Scientists find clues to why AstraZeneca's vaccine may cause clots

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
4/10/2021

LONG READ

The AstraZeneca vaccine appears to cause certain people to develop antibodies that target a protein in the human body called platelet factor 4 (PF4), which spurs platelets into action and activates a clotting cascade, File Photo by Luong Thai Linh/EPA-EF

Doctors might have figured out why AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine may cause life-threatening blood clots in very rare cases.

The discovery, made in a pair of reports published online Friday in the New England Journal of Medicine, could be key to the global rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine, helping develop effective treatments for the side effect and providing clues on how to refine the vaccine and fix the problem, experts say.

But it also might hinder efforts to have the vaccine approved in the United States, where there are three other vaccines available.

The AstraZeneca vaccine appears to cause certain people to develop antibodies that target a protein in the human body called platelet factor 4 (PF4), which spurs platelets into action and activates a clotting cascade, explained report co-author Dr. Theodore Warkentin, a professor of pathology and molecular medicine at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada.

RELATED COVAX delivers 100 million COVID-19 vaccines to world's poorer nations


"It's an antibody that's somehow triggered by the vaccine, and in some circumstances this results in unusual blood clotting," Warkentin said.

The phenomenon is similar to a rare drug side effect caused by the blood thinner heparin, called heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, Warkentin said.

The vaccine's clotting side effects are so rare that the European Medicines Agency and the UK's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency have decided to keep it on the market, concluding that its benefits outweigh the risks, AstraZeneca noted in a statement.

RELATED EU regulator says 'possible' blood clotting risk with AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine

However, the vaccine's label will be updated to list blood clotting as an extremely rare potential side effect.

"AstraZeneca has been actively collaborating with the regulators to implement these changes to the product information and is already working to understand the individual cases, epidemiology and possible mechanisms that could explain these extremely rare events," the company statement said.

As of Sunday4, the EMA had received reports of 169 cases of cerebral clotting and 53 cases of abdominal clotting out of about 34 million AstraZeneca doses administered throughout Europe, according to Reuters.

RELATED Oxford University pauses AstraZeneca vaccine trial in children

In the United Kingdom, 19 people have died from serious blood clots related to the vaccine, CNN reported.Blood thinner heparin

Two of the three COVID-19 vaccines being distributed in the United States -- Pfizer and Moderna -- have not shown any such side effect. But on Friday, European drug regulators said they are reviewing reports of rare blood clots in four people who received Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine. Of the four cases, three occurred in the United States during the rollout of the vaccine and one person had died, and the fourth case was reported in a clinical trial, CNBC reported.

One of the new AstraZeneca vaccine reports focuses on 11 patients in Germany and Austria who developed serious clotting problems after getting the vaccine, while the other reviewed the cases of five healthcare workers between the ages of 32 and 54 who developed the side effect.

Tests revealed that all patients had developed PF4 blood-clotting complexes similar to that caused by heparin, even though none had received the blood thinner.

These new findings still don't give doctors any clue who might fall ill with excess clotting after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine, noted Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.

"It's focused in younger age groups so far, but we can't pick out in advance who these people are. So, the question will be as we go forward in public policy around the world, how you will manage this vaccine?" Schaffner said.

But the findings could help guide treatment of people who develop symptoms similar to heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, Warkentin said.

"If someone develops symptoms five or more days after the vaccine, either headache or neurological symptoms, or abnormal pain or shortness of breath, then the vaccine recipient would know they ought to seek medical attention," Warkentin said. "Just as important, the clinicians who evaluate the patient would know how to look for it."

There might already be a treatment available, based on how doctors treat an even rarer type of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, Warkentin said.

Heparin usually directly affects PF4 to cause clotting, but in some cases the drug promotes an autoimmune response that affects the important protein, Warkentin said.

Doctors treat autoimmune heparin-induced thrombocytopenia by administering high doses of IV immunoglobulin, essentially flooding the body with healthy antibodies to drown out the signal produced by the drug, Warkentin said.Future uncertain

"We're recommending that when a doctor recognizes such a patient with this new condition, called vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia, they be treated not only with anticoagulation but with this high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin," Warkentin said.

