Human Behavior

The Rundown: July 4, 2022 Multiversity Comics – Multiversity Comics

Welcome back to The Rundown, our daily breakdown on comic news stories we missed from the previous day. Have a link to share? Email our team at rundown@multiversitycomics.com.

In case you missed it, Marvel announced a new ongoing Spider-Man series by writer Dan Slott and artist Mark Bagley.

Artwork by Mike Del Mundoand Mike Huddleston

Jonathan Hickman, Mike Del Mundo, and Mike Huddlestons 3 Worlds / 3 Moons universe will be debuting in print with an issue called Foundations, which is set for release at San Diego Comic-Con. Joining the creative trio on the issue will be designer Sasha E. Head, letterer Rus Wooton, and editor-in-chief Stephen Wacker. Foundations is set to follow a scientist called Doctor Tajo R. Vallar, who works for the Institute, an organization that seeks to maintain the scientific status quo by systematically covering up the existence of magic across the universe. Hickman, Del Mundo, and Huddleston had previously kept the development of the 3W/3M universe on their Substack, with digital and special editions of Foundations having already been made or set to be made available to different tiered subscribers. There will also be a booth and a panel for 3 Worlds / 3 Moons at SDCC, which takes place on July 21 through July 24. Check out a preview of Foundations over at Popverse.

WhatNot Inc. and Massive Publishing will be launching WhatNot Publishing with two launch titles: Alpha Betas and The Exiled. The four-part Alpha Betas series is based on the animated series of the same name, and was written by Kyle Starks with art by Michael Calero and Trevor Richardson. The series will chronicle four elite-level gamers hired by the government to enter video game worlds, preventing real-world problems from occurring as a consequence of the digital worlds collapsing. The Exiled is a sci-fi graphic novel by Wesley Snipes, Keith Arem, Adam Lawson, Gabriel Eskivo Santos, and Valentina Bianconi; it will follow Detective Niles Roach Washington in the pursuit of a serial killer five thousand years in the making. Launched as a Kickstarter project, The Exileds preview book was the result of Lawson and Arem teaming with WhatNot Publishing, but this partnership has expanded to see the graphic novel get a full release. Alpha Betas #1 is scheduled for release on October 12, with The Exiled set for early 2023, though its preview comic will be available at SDCC.

Publishers Weekly reported on six graphic novel deals this week. These included:

All three graphic novels are set to debut in Winter 2025. You can read the full details about all of the graphic novel deals this week here.

Syfy revealed that Resident Alien season 2 is set to return with the second half of its 16 episodes on Wednesday, August 10. In a teaser trailer, we see how the alien intended to wipe out humanity, Harry Vanderspeigle (Alan Tudyk), is adopting more and more identifiable human behaviors despite his insistence that becoming more human is an awful thing; regardless of his behavior though, the trailer highlights that the survival of the world is at stake, and he is the only individual potentially capable of saving it. The series is based on the comic series of the same name by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse. The trailer is available here.

Skip ahead if you want to avoid possible Black Adam spoilers: the action figures from the upcoming film have revealed the villain of the Dwayne Johnson-starring film to be none other than Sabbac. By way of the description for the figure, it was revealed that Sabbac will originally be a military Intergang leader that has been possessed by a demon, and has powers that are equal to those of Black Adam; with these powers, Sabbac intends to take over Kahndaq and maybe the whole world. Sabbac first debuted in Captain Marvel Jr. #4 by Otto Binder and Al Carreno in 1943. You can check out the action figure for Sabbac, as well as figures for a host of the other Black Adam characters here ahead of the films release on October 21.

Finally, to celebrate Pride Month, Square Enix released a short story called Marvel Avengers: A Sunset with You by writer Leyla K., with variant covers being provided by artists Paulina Ganucheau, Kris Anka, and Derek Charm. The story is an official expansion of the video games lore, and sees a trainee member of the Dora Milaje called Ayo trying to impress and charm her captain and crush, Aneka, with help from Ms. Marvel. Head over to the Marvels Avengers website to read or download the story.

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The Rundown: July 4, 2022 Multiversity Comics - Multiversity Comics

Human Behavior

New omicron-specific COVID-19 boosters are coming this fall. What you need to know. – UCHealth Today

New omicron-specific COVID booster shots are coming this fall. Learn more about these new booster shots and who likely will need to get them. Photo: Getty Images.

New COVID-19 booster shots specially formulated to fight multiple omicron variants will be available by fall.

An advisory panel for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently recommended approval of the new tailored COVID-19 booster vaccines, and the U.S. government plans to buy millions of vaccine doses for a fall booster campaign.

We consulted with infectious disease and COVID-19 expert,Dr. Thomas Campbell, to answer your questions about the newest COVID-19 booster shots and to learn more about who should get them.

Campbell ran clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines atUCHealth University of Colorado Hospitalon theAnschutz Medical Campus. He is alsoa professor of medicine and infectious diseasesat theUniversity of Colorado School of Medicine.

The original vaccines are still very effective in preventing hospitalization and death from COVID-19. They are particularly effective in people who have received the recommended boosters, Campbell said.

But its normal for viruses to change and for variants to develop, Campbell said.

In the case of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, multiple omicron variants have spread and become dominant throughout 2022. They include omicron variants known as BA.2, BA.4 and BA.5.

