Nairobi [Kenya], May 15 (ANI): Environmental methane emissions are fuelled by the natural burps and belches from livestock ruminants like cows, buffaloes and other animals.

Methane has been found to be the primary contributor to the formation of ground-level ozone, a hazardous air pollutant and greenhouse gas, exposure to which causes 1 million premature deaths every year. Over a 20-year period, methane gas has been predicted to be 80 times more potent at greenhouse warming than carbon dioxide.

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Researchers have now found that the adoption of 100 per cent of the most effective strategies for reducing methane emissions from cows and other ruminants can meet methane reduction targets by the year 2030 to help keep global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, but the same strategies are insufficient to reach methane reduction goals for 2050 due to projected increased demand in livestock products.

Claudia Arndt from the International Livestock Research Institute in Kenya’s Nairobi, along with her colleagues analyzed the effects of published strategies for mitigating methane emissions from ruminant livestock systems.

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The authors found that three feed management practices could reduce methane emissions per unit of meat or milk on average by 12 per cent while increasing animal productivity.

In addition, the authors found that five mitigation strategies could reduce methane emissions per unit of meat or milk as well as absolute methane emissions on average by 21 per cent.

According to the study published in PNAS, disparities among high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries mean that high-income regions may be able to meet their methane reduction goals through the adoption of effective mitigation strategies, whereas middle-income to low-income regions may not be able to do so.

Global food systems contribute up to 30 per cent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels is unlikely to be achieved if food systems continue to operate under a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario.

Among food-related GHG emissions, methane (CH4) from livestock contributes 30 per cent of the global anthropogenic CH4 emissions, 17 per cent of the global food system GHG emissions, and 5 per cent of global GHG emissions. Of the global livestock CH4 emissions, 88 per cent are contributed by enteric fermentation.

Methane or CH4 is a short-lived climate pollutant. Given its perturbation lifetime in the atmosphere of around 12.5 years, it contributes significantly to near-term global warming.

Its global warming potential is 84 or 28 for 20- or 100-year time horizons, respectively.

When evaluating the contribution of global food systems to CH4 emissions over a 20-year period instead of the commonly used 100-year time period for national GHG inventories, the contribution of CH4 to food system GHG emissions more than doubles, from 17 to 36 per cent.

Achieving nationally determined contributions and climate-neutral targets in 2050 depends on reducing methane emissions.

In the context of sectoral reduction of methane emissions, technical solutions to reduce methane from agricultural production, especially strategies to reduce methane from enteric fermentation by ruminant livestock are an important part of achieving these climate goals.

However, there is little quantitative data on the potential for reduction. Based on 2010 GHG emission levels and different mitigation scenarios to limit global warming to 1.5 °C, agricultural CH4 emissions need to be decreased by 11 to 30 per cent by 2030 and by 24 to 47 per cent by 2050.

The global population is projected to increase by 23 per cent between 2010 and 2030, with most of the increase occurring in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC).

Ruminants contribute about half of the animal protein produced by livestock. In LMIC, ruminants play an important role in food security. Ruminants can convert foods that are inedible to humans, such as pasture foods and cereal by-products produced on marginal lands or from subsistence agricultural production systems, into nutritionally dense human-edible foods.

Ruminants also provide other benefits, such as traction and manure for fuel and fertilizer. In addition, human population growth is generally high in LMIC, while consumption of animal source foods is often below dietary recommendations or reliant on ruminant meat and milk for livelihood and nutrition security.

Thus, from a feed-food competition perspective, ruminant production increases in LMIC should rely on human inedible feeds (i.e., forage and by-products). In contrast, in high-income countries (HIC) population growth is much lower and the consumption of animal protein is often above recommended dietary levels. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)

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IT services company plans to double its headcount in nearshore locations over the next 3-5 years, CEO C Vijayakumar said and asserted that the Russia-Ukraine war has not impacted demand from Europe. HCL Tech employs about 10,000 people in all its nearshore locations, globally.

“We expect that number to double over the next 3-5 years,” Vijayakumar told PTI.

The company operates from 20 nearshore locations including Mexico, Toronto, Vancouver, Costa Rica and Romania. HCL Tech’s top honcho said the company will continue to expand in these locations.

