A mysterious blue molecule will help make better use of light energy

Peer-Reviewed Publication

INSTITUTE OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY OF THE CZECH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES (IOCB PRAGUE)

 

IMAGE: DR. TOMÁŠ SLANINA, HEAD OF THE REDOX PHOTOCHEMISTRY GROUP AT IOCB PRAGUE view more 

CREDIT: PHOTO: TOMÁŠ BELLOŇ / IOCB PRAGUE

Researchers at IOCB Prague are the first to describe the causes of the behavior of one of the fundamental aromatic molecules, which fascinates the scientific world not only with its blue color but also with other unusual properties – azulene. Their current undertaking will influence the foundations of organic chemistry in the years to come and in practice will help harness the maximum potential of captured light energy. The article appeared in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS).

Azulene has piqued the curiosity of chemists for many years. The question of why it is blue, despite there being no obvious reason for this, was answered almost fifty years ago by a scientist of global importance, who, coincidentally, had close ties with IOCB Prague, Prof. Josef Michl. Now, Dr. Tomáš Slanina is following in his footsteps in order to offer his colleagues in the field the solution to another puzzle. He and his colleagues have convincingly described why the tiny azulene molecule violates the universal Kasha’s rule.

This rule explains how molecules emit light upon transitioning to various excited states. If we use the analogy of an ascending staircase, then the first step, i.e. the first excited state of the molecule, is high, and each subsequent step is lower and therefore closer to the previous one. The smaller the distance between the steps, the faster the molecule tends to fall from the step to lower levels. It then waits the longest on the first step before returning to the base level, whereupon it can emit light. But azulene behaves differently.

To explain the behavior of azulene, researchers at IOCB Prague used the concept of (anti)aromaticity. Again, simply put, an aromatic substance is not characterized by an aromatic smell but by being stable, or satisfied, if you will. Some chemists even refer to it informally with the familiar smiley face emoticon. On the other hand, an antiaromatic substance is unstable, and the molecule tries to escape from this state as quickly as possible. It leaves the higher energy state and falls downward. On the first step, azulene is unsatisfied, i.e. antiaromatic, and therefore falls downward in the order of picoseconds without having time to emit light. On the second step, however, it behaves like a satisfied aromatic substance. And that is important! It can exist in this excited state for even a full nanosecond, and that is long enough to emit light. Therefore, the energy of this excited state is not lost anywhere and is completely converted into a high-energy photon.

With their research, Slanina’s team is responding to the needs of the present, which seeks a way to ensure that the energy from photons (e.g. from the Sun) captured by a molecule is not lost and that it can be further used (e.g. to transfer energy between molecules or for charge separation in solar cells). The goal is to create molecules that manage light energy as efficiently as possible. Additionally, in the current paper, the researchers show in many cases that the property of azulene is transferable; it can be simply attached to the structure of any aromatic molecule, thanks to which that molecule gets the key properties of azulene.

Tomáš Slanina adds: “I like theories that are so simple you can easily envision, remember, and then put them to use. And that’s exactly what we’ve succeeded in doing. We’ve answered the question of why molecules behave in a certain way, and we’ve done it using a very simple concept.”

In their research, the scientists at IOCB Prague used several unique programs that can calculate how electrons in a molecule behave in the aforesaid higher excited states. Little is known about these states in general, so the work is also groundbreaking because it opens the door to their further study. Moreover, the article published in JACS is not only computational but also experimental. Researchers from Tomáš Slanina’s group supported their findings with an experiment that accurately confirmed the correctness of the calculated data. They also collaborated with one of the world’s most respected authorities in the field of (anti)aromatic molecules, Prof. Henrik Ottosson of Uppsala University in Sweden. And this is the second time JACS has taken an interest in their collaboration; the first time was in relation to research on another primary molecule – benzene.

Yet the story of azulene is even more layered. It concerns not only photochemistry but also medicine. Like the first area, the second also bears the seal of IOCB Prague – one of the first drugs developed in its laboratories was an ointment based on chamomile oil containing a derivative of azulene. Over the decades, the little box labelled Dermazulen, which contains a preparation with healing and anti-inflammatory effects, has found its place in first-aid kits throughout the country.