Now that AstraZeneca knows what's happening to cause the clotting side effect, they also have the opportunity to review the makeup of the vaccine and the way it's manufactured to figure out what's happening, Warkentin said.

"There may be a way to figure out what that might be and perhaps a way to tweak the vaccine to make it safer," Warkentin noted.

These reports, Schaffner said, "implicate the vaccine as an immune initiator of a very rare event that creates antibodies which involve platelets, those tiny elements in the bloodstream that cause clotting."

Health ministries around the world now will have to weigh this information against the risks posed by COVID-19, Schaffner explained.

"This is particularly poignant because this vaccine is very inexpensive, and it can be made in large amounts and it can be handled in a normal cold chain. It was actually touted initially and anticipated this would perhaps be the major vaccine used in many developing countries," Schaffner said. "I think lots of ministers of health now have a cost/benefit analysis that is going to be undertaken."

AstraZeneca had been preparing to seek an emergency use authorization in the United States for its vaccine, but this news casts a shadow over those efforts, Schaffner added.

"I've heard nothing to the contrary, but you have to wonder whether the company wishes to go through that process," he said. "Here in the United States we appear to have, with our three vaccines under an emergency use authorization, an ample amount of vaccine at the moment. In some parts of the country, we have a vaccine supply that's exceeding demand for the vaccine. The need for a fourth vaccine has diminished enormously."

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has also cast doubt on the AstraZeneca vaccine's prospects here in the United States.

"We already have contracted for enough vaccines, from Moderna and from Pfizer and from" Johnson &Johnson," Fauci told CNN. "There is no plan to immediately start utilizing the AstraZeneca [vaccine] even if it gets approved through the EUA [emergency use authorization], which it very well might."More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about COVID-19 vaccines.

SOURCES: Theodore Warkentin, MD, professor, pathology and molecular medicine, McMaster University, Ontario, Canada; William Schaffner, MD, professor, infectious diseases, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tenn.; AstraZeneca, statement, April 7, 2021; New England Journal of Medicine, April 9, 2021, online

Copyright 2021 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

NIH to study allergic reactions to Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines


A health worker displays an ampule of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine at an Israeli vaccination center on March 8. Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Photo

April 7 (UPI) -- The National Institutes of Health said Wednesday that it has begun a study to explore why some recipients of the COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna have seen severe allergic reactions to the shots.

Most of the reactions have been seen in people with a history of allergies, the federal research agency said.

"A clinical trial is underway to determine whether people who are highly allergic or have a mast cell disorder are at increased risk for an immediate, systemic allergic reaction," the NIH said in a statement.

"In addition, investigators will examine the biological mechanism behind the reactions and whether a genetic pattern or other factors can predict who is at most risk."

RELATED Study: Moderna COVID-19 vaccine offers protection for at least 6 months

A mast cell disorder is caused by a type of white blood cell that's abnormal, overly active, or both. The disorder predisposes a person to life-threatening reactions that look like allergic reactions.

The NIH trial will enroll 3,400 adults between the ages of 18 and 69 at about three dozen U.S. research centers.

"The public understandably has been concerned about reports of rare, severe allergic reactions to the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines," added Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is part of the NIH.

RELATED Pfizer says COVID-19 vaccine 91% effective after 6 months

"The information gathered during this trial will help doctors advise people who are highly allergic or have a mast cell disorder about the risks and benefits of receiving these two vaccines.

"However, for most people, the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination far outweigh the risks."

For people with a history of allergic reactions, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that health providers monitor them for 30 minutes after vaccination.

RELATED CDC: Two-dose COVID-19 vaccines reduce infection risk by up to 90%

THIRD WORLD USA
COVID-19 has worsened inequalities in U.S., across the Americas, report 


January 31, 2020 National Institutes of Health official Dr. Anthony Fauci (C) speaks about the coronavirus during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C. Health and Human Services Secretary Alexander Azar (L) announced that the United States is declaring the virus a public health emergency and issued a federal quarantine order of 14 days for 195 Americans. Photo by Leigh Vogel/UPI | License Photo


April 7 (UPI) -- COVID-19 has increased social and economic inequality in the United States and other countries of the Americas, watchdog Amnesty International said Wednesday in its annual report on the state of human rights.

