Category: Science

A new category of depression, the cognitive biotype, accounts for 27% of depressed patients, say researchers.

Cognitive tasks show that these patients have difficulty with the ability to plan ahead, display self-control, sustain focus despite distractions, and suppress inappropriate behavior. Imaging showed decreased activity in two brain regions responsible for those tasks.

Because depression has traditionally been defined as a mood disorder, doctors commonly prescribe antidepressants that target serotonin (known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs), but these are less effective for patients with cognitive dysfunction.

The researchers say that targeting these cognitive dysfunctions with less commonly used antidepressants or other treatments may alleviate symptoms and help restore social and occupational abilities.

The study, published in JAMA Network Open, is part of a broader effort by neuroscientists to find treatments that target depression biotypes, according to the study’s senior author, Leanne Williams, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine.

“One of the big challenges is to find a new way to address what is currently a trial-and-error process so that more people can get better sooner,” Williams says. “Bringing in these objective cognitive measures like imaging will make sure we’re not using the same treatment on every patient.”

Antidepressants and MRI

In the study, 1,008 adults with previously unmedicated major depressive disorder were randomly given one of three widely prescribed typical antidepressants: escitalopram (brand name Lexapro) or sertraline (Zoloft), which act on serotonin, or venlafaxine-XR (Effexor), which acts on both serotonin and norepinephrine. Of the participants, 712 completed the eight-week regimen.

Before and after treatment with the antidepressants, the participants’ depressive symptoms were measured using two surveys: one, clinician-administered, and the other, a self-assessment, which included questions related to changes in sleep and eating. The researchers also tracked measures of social and occupation functioning, as well as quality of life.

Before and after treatment, the participants also completed a series of cognitive tests that measured verbal memory, working memory, decision speed, and sustained attention, among other tasks.

Before treatment, scientists scanned 96 of the participants using functional magnetic resonance imaging as they engaged in a task called the “GoNoGo” that requires participants to press a button as quickly as possible when they see “Go” in green and to not press when they see “NoGo” in red. The fMRI tracked neuronal activity by measuring changes in blood oxygen levels, which showed levels of activity in different brain regions corresponding to Go or NoGo responses. Researchers then compared the participants’ images with those of individuals without depression.

The researchers found that 27% of the participants had more prominent symptoms of cognitive slowing and insomnia, impaired cognitive function on behavioral tests, as well as reduced activity in certain frontal brain regions—a profile they labeled the cognitive biotype.

The cognitive biotype

“This study is crucial because psychiatrists have few measurement tools for depression to help make treatment decisions,” says Laura Hack, lead author of the study and an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. “It’s mostly making observations and self-report measures. Imaging while performing cognitive tasks is rather novel in depression treatment studies.”

Pre-treatment fMRI showed those with the cognitive biotype had significantly reduced activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and dorsal anterior cingulate regions during the GoNoGo task compared with the activity levels in participants who did not have the cognitive biotype. Together, the two regions form the cognitive control circuit, which is responsible for limiting unwanted or irrelevant thoughts and responses and improving goal selection, among other tasks.

After treatment, the researchers found that for the three antidepressants administered, the overall remission rates—the absence of overall depression symptoms—were 38.8% for participants with the new biotype and 47.7% for those without it. This difference was most prominent for sertraline, for which the remission rates were 35.9% and 50% for those with the biotype and those without, respectively.

“Depression presents in different ways in different people, but finding commonalities—like similar profiles of brain function—helps medical professionals effectively treat participants by individualizing care,” Williams says.

Better depression treatment

Williams and Hack propose that behavior measurement and imaging could help diagnose depression biotypes and lead to better treatment. A patient could complete a survey on their own computer or in the doctor’s office, and if they are found to display a certain biotype, they might be referred to imaging for confirmation before undergoing treatment.

Researchers at the Stanford Center for Precision Mental Health and Wellness, which Williams directs, in partnership with the Stanford Translational Precision Mental Health Clinic, which Hack directs, are studying another medication—guanfacine—that specifically targets the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex region. They believe this treatment could be more effective for patients with the cognitive subtype.

Williams and Hack hope to conduct studies with participants who have the cognitive biotype, comparing different types of medication with treatments such as transcranial magnetic stimulation and cognitive behavioral therapy. In transcranial magnetic stimulation, commonly referred to as TMS, magnetic fields stimulate nerve cells; in cognitive behavioral therapy, patients are taught to use problem-solving strategies to counter negative thoughts that contribute to both emotional dysregulation and loss of social and occupational abilities.