The company does not have any presence in Russia or Ukraine. Its Eastern European centres are in Poland, Romania and Bulgaria and “all of them are continuing to operate at similar capacity levels”.

“Whatever ongoing ramp-up plans in these locations, they are on track and these locations are also growing for us,” he said.

Demand from Europe remains “quite robust”, he said, adding that the company has not seen Russia-Ukraine conflict impacting demand.

On the blueprint for expansion and new centres for FY23, Vijayakumar said some of the HCL’s existing locations may expand.

“It’s not completely new locations, some of our existing locations may expand, like Vietnam, Romania, Costa Rica, Mexico and a few centres within the US… these are the locations where we will expand,” he said.

had recently reported over three fold jump in its consolidated net profit for fourth quarter ended March 2022 at Rs 3593 crore.

It had struck an optimistic note about “buoyant” market environment and “strong momentum across verticals and service lines” for 12-14 per cent revenue growth for FY23.

HCLT’s revenue from operations for the just ended March quarter came in at Rs 22,597 crore, 15 per cent higher than a year ago. For the fiscal ended March 31, 2022, the net income stood at Rs 13,499 crore, as against Rs 11,145 crore in the previous fiscal.

The revenue from operations for the entire fiscal up to March 31, 2022 was Rs 85,651 crore, up from Rs 75,379 crore in FY21.

Telecom, financial services, life sciences and healthcare will be key growth drivers for the company in the incremental revenue that will come this fiscal. The company is looking to hire 35,000-40,000 freshers this year, apart from lateral hiring, which will depend on demand, attrition and other factors, Vijayakumar said.

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Shenzhen [China], May 13 (ANI): OnePlus had last month announced the Ace smartphone and now it is getting a new sibling that will likely be a more affordable alternative.

According to GSM Arena, the new phone will be called OnePlus Ace Speed Edition and will arrive on May 17, as confirmed by the company.

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The announcement on Weibo confirmed the launch will be in China, which is no surprise seeing how the Ace is exclusive to its home market. But it might still make it overseas under a new name.

No specs about the phone have been revealed yet. One can only assume it will have an LCD, given how the fingerprint scanner is on the side. The images reveal a speaker grille, a USB-C port, a microphone and a 3.5 mm audio jack on the bottom, reported the outlet.

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Further, as per GSM Arena, the phone is already certified by TENAA, which revealed a 6.59″ screen diagonal and a 2.85GHz CPU, likely part of a Dimensity 8000 chipset. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)

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Earth’s oceans are home to some of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet, but warming temperatures are causing many marine animals, including coral, to die out. A new study into managing the effect climate change has on these organisms says that more international collaboration is needed to ensure the future of the more than 6,000 coral species.

“Coral reefs are an essential ecosystem on our planet,” said Andrea Grottoli, co-author of the study and a professor in earth sciences at the Ohio State University. “Coral reefs are really important for humans in that they provide protection to coastlines from erosion and storms, and they’re essential for certain services like tourism and other parts of the economy.”

The study, published in the journal Global Change Biology, advocates for the use of mesoscale sanctuaries, or areas that can stretch thousands of miles, often across national boundaries, to protect these ocean environments.

“Global warming is the No. 1 threat to coral reefs right now,” Grottoli said. “So when we think about coral reef conservation, we can’t limit ourselves to arbitrary geographic boundaries.”

Providing a “continuum of conservation” would benefit reefs immensely, Grottoli said. But because conservation policies differ between various governments and politicians, that can make it hard to protect the environment.

Although coral reefs occupy less than 0.1% of the surface area in Earth’s oceans, about 30% of all marine species are in some way associated with them, Grottoli said. But due to the stress of rising sea temperatures, coral reefs all over the world have experienced higher rates of coral bleaching, or the visible paling of the coral surface.

Under coral bleaching, the animal’s skeleton, once obscured, becomes visible, and effectively turns the creature a faded, ghostly white. Although bleached coral is not immediately dead, it can lead to mass mortality. Researchers say mass bleaching events are an indicator of an ecosystem’s declining health.

Many people may be most familiar with coral via the Great Barrier Reef, a complex coral system so large that the living structure can be spotted from space. Located just off the coast of Australia, upwards of 2 million tourists visit the region each year. The attraction brings in an annual estimated economic value of about $36 billion.