The original vaccines and boosters did not specifically fight these omicron variants because they hadnt developed yet. The proliferation of omicron variants has prompted the primary vaccine makers who are supplying COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. Pfizer and Moderna to create new, tailored versions of their booster shots that will better combat omicron variants. The vaccine makers have pledged to deliver the new doses by fall.

No. Not yet, Campbell said.

While its possible that well be able to get combined flu/COVID-19 vaccines in the future, for now, vaccine makers and health experts have not yet created a new double-duty flu/COVID-19 vaccine.

No. People who have never gotten COVID-19 vaccines should get their first two doses of the original vaccines as soon as possible. The new recipe of the booster shots was tested on people who already had their initial vaccine doses and one booster shot.

I would strongly advise people who are not vaccinated at all to complete the primary series of two shots (with the original vaccine), Campbell said.

No. People who have not received their first two vaccine doses known as the primary series still will receive the original vaccines. The original versions protect well against most strains of the virus. Its important to note that no one knows yet precisely which strains of the virus will be circulating this fall or in the future.

Even though we are dealing with omicron variants now, its still possible that another version of the virus like delta or the original strain could come back at a later time. So, we all need to make sure that were protected against the older variants, Campbell said.

When the new omicron-specific booster vaccines are authorized (and delivered), they likely will only be given to people who have already completed a primary series with the prototype vaccine.

Do not wait, Campbell advised.

If you have gotten your first two vaccine doses and are eligible for a booster shot, get it now. And if youre eligible for a second booster shot, get it as soon as possible, Campbell said.

The newest variants are highly contagious and are spreading widely now. The current vaccines and boosters are helping to reduce the severity of illness and are preventing some hospitalizations. So, its wise to get fully boosted now, Campbell said.

Adults who are ages 50 and older should get two booster doses. Thats also true for younger people who are immunocompromised or are especially vulnerable to getting severely ill with COVID-19.

Everyone ages 5 and older should get a booster dose after completing their primary series.

Babies and toddlers are now eligible for their first vaccine doses and are not yet getting booster shots.

It can be confusing to figure out who is eligible for booster shots and what the proper timing is. If you need help sorting out your specific situation and deciding when to get a booster shot, you can use a handy tool that health experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have created.

There are three main reasons.

First, the newest omicron variants spread much more easily than previous versions, Campbell said.

Second, many people are not fully vaccinated.

In the United States, only a small portion of the population has received one booster, and an even smaller portion of the population has received two boosters, he said.

If more people can fully vaccinated and boosted, the spread of the current variants may decrease.

And third, antibodies from vaccines, booster shots or a COVID-19 infection decrease over time, making it easier for people to get infected for the first time or to get the illness again.

With the omicron variant, after the first booster dose, the protection starts to really drop off by about six months, Campbell said.

Researchers do not know yet how long the immunity after a second booster dose lasts.

Yes. Research is showing that most people who have had a recent case of COVID-19 should have high antibody levels for about three months. So, they can wait 90 days after a COVID-19 infection to get their next booster dose.

If youve just had COVID, theres no rush to go out and get the booster. You can safely delay getting it for at least three months, Campbell said.

The vaccine makers have told FDA medical experts that they plan to deliver the newest booster doses by about mid-October.

Federal health officials have not decided yet who will be eligible to receive them.

Campbell expects that FDA and CDC experts will want vulnerable people including those who are older, immunosuppressed or at risk for bad outcomes if they get COVID-19 to be first in line to get the newest booster shots.

Its possible, however, that federal officials will recommend the new omicron-specific booster shots for everyone, including younger people.

Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are a newer type of vaccine, known as mRNA vaccines. Its faster to create and change these types of vaccines, which is why the vaccine makers can incorporate new protection against omicron variants.

Its encouraging that well have these newer versions of the boosters, Campbell said.

He credits good science and attentive researchers.

They have paid very close attention to what the virus is doing, he said. And one of the advantages of the mRNA technology is that it can be changed fairly quickly to reflect what the virus is doing.

They do not, Campbell said.

Its important to know that researchers and vaccines makers must do the best they can to predict which vaccines will be spreading. No vaccine can be a perfect match for the future spread of a virus.

Under the best case scenario, the best technology is still three months behind, Campbell said.

Even so, people around the world are lucky that vaccine development is moving much more rapidly than it did in the past. And, it makes sense to have COVID-19 vaccines that protect people from a broad range of variants, not just omicron-specific vaccines, Campbell said.

The virus that causes COVID-19 is here to stay, Campbell said.

Its important to plan for another wave in the fall and winter because theres a good probability that it will happen, Campbell said.

Both vaccine-induced immunity and immunity from natural infection wane over time. We have a virus thats still here along with waning immunity. And human behavior changes in the fall, Campbell said. Kids will go back to school. The weather will be colder. The daylight hours will be shorter, so people will be indoors more and having more contact with other people. Then, well have Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years and travel associated with the holidays.

All of those patterns point to the continued spread of COVID-19, he said.

We have all the ingredients necessary to create a new wave, Campbell said.

So, he encourages everyone to pay attention to FDA and CDC guidance and to stay up to date on vaccines and boosters.

These recommendations are based on evolving information that comes from good science, Campbell said.