“I regularly witness the suffering, the loss of hope, and the increase in suicidality that occurs when people are going through our trial-and-error process,” Hack says. “And it’s because we start with medications that have the same mechanism of action for everyone with depression, even though depression is quite heterogeneous. I think this study could help change that.”

Researchers from the Sierra-Pacific Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center; the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System; Brain Dynamic Centre, Westmead Institute for Medical Research; and the University of Sydney, Westmead, contributed to the work.

The study was funded through Brain Resource Company Operations Pty Ltd. and Stanford University’s Clinical and Translation Science Award Program overseen by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences at the National Institutes of Health.

Source: Stanford University

WASHINGTON — Virgin Galactic plans to conduct its first fully commercial flight of its SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane on June 29, carrying three Italians who will conduct more than a dozen experiments.

Virgin Galactic announced June 26 the date for its “Galactic 01” mission, flying from Spaceport America in New Mexico. The company had previously disclosed a window of June 27 to 30 for the flight.

The flight is considered the first fully commercial mission by Virgin Galactic, although the company did generate small amounts of revenue by flying research payloads on earlier test flights.

“Galactic 01 is our first commercial spaceflight and we’re honored to have been selected by the Italian Air Force and the National Research Council to support their first space research mission,” Michael Colglazier, chief executive of Virgin Galactic, said in a statement. “Virgin Galactic’s research missions will usher in a new era of repeatable and reliable access to space for government and research institutions for years to come.”

The June 29 flight, called Virtute 1 by the Italian government, features three Italian payload specialists, commanded by Walter Villadei, a colonel in the Italian Air Force. He previously trained with NASA and Axiom Space for a commercial orbital spaceflight, becoming the backup pilot for the Ax-2 mission to the International Space Station that flew in May.

Joining Villadei are Angelo Landolfi, an Italian Air Force lieutenant colonel and physician, and Pantaleone Carlucci, a researcher with Italy’s National Research Council. The three will carry out 13 experiments before, during and after the flight, measuring cosmic radiation, testing the effects of microgravity on fluids and combustion, and collecting medical data. Villadei will wear a “smart flight suit” that will gather biomedical data while testing a suit design intended to operate at up to 6 Gs.

“We are flying payloads from multiple disciplines in one mission and are utilizing the entire flight profile to collect invaluable data,” Villadei said in a statement.

Joining the Italians in the crew cabin is Colin Bennett, a Virgin Galactic astronaut instructor who will assess the research flight experience. He flew on the SpaceShipTwo mission in July 2021 that carried company founder Richard Branson. The overall mission will be commanded by Virgin Galactic’s Mike Masucci, making his fourth flight. Nicola Pecile, a former Italian Air Force pilot who now works for Virgin, will be the pilot.

Virgin Galactic signed a contract with the Italian Air Force for the mission in October 2019, intending at the time to fly it as soon as late 2020 or early 2021. After Branson’s flight, Virgin Galactic planned to conduct the flight in the fall of 2021 before beginning a maintenance period for both SpaceShipTwo and its mothership aircraft, VMS Eve. However, the company postponed the flight in October 2021, electing to carry out the maintenance first.

Virgin resumed flights of its SpaceShipTwo vehicle, VMS Unity, earlier this year. That included a May 25 suborbital test flight that was the first time Unity went to space since Branson’s flight. That flight carried Virgin Galactic employees as payload specialists.

The company sees the flight as a way to highlight its ability to carry out research as an alternative market to space tourism. “This flight will showcase our distinctive spaceflight system, which allows researchers to fly with their experiments, and our capacity to offer regular access to space for the science and technology community,” said Sirisha Bandla, vice president of government affairs and research operations at Virgin Galactic, in a statement.

The bulk of Virgin Galactic’s business, though, will come from private astronauts paying up to $450,000 a ticket for the flight. The company has about 800 customers for those flights. Virgin said June 15 its first flight carrying private astronauts, Galactic 02, is tentatively scheduled for early August, with subsequent flights planned on a monthly basis.

Fundraising

Many of those customers may end up flying on the company’s future Delta class of spaceplanes, designed for much higher flight rates. With the company’s negligible revenue to date and high operating losses, Virgin Galactic will need to raise substantial funding to develop the Delta-class vehicles.