The 400-page analysis says North, South and Central America has been worst hit by the crisis, with about 55 million cases and 1.3 million deaths to date.

The United States, Brazil and Mexico have the world's highest death tolls, partly because their governments, the report says, struggled to give consistent health guidance, failed to protect the most vulnerable populations or failed to provide full transparency.

The report notes that COVID-19 exacerbated "systemic inequality, widespread repression and destructive policies" that contributed to the Americas becoming the worst-affected region.

RELATED Study: Mexico, U.S. have had most health workers die of COVID-19

Specifically, the study shows that women, refugees, migrants, underprotected health workers, Indigenous and Black people and other groups have borne the brunt of the pandemic. Some leaders, it says, actively exploited the crisis to ramp up their assault on human rights.

"Over the last year, we've witnessed certain leaders in the Americas respond to the pandemic with a mixture of denial, opportunism and contempt for human rights," Amnesty International Americas Director Erika Guevara-Rosas said in a statement.

"We cannot continue down the road to ruin, repeating the mistakes that left the region ravaged by inequality, discrimination and destruction, even before COVID-19 struck."

RELATED Pentagon halts plan to vaccinate Guantanamo Bay detainees

The Americas began 2020 as the world's most unequal region, and the pandemic only worsened conditions -- with an additional 22 million people falling into poverty and 8 million into extreme poverty.

COVID-19 hit the region's economy hard, while government measures "frequently undermined the social, economic and cultural rights of those in the most precarious situations," the report states.

More than 10,500 health workers across the Americas had died from COVID-19 as of last month.

RELATED Humanitarian groups warn rich countries are 'hoarding' COVID-19 vaccines

"Health professionals in almost every country [have complained] about their governments' failure to provide safe working conditions and sufficient personal protective equipment," it added. "Those who spoke out sometimes faced sanctions, as in Nicaragua, where at at least 31 health workers were fired after expressing their concerns."

Amnesty says arbitrary arrests have been common and often linked to enforcement of COVID-19 restrictions, with some countries forcibly quarantining people in state-run centers that failed to meet sanitary and physical distancing standards.

Several governments detained refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants in conditions that left them at high risk of contracting COVID-19, while others forcibly returned people without considering their asylum claims, the report said.

The hard-line immigration measures from the Trump administration were also criticized by Wednesday's analysis.

Amnesty says U.S. authorities "summarily detained and deported almost all asylum-seekers on the U.S.-Mexico border, expelling over half a million migrants and asylum-seekers from March 2020 through February, including more than 13,000 unaccompanied children as of November 2020."

Prisons in the Americas were rife with poor sanitary conditions and overcrowding, and inmates were denied their right to health and were often exposed to COVID-19.

The report said pandemic-related restrictions affected freedom of expression in nations where it is under threat, including Mexico, Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Uruguay and Venezuela. Mexico, in fact, was the world's deadliest country for journalists in 2020. More than 3,000 Brazilians -- 79% of them Black -- were killed by police between January and June.

Violence against women and girls across the Americas has surged since the start of the outbreak, with lockdown measures leading to a marked increase in domestic violence, rape and homicide. Measures to protect women and girls were inadequate, Amnesty says.

"The governments of the Americas must rebuild the region into one grounded in fairness, compassion and humanity," Guevara-Rosas added.

"While the first year of the pandemic has been particularly difficult for the Americas, we draw strength from the passion and resilience that we have witnessed from activists across the region, especially from women, young people and anti-racist activists. Their courage in the face of adversity shows us that we can create a more just world for everyone."

upi.com/7087707

Crew completes deep dive on USS Johnston shipwreck

By Monica Danielle, Accuweather.com 4/7/2021

An expedition by undersea technology company Caladan Oceanic found the wreck of the Fletcher-class destroyer USS Johnston this week below 21,180 feet of water east of Samar Island in the Philippine Sea, the company said in a news release.