Get your booster per the authorization, whether its for everybody or people ages 50 and older. Once its authorized, get boosters sooner rather than later so your immunity levels are high by November and December, when all of the conditions for a fall spike are likely to converge.

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New omicron-specific COVID-19 boosters are coming this fall. What you need to know. - UCHealth Today

Genetics

Genetics, wrong tests and five other reasons why some Brits dodge Covid – The Mirror

There is still a significant amount of the population who have not tested positive for covid and scientists think they have figured out why

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Covid: Dr Hilary provides update as UK infection rates rise in June

As the UK makes its way through another covid surge it may seem difficult to believe that there are still people who have never caught the virus.

Thanks to a successful vaccine programme, life is back to normal and all covid restrictions have been lifted.

However, 180,000 patients have died and 22.7 million people have been affected so far, according to government data.

However, there are still people out there who have never caught the virus despite some people catching it three times and now scientists believe they have figured out why.

A number of major international studies are underway to find out whats making these people undefeated, the Daily Record reports.

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In the Midlands, Dr Tara Hurst, lecturer in Biomedical Sciences at Birmingham City University, is studying this area. Dr Hurst only contracted Covid herself last autumn, but said she's aware of the 'Covid lottery'.

"There is a population who say they've never had Covid and then are those poor souls who've had it several times," she said. "It is a very complex area which is now attracting a lot of research."

Given that Covid rates are rising, it's especially important to work out what can make people immune to Covid. This is all the more crucial given that new variants will arrive on British shores which may be resistant to our vaccines.

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Dr Hurst said a large number of people who proclaim to have never had coronavirus probably have had it.

"There's a high chance they had it but didn't have any symptoms," she said. "I'd say that between 45 to 90 per cent of people who think they've never had it actually have, but were asymptomatic."

She said one study had found that 45 per cent of people who tested positive actually had no symptoms. And once you've been vaccinated, there is often no way of knowing if you had ever had Covid.

There's another group of people who did have Covid but just dismissed it as a cold. This is because as the pandemic continued, the list of symptoms changed.

Dr Hurst said: "Not everyone had a cough or lost their sense of smell and taste. As the different variants arrived, so did the different symptoms and many sufferers would have just shrugged off their Covid, saying, it's just a cold."

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Another factor is testing, which was crucial for gauging the official rates in the population. Some people because of their jobs (for example, teachers and healthcare workers) had to be tested regularly, others have never taken a test and if they did, only did a lateral flow one, which isn't as reliable as the PCR tests.

Dr Hurst said there's also a very special - but small - group of people who have never had Covid and haven't been vaccinated. This could be down to luck, but it's more likely there's something going on with their genetics which makes them resistant to viruses such as Covid.

"These people are very rare indeed and there's something going on with their bodies which means they can get the virus but it doesn't affect their cells, which means they don't actually develop Covid," Dr Hurst said.

A study is currently underway to delve deeper into these people's health and participants are needed (details at the bottom of this article).

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As the pandemic continued, the most common way to find out if you had Covid was the Lateral Flow Test (LFT). At the height of infections, LFTs were given out free and were readily available and were easy to do.

All people had to do was put the swab up their nose and then wait a short time for the results. But LFTs weren't as reliable and accurate as the more uncomfortable PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests, which involved the gag-inducing swabbing the back of the throat.

Some medics said LFTs were only 40 per cent accurate - which means millions of people who had a 'negative' result could in fact have been positive.

Dr Hurst said those who had not had any Covid symptoms, or never caught it, could be regarded as "super healthy". But it's more likely they have a more robust immune system

"This could be down to their genetics, but essentially they have an immune system which is super strong and fights the virus," she said.

"They will have good general health, with factors such as good levels of Vitamins C and D. Stress is also a huge factor in this, as high levels of stress can have a negative impact on the immune system."

The way you live and behave can have a big impact on whether you fall prey to Covid. Measures such as wearing a mask when out in public, avoiding large crowds, getting vaccinated and not getting too close (in proximity) to strangers are all proven to reduce your chances of getting the virus.

Just like the common cold, if you live in the countryside and don't come into close contact with people very often, then you're less likely to get it.

The answer is, nobody knows. Dr Hurst said: "I would say to those who've never had it - thank your lucky stars!"

Going forward, infections are starting to creep up again and there could be another wave in the autumn and winter and new variants are likely. Dr Hurst said: "Providing you've been vaccinated, the rest is down to common sense and being sensible."

* To find out more about taking part in the study to find out why some people have never had Covid, the details are here.

It is only open to those who've never contracted the disease and HAVEN'T been vaccinated.

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Genetics, wrong tests and five other reasons why some Brits dodge Covid - The Mirror

Genetics

Viewpoint: In response to historical misuse of genetics to defend eugenics, some egalitarians call for defunding. Here’s why that’s not the solution -…

Its no wonder many people are wary of behavioral genetics. The field, which examines how the DNA were born with affects our behaviors, has been hijacked by eugenicists, white supremacists, and run-of-the-mill bigots as a way to justify inequality for minorities, women, poor people, and other disadvantaged groups for over a century.

But anyone interested in egalitarian goals should not shy away from the field, argues psychologist Dr. Kathryn Paige Harden. Instead, they should embrace it as a tool to inform policies that promote equality.