In a June 22 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Virgin Galactic said it had completed a sale of $300 million of stock it announced in August 2022. It also announced plans to sell an additional $400 million of stock, working with Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

The funds, Virgin stated, will be used “for development of its spaceship fleet and infrastructure to scale its commercial operations, and for general corporate purposes.”

Shares in Virgin Galactic, traded on the New York Stock Exchange, fell 18.4% June 23, effectively giving up gains since the company announced its commercial spaceflight plans June 15.

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WASHINGTON — Apex, a startup with plans to mass-manufacture satellite buses, has raised $16 million to fund development of its first large-scale factory.

Apex announced June 22 it raised the Series A round, led by venture firms Andreessen Horowitz and Shield Capital. The company has raised more than $27 million to date, including a seed round it announced in October 2022.

The funds will be used for what the company calls Factory One, a 4,600-square-meter production facility in Los Angeles that the company will use to ramp up production of its Aries satellite bus. The company, building its first Aries spacecraft now, projects scaling up production to five in 2024, 20 in 2025 and as many as 100 in 2026.

Ian Cinnamon, chief executive of Apex, said in an interview that the company was able to raise more money than originally planned for the Series A round because of strong investor interest. “We feel incredibly grateful that it was significantly oversubscribed, where we had a lot of investors that wanted to invest that, unfortunately, we just didn’t have room to bring them in.”

He said the fundraising climate for space companies had changed in the last year because of both broader macroeonomic issues, like higher inflation and interest rates, as well as struggles among companies in the industry. That’s driving investors to companies with a near-term focus on products and services than can generate revenue, he argued.

“In today’s climate, investors are really looking for companies that have clear paths to being able to produce revenue, and business models that not only would grow massively in the future but are solid business models in today’s market,” he said. “It’s things that are real businesses today that can grow in the future.”

Apex is building its first Aries satellite, dubbed “Call to Adventure,” that it announced in April. That spacecraft remains on schedule to launch on the SpaceX Transporter-10 rideshare mission in early 2024.

That spacecraft will carry payloads for three customers: space refueling company Orbit Fab, autonomous satellite technology developer Ubotica and an unnamed “tier one” defense contractor. Cinnamon said he could not disclose that contractor other than to say it is a “household name.” That mission, he added, is now fully booked.

He said Apex has strong interest among potential customers for this first flight, so was able to find three customers with sufficiently different missions that they could be accommodated on the same spacecraft without any conflicts. However, in the future the company plans to sell satellites to individual customers rather than host multiple customers on the same satellite, a model called “condosats” in the industry.

“Part of the reason that we don’t want to continue doing condosats is that it’s not easy coordinating all those efforts,” he said.

The announcement of the funding round and customers for its first mission came shortly after Apex rolled out a tool on its website to allow customers to configure satellites. The tool, similar to those used for ordering cars or computers, offers several options for power, communications and propulsion, and lists the price of that option.

Cinnamon said the company is offering that configuration tool because it plans to offer a limited number of options for satellites, which he likened to the stock-keeping units, or SKUs, used in retail. Apex is also minimizing the amount of customization or non-recurring engineering (NRE) it offers customers.

“If you’re not doing NRE and you have a set number of SKUs, that means we know exactly what our costs are, what our labor is,” he said, enabling “transparent” pricing of its satellite buses. “We believe that the industry deserves that transparent pricing and to cut through a lot of the back-and-forth that I think slows down the industry and hampers innovation.”

He said that “thousands” had tried out the tool since it rolled it out earlier in the month, leading to inquiries from potential customers to confirm that the prices quoted online are accurate. He did not confirm if it led to any orders yet, but said the company has sold part of a second set of five satellites it is building in 2024.

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SAN FRANCISCO – Space Leasing International, a new business formed by the multinational Libra Group, announced plans June 20 to acquire 21 ground stations to lease to RBC Signals.

That may be just the beginning. SLI boasts a deal pipeline that includes satellites in orbit, satellites not yet launched, space launch pads and additional ground stations.

“We see so much advancement in the space economy that we are intentionally pursuing transactions across the entirety of the field,” Phaedra Chrousos, Libra Group chief strategy officer, told SpaceNews. “We don’t want to close ourselves off to helping grow a part of the sector that doesn’t even exist yet.”

Forming Space Leasing International

After 45 years of leasing assets in shipping, aviation and other fields — including $15 billion in transportation transactions in the last 15 years — Libra Group formed SLI because executives said they see enormous potential for growth in the space sector. In the early days of aviation, companies tended to manufacture, own and operate aircraft. Now, it’s common for three different entities to take on those roles.

