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In the largest study of its kind to date, an international team led by researchers at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, studied the DNA of around 800,000 women from Europe, North America, China, Japan, and Korea.

Published today in Nature Genetics, the researchers found more than 1,000 variants – small changes in DNA – that influence the age of first menstrual period. Around 600 of these variants were observed for the first time.

The age at which girls hit puberty and start having periods normally occurs between ages 10 to 15, though this has been getting earlier and earlier in recent decades. The reasons for this are not fully understood. Early puberty is linked with increased risk of a number of diseases in later life, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers. Later puberty on the other hand, has been linked to improved health in adulthood and a longer lifespan.

Just under half (45%) of the discovered genetic variants affected puberty indirectly, by increasing weight gain in early childhood.

Corresponding author Professor John Perry said: “Many of the genes we’ve found influence early puberty by first accelerating weight gain in infants and young children. This can then lead to potentially serious health problems in later life, as having earlier puberty leads to higher rates of overweight and obesity in adulthood.”

Previous work by the team – together with researchers at Cambridge’s MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit – showed that a receptor in the brain, known as MC3R, detects the nutritional state of the body and regulates the timing of puberty and rate of growth in children, providing a mechanism by which this occurs. Other identified genes appeared to be acting in the brain to control the release of reproductive hormones.

The scientists also analysed rare genetic variants that are carried by very few people, but which can have large effects on puberty. For example, they found that one in 3,800 women carry variants in the gene ZNF483, which caused these women to experience puberty on average, 1.3 years later.

Dr Katherine Kentistou, lead study investigator, added: “This is the first time we’ve ever been able to analyse rare genetic variants at this scale. We have identified six genes which all profoundly affect the timing of puberty. While these genes were discovered in girls, they often have the same impact on the timing of puberty in boys. The new mechanisms we describe could form the basis of interventions for individuals at risk of early puberty and obesity.”

The researchers also generated a genetic score that predicted whether a girl was likely to hit puberty very early or very late. Girls with the highest 1% of this genetic score were 11 times more likely to have extremely delayed puberty – that is, after age 15 years. On the other hand, girls with the lowest 1% genetic score were 14 times more likely to have extremely early puberty – before age 10.

Senior author and paediatrician Professor Ken Ong said: “In the future, we may be able to use these genetic scores in the clinic to identify those girls whose puberty will come very early or very late. The NHS is already trialling whole genome sequencing at birth, and this would give us the genetic information we need to make this possible.

“Children who present in the NHS with very early puberty – at age seven or eight – are offered puberty blockers to delay it. But age of puberty is a continuum, and if they miss this threshold, there’s currently nothing we have to offer. We need other interventions, whether that’s oral medication or a behavioural approach, to help. This could be important for their health when they grow up.”

The research was supported by the Medical Research Council and included data from the UK Biobank.

Reference
Kentistou, KA & Kaisinger, LR, et al. Understanding the genetic complexity of puberty timing across the allele frequency spectrum. Nat Gen; 1 July 2024; DOI: 10.1038/s41588-024-01798-4

Genes can indirectly influence the age at which girls have their first period by accelerating weight gain in childhood, a known risk factor for early puberty, a Cambridge-led study has found. Other genes can directly affect age of puberty, some with profound effects.

Many of the genes we’ve found influence early puberty by first accelerating weight gain in infants and young children. This can then lead to potentially serious health problems in later lifeJohn PerryHalfpoint Images (Getty Images)Portrait of a young girl writing in her diary

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Yes

From 2024, the UK’s Environment Act requires planning applications to demonstrate an overall biodiversity net gain of at least 10% as calculated using a new statutory biodiversity metric.

The researchers trialled the metric by using it to calculate the biodiversity value of 24 sites across England. These sites have all been monitored over the long-term, allowing the team to compare biodiversity species data with results from the metric.

Plant biodiversity at the sites matched values produced using the metric, but bird and butterfly biodiversity did not.

This means there’s no evidence that a 10% net biodiversity gain calculated using the statutory biodiversity metric will translate into real-life gains for birds and butterflies, without additional conservation management.

This is the first comprehensive study of the performance of Defra’s statutory biodiversity metric across England. The results are published today in the Journal of Applied Ecology.