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Genetic research has even been used to justify eugenics: the belief that genetics indicate a natural human hierarchy that determines ones social value and standing. Eugenicists have advocated for sterilizing or otherwise attempting to eradicate individuals or entire cultural groups deemed genetically inferior or unfit due to their genes.

In response to this historic misuse, many people and organizations with egalitarian values have chosen to ignore, degrade, or ban funding for research on genetic and biological differences.

Dr. Harden takes the opposite stance. Despite or perhaps because of this historic misuse, she argues that people interested in equality cannot ignore genetic differences. To do so would allow the misinterpretation and abuse of genetic research to go unchallenged.

This is an excerpt. Read the original post here

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Viewpoint: In response to historical misuse of genetics to defend eugenics, some egalitarians call for defunding. Here's why that's not the solution -...

Genetics

People in the News at Genomill, Oxford Nanopore, Myriad Genetics, More – GenomeWeb

Genomill: Mike Doherty

Genomill has appointedMike Doherty, the former head of product development at Foundation Medicine, to itsboard of directors. In addition to serving on the board, Doherty will also be a strategic adviser as Genomill prepares to commercialize its Geno1 technology, a pre-sequencing platform to improve cost, performance, and scalability of next-generation sequencing.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies: Duncan Tatton-Brown

Oxford Nanopore Technologies has appointed Duncan Tatton-Brown as the incoming non-executive chair. Tatton-Brown will succeed Peter Allen, who will retire from the board at the end of July 2022. Currently, Tatton-Brown is a senior adviser to Ocado Group, a UK technology company, and serves on the boards of Cazoo and Trainline. Before that, he was Ocado'sCFO from 2012 to 2020. Tatton-Brown holds a master's degree in engineering from King's College, Cambridge, UK.

Myriad Genetics: Dennis Langer

Dennis Langer, a member of Myriad Genetics' board of directors, is resigning as a director, effective June 30. After retiring from this position, Langer will provide consulting services to the company for one year.

For additional recent items on executive appointments, promotions, and departures in the omics and molecular diagnostics space, please see the People in the News page on our website.

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People in the News at Genomill, Oxford Nanopore, Myriad Genetics, More - GenomeWeb

Genetics

Genetic test could tell millions of NHS patients if their hip or knee surgery will fail – iNews

Millions of people waiting for hip and knee surgery could soon be told whether their operation is likely to fail after scientists discovered a link between genetics and early failure of joint replacements.

In a world first, British researchers have found that DNA signals in saliva and blood samples are linked to an adverse reaction to the cobalt chrome materials in most joint implants.

It is thought a test to identify those patients who will have an adverse reaction to cobalt chrome will take at least two years before it can be rolled out but once in place should reduce the number of failed operations drastically.

About 15 per cent of Britons have these genetic characteristics, which make the immune system attack tissue around the material, causing pain and swelling, in a process similar to how a patient rejects an organ transplant.

Until now experts did not know what was causing the problem, which meant doctors had no way of telling if a patient would react badly to their new joint or not.

The research could lead to patients having more choice about what type of joint implant they decide on to boost their chance of success, which would transform the way orthopaedic surgery is carried out around the world.

In a trial, more than 600 patients who underwent joint-replacement surgery in the past 10 years were tested using saliva swabs and blood tests.

A computer analysed the data and revealed those patients who suffered complications carried specific genes. The team believe they can use this testing system to spot who would be at risk.

Currently, around 10 per cent of the population in the UK will have a joint surgically replaced in their lifetime, as a proven way to treat joint ailments such as arthritis. But as populations around the world grow older and heavier, this is leading to more joint replacement being performed, with some five million surgeries carried out across the world each year a number which is forecast to double over the next two decades.

The majority of patients are satisfied with the results of their surgery if joint replacements are successful they last between 15 and 25 years but a significant number of joint replacements fail early following adverse immune responses, leading to potentially dangerous and costly repeat surgery.

Patients with a genetic sensitivity to cobalt chrome usually have a second procedure within months of the first, using alternative materials.

The international study led by Newcastle University and published in Nature Communications Medicine, is the culmination of 14 years research by Dr David Langton, managing director at ExplantLab, a Newcastle-based organisation that investigates the links between genetics and the performance of medical devices which took part in the study.

Dr Langton said: Through our research we have been able to demonstrate that a significant percentage of patients carry a genotype that makes it more likely for them to have a reaction to a joint replacement made of a cobalt chrome component.

Our findings are a big step towards offering patients more choice about what type of joint implant they decide on, and helping them to make informed decisions about the risks involved.

Of the 6.4 million people currently on the waiting list for treatment on the NHS in England, more than 730,000 require orthopaedic surgery. Cobalt chrome is used in over 95 per cent of knee replacements, but alloys such as titanium and ceramic metals can be used as alternative, according to surgeons.

Tony Nargol, consultant orthopaedic surgeon at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, whose surgical team worked closely with Dr Langton, said: This exciting discovery comes as a result of the close working relationship our fantastic staff have had with Mr Langton and his team, as well as health staff from organisations across the world.

This work will help provide a practical way for health professionals to help patients in selecting the best type of implants for their individual bodies. It will mean better outcomes for our patients and could transform the quality of care we provide to our patients.