“We believe that space economy is a nascent industry like the aviation industry once was,” Chrousos said. “Just like in aviation, over time there will be a bifurcation that splits the roles of the manufacturers, owners and operators. We aim to be a leading owner of these assets.”

RBC Signals Deal

Initially, SLI is acquiring a ground station that RBC Signals is building in the Alaskan Arctic. Over the next three years, SLI will work with RBC Signals to construct or acquire 20 additional ground stations.

The deal is “huge for RBC Signals” because many of the early-stage space companies that come to RBC Signals for satellite communications services don’t have enough funding to pay upfront for the equipment they need, said Christopher Richins, RBC Signals CEO and founder. “And right now, there aren’t a lot of traditional sources of financing for building ground station assets. This deal allows us to tell our customers we can buy the antennas they need.”

For RBC Signals, identifying a reliable source of capital for its next 21 ground stations, frees the company to expand its business, for example, by establishing lunar communications capabilities, Richins said.

Market Timing

SLI is moving into the space sector at a time when venture capital and private equity is becoming harder to attract. Space Capital reported in April that space investment for the first quarter of 2023 was down 53 percent compared with the first quarter of 2022.

“While some large companies have no need at least in the short term for alternative ways to finance their assets, there is a large group of companies that can only finance themselves by selling equity,” said SLI CEO Alejandro Kerschen. “Those companies would certainly benefit from somebody else owning the asset. What we are doing is going to help that emerging, very innovative segment of the industry.”

Libra Group and SLI have spoken with more than 30 space companies while preparing to enter the space sector.

“We’ve found that the founders and CEOs we’ve spoken to so far have liked the idea of working with SLI to scale their manufacturing and acquire new assets without having to raise dilutive capital,” Chrousos said. “We believe SLI can accelerate a lot of these really innovative companies that would otherwise we need to go back to the market to get capital to move forward.”

SLI Leadership

SLI is led by Alejandro Kerschen, whose resume includes stints at Citibank, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas and Atlantic Alliance Ltd., a corporate finance practice he managed for the last 20 years. Kerschen joined Libra Group in June to become SLI’s CEO.

“We look at space assets as physical assets that could be owned by us and leased out in the same way Libra Group owns and leases other assets,” Kerschen said. “For example, look at what the telecom sector is doing, separating infrastructure towers from telecom companies. We see similarities to ground stations and satellite companies.”

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Researchers have discovered candidate genes for disease resistance in wild grape plants, offering hope in the fight against the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa.

Xylella fastidiosa infects crops such as grapes, coffee, almonds, citrus, and olives. This disease has posed a significant challenge for farmers worldwide, with no known resistant varieties in major crops. However, the research team focused their attention on a wild grape species, Vitis arizonica, which exhibits natural resistance to the bacterium.

Through genetic mapping and genome-wide association studies, the researchers identified potential genes that could be introduced into grapevines to enhance their resistance. These findings, published in Communications Biology, have the potential to revolutionize the agricultural industry, offering a solution to a multibillion-dollar problem caused by Xylella fastidiosa.

One intriguing aspect of the study is the correlation between resistance genes and climate. The researchers discovered that the resistant genes were predominantly found in warm climates, indicating that the pathogen is more prevalent in these regions. By projecting climate change scenarios, the team predicts the future impact of the disease on various crops, including grapes and almonds.

“This study highlights the importance of scientific research in addressing the challenges posed by climate change and plant pathogens,” says Brandon Gaut, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Irvine. “Understanding the genetic basis of resistance and the influence of climate on disease prevalence is crucial for developing effective strategies to protect our crops and ensure food security.”

The implications of this research extend beyond grapevines and offer insights into the genetic mechanisms of resistance in other susceptible crops. By harnessing the power of genetics, genomics, and studying wild plant relatives, scientists can identify valuable resistance traits that could enhance crop resilience against Xylella fastidiosa and similar pathogens.

“Preserving, maintaining, and genetically characterizing plant collections is paramount in our pursuit of discovering valuable genes for grape breeding programs,” says Dario Cantù, professor of viniculture and enology at the University of California, Davis. The new findings build on a long-term project there.

The study’s findings underscore the urgency of continued scientific research in agriculture, especially in the face of climate change. By unraveling the complex interactions among genes, pathogens, and climate, researchers can develop targeted solutions to mitigate the devastating effects of plant diseases and safeguard global food production.