Original article: Dunlop, D.; Ludvíková, L.; Banerjee, A.; Ottosson, H.; Slanina, T. Excited-State (Anti)Aromaticity Explains Why Azulene Disobeys Kasha’s Rule. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.3c07625

IOCB Prague / Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (www.uochb.cz) is a leading internationally recognized scientific institution whose primary mission is the pursuit of basic research in chemical biology and medicinal chemistry, organic and materials chemistry, chemistry of natural substances, biochemistry and molecular biology, physical chemistry, theoretical chemistry, and analytical chemistry. An integral part of the IOCB Prague’s mission is the implementation of the results of basic research in practice. Emphasis on interdisciplinary research gives rise to a wide range of applications in medicine, pharmacy, and other fields.

Artistic rendering of the unusual behaviour of azulene

CREDIT

Graphics: Tomáš Belloň / IOCB Prague

JOURNAL

Journal of the American Chemical Society

DOI

10.1021/jacs.3c07625 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Excited-State (Anti)Aromaticity Explains Why Azulene Disobeys Kasha’s Rule

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

13-Sep-2023

 

Colossal Biosciences joins BioRescue in its mission to save the Northern White Rhino from extinction

Business Announcement

LEIBNIZ INSTITUTE FOR ZOO AND WILDLIFE RESEARCH (IZW)

 

IMAGE: A TEAM FROM COLOSSAL AT A BIORESCUE PROCEDURE AT THE OL PEJETA CONSERVANCY IN KENYA view more 

CREDIT: PHOTO: STEVEN SEET/LEIBNIZ-IZW

With only two living females left, the partnership will contribute to the genetic recovery of the northern white rhino from complete extinction. Colossal developed a pioneering toolkit for the challenging task to restore genetic diversity from museal specimens for a living population of critically endangered species.  

Colossal Biosciences (“Colossal”), the world’s first de-extinction company, has teamed up with BioRescue, a consortium initiating and leading the scientific rescue mission of the northern white rhino employing advanced assisted reproduction technologies and stem cell associated techniques. The partnership will develop a roadmap for future rescue missions of endangered species using the world leading expertise of both organisations.

Together they will work to improve, develop and implement strategies in the fields of wildlife conservation research and wildlife veterinary medicine, providing approaches to reduce the sixth mass extinction.

The northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) is considered to be functionally extinct in the wild as a direct result of poaching. Its natural habitats include parts of Uganda, Chad, Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo. All these areas were completely emptied out of this charismatic megavertebrate more than a decade ago. The only two living females were born in the Czech ZOO Dvůr Králové and are being cared for at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya since 2009.

Prof. Dr. Thomas Hildebrandt, Project Head at BioRescue, Head of the Department of Reproduction Management of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, and Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Colossal, has spent over 25 years on a mission to save the northern white rhino species. He has led the efforts with BioRescue to convey how synthetic biology can be used in addition to the genetic rescue techniques that are already in place. “The northern white rhino is the world’s rarest large mammal and thousands of species are interlinked to its existence,” says Hildebrandt.  “With Colossal’s advanced genetic technology, we will be able to piece together the missing links of the species’ genetic history. Following decades of assisted reproduction and stem cell innovations made by scientists and conservationists, I’m thrilled that the partnership between Colossal and BioRescue will help to establish a sustainable and genetically robust northern white rhino population.”

The new partnership will assess the genetic diversity of the northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) in historic samples as the basis for ethically evaluated decisions on possibly enhancing the genetic variability of a future northern white rhino population. This ground breaking conservation strategy is accompanied by exemplary transparency of the project’s undertakings to the general public.

The Science Behind the Conservation

Colossal will assist the rescue mission by leveraging genome sequencing and gene editing methods to save the endangered species. The focus on the edits will be to improve genetic diversity in living cells and mitigate impacts of disease or lost adaptability to the changing climate.

• Sequencing: The partnership will generate a global catalog of museum samples of northern white rhino specimens from the past, including bones, dry skin, and preserved organs and fetuses, which can be used to extract ancient DNA. The partners will then obtain preserved samples in order to sequence all suitable samples and study the genetic diversity of the species. 
• Genetic Editing: Once loss to gene pools has been identified in preserved specimens, Colossal will use the identified sequences as targets to restore the lost diversity into cell lines that will be used to produce northern white rhino embryos.
• Population Study: The team will conduct a population study of genetic diversity of the southern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum simum) which is the sister taxon of the northern white rhino to identify key aspects of a healthy population. Colossal will leverage FormBio, its technology spinoff, to complete this study.  FormBio’s comparative genomic tool allows scientists to compare the DNA and genome of the specimens to the northern white rhino population we have today and identify genetic diversity that existed before the massive decline of the species. 