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Genetic test could tell millions of NHS patients if their hip or knee surgery will fail - iNews

Genetics

Men’s health and infertility: Is it lifestyle or genetics? Experts answer – Hindustan Times

In the modern age, lifestyle plays a very crucial role to keep us mentally and physically healthy and when it comes to mens health, we often talk about cholesterol, diabetes, hypertension, early onset heart attack, life expectancy and so on but when it comes to reproductive health, leading to infertility or reproductive losses, males seem to be less informed. Nowadays, there is a high rise of delayed marriages and couples opting for only one or two children as infertility is now a major concern for such couples.

In about 50% of such cases, infertility is attributable to the male partner, mainly due to a failure in spermatogenesis and according to several studies, a severe decline in the sperm quality has been observed mostly contributed by the lifestyle, including smoking, drinking, long driving hours, stress and pollution. In a study done by Levine H et al., 2017, it was reported that there is a decline of 5060% in sperm counts amongst men from North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

It is important to understand the various factors which impact sperm quality as well as the male fertility. In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Upasana Mukherjee, Senior Genetic Counsellor at Neuberg Center for Genomic Medicine, shared The modern man, during his reproductive period, is exposed to the negative influence of widespread lifestyle-related habits such as smoking, alcohol, recreational drugs, less physical activity etc. Effect of cigarette smoking on male fertility may result from the combined roles of elevated oxidative stress, DNA damage, and cell apoptosis, which could explain not only the reduction in semen quality but also impaired spermatogenesis, sperm maturation, and sperm function reported to be present in smokers compared to non-smokers."

She added, "Smoking is not only associated with decreased sperm quality, it has also been found to be responsible for morphological changes of sperm and also with sperm DNA damage. The high sperm DNA fragmentation rate can contribute to male infertility and has also been associated with multiple miscarriages. It is found that the higher the sperm DNA damage index, the lesser the chances of achieving an ongoing pregnancy. Sperm DNA fragmentation analysis is now offered by many labs to assess the level of damaged sperms. This in turn can help the couple to take alternative reproductive methods (ART) for a successful pregnancy. Chronic alcohol consumption has also been found to have a detrimental effect on both semen quality and the levels of male reproductive hormones.

Gaur D.S et al.,2010 conducted a study on the male partners of couples facing primary infertility and they found that teratozoospermia (abnormal sperm morphology) was present in 63% and 72% of males who drank alcohol moderately (4080g/day) and heavily (>80g/day), respectively. None of the heavy alcohol drinkers were normozoospermic and most were oligozoospermic (64%), which is suggestive of progressive testicular damage in relation to increasing daily alcohol intake. Although the effects of alcohol on male reproductive function are dependent on the intake amount, a threshold amount of alcohol beyond which the risk of male infertility increases has not yet been determined. Several recreational drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, anabolicandrogenic steroids (AAS), opiates (narcotics) and methamphetamines are examples of illicit drugs that exert a negative impact on male fertility.

Upasana Mukherjee highlighted, About 15% of males with infertility have an underlying genetic cause. The genetic landscape of male infertility is highly complex, and at least 200 genes have been implicated in spermatogenesis. Over 25% azoospermic males have genetic causes. These include mostly chromosomal abnormalities (e.g sex chromosome abnormalities, Y chromosome microdeltion) involved in severe spermatogenic impairment and autosome-linked gene variations involved in central hypogonadism, monomorphic teratozoospermia, congenital obstructive azoospermia, and familial cases of quantitative spermatogenic disturbances. Genetic testing is relevant for its diagnostic value, clinical decision making, and appropriate genetic counseling.

According to Dr Sheetal Sharda, Clinical Geneticist and Director- Genomics Development and Implementation, unlike women, men are less aware about their reproductive health and when it comes to being evaluated for infertility or pregnancy loss, often the female is evaluated first but pregnancy and a positive pregnancy outcome are both dependent on both the partners. She revealed, With better understanding and awareness, timely evaluation for a genetic diagnosis and making lifestyle modifications can improve the reproductive health of both the partners.

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Men's health and infertility: Is it lifestyle or genetics? Experts answer - Hindustan Times

Neuroscience

Learning Is Based on Neurons’ Ability to Cooperate for Survival – Neuroscience News

Summary: Exploring systemwide intracellular metabolic cooperation as a mechanism for learning offers promise for a better understanding of how memory and learning occur in the brain.

Source: HSE

Exploring the predictive properties of neuronal metabolism can contribute to our understanding of how humans learn and remember.

This key finding from a consideration of molecular mechanisms of learning and memory conducted by scientists from Russia and the U.S. has beenpublishedinNeuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.

The emerging trend in neuroscience is to consider the work of neurons as anticipatory and future oriented, although this approach is not yet mainstream and features in just a few publications.

In a paper entitled Neuronal metabolism in learning and memory: The anticipatory activity perspective, Yuri I. Alexandrov, HSE Professor and Head of the V.B. Shvyrkov Laboratory of Psychophysiology at the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Psychology, and Mikhail V. Pletnikov, Professor of the Department of Physiology at the State University of New York, University at Buffalo, argue that neurons behave proactively because they strive to survivejust as all living organisms.