Source: UC Irvine

Supplements can reverse stunting in children, new findings show.

More than 20% of the world’s children under the age of five have a low height in relation to their age due to undernutrition or malnutrition, i.e. they are stunted. Though childhood stunting does not present an acute danger like famine, children with stunted growth are subject to chronically impaired childhood development.

Typically, they end up being a few centimeters shorter than their natural predisposition. But this is just the visible manifestation. Stunting affects the development of a child’s muscles and organs, as well as their mental development.

In eastern Uganda, 750 children ages one to five took part in the study, during which health professionals measured and weighed them for three months.

All the children were moderately to severely stunted due to malnutrition.

The children were randomly divided into five groups:

• Two groups received supplements with milk protein. One of them also received a mixture of lactose and minerals, known as whey permeate.
• Two groups got supplements with soy protein. One of these was also given the lactose-mineral mixture.
• The last group was a control group and did not receive food supplements.

The children continued to be fed at home. However, the supplement accounted for up to half of their energy and protein requirements and their entire requirement for vitamins and minerals.

Control group families received laundry soap and all participants had transport costs covered and received food at the clinic as a compensation for their participation.

“The body is already deficient, meaning that their bones and muscles are not getting the nutrients, especially minerals and proteins, required for optimal growth. It affects the health and physical abilities of these children throughout their lives,” explains Benedikte Grenov of the University of Copenhagen’s department of nutrition, exercise, and sports.

Grenov is one of the lead authors of the new study, which took place in collaboration with researchers from Makerere University in Uganda. The study challenges the way health authorities around the world have framed the treatment of childhood stunting. The findings appear in PLOS Medicine.

‘Impaired development can be reversed’

A longstanding consensus has been that nutrient supplements are unable to stimulate growth after the age of two. As a result, initiatives aiming to use supplements for prevention of stunting at present are focused on providing small amounts to vulnerable children under two years of age, and even these projects are few and far between. The fear has been that energy-dense supplements instead could increase the risk of obesity and health problems associated with being overweight.

Such thinking is wrong according to the new study.

“In fact, our research demonstrates that if children with stunted growth are not treated, things go wrong. But if they are, impaired development can be reversed, even in children older than two. We managed to achieve this with the children who participated in our study. And this could mean that the children’s living conditions as adults will improve, so that they become healthier, stronger, and have a reduced risk of lifestyle diseases,” says Grenov.

“Therefore, we hope that these results can help shift the thinking with regards to the treatment of stunting, and in doing so, change the recommendations.”

Supplements from plants

One aspect of the study was to investigate whether milk-based supplements are particularly well-suited to help improve the lives of the many stunted children around the world.

The nutrient supplement used in the study was a lipid-based mixture of blended peanuts with added milk or soy protein, a vitamin and mineral mix, and carbohydrate as a sweetener. The texture is similar to that of marzipan and it has a sweet, peanut butter-like taste.

The mixture comes in small sachets that do not require mixing (to avoid contamination). The children can eat it straight from the package.

While the results clearly demonstrate that milk-based supplements are beneficial for the healthy growth of children, the cheaper and more climate-friendly, plant-based alternative works just as well.

“We had actually expected to see a difference, because milk contains better quality protein and certain micronutrients that have been linked to growth-promotion. But the difference we see is so minimal, that scientifically, it makes no sense to talk about it,” says Grenov. The big difference, he says, was between children who received a supplement and those who received nothing at all.

“This has the positive consequence that nutrient supplements can be produced at a lower cost and in a more climate-friendly manner. And even though the plant protein we used was a special type that requires specific production facilities, plant proteins generally have the advantage that they are easier to produce locally, in places where the problem is greatest.”

Growing organs and muscles

Children in the control group did not receive supplements and thereby remained in the same situation, which is normal for most stunted children.

They continued their unfortunate development and became more and more stunted. They also experienced unhealthy growth in fat mass rather than in fat-free mass – muscles and organs.

Overall, development in both their height and body composition was negative, unlike the children who received supplements. Those who received supplements grew taller and added lean mass without gaining additional fat.

These benefits can prove important to a solution strategy. With roughly 150 million stunted children under the age of five worldwide, any initiative to help them all can be insurmountable, both economically and practically.

Grenov acknowledges that because the problem is so widespread, treating all children is practically impossible. But you could, for example, begin by offering treatment to those with severe stunting.