According to Caladan Oceanic, the underwater operation was the deepest shipwreck dive ever carried out.

The Johnston sank on Oct. 25, 1944, during the Battle off Samar. According to Stripes.com, it was "the central scene of action in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, one of the biggest naval battles ever fought in the attempt to liberate the Philippines from the Imperial Japanese."

The Philippines was first attacked by Japanese forces nine hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 8, 1941. Although the Philippines had a semi-independent government at the time, the United States controlled the island nation and operated several important military bases there.

The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Johnston off Seattle on October 27, 1943.

 Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy

RELATED Lake Michigan's shifting sands uncover 19th century shipwreck

The USS Johnston was led by Cmdr. Ernest Evans, a Native American from Oklahoma. Of the 327 crew members, he was among the 186 sailors to perish when the vessel went down. According to the U.S. Navy, Evans was severely wounded during the battle, but despite his injuries pressed sailors to continue attacking. He eventually was killed and, according to Navy historians, his body vanished in the chaos of the battle.

Evans subsequently became the first Native American in the Navy to be awarded the Medal of Honor.

Cmdr. Ernest Evans at the commissioning ceremony of the 

destroyer USS Johnston in Seattle in 1943. 

Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy/Wikimedia

Two former U.S. Navy officers funded and carried out the expedition to film the wreck. Parks Stephenson, a retired lieutenant commander and naval historian, served as navigator and mission specialist, Caladan reported.

RELATED Nazi shipwreck may solve 75-year-old Amber Room mystery, divers say

Retired Navy Cmdr. Victor Vescovo funded the search for the Johnston and personally piloted Limiting Factor, a deep submergence vehicle, to the wreck site during two separate 8-hour dives that Caladan said "constituted the deepest wreck dives, manned or unmanned, in history." The vehicle has no operating-depth limitation, does not require a surface tether and can hold two occupants.

"It was an honor and privilege to be the first people to directly lay eyes on her since she went down 76 years ago. At 6,000+ meters, there is little oxygen, so things don't deteriorate like they do in shallower waters." Vescovo said on Twitter.

Water temperature also plays a significant role in the decay rate of a shipwreck. According to Study.com, "higher temperature water means the water molecules have higher kinetic energy, which is the energy of motion."

RELATED Watch: Vermont divers discover paddle wheels from 201-year-old shipwreck

Higher water temperatures mean that more molecular energy is foisted upon the shipwreck, accelerating the rate of decay. But as the water gets deeper, kinetic energy is inhibited.

"From the surface to around 10 meters down, the water temperature stays roughly constant," Study.com points out. "Temperature decreases rapidly for the next 5 meters, and then stays roughly consistent to depths greater than 50 meters," or about 150 feet. "This tells us the deeper the wreck, the slower it decays based on the temperature factor alone."

Since the USS Johnston wreck sits so deep in the ocean, lower water temperatures likely played a role in keeping it from decaying more than it has over the past 76 years.

Vescovo has held ongoing discussions with the Navy Heritage and History Command about investigation of the wreck and the protocols for not only preserving it but respecting it as the final resting place for many of its crew.

Rear Adm. Samuel Cox, director of Naval History and curator for the Navy, said in a statement, "I deeply appreciate that Commander Vescovo and his team exhibited such great care and respect during the survey of the ship, the last resting place of her valiant crew. Three other heroic ships lost in that desperate battle have yet to be found."

Taiwan cuts water two days a week amid worst drought in years

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., or TSMC, may not be affected by a recent government decision to cut water supply to central Taiwan amid a severe drought in the country. File Photo by David Chang/EPA-EFE

April 6 (UPI) -- Taiwan has started to cut water supply to its central region for two days a week as an ongoing drought threatens chipmakers amid a global semiconductor shortage.

The Taiwanese government began to ration water Tuesday to its central region that includes Taichung, Miaoli, Hsinchu and Changhua, Taiwan News reported.