“We’re very honored to be BioRescue’s genetic rescue partner and thus have the opportunity to help save the northern white rhino, as well as other iconic keystone species from the brink of extinction,” says Ben Lamm, CEO and Co-Founder of Colossal. “At Colossal we’re passionate about species preservation and as part of our larger de-extinction work, we want to leverage our techniques and toolkit for conservation.  We are creating tools that will allow us to heal what has been lost and restore ecosystems that will be sustainable for future generations.”

The Conservation Paradox

The rate at which species loss is occurring is significantly faster than the restoration efforts of the classical conservation approaches. Between now and 2050, humanity will lose up to 50% of all biodiversity if nothing changes. The vast majority of conservation efforts are focused on preserving landscapes and ending poaching. But, with only two remaining northern white rhinos, the need to add more advanced technologies to preserve the taxon becomes apparent. In order to stop the loss, there is a need for new tools and technologies. The partnership is developing these tools to improve the capacity of the conservation ecosystem. 

“We're really thankful to Prof Dr. Hildebrandt and BioRescue for trusting us as a partner to provide de-extinction technologies for the rescue of the northern white rhino,” says Matt James, Head of Conservation and Colossal’s Chief Animal Officer. “De-extinction is an engine of innovation that leads to tools that are directly applicable to conservation. Together, with some of the leading people in their fields, we will successfully be able to address and remedy specific conservation problems - starting with the northern white rhino.”

Colossal and BioRescue’s partnership is the starting point for future modern conservation networks which will help improve international conservation and conservation research organizations.

“The BioRescue Consortium is a unique model of extensive international cooperation that involves top scientists from Germany, Japan and Italy, conservationists in the field in Africa as well as zoo experts from Europe. This new partnership with Colossal transforms existing conservation approaches to a new level and can serve as a blueprint for other international efforts to save endangered species,” says Jan Stejskal, Director of International Projects at Dvůr Králové and coordinator of efforts to save the northern white rhinos.

Colossal’s Conservation Toolkit

Colossal’s conservation toolkit is a set of resources the company employs to help partner organizations preserve and save species at-risk. The company utilizes its expertise to preserve lost genetic diversity and create the hardware necessary for species rebirth and restoration to improve today’s conservation efforts. Now, Colossal will also provide these services as the synthetic genomic arm of BioRescue.

 

ABOUT COLOSSAL BIOSCIENCES

Colossal was founded by emerging technology and software entrepreneur Ben Lamm and world-renowned geneticist and serial biotech entrepreneur George Church, Ph.D.  Colossal creates disruptive technologies for extinct species restoration, critically endangered species protection and the repopulation of critical ecosystems that support the continuation of life on Earth.  Colossal is accepting humanity’s duty to restore Earth to a healthier state, while also solving for the future economies and biological necessities of the human condition through cutting-edge science and technologies. To follow along, please visit: www.colossal.com

 

ABOUT BIORESCUE
The BioRescue Consortium combines assisted reproduction technologies (ART) and stem cell associated techniques (SCAT) to save the northern white rhino from extinction. With the support of international partners the consortium aims to develop new scientific conservation approaches to preserve keystone and umbrella species. This will lead to blueprints which can be used in by conservation initiatives worldwide to halt the loss of biodiversity and preserve ecosystem services for future generations. The Consortium is led by German the Leibniz Institute for Zoo (Leibniz-IZW). Consortium members: Leibniz-IZW, the ZOO DVůR KRÁLOVÉ (Czech Republic), Avantea (Italy), Max Delbruck Centre for Molecular Medicine (Germany), Osaka University (Japan), and Padua University (Italy). www.BioRescue.org

 