Yet despite being the world’s most protected marine area, the GBR was recently hit by another mass bleaching event, the fourth time in only six years.

While climate change has undoubtedly contributed to the increases in frequency and intensity of these events, warming seas are also changing the composition and architectural complexity of coral reefs. “Under this reality, the future of coral reefs may appear grim,” the paper said.

But there is some good news. Even as the global population of coral dwindles, the genetic diversity of coral species helps ensure that some corals may be able to adapt and recover. And while there is an urgent need to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, the study also suggests that in the meantime, we need to take broad transdisciplinary approaches to creating both local and large-scale ocean sanctuaries.

Grottoli believes much of the heavy lifting of saving coral will happen through education.

“People who understand coral reefs, and who understand the value of coral reefs, are much more likely to do something to help protect them,” she said. “If you don’t know anything about coral, and you’ve never seen one, how can you have any empathy or feel any connection to that ecosystem?”

In her role as president of the International Coral Reef Society, Grottoli and her colleagues even put together a series of actions individuals can take at home to help scientists’ conservation efforts.

This research was supported by the National Science Foundation.

Story Source:

Materials provided by Ohio State University. Original written by Tatyana Woodall. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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Australia’s inaugural cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds began trading on Thursday amid a meltdown in digital tokens.

Australia’s inaugural cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds began trading on Thursday amid a meltdown in digital tokens. The ETFS 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, ETFS 21Shares Ethereum ETF and Cosmos Purpose Bitcoin Access ETF debuted on Cboe Global Markets Inc.’s local exchange after a delayed rollout.

The ETFS portfolios will invest directly in virtual coins, while the Cosmos vehicle will invest in the Purpose Bitcoin ETF, a Toronto-listed fund with assets of about C$1.4billion ($1.1 billion).

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The funds are launching as the crypto sector reels from the unraveling of a high-profile stablecoin known as TerraUSD. A global wave of monetary tightening is also sapping liquidity and denting speculative investments.

Stablecoins are key elements of the plumbing in the crypto market, where traders park funds as they move in and out of other tokens. TerraUSD is supposed to have a stable value of $1 but the peg has frayed, casting a pall over the market for digital tokens.

Bitcoin has plunged 39% this year, while Ether has shed 46%. Wild swings are common in crypto markets and the latest swoon may whet some people’s appetite to bet on a recovery.

Trading volume of Australia’s inaugural cryptocurrency ETFS surpassed A$1 million only two hours after the opening bell. This marks a robust start for the country, as its entire ETF market is only A$152 billion versus the US’ $6.3 trillion, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Rebecca Sin and James Seyffart.

“ETF Securities and Cosmos Asset Management’s cryptocurrency launch may go down in history books and put Australia’s ETF market in the running,” they wrote in a report. On some projections, Australia’s crypto market may hit $1 billion by year-end and the country could also act as the Asia-Pacific’s gateway to crypto ETFs, the analysts added. 

Bitcoin rose about 0.5% to $28,550 as of 11:32 a.m. in Hong Kong, while Ether was down 1% at $2,015.

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Dr Peter Small, chief medical officer, Hyfe, explains why the G20 needs to bring the urgency and digital technology of the response to COVID-19 to fight against tuberculosis. 

Recently I had the privilege of addressing attendees of the G20 Summit in Indonesia at their health meeting about tuberculosis. It was an important event given the G20 nations comprise approximately half the global burden of tuberculosis. These countries also have an even greater percentage of the opportunity and the responsibility to fight tuberculosis globally. The G20 is uniquely suited to shape and scale transformational data-driven digital solutions in their countries and ensure these solutions are made available to the rest of the world.

Looking at the current sad situation as it relates to tuberculosis, it is easy to forget 2019 was a golden year in which new tools and increased financial commitments showed tuberculosis was solvable. A comprehensive assessment by a Lancet Commission once again showed the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis was the most cost-effective interventions of all diseases studied. For every $1 invested in the treatment of tuberculosis, there was an estimated return of $24 in benefit. Achieving these returns on investment had become even more likely because the tuberculosis community was beginning to embrace the use of better data and pilot a variety of digital tools to improve the quality and cost effectiveness of tuberculosis care.

