, the researchers identify the physical limit for reduced thermal energy consumption, that is, the point at which a further reduction in thermal energy would cause discomfort. -resident.
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AI is looking for more than 1,200 gravity digging candidates
Berkeley Lab researchers among participants in an effort, which could double the number of known lenses
A research team partnered with physics Berkeley Lab has used artificial intelligence to identify more than 1,200 gravitational lenses – objects that can be powerful signals for dark material dispersion. The count, if all candidates turn out to be lenses, would be more than twice the number of known gravity lenses.
Gravity lenses are caused by large celestial objects, such as galaxies or galaxy assemblages, that bend the path of light traveling from more distant galaxies. When these opportunity alignments are almost perfect, this creates false images that can include rings, joint rings, multiple images, and other misconceptions.
The lenses can tell us about the contribution of dark matter to these distant lens objects, as we can only see a dark matter through its gravitational effects on a visible object. And that could help solve one of the greatest mysteries in the universe, since dark matter makes up about 85% of the total mass of the universe.
All of the candidate lenses – detected using a type of artificial intelligence called deep residual neural networks – are thought to be of the strong combination, meaning they exhibit very good lens effects. obvious. A study detailing the new lensing candidates for publication in has been approved The Astrophysical Journal, and an introduction is available at arXiv.org.
“I thought it would be many years before anyone would find so many of these gravitational lenses,” said David Schlegel, a senior physics expert at Berkeley Lab who participated in this study. “It’s just amazing to know that you see, clearly, a place itself warming itself up with something big.” Schlegel also participated in an earlier study that turned 335 candidates into a new strong lens.
Researchers used a sample of 632 observation lenses and lens candidates, and 21,000 non-lenses to train the deep neural networks used in the study. The sample set was obtained from two sky studies: the Dark Power Camera Legacy Survey (DECaLS) and the Dark Power Study (DES). Approximately 1 in 10,000 large galaxies was expected to be a strong gravitational lens candidate.
The DECaLS study was one of three studies conducted in preparation for the launch of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), a Berkeley Lab-led experiment that will help us understand dark energy, which drives the spherical apart at the acceleration rate.
Researchers used computing facilities at the Berkeley Lab National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) for the data analysis. NERSC is a DOE Science Office user resource.
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