Neurons use microenvironmental metabolites as food, and neuronal impulse activity is aimed at obtaining these metabolites. Rather than responding to an incoming signal, neurons proactively trigger an influx of needed substances to the cell, such as neurotransmitters.

Yuri Alexandrov, Professor at HSESchool of Psychology said, When a specialized set of our neurons fire together, we act to obtain a behavioral outcome, while the neurons also obtain their own micro-outcome in the form of needed metabolites.

This process can be described as metabolic cooperation of cells, involving not only neurons but also glial, somatic, glandular, muscle and other cells throughout the body.

This principle of how cells work is central to learning, which essentially means creating systemwide groups of metabolically cooperating cells that drive human behavior.

The researchers note that for a long time, the stimulus-response paradigm was dominant in the study of molecular mechanisms of learning and memory; it was assumed that just as the entire human body responds to environmental stimuli, neurons respond to incoming impulses which cause excitation of certain parts of the neurons membrane. The neuron either fires or does not fire, depending on whether or not the excitation reaches a certain threshold.

Back in 1930s1970s, the Russian physiologist Peter Anokhin developed his theory of functional systems, including the concept of integrative activity of neurons, according to which a neurons excitation causes intraneuronal chemical processesrather than a summation of local excitations on the membrane. These chemical processes lead to a neuronal spike.

Building on Anokhins theory, his student Vyacheslav Shvyrkov and colleagues developed a systems-oriented approach to the study of neurons. However, Anokhins understanding of the sequence of events was traditional: excitation of a neuron comes first, followed by a response.

An important recent step in understanding how neurons work has been the idea that a neurons anticipatory activity, rather than an external impulse, is what comes first. The neuron does not respond to incoming excitation but proactively triggers an influx of activity, Alexandrov explains.

The authors argue that exploring systemwide intercellular metabolic cooperation as a learning mechanism could be a promising area of focus for further experimental research.

This approach, they believe, could lead to breakthroughs in studying the behavior of malignant cells and in developing new cancer treatments.

Malignancies consist of cells that metabolically cooperate not only with their immediate environment but also with other cells in the body. We plan to conduct experimental studies to explore tumor cell responses to diametrically opposed individual behaviors, such as striving towards a desirable event or avoiding an undesirable or dangerous one. This can give us insight into how various systemwide cellular integrations impact tumor cells survival.

As a result, we hope to propose an effective approach to influencing tumor cells through human behavior, Alexandrov concludes.

Author: Ksenia BregadzeSource: HSEContact: Ksenia Bregadze HSEImage: The image is in the public domain

Original Research: Closed access.Neuronal metabolism in learning and memory: The anticipatory activity perspective by Yuri Alexandrov et al. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Review

Abstract

Neuronal metabolism in learning and memory: The anticipatory activity perspective

Current research on the molecular mechanisms oflearning and memoryis based on the stimulus-response paradigm, in which the neural circuits connecting environmental events with behavioral responses are strengthened.

By contrast, cognitive and systemsneuroscienceemphasize the intrinsic activity of the brain that integrates information, establishes anticipatory actions, executes adaptive actions, and assesses the outcome via regulatory feedback mechanisms.

We believe that the difference in the perspectives of systems and molecular studies is a major roadblock to further progress toward understanding the mechanisms of learning and memory.

Here, we briefly overview the current studies in molecular mechanisms of learning and memory and propose that studying the predictive properties of neuronal metabolism will significantly advance our knowledge of how intrinsic, predictive activity of neurons shapes a new learning event.

We further suggest that predictive metabolic changes in the brain may also take place in non-neuronal cells, including those of peripheral tissues.

Finally, we present a path forward toward more in-depth studies of the role of cell metabolism in learning and memory.

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Learning Is Based on Neurons' Ability to Cooperate for Survival - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

What Causes the Brain’s Emotional Hub to Switch to Negative States? – Neuroscience News

Summary: Researchers explore how changes in the patterns of activity in the basolateral amygdala contribute to negative emotions such as fear, anxiety, and depression.

Source: Tufts University

Tucked into the temporal lobe, near the base of our brain, sits a small, almond-shaped region called the amygdala that processes our emotions.

Neuroscientists at Tufts University have been investigating the symphony of signals created within a subsection of this areathe basolateral amygdalato better understand how they contribute to negative feelings such as anxiety and fear.

This emotional processing hub plays a role in a lot of different behaviors, saidJamie Maguire, a Kenneth and JoAnn G. Wellner Professor in the neuroscience departmentatTufts University School of Medicineand a member of the neuroscience program faculty at theGraduate School of Biomedical Sciences(GSBS).

Were interested in how the network switches into these negative states, which is relevant to many different disorders, such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

In a recent paperpublished in the journaleNeuro, Maguire and her colleagues found that alcohol can change the pattern of activity in the basolateral amygdala in a mouse model, essentially telling the brains orchestra to play a different tune. This is the first study to show that alcohol is capable of altering these patterns, often referred to as network states.

Their work opens the door to a better understanding of how the brain switches between different activity patterns associated with anxiety or other moods, which also may be relevant to alcohol dependence.

We know one of the reasons people drink is to relieve anxiety or stress, which are associated with this area of the brain, saidAlyssa DiLeo, who is first author on the paper and was a GSBS doctoral student in Maguires lab at the time of the study.