For example, the use of AI to read chest X-rays and identify tuberculosis was shown to greatly improve screening and triage. Evaluations by the Stop TB Partnership and others clearly illustrated that AI outperformed radiologists. Based on this evidence, the World Health Organisation recommended automated radiography for tuberculosis screening and triage.

It was also revealed that the ability to digitally connect molecular diagnostic instruments with software like Aspect and DataToCare could better link diagnosis to care and in the process speed up testing, decrease stockouts and increase trust between laboratories and programs. Mobile apps were developed to help frontline healthcare workers and empower communities. DiMagi’s CommCare allowed local developers to quickly build custom mobile software that improved the quality and efficiency of front-line workers. OneImpact, developed by the Stop TB Partnership, Dure Technologies and tuberculosis communities collects, analyses and acts in real time to identify and remove barriers to accessing tuberculosis care.

Digital adherence technology was introduced to help patients take their medication. Technology such as that of Wisepill and the providers of Video Observed Therapy also helped foster a global shift in the mindset of tuberculosis control programs toward a more patient-centric model of care. TB REACH showed digital adherence technology to be feasible, acceptable, and impactful.

Tuberculosis control programs began to use digital approaches to integrate and improve service delivery. Everwell Health Solutions supported India’s tuberculosis program to develop, deploy and scale a national data system. By enabling real-time dashboards, integrating government payments with patients’ banks, and making this part of both public and private health care provision, Nikshay improved the timeliness of national data from months to minutes.

Despite all of this, global tuberculosis care and control is currently in a crisis. COVID has had devastating effects on every aspect of global health, however tuberculosis services have been disproportionately affected. During the past two years the number of undiagnosed and untreated cases of tuberculosis has skyrocketed. And for the first time in a decade, tuberculosis mortality has increased.

It is said that with the right perspective, crises are opportunities in disguise. The silver lining of COVID is that the G-20 made it abundantly apparent how fast a health system can muster a response to a health threat if the power of digital data and health is embraced.

Central to the COVID response was the use of digital tools such as HealthConnect from Praekelt and WhatsApp. When combined, these platforms enabled the early detection, mapping and management of patient care while increasing patient empowerment with tools for self-triage and diagnosis. Together these digital systems enabled better resource allocation, patient care, contact tracing and infection control. This simply could not have happened without embracing mobile phones, the power of digital data and state of art technology.

COVID has shown us the impact of patient empowerment and how people can and will self-test. Tuberculosis programs must double down on trends and technologies for patient empowerment, remote patient monitoring and delivering care to patients’ homes.

Tuberculosis programs must be better integrated into mobile phone apps used by community health workers to get all providers to consider tuberculosis when treating chronic cough and perform the right evaluations. Perhaps we can even achieve the holy grail of integrating tuberculosis screening and case finding into primary health care. Public health dashboards that have been developed for COVID should be expanded to include event-generated tuberculosis data, such as that coming from AI enabled CXR machines and connected diagnostic instruments.

By embracing digital technology, tuberculosis care and control can hitch its wagon to the exponential engine of global innovation. One of these innovations, the potential of which has gone completely untapped, is ambient sound which can help us understand, diagnose, treat, and monitor health conditions. The ubiquity of smartphones is spawning the new field of acoustic epidemiology, which is the use of sound to understand the distribution and control of diseases.

After a career as an academic and as a philanthropic funder I recently left the public sector to join Hyfe, a small start-up whose ambition is nothing short of changing the way the world manages cough. The current approach to cough is rather pathetic. Cough is critical in identifying, diagnosing, and treating tuberculosis patients and yet we don’t measure it. Together with the Gates Foundation and Global Health Labs, Hyfe has created an app that anyone in the world with a smartphone can download and use for free.

This app allows patients to monitor their cough while preserving their privacy passively and unobtrusively. This technology will help individuals quantify their cough, know if their tuberculosis is resolving with treatment and promptly recognise if their treatment is failing.

Several multinational research teams are also working on technology that can help diagnose tuberculosis based on just the sound of the cough. If this comes to fruition, imagine a world in which anyone with a phone can diagnose their own tuberculosis. Hyfe is not alone in the vision that mobile phones will become the workhorse for global health and its cough app is just one example of thousands of digital technologies being developed that have the potential to help solve the tuberculosis problem.