Central and southern Taiwan are grappling with a water crisis amid an unprecedented drought. Typhoons that typically bring substantial rain to the island did not make a landfall in 2020, the report said.

Water reservoir levels remain critically low on the island. Southern Taiwanese cities including Hsinchu, Chiayi, Tainan and Kaohsiung could soon be expected to undergo water rationing. Kaohsiung is Taiwan's third-largest city with a population of nearly 3 million people.

The water shortage has forced the country to prioritize producers of semiconductors. Bloomberg reported last month Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., or TSMC, and Micron Technology Inc., would not be affected by the water restrictions. Both companies have plants in Taichung in central Taiwan.

The red alert on the water supply was issued for the first time in six years in March.

Taiwanese Economics Minister Wang Mei-hua said last month Taiwan has enough water to keep tech firms running until late May. Seasonal rains are expected to pick up around that time, Wang said, according to Bloomberg.

RELATED GM temporarily shutters Missouri plant amid semiconductor chip shortage

TSMC needs 156,000 tons of water daily, Nikkei Asia reported last month. Earlier this year the company was not ruling out truck deliveries of water for manufacturing.

Water quality "is extremely critical to chip production lines and the processes," TSMC said last month, according to Nikkei Asia.

"It could affect product performance, so that needs to be handled very carefully. ... So far, the situation is manageable, but if it does not rain properly and continues like this until the end of May, that would be a real big problem."

USA
Lawsuits seek to stop mining, construction on sacred sites


Arizona's Ga'an Canyon in Oak Flat, also known as Chi'chil Bildagoteel, is 65 miles east of Phoenix. Apache tribal members and their allies are fighting to stop the construction of a copper mine there. Photo by Russ McSpadden/Center for Biological Diversity

LONG READ

April 6 (UPI) -- Two disputes over sites that are sacred to Native Americans are on the docket at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

A group of Apache tribal members and their allies are fighting to stop the construction of a copper mine on a place in Arizona where Indigenous people have worshiped for centuries.

For members of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation and the Confederated Tribes of Grande Ronde, it's too late to save an altar and burial grounds near Mount Hood in Oregon -- the site was bulldozed to widen a highway. But they want remediation of the site, a declaration that their religious rights were violated and a promise that they will be consulted before the federal government does more construction.

In both cases, the tribes allege their rights under the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act were violated. The act bars the government from substantially burdening a person's exercise of religion except in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest -- and only if an action is the least restrictive means of furthering that interest.

The government denies imposing a substantial burden on the tribes and says they were not forced to violate their religious beliefs.

University of Notre Dame law professor Stephanie Barclay, who represented the tribes in the Oregon case, said courts sometimes do not see the religious exercise and sites of Indigenous people as equally important as those of Christian churches.

As part of their traditions and spiritual beliefs, a lot of tribal people want to leave their sites pristine, said Barclay, director of Notre Dame's Religious Liberty Initiative, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the Apaches.

To some, a site might look like landscape that is nothing special, she said.

"That's a problem when we're unwilling to recognize the importance of religious beliefs of someone else just because they look different from our own," Barclay said.

Pausing for review

The transfer of the Arizona land to Resolution Copper Mining that was slated for March has been delayed, but opponents face a tough fight to save the holy site. The land, which is about 65 miles east of Phoenix, is called Oak Flat and also known as Chi'chil Biłdagoteel.

The U.S. Forest Service has withdrawn a final environmental impact statement that describes the potential effects of Resolution Copper's planned operations on 2,422 acres of the Tonto National Forest that are to be swapped for 5,459 acres of conservation lands. The agency's publication of the statement on Jan. 15 meant the trade had to go forward no later than 60 days after that date, and March 11 was set as the time for the swap.

But the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced March 1 that it had directed the Forest Service to rescind the FEIS so the agency could review "significant input received from collaborators, partners and the public" since the publication of the six-volume statement. The USDA estimates the consultation could take several months.

Wendsler Nosie Sr., former San Carlos Apache tribal chairman and a leader in Apache Stronghold -- a nonprofit organization of Apaches, other Native Americans and their supporters -- called the move "a temporary strategic retreat."