Uncovering how alcohol changes these network states may be the first step in understanding the transition from first drink to an alcohol use disorder.

The researchers found that alcohol can essentially shift a mouses brain to less of an anxious state and toward a more relaxed one. They were also able to identify specific receptors in the basolateral amygdala, known as delta subunit-containing GABA-A receptors, as an important part of the signaling network that causes this switch.

The effects were slightly different in male and female mice, Maguire said. Females seemed to need more alcohol than males to alter their network state, which might be related to the fact that female mice have fewer of the relevant receptors. Moreover, when the researchers deleted these receptors in male mice, the altered mice responded like their female counterparts.

That tells us that these receptors are playing a role in these sex differences and how alcohol affects the basolateral amygdala network, Maguire said.

A Fearful State of Mind

Earlier this year, Maguire and her team partnered with Tulane University cell and molecular biology professor Jeffrey Tasker and other researchers to pinpoint a different set of receptors in the basolateral amygdala that seem to be relevant to an animals fear response.

In a studypublished inNature Communications, the researchers used norepinephrine, a similar hormone to adrenaline, to stimulate the basolateral amygdala in mice and switch them into a fearful state.

Norepinephrine can interact with several neural receptors, but when the researchers deactivated one in particular, the 1A adrenoreceptor, the animals brains no longer went into the fearful mode.

If you block norepinephrines ability to communicate with cells through this receptor, then you lose norepinephrines ability to create a fear state, saidEric Teboul, a GSBS doctoral student in Maguires lab and lead author on the paper. Being able to create a binary behaviorfearful or not fearfulgives us insight into how the brain actually computes and does things.

By understanding the molecular interactions that switch the basolateral amygdala into and out of these negative network states, the researchers may find potential drug targets to help people treat mood disorders and addiction. A person suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, for example, might be stuck in a fearful pattern of neural activity. Disrupting that pattern could help them recover.

Of course, it wont be as simple as switching these circuits on or off, Teboul said.

You dont want to just take out the fear; you dont want to take out the sadness; you dont want to take out the stress, because there are good reasons that we feel stressed and fearful of things, he said. We want to understand how this amygdala region computes things so that we can balance it at a normal level.

Author: Lisa LaPointSource: Tufts UniversityContact: Lisa LaPoint Tufts UniversityImage: The image is in the public domain

Original Research: Closed access.Sex differences in the alcohol-mediated modulation of BLA network states by Alyssa DiLeo et al. eNeuro

Abstract

Sex differences in the alcohol-mediated modulation of BLA network states

Alcohol use, reported by 85% of adults in the United States, is highly comorbid with mood disorders, like generalized anxiety disorder and major depression.

The basolateral amygdala (BLA) is an area of the brain that is heavily implicated in both mood disorders and alcohol use disorder. Importantly, modulation of BLA network/oscillatory states via parvalbumin-positive (PV) GABAergic interneurons has been shown to control the behavioral expression of fear and anxiety.

Further, PV interneurons express a high density of -subunit-containing GABAAreceptors (GABAARs), which are sensitive to low concentrations of alcohol.

Therefore, we hypothesized that the effects of alcohol may modulate BLA network states that have been associated with fear and anxiety behaviors via -GABAARs on PV interneurons in the BLA.

Given the impact of ovarian hormones on the expression of -GABAARs, we also examined the ability of alcohol to modulate local field potentials (LFPs) in the BLA from male and female C57BL/6J andGabrd-/-mice after acute and repeated exposure to alcohol.

Here, we demonstrate that acute and repeated alcohol can differentially modulate oscillatory states in male and female C57BL/6J mice, a process which involves -GABAARs.

This is the first study to demonstrate that alcohol is capable of altering network states implicated in both anxiety and alcohol use disorders.

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What Causes the Brain's Emotional Hub to Switch to Negative States? - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

An Appetite Map in the Brain – Neuroscience News

Summary: Researchers report the way the brain processes sensory input information depends on whether an animal lacks specific nutrients or is pregnant. The findings provide valuable new insight on the neural basis for behavior both within and beyond food choices.

Source: Champalimaud Center for the Unknown

Lets face it. As enticing as the idea of starting lunch with a chocolate cake might be, few would actually make that choice when it comes down to it. And yet, at the end of the meal, many would reach for that same cake without hesitation.

The cause behind this phenomenon is the bodys ever-changing internal states: by lunchtime, the body often needs protein, so the brain promotes that particular food choice. However, after the protein was ingested, carbs might be a nice extra for padding the bodys fat stores.

But internal states are rarely one-dimensional. An individual might be lacking several nutrients simultaneously (such as protein and salt), and also be pregnant, a state that carries its own host of needs. How does the brain sum up these parallel internal states to guide behavior?

A study published today (July 6th) inNatureprovides novel insight into this complex problem. We show that the way the brain processessensory inputdepends on whether animals lack specific nutrients or are pregnant, said the studys senior author Carlos Ribeiro, a principal investigator at the Champalimaud Foundation in Portugal.

Through this work, we identified a general principle by which internal states are integrated to shape brain function and decision-making. In addition, the new microscopy strategy we developed in this study may prove valuable for understanding the neural basis of behavior both within and beyond food choice.

