Bampot

April 2020

Silica dust was suspected to affect the human kidney over 90 years ago. The detected pathologic renal changes are similar to those induced by nephrotoxic heavy metals in the form of dose-related nephropathy that causes degenerative changes in tubular epithelium and interstitial inflammation, fibrous nephrosis, glomerulonephritis, and systemic vasculitis. Additionally, it was demonstrated that silica exposed workers can experience distinct renal histologic alterations in glomerular and proximal tubules.

TAKE-HOME MESSAGE

Prolonged and intensive occupational exposure to silica could result in subclinical nephrotoxicity. It can thus be associated with an increased risk of future end-stage renal disease.

Usage of urinary biomarkers to detect signs of preclinical glomerular and tubular affection seems to be a simple and non-invasive screening tool to identify silica-exposed workers who carry a higher risk of future nephropathy.

Published February 2021:

Identification and understanding of the role of silica in disease outside the lung have grown more slowly. Large mortality studies of silica-exposed populations have identified excess risk from renal disease and cardiovascular disease.

Of growing interest has been the role of silica in multisystem disease, notably rheumatoid arthritis, systemic sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), small vessel vasculitis and others, in which autoimmunity is the unifying feature. 

For SLE and small vessel vasculitis in men, there was arguably no dose-response trend beyond the ‘any silica’ threshold.

The multisystem nature of the silica hazard also has implications for medical practice. Specialists in fields other than respiratory medicine—renal medicine, dermatology and rheumatology—need to be on the alert, not least by taking a careful occupational history with knowledge of silica exposures.

Finally, autoimmunity widens the mechanistic complexity of silica toxicology. Variability in dose rate of silica, particle parameters such as size, charge and physicochemical structure, co-exposures and host factors require painstaking studies controlling for these variables to determine their joint effects. Such research has the potential not only to identify pathways to earlier identification and possible treatment of silicosis, but also to illuminate aspects of autoimmunity, tuberculogenesis and other disease processes.

The wide array of diverse life-forms on this planet are a result of millions of years of selection and adaptation driving morphological change.

We can look back at fossils and identify changes over time, but it is difficult to identify another key component of adaptation in the fossil record: that of behavior.

The theory of behavioral drive posits that behavioral change can expose animals to new selective regimes, leading to adaptive morphological change over time. Fannin et al. looked at isotopes in hominin fossils to characterize a dietary shift to graminoid plants, finding that this shift predated adaptive tooth changes by 700,000 years and confirming the presence of behavioral drive.

Thirteen years since Curiosity landed on Mars, engineers are finding ways to make the NASA rover even more productive. The six-wheeled robot has been given more autonomy and the ability to multitask — improvements designed to make the most of Curiosity’s energy source, a multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MMRTG). Increased efficiency means the rover has ample power as it continues to decipher how the ancient Martian climate changed, transforming a world of lakes and rivers into the chilly desert it is today.

Curiosity recently rolled into a region filled with boxwork formations. These hardened ridges are believed to have been created by underground water billions of years ago. Stretching for miles on this part of Mount Sharp, a 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) mountain, the formations might reveal whether microbial life could have survived in the Martian subsurface eons ago, extending the period of habitability farther into when the planet was drying out.

Four new species of tarantulas have been discovered in the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa. But these aren't just any tarantulas.

The genus name is a combination of Satyr, a part-man, part-beast figure from Greek mythology with exceptionally large genitalia, and the Latin word rēx, meaning "king."

But why "king," and why a Satyr? "The males of these spiders have the longest palps among all known tarantulas," Dr. Zamani says. Palps are the specialized appendages used by male spiders to transfer sperm during mating.

In Satyrex ferox, the largest species in the genus with a legspan of about 14 cm, the male palp can reach an incredible length of 5 cm, which is almost four times longer than the front part of the body, and almost as long as its longest legs.

The name ferox means "fierce," and it fits. "This species is highly defensive. At the slightest disturbance, it raises its front legs in a threat posture and produces a loud hissing sound by rubbing specialized hairs on the basal segments of the front legs against each other," Dr. Zamani explains.