This path is not without barriers, but the G-20 is uniquely suited to address them. A recent study done by Stop TB and The Global Fund showed that countries have an ambition to go digital, but many will require significant technical and financial support.

We need to call on the G-20 to bring the same sense of urgency and focus on data and digital technology demonstrated during the pandemic to other global health threats, starting with tuberculosis. Failing to do so will perpetuate the chaotic and inefficient propagations of unimpactful technology and ultimately cost billions of dollars and millions of avertable deaths. With leadership and strategic funding from the G-20, we can pivot tuberculosis from crisis to exponential progress.

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Modifying photosynthesis has increasingly been a research target to improve crop yields to feed a growing global population in the face of climate change and other environmental factors. In a recent study, published in the Journal of Experimental Botany, a team from the Australian National University (ANU) investigated the effects of increasing the amount of carbon dioxide channels in plant membranes, but could not detect any impact on photosynthesis in model tobacco plants.

Photosynthesis relies on a supply of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the chloroplasts within leaf cells, where it is fixed into sugars by the enzyme Rubisco. To get to the chloroplast, CO2 must diffuse into the leaf and through the leaf mesophyll cells, crossing barriers such as cell walls and membranes. Increasing CO2 diffusion through mesophyll cells into the chloroplast (termed mesophyll conductance) will improve photosynthesis-boosting yields in crops while also improving water-use efficiency.

“Our research targeted the membranes in leaf cells; we wanted to know if we could make CO2 transfer more efficient by adding extra channels for CO2 diffusion into cell membranes,” said RIPE researcher Dr Tory Clarke, who performed this study at ANU.

To target CO2 transfer across plant cell membranes, the team at ANU increased the amount of aquaporin proteins in the plasma membranes of test tobacco plants.

Senior author Dr Michael Groszmann explained, “Aquaporins are membrane channels that can facilitate the movement of molecules such as water and gasses across membranes. Our research confirms that the channels localize in the leaf cell plasma membrane.”

Previous studies have established that in test systems, a subset of plant aquaporins, the Plasma-membrane Intrinsic Proteins (PIPs) have CO2 transfer capabilities, but there have been conflicting reports about their role in mesophyll conductance in the plant. “In this study, we were able to introduce more PIP aquaporin channels into the mesophyll cell membrane, but surprisingly this did not detectably increase the conductance of CO2 through the mesophyll cell, with no effect on photosynthetic rates either,” said Clarke.

“Plant growth and environmental conditions may play a significant role in the ability of aquaporins to alter mesophyll conductance,” said Susanne von Caemmerer, a Professor of Molecular Plant Physiology at the Research School of Biology at the ANU, who led this study alongside Groszmann. “Our study also used computer modeling to predict how changes to membrane CO2 permeability would impact overall mesophyll conductance. We found that in order to improve overall mesophyll conductance by 20%, the amount of CO2 that would need to cross the plant cell membrane would need to double.”

While improved photosynthesis was not realized in this study, this research provides increased understanding of the movement of CO2 from atmosphere to chloroplast.

“Taking what we’ve learned in this study, we can now focus our work on gaining a better understanding of aquaporin function and how we can improve mesophyll conductance and photosynthesis,” said Groszmann.

Story Source:

Materials provided by Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Original written by Amanda Nguyen. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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Volvo Trucks North America customers NFI Industries and Quality Custom Distribution (QCD) are both increasing their investments in electromobility solutions with their latest orders of a total of 90 Volvo VNR Electric trucks. The battery-electric freight trucks will be deployed in NFI’s Ontario, California, fleet and QCD’s Southern California fleet operations throughout 2022 and 2023.

“Volvo Trucks is proud to continue partnering with NFI on its electromobility journey as the company truly demonstrates its leadership and commitment to supply chain sustainability,” said Peter Voorhoeve, president, Volvo Trucks North America. “It is exciting to see QCD continue to grow its Volvo VNR Electric fleet so that the company can service some of the nation’s most iconic restaurants with zero-tailpipe emission trucks.”