"They still intend to try and give away our sacred land," Nosie said in a statement.

The Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act, which was passed by Congress and signed into law in December 2014 by President Barack Obama, directed the U.S. Forest Service to convey title to the Arizona acreage, including Oak Flat.

Resolution Copper, a joint venture by British-Australian corporations Rio Tinto and BHP, says it has spent more than $2 billion to develop the project. Dan Blondeau, a spokesman for Resolution Copper, which is not a defendant in the suit, said the company is evaluating the decision to rescind the FEIS.

"In the meantime, we will continue to engage in the process determined by the U.S. government and are committed to ongoing consultation with local communities and Native American tribes," Blondeau told UPI in an email.

Court battles

Apache Stronghold filed suit against the government on Jan. 12 in U.S. District Court in Phoenix asking for a permanent injunction prohibiting the land transfer and any mining that would destroy Oak Flat.

The organization also asked for a preliminary injunction stopping the Forest Service from proceeding with the swap while its suit is pending. That request was denied. Apache Stronghold appealed the denial to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The organization also filed an emergency motion asking to stop the land transfer until there is a ruling on the appeal.

"The arguments that the government is making in this case, if accepted by the court, would set a precedent for the destruction of any sacred site on any federal land," said Luke Goodrich, senior counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represents Apache Stronghold.

Soon after the appeal was filed, the government withdrew the FEIS, and the appeals court ruled 2-1 four days later to deny the emergency motion as premature.

The dissenter, Judge Patrick Bumatay, said Apache Stronghold has shown it has a strong likelihood of winning the suit, and the group is entitled to a pause on the transfer.

Bumatay wrote that "the government's 11th-hour promises of delay and consultation with the Western Apaches are not enough to allay the threat of irreparable harm."

"Resolution Copper's mining activities won't just temporarily exclude the Western Apaches from Oak Flat, or merely interrupt the worship conducted there," the dissent says. "Instead, Resolution Copper will turn Oak Flat into a crater approximately 2 miles across and 1,100 feet deep."

The request to overturn the denial of the preliminary injunction request at the district court is pending at the 9th Circuit.

Two other suits fighting the land transfer, one filed by the San Carlos Tribe and the other by environmentalists, are pending.

'Place of Big Big Trees'

Tribal chiefs say they alerted government officials to the importance of the burial grounds at Ana Kwna Nchi nchi Patat, or the "Place of Big Big Trees," but the site was bulldozed in 2008. The project left the other side of the highway untouched and protected nearby wetlands and a tattoo parlor, the suit says.

Barclay said the government could have used construction techniques that would have been more protective of the site, such as putting up a retaining wall.

"Instead, the government widened the highway in the most destructive way possible, cutting down oak grove trees that the Indigenous people testified were like the wall of a church to them," Barclay said.

In 2008, hereditary chiefs Wilbur Slockish and Johnny Jackson; tribal elder Carol Logan; the Cascade Geographic Society; and the Mount Hood Sacred Lands Preservation Alliance sued the government in U.S. District Court in Portland, which led to two and a half years of negotiations that ultimately failed.

The suit stalled and then in 2015, tribal members returned to court seeking remedies for the bulldozing and a declaration that their religious rights had been violated.

"All we want is the return of our sacred artifacts, the rededication of the area for our ancestors, and the promise that we can continue to worship as our tribes have done for centuries," Logan said.

A magistrate juge -- citing an earlier 9th Circuit decision that said "a government action that decreases the spirituality, the fervor, or the satisfaction with which a believer practices his religion is not what Congress has labeled a 'substantial burden,'" -- recommended that the lawsuit be dismissed.

A district judge accepted the recommendation and closed the case in February. Tribal members have appealed to the 9th Circuit to reverse the decision.

Crustal mineralogy drives microbe diversity beneath Earth's surface


Researchers -- pictured from left to right, Lily Momper, Brittany Kruger and Caitlin Casar -- pose next to a borehole in an abandoned mine in South Dakota where they cultivated microbial biofilms. Photo by Matt Kapust

April 8 (UPI) -- Deep beneath the surface of the earth, microbes proliferate without sunlight and oxygen -- eating and breathing minerals, these microbes colonize the rocks that buoy the planet's continents.