ABOUT LEIBNIZ INSTITUTE FOR ZOO AND WILDLIFE RESEARCH

The Leibniz-IZW is an internationally renowned German research institute of the Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. and a member of the Leibniz Association. Our mission is to examine evolutionary adaptations of wildlife to global change and develop new concepts and measures for the conservation of biodiversity. To achieve this, our scientists use their broad interdisciplinary expertise from biology and veterinary medicine to conduct fundamental and applied research – from molecular to landscape level – in close dialogue with the public and stakeholders. Additionally, we are committed to unique and high-quality services for the scientific community. www.izw-berlin.de

 

ABOUT ZOO DVůR KRÁLOVÉ

ZOO Dvůr Králové is a safari park in the Czech Republic. It’s one of the best rhino breeders outside of Africa and the only place where the northern white rhino bred in human care - both remaining females, Najin and Fatu, were born here. ZOO Dvůr Králové coordinates efforts to save the northern white rhinos. https://safaripark.cz

 

3D insights into an innovative manufacturing process

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PAUL SCHERRER INSTITUTE

 

VIDEO: THE VIDEO SHOWS HOW THE SAMPLE POWDER SOLIDIFIES UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE LASER TO FORM THE PSI LETTERING. view more 

CREDIT: PAUL SCHERRER INSTITUTE/MALGORZATA G. MAKOWSKA

3D printing can produce highly complex shapes. But printing ceramic objects with the help of a laser is a more difficult challenge. Now researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have for the first time taken tomograms revealing what happens at microscopic level during this fabrication process. The findings will help improve this very promising technology.

 

3D printing is already being used to produce many objects. Additive manufacturing is increasingly being used in the aerospace and automotive industry, for example, as well as in medicine. The method commonly used for metals and plastics is known as laser-based powder bed fusion (LPBF). In LPBF, the material is applied as a fine powder layer on a substrate and then the laser passes over the powder and melts it to form it into the desired shape. The next thin layer of powder is deposited and once again melted by the laser. The component is built up sequentially in this way, layer by layer.

 

Exactly what happens during the LPBF process has already been investigated using X-rays at the Swiss Light Source SLS at PSI and fellow research institutes,  but these microscopic insights have only provided 2D images to date. “We wanted to go one step further and track the manufacturing process in 3D,” says Malgorzata Makowska, material scientist at PSI. Instead of 2D X-ray images, the researchers wanted to obtain 3D tomograms with a speed allowing to follow the laser spot. To do so, they had to rotate their sample during the manufacturing process and track this rapid rotary movement with the laser – a major challenge. For the first time, the team has now managed to do this, as reported in the journal Communications Materials.

 

Magnet stabilises a rotating precursor powder

 

The scientists used aluminium oxide for their experiments. This ceramic material is typically used, for example, in the chemical industry for components exposed to high temperatures, in electrical engineering as an insulator, or in medicine for implants. Because this material is extremely hard and brittle, however, fabricating complex shapes with conventional technology presents huge challenges. “It would be much easier if one could print such components,” says PSI physicist Steven Van Petegem: “When printing aluminium oxide, however, it’s still difficult to obtain a sufficiently dense material and the desired microstructure.”

 

The experiments conducted at the SLS tomography beamline TOMCAT offered new insights into the innovative manufacturing process. The test sample rotated at a speed of 50 Hz (3000 rpm), while the laser travelled over the powder. Adapting the printing process to this extremely rapid rotation was one of the main difficulties, which the researchers have now overcome. Another challenge was to prevent the rotating material drifting apart as a result of centrifugal forces. They achieved it by adding a tiny amount of magnetic iron oxide into the aluminium oxide powder particles and then incorporating a magnet to keep the powder in place. The magnet was mounted beneath the sample in a small cylinder with a 3 mm diameter.

 

“Thanks to the fast GigaFRoST camera, an in-house PSI development, and a highly efficient microscope, it was possible to acquire 100 3D images each second during the printing process”, explains beamline scientist Federica Marone. These images showed what happened to the powder during the laser treatment. “For the first time we were able to directly visualise the melted volume in 3D,” says Makowska. The shape of the so-called ‘melt pool’ surprised the researchers. When they increased the power of the laser, no depression formed on the surface, as expected. “Instead the melt pool spread out like a pancake and the surface was more or less flat,” the material scientist comments.