“The good news is that all of the children, including those with severe stunting, were able to reverse the negative trend and begin growing fat-free mass–which means muscles and organs–when provided with the supplement. These children have delayed development and typically also lower IQs in the long run. So, if supplements can be used for them first, we will have come a long way,” says Grenov, who continues:

“That could be one way to go. Another could be, more generally, to look at whether regular family diets could be improved with an advanced multi-micronutrient ‘vitamin’ pill and easier access to high-quality protein. Indeed, it is this mixture that is so critical for optimal child growth.”

Arla Food for Health is a joint research partnership among the University of Copenhagen, Aarhus University, Arla Foods, and Arla Foods Ingredients. It was formed in 2015 and has since funded a range of independent research projects. Arla Food for Health and other funders did not have influence on the analysis and interpretation of data, on the writing of the report, or on the decision to submit the paper for publication.

Source: University of Copenhagen

Eukaryotes, complex life forms with nuclei in their cells, including all the world’s plants, animals, insects, and fungi, trace their roots to a common Asgard archaean ancestor, research finds.

That means eukaryotes are, in the parlance of evolutionary biologists, a “well-nested clade” within Asgard archaea, similar to how birds are one of several groups within a larger group called dinosaurs, sharing a common ancestor. The team has found that all eukaryotes share a common ancestor among the Asgards.

No fossils of eukaryotes have been found from farther back than about 2 billion years ago, suggesting that before that, only various types of microbes existed.

“So, what events led microbes to evolve into eukaryotes?” says Brett Baker, associate professor of integrative biology and marine science at the University of Texas at Austin. “That’s a big question. Having this common ancestor is a big step in understanding that.”

Led by Thijs Ettema of Wageningen University in the Netherlands, the research team identified the closest microbial relative to all complex life forms on the tree of life as a newly described order called the Hodarchaeales (or Hods for short). The Hods, found in marine sediments, are one of several subgroups within the larger group of Asgard archaea. The findings appear in Nature.

The Asgard archaea evolved more than 2 billion years ago, and their descendants are still living. Some have been discovered in deep sea sediments and hot springs around the world, but so far only two strains have been successfully grown in the lab. To identify them, scientists collect their genetic material from the environment and then piece together their genomes. Based on genetic similarities with other organisms that can be grown in the lab and studied, the scientists can infer metabolism and other features of the Asgards.

“Imagine a time machine, not to explore the realms of dinosaurs or ancient civilizations, but to journey deep into the potential metabolic reactions that could have sparked the dawn of complex life,” says Valerie De Anda, a researcher in Baker’s lab. “Instead of fossils or ancient artifacts, we look at the genetic blueprints of modern microbes to reconstruct their past.”

The researchers expanded the known Asgard genomic diversity, adding more than 50 undescribed Asgard genomes as input for their modeling. Their analysis indicates that the ancestor of all modern Asgards appears to have been living in hot environments, consuming CO₂ and chemicals to live. Meanwhile, Hods, which are more closely related to eukaryotes, are metabolically more similar to us, eating carbon and living in cooler environments.

“This is really exciting because we are looking for the first time at the molecular blueprints of the ancestor that gave rise to the first eukaryotic cells,” De Anda says.

Support for this research came from the Origin of Eukaryotes program at the Moore and Simons Foundations; the US National Science Foundation; the Wellcome Trust Foundation; the European Research Council; the Swedish Research Council; the Dutch Research Council; the National Natural Science Foundation of China; the Wenner-Gren Foundation; the Science for Life Laboratory (Sweden); and the European Commission’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.

Source: UT Austin

WASHINGTON — A new startup, Danti, came out of stealth June 21 with a search engine designed for users of geospatial data. 

Danti is among a growing number of startups that are riding the artificial intelligence wave. Its search engine relies on natural language models to help users of its search engine find relevant information about places on Earth. 

The Atlanta-based startup announced a $2.75 million pre-seed funding round led by Tech Square Ventures with participation from Radius Capital. Other investors include Philip Krim and Raven One Ventures, SpaceVC, Overline, Tareyton Ventures, Jordan Noone, Keith Masback and Jeff Crusey.

“The funding will be used to accelerate development of Danti’s search engine technology for deployment with U.S. intelligence agencies and early commercial customers,” Jesse Kallman, founder and CEO, told SpaceNews.

Users of the search engine, he said, can pose simple questions and get results drawn from data collected by satellites, aircraft, social media and other open sources. 