NFI started its electromobility journey with Volvo Trucks as part of the Volvo LIGHTS (Low Impact Green Heavy Transport Solutions) project that began in 2019. NFI started piloting two Volvo VNR Electric trucks in its commercial operations, demonstrating the ability for battery-electric trucks to reliably transport goods under a variety of operating conditions.

“Our experience with the Volvo LIGHTS project was a major factor in NFI’s decision to purchase VNR Electric trucks for our drayage operations,” said Bill Bliem, senior vice president of fleet services at NFI. “NFI started our electrification transition because we are committed to sustainability initiatives across our operations, and we are continuing to invest in Volvo Trucks because of the proven viability and success we have had operating the Volvo VNR Electrics in our real-world routes.”

Each year, QCD’s fleet of 700 Class 8 tractors makes more than one million last-mile deliveries from its 26 distribution centers across the U.S., averaging more than 35 million miles on the road annually. The company’s investment in Volvo VNR Electric, which now includes 45 trucks, is a central part of its strategy to help its customers reduce their supply chain emissions.

“QCD has gained incredible firsthand insight into the real-world performance of battery-electric trucks during the past year while operating a Volvo VNR Electric truck as part of the Volvo LIGHTS project,” said Shane Blanchette, senior director of operations, QCD. “We now have the experience needed to map out the ideal routes to integrate additional battery-electric trucks, and we’ll use this knowledge as we deploy the additional 44 Volvo VNR Electrics from our distribution centers in Fontana and La Puente, California.”

The 60 trucks ordered by NFI are the next generation enhanced Volvo VNR Electric model with a six-battery-pack configuration, which provides an operational range of up to 275 miles. Twenty of the trucks will be deployed as part of the Joint Electric Truck Scaling Initiative, or JETSI project; 30 will be deployed with funding support from California’s Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP); and the last 10 are part of the SWITCH-ON project, a grant to Volvo Trucks to deploy battery-electric trucks in Southern California for regional freight distribution and drayage.

With the deployment of the 30 additional Volvo VNR Electrics, QCD is expanding its zero-tailpipe emission fleet to operate from a second distribution center in La Puente, California. QCD received funding for the 30 Volvo VNR Electrics through the Southern California Association of Governments’ (SCAG) Last Mile Freight Program, established in partnership with MSRC.

The infrastructure to support NFI’s zero‐emission fleet is being developed by Electrify America as part of the announcement made with NFI at ACT Expo 2021 to build the nation’s largest heavy-duty electric truck charging infrastructure project. The project will provide 19 350 kW ultra-fast chargers with 38 dispensers to support NFI’s growing battery-electric drayage fleet that serves the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

To further bolster the environmental and economic benefits of the project, as well as increase resiliency, QCD has partnered with Scale Microgrid Solutions to build a first-of-its-kind clean energy microgrid to power its La Puente’s battery-electric fleet and distribution center. InCharge Energy will supply and maintain fast charging stations utilizing onsite renewable energy generated by a microgrid developed by Scale Microgrid Solutions to support QCD’s growing Volvo VNR Electric fleet.

Voorhoeve also discussed the company’s Volvo Autonomous Solutions, spotlighting the progress that has been made through its partnership with Aurora to jointly develop on-highway autonomous trucks in the U.S. The Volvo Trucks booth showcased a Volvo Autonomous Solutions VNL 760 with an integrated Aurora Driver for future hub-to-hub operations, representing an important step towards launching fully autonomous Class 8 trucks commercially in North America.

Volvo Trucks also announced the release of Volvo LIGHTS Lessons Learned Guidebook. The Volvo LIGHTS project partners project played an integral role in helping to transform goods movement, as they worked together to design a blueprint to introduce zero-tailpipe emission battery-electric trucks and equipment into the market at scale. During the project, which ran from 2019 to 2022, the partners demonstrated innovations critical for the commercial success of battery-electric freight movement, which have been refined into a number of key insights for the Lessons Learned Guidebook.

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As the season for vector-borne disease arrives, biologists at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) have come up with a novel approach to counter-attack and boost immunity against Tuberculosis, reduce the treatment period, and prevent disease relapse. The new approach uses the pathogen’s defense mechanism against itself to weaken the parasite.