 

Printing the desired microstructure

 

The researchers could also observe how pores and hollows formed as the material hardened, which is important for future applications. “Ideally one would like to have a smooth, attractive material with a well-defined microstructure. But a certain amount of porosity is also very desirable for specific applications,” explains Makowska. Van Petegem adds: “We hope our experiments will reveal more about the printing process and that we can pass on this knowledge, so that it can be put to practical use, even if there is still a long way to go.” The upgrade of the SLS machine starting soon and the new TOMCAT 2.0 beamlines coming into operation in 2025 will enhance the current capabilities. “It will become possible to study denser material with higher spatial and temporal resolution, key aspects for bringing the LPBF technology further,” says beamline scientist Christian Schlepütz.

 

The study was made with the collaboration of the technology competence centre Inspire AG, ETH Zurich and Empa. It was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) as a Spark project. The idea for this research was a follow-up of the Fuorclam project launched in 2017 within the frame of a Strategic Focus Area (SFA) Advanced Manufacturing program. “The various projects have given us the opportunity to get to know all the groups in Switzerland engaged in research into additive manufacturing and 3D printing,” says Van Petegem. “This is an extremely important topic for the future, which Switzerland has acknowledged.”

 

Text: Barbara Vonarburg

 

About PSI

The Paul Scherrer Institute PSI develops, builds and operates large, complex research facilities and makes them available to the national and international research community. The institute's own key research priorities are in the fields of matter and materials, energy and environment and human health. PSI is committed to the training of future generations. Therefore about one quarter of our staff are post-docs, post-graduates or apprentices. Altogether PSI employs 2200 people, thus being the largest research institute in Switzerland. The annual budget amounts to approximately CHF 420 million. PSI is part of the ETH Domain, with the other members being the two Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology, ETH Zurich and EPFL Lausanne, as well as Eawag (Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology), Empa (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology) and WSL (Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research). Insight into the exciting research of the PSI with changing focal points is provided 3 times a year in the publication 5232 - The Magazine of the Paul Scherrer Institute.

Operando tomographic microscopy during laser-based powder bed fusion

M. Makowska, F. Verga, S. Pfeiffer, F. Marone, C. Chang, C. Schlepütz, K. Florio, K. Wegener, T. Graule, S. Van Petegem

Communications Materials, 18.09.2023

DOI: 10.1038/s43246-023-00401-3

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JOURNAL

Communications Materials

DOI

10.1038/s43246-023-00401-3 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

ARTICLE TITLE

Operando tomographic microscopy during laser-based powder bed fusion

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

18-Sep-2023

 

Potential spoilage microbe found in microfiltered milk

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CORNELL UNIVERSITY

ITHACA, N.Y. -- A new filtration process that aims to extend milk’s shelf life can result in a pasteurization-resistant microbacterium passing into fluid milk if equipment isn’t properly cleaned early, Cornell food scientists have found.

Microfiltration – a processing technology that extends shelf-life by using semipermeable membranes to keep out undesirable microbes – is now being used in Europe and coming soon to U.S. dairies. But without proper cleaning of equipment early in the process, a tiny microbe called microbacterium can wind up in milk, the researchers found.

The results were published Sept. 8 in the Journal of Dairy Science. 

“Our work demonstrates the importance of cleaning milk-processing equipment before the pasteurization process,” said Nicole H. Martin ’06, M.S. ‘11, Ph.D. ’18, assistant research professor in dairy foods microbiology in the Department of Food Science, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She is the associate director of Cornell’s Milk Quality Improvement Program.

“Fluid milk processors often rely on the pasteurization process to apply the final kill-step for organisms,” Martin said, “but we’re showing that to achieve a longer shelf-life with this newer technology, processors should thoroughly clean the intake equipment for raw milk long before they pasteurize. In other words, they should do everything they can to remove these microbes prior to processing.”

Conventional fluid milk products now have a refrigerated shelf life of 14 to 21 days, but adding microfiltration to the process gives grocers and consumers a chance to extend shelf life to 60 days – and a chance to reduce food waste.

The current technology used to extend the shelf life of fluid milk is high-temperature pasteurization, which can result in undesirable flavors – such as “cooked” notes that milk drinkers disdain.

Microfiltration, with membrane pores that measure 0.8 to 1.2 microns, offers a gentler alternative to high heat treatment. The newer technology uses less energy and maintains the milk flavor and also gains the extension of shelf-life through the removal of bacteria via the microfiltration process.