"We have tentatively suggested that the long palps might allow the male to keep a safer distance during mating and help him avoid being attacked and devoured by the highly aggressive female."

Skull stress didn't show a pattern of increase with size. Some smaller theropods experienced greater stress than some larger species due to increased muscle volume and bite forces.

The findings show that being a predatory biped didn't always equate to being a bone-crushing giant. Unlike T. rex, some dinosaurs, including the spinosaurs and allosaurs, became giants while maintaining weaker bites more suited for slashing at prey and stripping flesh.

"I tend to compare Allosaurus to a modern Komodo dragon in terms of feeding style," Rowe says.

"Large tyrannosaur skulls were instead optimized like modern crocodiles with high bite forces that crushed prey. This biomechanical diversity suggests that dinosaur ecosystems supported a wider range of giant carnivore ecologies than we often assume, with less competition and more specialization."

Here, we describe an exquisitely-preserved velociraptorine dromaeosaurid from the Upper Cretaceous Djadokhta Formation of Mongolia, and refer it to the new species Shri rapax. This dromaeosaurid is diagnosed by a peculiar combination of vertebral and pelvic features and by an exceptionally robust hand with a very stout pollex bearing the ungual proportionally larger than in any other dromaeosaurid.

JWST observations of light sources before the first galaxies should have formed are raising new questions about our galactic origins

If accurate, the newly sighted objects don't merely expand the timeline of galaxy formation back to a much earlier period; they sit in direct conflict with astronomers’ best cosmological models of when stars began to form during the cosmic dawn. For this reason, another group of astronomers have put forward a hypothesis to make sense of these puzzling findings. They have proposed that “primordial” black holes created right after the big bang may have lit up the universe before the first stars.

Between late 1989 and early 1991, Belgium became the focal point of an extended series of unidentified flying object sightings. The most significant episode of this wave occurred on the night of March 30-31, 1990, when both military and civilian radar systems detected anomalous aerial phenomena. Reports from trained observers, radar evidence, and government involvement have contributed to making this case one of the most well-documented UFO incidents in modern history.

Despite extensive investigations, no definitive explanation emerged for the events of March 30-31, 1990, or the preceding wave of sightings. The Belgian UFO wave remains one of the most well-documented cases of unexplained aerial phenomena, with scientists and military analysts continuing to reference it as a key example of authenticated radar-confirmed anomalies.

Whilst worldwide intrigue surrounding UFOs and extraterrestrial life continues to escalate, renowned physicist Stephen Hawking consistently advocated for restraint, contending that mankind's enthusiasm to establish contact with alien civilisations could prove catastrophic.

During the period before his passing in 2018, Hawking persistently cautioned that any intentional effort to communicate with extraterrestrial beings, particularly those potentially far superior to our own species, might jeopardise humanity's survival.

His concern centred on the possibility that rather than approaching us with inquisitiveness or goodwill, a supremely intelligent alien race might view Earth as a world ready for plunder.

When the universe began, it was condensed into a hot mash of particles (protons, neutrons and electrons). As the universe expanded and cooled, the first stars and galaxies began to coalesce. The earliest of these we can see are around 13.7 billion years old, which is just a little over a hundred million years after the Big Bang.

Researchers have unveiled two "hyperrealistic" reconstructions of adult sisters who lived and worked in a brutal mining community in what is now the Czech Republic more than 6,000 years ago.

The stunning, 3D reconstructions are based on a new analysis of the sisters' remains, which were unearthed more than 15 years ago from a prehistoric chert mine in the South Moravian region. New evidence suggests the sisters worked in the mine, extracting heavy rocks for tools and weapons.

The burials still have a number of mysterious details that continue to puzzle scientists. For example, the sisters were buried with the remains of a small dog, whose skull archaeologists found near the top skeleton but whose other bones were unearthed near the bottom skeleton, according to the study. More perplexing still was the discovery of a newborn baby whose remains lay on the older sister's chest but had no genetic relationship to either woman.