Kallman decided to name the company Danti after touring the Vatican’s Gallery of Maps created by Ignazio Danti. “I was completely blown away by how a mathematician and geographer in the 1500s was able to make highly accurate maps of Italy with the tools of the time.”

NGA challenge

The company recently won a $75,000 prize challenge from the National Security Innovation Network, sponsored by the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA). The top prize was for an application that would allow non-expert users of geospatial data to quickly prioritize, analyze, and organize information into actionable intelligence.

NGA is now a Danti customer, said Kallman. The company also is working with undisclosed commercial customers. 

“We are heavily focused on national security applications,” he said. Danti hired personnel with security clearances who previously worked at Palantir, Maxar, Airbus and Georgia Tech. 

“I’ve worked in the unmanned systems space. I’ve worked in space based Earth observation, in a number of different industries. And I’ve kind of seen the same problem over and over specifically when it comes to geospatial content: data overload,” Kallman said. 

Analysts are drowning in data and need simple tools to get their questions answered, he said. Another challenge is the significant level of expertise that is needed to make sense of geospatial data. NGA has a large workforce of analysts, but most organizations in government and commercial industries that work with geospatial data rely on small teams that source the content, analyze it and provide briefs. 

“If we can reduce the level of complexity required to use it and understand it, that’s already a big win, because that opens up the amount of folks within a given organization that can use the content,” he said.

The U.S. military relies on NGA to provide intelligence analysis, but an engine like Danti’s could help forces deployed downrange get quick answers, Kallman added. 

“We’re encoding decades of geospatial experience into AI based tools that can translate user queries into something that a computer can actually execute a search against,” he said. 

Much of the AI investment in the geospatial data analytics industry is going into computer vision, object detection and other technologies to extract information out of an image. 

“What we’re doing is complementary, providing an ability to search data sets and ask questions.”

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Magnetic muscle therapy may improve mobility and lean body mass in older adults, a new study shows.

A decline in functional mobility, loss of muscle strength, and an increase in body fats are often associated with aging.

The recent community study conducted in Singapore involved 101 participants aged between 38 to 91 years old. The researchers found that weekly exposure to very low levels of proprietary pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF), using the BIXEPS device invented by researchers from the National University of Singapore in 2019, is associated with significant improvements in mobility and body composition after 12 weeks, particularly in older people.

Participants also reported reduced perception of pain after three months of magnetic muscle therapy.

“We are very encouraged by the positive results of this community trial. PEMF-associated improvements were experienced by 85% of participants, irrespective of age, with the greatest benefits reported in older and more frail participants,” says Alfredo Franco-Obregón, associate professor and principal investigator with NUS Institute for Health Innovation & Technology (iHealthtech).

“Our findings suggest that PEMF therapy can produce comparable results to exercise in older persons and therefore holds potential therapeutic value for the older adult population.”

The BIXEPS device targets the muscles in a user’s leg with a specific magnetic signature and creates metabolic activity in the cells similar to when a person exercises. Earlier studies from Franco-Obregón and his team showed that participants who received the magnetic muscle therapy of one leg after knee surgery exhibited improvements in whole body metabolism, predominantly reflected as changes in blood lipid profiles. That is, the effect spread beyond just the treated leg and produced system wide improvements.

The community study was conducted over 34 months, from January 1, 2020 to October 31, 2022. Among the 101 volunteers who participated in the study, 62% were females and 38% were males. Of the participants, 87% had pre-existing mobility dysfunction and 13% were healthy individuals.

The researchers gave participants the proprietary BIXEPS therapy for 10 minutes once a week on alternate legs each week, for a period of 12 weeks. Each participant completed a series of standard performance-based functional tests and indicated their existing acute and chronic pains at the start (week 1) and end (week 12) of the program.

Data on each participant’s body composition—such as weight, skeletal muscle mass, body fat mass, and visceral fat area—were collected before each weekly session.

After eight weeks of treatment, 72% of participants reported improved maintenance of skeletal muscles in conjunction with reductions of total and visceral fats, together with 85% of participants showing improvements in functional mobility after 12 weeks, most significantly in the elderly.

These positive results provide evidence that this PEMF-based technology may represent a valuable therapy to boost conventional geriatric interventions intended to reduce the prevalence of frailty and metabolic disorders in the older adult population.

Very importantly, visceral fat is the inflammatory fat and is associated with a large range of metabolic disorders, including diabetes. Previous studies have shown that people in Southeast Asia hold on to visceral fat more stubbornly than people in other parts of the world despite exercise.