In their research, the Cornell scientists examined whole milk and skim milk processed using microfiltration, pasteurized, and subsequently refrigerated at 3 degrees Celsius (38 degrees Fahrenheit), 6.5 degrees C (43 degrees F) and 10 degrees C (50 degrees F) for 63 days. Analysis showed significant differences in bacterial concentrations for the microfiltered milk held at different temperatures, but no difference in milk with different fat levels.

An unexpected finding was the identification of Microbacterium as a major contributor to the bacterial population in microfiltered, extended shelf-life milk, the researchers wrote, suggesting that on-farm and pre-pasteurization bacterial harborage sites need to be considered.

“As the dairy industry moves toward longer distribution, people do want to drink dairy protein and they want a high-quality product,” Martin said. “Dairies are shipping further than before and we want consumers to have a great experience. Extended shelf-life milk delivers that quality product to consumers, but we need to be aware of the barriers and address them.”

In addition to Martin, co-authors of “Microbacterium Represents an Emerging Microorganism of Concern in Microfiltered Extended Shelf-Life Milk Products” are postdoctoral researcher Timothy T. Lott, Ph.D. ’23; Joseph Dumpler, Ph.D. ’17, of the Technical University of Munich;  Martin Wiedmann, Ph.D. ’97, the Gellert Family Professor in Food Safety; and Carmen Moraru, professor and chair of food science.

This research was funded by Allied Milk Producers Cooperative.

-30-

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JOURNAL

Journal of Dairy Science

DOI

10.3168/jds.2023-23734 

 

New research sheds light on 'runner's knee'

The new study finds personalized rehabilitation may be needed to effectively address chronic knee pain

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT

A new study from the University of Connecticut has discovered that rehabilitation to address chronic knee pain may not be targeting all the right muscles.

Neal Glaviano and Sungwan Kim, a Ph.D. student in his lab, recently published their findings in the journal Physical Therapy in Sport.

Glaviano has been studying patellofemoral pain, sometimes called “runner’s knee” for years. Approximately 23% of the global population suffer from this kind of pain, which affects the area around the kneecap. While present in the general population, this condition is especially common for runners and those in the military.

“Across the board it’s a pretty significant impairment in [people’s] ability to lead happy and healthy lives,” Glaviano says.

Researchers know that in patients with chronic patellofemoral pain, some muscles in their legs and hips are weaker in terms of strength and endurance, in addition to a decreased ability to generating their maximal muscle contraction.

“It all comes back to there being some potential deficit in the muscle for some reason,” Glaviano says.

Glaviano hypothesized that these deficits may be related to the size of certain muscles around the knee. Specifically, he was interested in the glute and quad muscles.

“A lot of the research shows consistent evidence that there’s weakness in those muscles,” Glaviano says. “So, I expected those are the four muscles that we would discover are smaller in size compared to the healthy database.”

Glaviano and Kim worked with the Brain Imaging Research Center (BIRC) at UConn to conduct MRI scans of 13 female patients with patellofemoral pain. The researchers then worked with Springbok, a company developed by researchers at the University of Virginia, to analyze individual muscle volumes.

They focused on female patients because women are 2.2 times more likely to experience this kind of pain than men, though researchers do not know why.

“We thought trying to control for [sex] would allow us to answer our question a little more straightforwardly rather than having to worry about known differences in muscle size between males and females,” Glaviano says.

While Glaviano and Kim expected to see differences in muscle size in the quads and glutes, that’s not what they found. There were no significant differences in the size of these muscles in patients with patellofemoral pain compared to the healthy samples.

Instead, the muscles at the front of patients’ hips, their deep external hip rotators, and hamstrings were smaller. Additionally, not all patients had impairments in the same muscles.

“The four main muscles that a lot of the research prioritizes as the target for rehabilitation were not actually smaller in size,” Glaviano says. “I think it demonstrates the need to individualize patients’ treatment. We as clinicians and researchers need to quantify which muscles have impairment and target those in a patient’s treatment.”

Glaviano intends to pursue these findings to investigate if rehabilitation interventions for patellofemoral pain can be better tailored and individualized.

Most patients who receive rehabilitation for patellofemoral pain do not experience long-term pain relief. These findings may be a key to addressing this shortcoming and improving their quality of life.