Venturing into uncharted neural territory

To investigate how internal states shape behavior, Ribeiros team focused on a relatively poorly understood region of the fruit-fly brain called SEZ (the subesophageal zone). This region is thought to play a crucial role in food choice because it receives the majority of taste inputs and houses themotor neuronsthat control feeding. However, since this region mainly consists of densely tangled neural fibers, its anatomical sub-structure was not well-defined.

To understand how it operates, the team decided to create a functional atlas of the SEZ. In other words, they set out to identify the sub-structures that make up this region and attribute specific functions to each. To that end, Daniel Mnch, the studys lead author, first expressed a fluorescent activity reporter in all neurons in thefly brain. He then performed advanced 3D neuroimaging in four groups of flies, each representing distinct internal states.

We wanted to understand how two powerful protein-appetite modulatorsprotein deprivation and reproductive statusinteract in the brain. We, therefore, defined four experimental groups: fully-fed virgins, protein-deprived virgins, fully-fed mated flies, and protein-deprived mated flies. We recorded neural activity in the SEZ while the flies tasted sucrose, water and yeast (the flys natural protein source), Mnch explained.

An appetite map

The atlas the team created consists of 81 regions spanning the entire SEZ. These regions correspond to the majority of the SEZs previously described sensory and motor areas, and also include new, previously unidentified regions.

Our atlas captured some known regions. For example one shaped like a banana, which receives input from taste neurons that are located in the proboscis (the flys mouth), said Mnch.

We also discovered a winged-shaped area we named the Borboleta region (the Portuguese word for butterfly) in the back part of SEZ. This region later turned out to play a key role in driving protein appetite.

Beyond identifying new regions, the atlas also revealed the effect of internal state on neural activity, pinpointing the Borboleta region as a protein-appetite driver. Responses to water and sucrose hardly changed across the four groups. However, protein-rich food had a striking effect.

Protein-rich food evoked activity was strongly increased across large parts of the SEZ in protein-deprived animals. Mating however, mostly affected activity in the SEZs motor regions.

This was somewhat surprising, as mating and protein deprivation are both known to increase protein appetite, and so we didnt expect to find such different response patterns, Mnch said.

They also witnessed the synergistic effect that combined internal states have on neural activity. Mated, protein-deprived females had the highest activity in the SEZs motor regions, Mnch explained.

This means that even though this pair of co-existing internal states protein-deprivation and pregnancyare processed across distinct neural circuits, they end up converging at the same area to promote protein appetite.

Manipulating neurons to induce protein cravings

The team identified new regions in the SEZ and witnessed how different tastes and internal states influence neural activity in these regions. But how could they know whether these areas are actually involved in driving food preference?

Thats when we turned to our newly-discovered borboleta region, where protein taste evoked robust neural activity, said Mnch. We reasoned that if it is truly involved in this behavior, we could influence protein appetite by artificially activating neurons in this region.

The team aligned the atlas they created with another pre-existing atlas that maps the innervation patterns of groups of neurons. They then selected neurons in the borboleta region and activated them in fully-fed flies, who normally prefer sucrose over protein. This manipulation resulted in a marked increase in protein appetite.

We felt that we had come full circle: from observation to function, Mnch recalled.

First, we observed food preference in the four groups of flies, noting that protein-deprived and mated flies have a high preference forprotein. Then, we imagedneural activityin the SEZ, created the atlas, and identified new regions. Finally, we confirmed that one of these regions is involved in generating the behavior we had initially observed by manipulating its activity.

Overall, our approach allows for identifying and linking neurons to specific behaviors, relating to food choice and potentially others as well, Ribeiro added.

It would be difficult to implement our approach in any other system than in fruit-flies. The tools we have nowadays make the fruit fly an amazing experimental system that enables us to dissect how the brain functions. Importantly, the SEZ is similar to the vertebrate brainstem.

Our results, therefore, have broad implications for neuroscience. They may also inspire future studies aimed at bridging brain-wide activity mapping with functional circuit dissections. These are exciting times to be a neuroscientist, he concluded.

Author: Press OfficeSource: Champalimaud Center for the UnknownContact: Press Office Champalimaud Center for the UnknownImage: The image is credited to Ribeiro lab, Champalimaud Foundation

Original Research: Closed access.The neuronal logic of how internal states control food choice by Carlos Ribeiro et al. Nature

Abstract

The neuronal logic of how internal states control food choice

When deciding what to eat, animals evaluate sensory information about food quality alongside multiple ongoing internal state

How internal states interact to alter sensorimotor processing and shape decisions such as food choice remains poorly understood. Here we use pan-neuronal volumetric activity imaging in the brain ofDrosophilamelanogasterto investigate the neuronal basis of internal state-dependent nutrient appetites.

We created a functional atlas of the ventral fly brain and find that metabolic state shapes sensorimotor processing across large sections of the neuropil. By contrast, reproductive state acts locally to define how sensory information is translated into feeding motor output. These two states thus synergistically modulate protein-specific food intake and food choice.

Finally, using a novel computational strategy, we identify driver lines that label neurons innervating state-modulated brain regions and show that the newly identified borboleta region is sufficient to direct food choice towards protein-rich food.

We thus identify a generalizable principle by which distinct internal states are integrated to shape decision making and propose a strategy to uncover and functionally validate how internal states shape behaviour.

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An Appetite Map in the Brain - Neuroscience News