TB is one of the biggest health problems faced across the world with one-third of the population infected by it and nearly 1.74 million deaths annually. In a bid to reduce the treatment duration, which is currently lengthy, and expensive, researchers decided to include a hepatoprotective immunomodulator, Luteolin, as a potential host-directed adjunct to available therapy.

An immunomodulator, according to the National Cancer Institute, is a substance that stimulates the immune system and helps the body fight infections or other diseases. Specific immunomodulating agents, such as monoclonal antibodies, cytokines, and vaccines, affect specific parts of the immune system.

The study published in the journal PLOS Pathogen identifies one such immunomodulator, Luteolin, that enhances immunity and improves central memory T cell responses. “The boosted immune responses permitted the reduction of treatment duration, improved treatment outcome and efficiently prevented disease relapse,” the paper read.

The researchers identified Luteolin as an effective immunomodulator for designing anti-TB immunotherapeutics that can provide better protection. The paper also noted that WHO’s expert consultation on immunotherapeutic interventions for TB has also recommended the inclusion of immunotherapeutics in combating TB to improve treatment efficacy of drug-resistant TB, shorten treatment length, and enhance host immunity after treatment is completed.

The TB research was led by a team of researchers from the Special Centre for Molecular Medicine (SCMM) at JNU, which included Professor Anand Ranganathan and Gobardhan Das, and a team from the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology.

In another research, Ranganathan along with a team of biologists from Shiv Nadar University, the National Institute of Immunology, and the Institute of Science at the Banaras Hindu University identified a way to block the route taken by Plasmodium falciparum, which causes malaria, to enter the Red Blood Cells (RBCs).

Published in the journal Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, the research exploits a green chemistry-based approach to identify two such proteins that the bacteria use to invade the bloodstream. Myosin A and MTIP (Myosin A Tail Interacting Protein) have been found to be aiding the Malaria parasite in clearing its route to invade the host.

The team of researchers is now attacking these two proteins weakening them. Ranganathan’s team joined hands with Professor Shailja Singh’s lab alongside researchers from Shiv Nadar University to identify a new drug target. The study identified Glycoside-2 (GLy-2), which showed strong lethal effects against the invasion.

The latest study can help in improving the efficacy of artemisinin and chloroquine in fighting malaria as the current treatments have been associated with various complications and severe side effects.

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A European Space Agency’s astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti has just made history! The first TikTok video from space on the International Space Station. Check all details.

Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency (ESA) has taken the popularity of TikTok to extreme heights in the literal sense! Samantha Cristoforetti, who is part of SpaceX’s Crew-4 mission, posted a TikTok video on May 5 from the International Space Station ane become the first-ever TikToker on the final frontier. The astronaut Cristoforetti arrived at the orbiting lab on April 27 for a six-month stay.

The first TikTok from the International Space Station is around 88 seconds, in which Cristoforetti takes viewers through Crew-4’s launch while introducing them to the mission’s two zero-g indicators and a stuffed monkey called Etta, a Space.com report mentioned. It further mentions that Cristoforetti explains in the video about Etta, which is short for ‘scimmietta’. Basically, it is an Italian word for ‘little monkey’. The astronaut bought this toy, Etta, for her daughter.

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Cristoforetti shared glimpses from the space station. She also said that the first few days of SpaceX’s Crew-4 mission were very busy, as the Crew-4 members had to learn all possible information from the Crew-3 team as soon as possible. Crew-3 of Elon Musk’s SpaceX mission had left the space station on May 5.

“What questions do you have about life on the space station? Tell me in the comments. And remember: Follow me to boldly go where no TikToker has gone before,” Cristoforetti said to her the audience toward the end of the video while floating in front of one of the orbiting lab’s windows.

Cristoforetti’s second space flight began with the launch of Crew-4; she had previously spent time, from November 2014 to June 2015, aboard the space station. By the way, there was no TikTok back then; the platform debuted in 2016. Although the new video is a TikTok first, it is far from the first social-media post from space. Many astronauts, including Cristoforetti, use Twitter to narrate their orbital adventures in real-time.

Michael Massimino, the NASA astronaut, was the first astronaut ever to use Twitter in space. He wrote the first space tweet during the STS-125 Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission in May 2009.

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