“There’s very little work on the muscles that were identified as being smaller, so that might explain why there’s such poor long-term outcomes in these patients,” Glaviano says. “While we’re targeting their quads and their hip muscles, we might be missing other muscles that might also be important.”

Glaviano also plans to look at muscle inhibition, where a muscle is unable to perform optimally because not all the connected nerves are firing. In his previous work, Glaviano found that patients with patellofemoral pain experience inhibition in their glute and quad muscles.

“Maybe it’s not that the muscle is smaller,” Glaviano says. “It’s that the muscle isn’t able to recruit all the motor units available to be able to produce that force, and that’s why the weakness is present, not purely from a volumetric standpoint. We’ll have to continue to work to find out.”

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JOURNAL

Physical Therapy in Sport

DOI

10.1016/j.ptsp.2023.07.003 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Imaging analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Lower extremity muscle volume in females with patellofemoral pain and its relationships to hip and knee torque: A cross-sectional study

Cheap and efficient catalyst could boost renewable energy storage

Peer-Reviewed Publication

IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON

 

IMAGE: THE NEW CATALYST MATERIAL view more 

CREDIT: CITY UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

Storing renewable energy as hydrogen could soon become much easier thanks to a new catalyst based on single atoms of platinum.

The new catalyst, designed by researchers at City University Hong Kong (CityU) and tested by colleagues at Imperial College London, could be cheaply scaled up for mass use.

Co-author Professor Anthony Kucernak, from the Department of Chemistry at Imperial, said: “The UK Hydrogen Strategy sets out an ambition to reach 10GW of low-carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030. To facilitate that goal, we need to ramp up the production of cheap, easy-to-produce and efficient hydrogen storage. The new electrocatalyst could be a major contributor to this, ultimately helping the UK meet its net-zero goals by 2050.”

Renewable energy generation, from sources like wind and solar, is rapidly growing. However, some of the energy generated needs to be stored for when weather conditions are unfavourable for wind and sun. One promising way to do this is to save the energy in the form of hydrogen, which can be stored and transported for later use.

To do this, the renewable energy is used to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, with the energy stored in the hydrogen atoms. This uses platinum catalysts to spur a reaction that splits the water molecule, which is called electrolysis. However, although platinum is an excellent catalyst for this reaction, it is expensive and rare, so minimising its use is important to reduce system cost and limit platinum extraction.

Now, in a study published this week in Nature, the team have designed and tested a catalyst that uses as little platinum as possible to produce an efficient but cost-effective platform for water splitting.

Lead researcher Professor Zhang Hua, from CityU, said: “Hydrogen generated by electrocatalytic water splitting is regarded as one of the most promising clean energies for replacing fossil fuels in the near future, reducing environmental pollution and the greenhouse effect.”

Testing tools

The team’s innovation involves dispersing single atoms of platinum in a sheet of molybdenum sulphide (MoS2). This uses much less platinum than existing catalysts and even boosts the performance, as the platinum interacts with the molybdenum to improve the efficiency of the reaction.

Growing the thin catalysts on nanosheet supports allowed the CityU team to create high-purity materials. These were then characterised in Professor Kucernak’ lab at Imperial, which has developed methods and models for determining how the catalyst operates.

The Imperial team has the tools for stringent testing because they have developed several technologies that are designed to make use of such catalysts. Professor Kucernak and colleagues have set up several companies based on these technologies, including RFC Power that specialises in hydrogen flow batteries, which could be improved by using the new single-atom platinum catalysts.

Using hydrogen

Once renewable energy is stored as hydrogen, to use it as electricity again it needs to be converted using fuel cells, which produce water vapour as a by-product of an oxygen-splitting reaction. Recently, Professor Kucernak and colleagues revealed a single-atom catalyst for this reaction that is based on iron, instead of platinum, which will also reduce the cost of this technology.

Bramble Energy, another spinout led by Professor Kucernak, will test this technology in their fuel cells. Both single-atoms catalysts – one helping turn renewable energy into hydrogen storage, and the other helping that energy be released as electricity later – therefore have the power to bring a hydrogen economy closer to reality.