The result is that people in Southeast Asia develop diabetes at a lower body Mass index (BMI) than other demographics. This has posed a real problem for the health industry in South East Asia. “We may finally have a solution to this local health care dilemma in the form of magnetic field therapy,” says Franco-Obregón.

Yvette Cheak, 73, participated in the study in September 2021. She used to have a weak right leg and a buckling knee in the same leg. “Since using BIXEPS, there was less swelling at the ankle and knee, and I became more energetic. My knee is also less painful and doesn’t buckle as much. On some days, I am able to walk at home without a walking stick,” she says.

“Prior to the BIXEPS program, I had a lot of weakness in my legs. It was painful in my hip and feet when I took even a few steps. I could not climb the stairs the normal way, and had to rely on the handrails to balance myself,” says George Teo, age 79. “At the end of 12 sessions, I felt that my leg movement had returned to normal, and I could go up and down the stairs without using the handrails.”

Building on the positive findings of the community study, the team has engaged with research teams in the US and Hong Kong to conduct randomly controlled clinical trials to further validate the benefits for frailty across different aging-populations.

Since 2022, the team has also started a senior-focused study with 200 seniors across four community care centers in Singapore to evaluate how the technology can improve function and alleviate chronic pains. This study is expected to complete in 2023.

Real-world pilot data from existing community programs have also shown promise of better controlled HbA1c—the prevalent marker for diabetes progression—after starting weekly BIXEPS sessions. The research team is currently working with the Singapore General Hospital to conduct a clinical trial to further investigate the possible therapeutic possibility for PEMF-based therapies to manage diabetes progression.

The study appears in the journal Aging.

Franco-Obregón is a cofounder of QuantumTX, an NUS start-up involved in the work.

Source: NUS

WASHINGTON — German startup Vyoma said June 20 it has raised 8.5 million euros ($9.3 million) to develop space debris-monitoring satellites.

French aerospace giant Safran, which will help develop the constellation, participated in the startup’s extended seed round through its venture capital arm alongside early-stage investors Happiness Capital of Hong Kong, Germany-based Atlantic Labs, and Portugal-based Faber Ventures.

The three-year-old venture has now raised more than 10 million euros for a constellation of 12 satellites that it plans to start launching next year, Vyoma CEO and co-founder Stefan Frey told SpaceNews.

He said Vyoma will announce a manufacturer for its first two microsatellites in the next few weeks, which would be launched together or via separate missions around the end of 2024, depending on the launch provider it picks.

The two pilot satellites would be designed to focus on tracking and cataloging objects larger than 30 centimeters in low Earth orbit (LEO). They would supplement the space situational awareness (SSA) data Vyoma already offers through third-party networks of ground-based sensors.

Under clear atmospheric conditions, Vyoma’s best-performing ground telescopes are currently capable of observing LEO objects down to around five to seven centimeters — depending on their position — via dedicated target tracking.

Ultimately, the startup plans to be able to track so-far untrackable objects as small as one centimeter with a network of space-based cameras that, unlike ground-based telescopes, are unaffected by weather.

According to Vyoma, the 10 additional satellites it plans to deploy in the 18 months following its first launch would also be capable of keeping tabs on objects in space under a semi-autonomous surveillance mode. 

Safran’s electronics and defense subsidiary, which is investigating the feasibility of adding radiofrequency sensors and laser rangefinders to improve Vyoma’s capabilities, is sharing complementary SSA data as part of its investment. 

Safran Reosc, the company’s optomechanical subsidiary, is also looking into developing an optical instrument for detecting objects smaller than two centimeters while in surveillance mode.

The European Space Agency estimates there are around one million objects between one and 10 centimeters in space, which despite their size have the energy to cause unrepairable damage if they collide with satellites or other spacecraft.

Investors pile into space-based SSA solutions

Three other early-stage companies have announced investments so far this year to develop space-based businesses promising to improve SSA for increasingly congested orbits. 

On the same day as Vyoma’s announcement, Indian startup Digantara said it had raised $10 million in a Series A round led by venture fund Peak XV Partners to develop small satellites with electro-optical sensors to collect SSA data.

Noblis, a nonprofit organization that provides science, technology, and strategy services to the U.S. government, said June 14 its venture arm had made an undisclosed strategic investment in Alexandria, Virginia-based space-tracking startup Scout Space.

In early January, Canada’s NorthStar Earth and Space announced it had raised $35 million in a Series C funding round led by private equity firm Cartesian Capital for its proposed constellation.

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