For obvious reason, scientists don't know a lot about these microbes, but researchers estimate they account for anywhere between 20 and 80 percent of Earth's bacterial and archaeal biomass.

Now, thanks a first-of-its-kind study conducted in an abandoned mine shaft, scientists have a better idea of how these hidden microbial communities are distributed beneath the planet's surface.

The new research, published Friday in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology, showed the mineralogical makeup of Earth's deep-lying rocks drives hotspots for subsurface life.

RELATED Unexpected life found at bottom of High Arctic lakes

For the study, scientists cultivated microbial biofilms on rocks located a mile under Earth's surface inside South Dakota's Deep Mine Microbial Observatory, part of a former gold mine now known as the Sanford Underground Research Facility.

Using microscopy, spectroscopy and spatial modeling, scientists tracked and analyzed the growth of the experimental biofilms. The results showed the biofilms were thickest on rocks with iron-rich mineral grains.

"Our results demonstrate the strong spatial dependence of biofilm colonization on minerals in rock surfaces," study first author Caitlin Casar said in a press release.

RELATED Study: Mars has four bodies of water underneath surface

"We think that this spatial dependence is due to microbes getting their energy from the minerals they colonize," said Casar, earth scientist and doctoral candidate at Northwestern University.

The study's authors' hypothesized that mineral composition drives the distribution and diversity of microbial communities deep underground, and the latest findings confirmed as much.

The findings should help scientists predict the locations of subsurface microbial hotspots, as well as better understand other subsurface phenomena.

RELATED Crustal forces, not weathering and erosion, control the height of mountains

"Our findings could inform the contribution of biofilms to global nutrient cycles, and also have astrobiological implications as these findings provide insight into biomass distributions in a Mars analog system," said Casar.

Japan's fisheries challenge Fukushima wastewater plan


Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said contaminated water at the Fukushima No. 1 plant needs attention. Tokyo plans to dispose the water into the ocean. File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo

April 7 (UPI) -- Japanese fisheries representatives say they oppose a government decision to release Fukushima wastewater into the ocean, as Tokyo is expected to soon deliver an ultimatum on the disposal of radioactive water.

Hiroshi Kishi, the head of JF Zengyoren, a national federation of fisheries cooperatives, said he remains "absolutely against" a potential government move to dispose the treated water into the sea, Jiji Press and the Nikkei reported Wednesda
"There has been no change in our position of 'absolute opposition'" to the idea, Kishi said, according to reports.y.

Japan initially planned to dispose of the contaminated water in November, but suspended the decision. The South Korean government also has voiced concerns about the policy, citing environmental pollution and concerns about hazardous waste.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has endorsed Tokyo's plan of disposal. According to Kyodo News, the IAEA had said throwing out the water meets global standards of practice in the nuclear industry.

Japan's fisheries are concerned about how the disposal could affect their bottom line. Despite assurances of safety, the industry is worried customers will stop buying their catch.

"It is 

"I want the government to clarify how it intends to respond to such reputational damage."

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga met with Kishi on Wednesday. Suga has not made a final decision, Kishi said.

On Tuesday, Suga appeared on a late-night television program to address the issue of the contaminated water in Fukushima, Yomiuri Shimbun reported.

Suga said the water cannot "always be left unattended" and must be disposed of soon.

Water contaminated with radioactive matter continues to be produced at the Fukushima No. 1 plant at a daily rate of about 140 tons, according to the Asahi Shimbun.

Survey finds 82% of dead eagles with rat poison in their systems



New research suggests rat poison exposure is common among North America's eagle populations. Photo by skeeze/Pixabay


April 7 (UPI) -- Scientists found rat poison in the systems of 82% of the few hundred dead eagles examined for a multiyear survey between 2014 and 2018.

The survey results, published Wednesday in the journal PLOS One, are a reminder of the lurking threats that face even the most well-protected animals.