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JOURNAL

Nature

DOI

10.1038/s41586-023-06339-3 

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

13-Sep-2023

TRANSPHOBIA KILLS

Pediatric endocrinologists concerned for safety amid divisive political climate

Peer-Reviewed Publication

THE ENDOCRINE SOCIETY

WASHINGTON—Pediatric endocrinologists are concerned for their safety and their ability to provide evidenced-based care to transgender and gender-diverse adolescents amid political divides over gender-affirming care, according to a new paper published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society.

Pediatric endocrinologists specialize in the care of children and adolescents with disorders related to hormones and the glands that produce them, such as diabetes and disorders of growth, thyroid or puberty. Some pediatric endocrinologists also provide gender-affirming care as part of their medical practice.

Among youth ages 13 to 17 in the United States, 1.4% identify as transgender, and many of these individuals are seeking gender-affirming care. The Endocrine Society’s Clinical Practice Guideline recommends mental health treatment as the first course of action and the use of puberty-delaying medications and gender-affirming hormone therapy, when appropriate, in adolescents who are transgender or gender diverse.

Gender-affirming care is considered the standard of care by all major medical organizations and has been shown to improve mental health outcomes and lower the risk of suicide in transgender youth. Despite these benefits, legislation aiming to ban gender-affirming care has been proposed in 28 states and passed in 20.

In addition to politicizing medical care, efforts to ban gender-affirming care have led to widespread misinformation, online harassment, and even bomb threats targeting hospitals and physicians, according to a Human Rights Campaign report. Last year, the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Children’s Hospital Association called on the Department of Justice to investigate rising threats of violence against gender-affirming care providers.

“Our study shows pediatric endocrinologists in states with transgender health bans are most concerned about threats to their personal safety and the impact of these laws on their medical practice,” said study author Stephanie A. Roberts, M.D., of Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass. “The increasing number of bans on gender-affirming care in the U.S. and the negative impact on pediatric endocrinologists may lead to areas in the country without access to pediatric endocrine care. This includes for access to treatment of other disorders we have expertise in besides gender-affirming care such as type 1 diabetes or adrenal insufficiency, both of which can be life-threatening conditions.”

The researchers surveyed 223 pediatric endocrinologists to assess how transgender health bans are affecting their practices and identify their top concerns. Of the pediatric endocrinologists surveyed, 56% were currently providing gender-affirming care, and 46% practiced in a state where anti-trans legislation had been proposed or passed between January 2021 and June 2022.

Providers practicing in states with transgender health bans reported concerns about pressures within their hospitals and medical centers that would limit their ability to provide care, threats to their personal safety and the safety of their patients, concerns about legal action being taken against them, and concerns about their career. The major themes were safety concerns and the impact of laws on medical practice.

“Our work reinforces why efforts to limit access to medically necessary care for transgender youth need to be opposed,” Roberts said.

The other authors of this study are Pranav Gupta of Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Ga.; Ellis Barrera of Boston Children’s Hospital; Elizabeth R. Boskey of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass.; and Jessica Kremen of Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

The study received funding from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

The manuscript, “Exploring the Impact of Legislation Aiming to Ban Gender-Affirming Care on Pediatric Endocrine Providers,” was published online.

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Endocrinologists are at the core of solving the most pressing health problems of our time, from diabetes and obesity to infertility, bone health, and hormone-related cancers. The Endocrine Society is the world’s oldest and largest organization of scientists devoted to hormone research and physicians who care for people with hormone-related conditions.

The Society has more than 18,000 members, including scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in 122 countries. To learn more about the Society and the field of endocrinology, visit our site at www.endocrine.org. Follow us on Twitter at @TheEndoSociety and @EndoMedia.

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JOURNAL

Journal of the Endocrine Society

Early access to testosterone therapy in transgender and gender-diverse adults seeking masculinization

JAMA NETWORK

About The Study: In this randomized clinical trial including 64 transgender and gender-diverse adults, immediate testosterone therapy compared with no treatment significantly reduced gender dysphoria, depression, and suicidality in transgender and gender-diverse individuals desiring testosterone therapy. 

Authors: Ada S. Cheung, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., of Austin Health in Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia, is the corresponding author. 

To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ 

(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.31919)

Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.

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About JAMA Network Open: JAMA Network Open is an online-only open access general medical journal from the JAMA Network. On weekdays, the journal publishes peer-reviewed clinical research and commentary in more than 40 medical and health subject areas. Every article is free online from the day of publication. 

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JOURNAL

JAMA Network Open