"Generally, bald eagle populations have been thriving in the United States. This is great news and a conservation success story," corresponding author Mark Ruder told UPI in an email.

"However, as wildlife health researchers, we are always concerned about the health of wildlife, including eagles. We live in a changing world and the human population puts a lot of pressure on our natural resources," said Ruder, an assistant professor at the University of Georgia's College of Veterinary Medicine.

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For the survey -- officially, the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study -- scientists collected and analyzed the diagnostics records of more than 300 deceased eagles.

Researchers also analyzed toxicology reports for liver samples collected from 116 bald eagles and 17 golden eagles.

The data showed an overwhelming majority of surveyed eagles had rat poison in their systems. Scientists blamed rat poison exposure, or anticoagulant rodenticide toxicosis, for the deaths of 12 eagles, or 4% of the examined eagles.

RELATED Wildlife biodiversity is a boon to human health, seafood nutrition

As previous studies have shown, population declines are rarely traceable to a single cause, which is why scientists are keen to keep close tabs on the many ways human pressures are affecting wildlife health.

"Many wildlife populations face tremendous obstacles now, or in the future, which are unrelated to disease, such as habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation," Ruder said. "Being proactive to identify additional disease threats to populations may help to get in front of a problem and minimize negative impacts in the future."

Although eagles have made a tremendous comeback across North America over the last half-century, local threats remain.

RELATED Blue-green algae blooms can release harmful toxins into the air

In Wisconsin, scientists have discovered a deadly virus spreading among eagles.

Researchers have been tracking a deadly brain disorder caused by blue-green algae that is decimating eagle populations in pockets of the American South.

Now, the latest findings suggest rat poison exposure is common among eagles across the country.

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"People in many suburban/urban, commercial and agricultural settings use various anticoagulant rodenticide compounds to control rodent populations," Ruder said.

"This may range from controlling mice and rats inside and around structures in urban settings to controlling prairie dog populations in the Western United States. The applications are quite variable, but wherever these compounds are used, there is potential for non-target wildlife exposure and intoxication. This is not isolated to eagles, it is well-documented in a variety of raptor species and also occurs in mammals," Ruder said.

In followup studies, researchers plan to investigate possible exposure pathways, as well as develop new mitigation strategies.

They said they also hope to investigate the sublethal effects of rat poison exposure on the health of eagles and other animals.

"Even when a particular wildlife species appears to be thriving, it is important to define causes of mortality," Ruder said. "These animals live in a changing world, one that is significantly impacted by humans."

"Causes of mortality, such as pathogens and toxicants, can often be additive and we need to be proactive in identifying potential threats to wildlife now and looking in the future," Ruder said.


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British army readies solar farm to reduce emissions


Construction of a 430,000 square-foot array of solar panels is underway at an army base in Leconfield, England, the British Ministry of Defense said on Wednesday. Photo courtesy of British Ministry of Defense

April 7 (UPI) -- The British army announced its construction on Wednesday of a photovoltaic solar farm to supply its Leconfield, England, transport school with electricity.

With 4,248 solar panels to be arrayed on a field, it was described in a Twitter statement on Wednesday as "the first of four photovoltaic solar far

The solar farm is part of the British Army's "Project Prometheus," with a goal of attaining net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and is expected to result in an emissions reduction of 2,000 tons of carbon dioxide -- as well as a $1.37 million efficiency savings, per year.

The project at Leconfield's Defense School of Transport is one of four planned sites, which are expected to provide one-third of the needed electrical power for each site.

Leconfield, in Yorkshire; the Duke of Gloucester Barracks in South Cerney, Gloucestershire; the Rock Barracks in Suffolk and Baker Barracks on Thorney Island, Sussex, are scheduled to go on line by the summer of 2021.

Another 80 solar farms across the country are planned by the British army in the next seven years.

"The Army remains wholly committed to play its part in meeting the UK's commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050," British army sustainability chief Maj. Gen. David Southall said in a press release.

"To deliver this, we are working hard to reduce energy demand as well as increase 'green' supply across our estate," Southall said.