Plants, birds and butterflies have been comprehensively surveyed in England over many years, and are used as indicators for the national state of nature.

The researchers say the metric must be improved to better capture the intricacies of the different species within an ecosystem.

“The statutory biodiversity metric is a really important opportunity, and has potential to direct a lot of money into biodiversity conservation from developers. It’s the responsibility of conservationists and policy makers to ensure that it provides a reliable indication of nature’s diversity,” said Dr Cicely Marshall in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Plant Sciences, first author of the paper.

She added: “At the moment the metric does capture plant diversity quite well, but it doesn’t reflect the intricacies of ecosystems – species like birds and butterflies use habitats in very different ways.”

The metric, created by the UK Government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), was introduced as part of the Environment Act with its legally binding agenda to deliver “the most ambitious environmental programme of any country on earth.” It scores the condition and distinctiveness of a piece of land to calculate its biodiversity value in standardised ‘biodiversity units.’

This allows developers to project biodiversity losses and gains across a site, so they can ensure the development achieves an overall minimum 10% biodiversity gain. Landowners can use the tool to calculate the biodiversity value of their land.

Marshall, who is also a Research Fellow at King’s College, Cambridge, said: “Many property developments have been very detrimental to nature in the past, and it’s exciting that England now has a requirement for developers to leave nature in a better state than they found it.

“We hope our study will contribute to improving the way nature’s value is calculated, to make the most of this valuable opportunity for nature recovery.”

The results of the study have been used to make recommendations to Defra and Natural England to help improve the metric.

The metric uses habitat as a proxy for biodiversity, scoring habitats’ intrinsic distinctiveness and current condition. Plans for biodiversity gain can involve replacing lost habitat with similar habitat - the researchers say that nature recovery could be improved if the particular species and habitats impacted by a development were also taken into account in this process.

There can be huge differences in biodiversity across habitats like croplands, for example, and these aren’t captured by the metric which assigns all cropland the same condition score. Conventional farms that regularly use artificial pesticides and herbicides have much lower biodiversity than organic farms that do not.

“There are great differences in the ecological value of cropland depending on how it’s managed, but the metric gives all cropland a low biodiversity score. It would be nice to see these differences reflected,” said Marshall.

The UK is committed to building 300,000 homes a year by mid-2020, so the net biodiversity gain requirement is expected to generate a market for biodiversity credits worth an estimated £135m-£274m annually – substantially increasing funding for nature conservation in England.

The research was funded by the Ecological Continuity Trust.

Reference: Marshall, C. 'England’s statutory biodiversity metric enhances plant, but not bird nor butterfly biodiversity'. Journal of Applied Ecology, June 2024. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.14697

A new legal requirement for developers to demonstrate a biodiversity boost in planning applications could make a more meaningful impact on nature recovery if improvements are made to the way nature’s value is calculated, say researchers at the University of Cambridge.

We hope our study will contribute to improving the way nature’s value is calculated, to make the most of this valuable opportunity for nature recovery.Cicely MarshallCicely MarshallResearchers assess woodland condition at Alice Holt Forest

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YesLicence type: Attribution-Noncommerical

Sir Simon Baron-Cohen is a Professor in the Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge and Fellow at Trinity College. He is Director of the Autism Research Centre, which he set up in 1997. He has published over 750 peer reviewed scientific articles and has made contributions to many aspects of autism research. In 2021, he received a knighthood in the New Year’s Honours list for his services to autism.

One of his earliest MRC grants, in 1996, was to investigate if autism could be diagnosed in babies as young as 18 months old, and his team showed that it can. Ideally, an early diagnosis should lead to the right support, so that a child has the best opportunity to fulfil their potential.

Baron-Cohen has drawn attention to the reality that a lot of autistic people do not receive their diagnosis in early childhood. In fact, many are not diagnosed until late childhood, or even adulthood. This means they are left unsupported and feeling different, but with no explanation. As a result, autistic people can end up feeling like they do not fit in, and may experience exclusion or bullying by their peer group. They can feel ashamed when they’re not coping in a mainstream classroom.

He argues that the reason they are struggling is because the mainstream educational setting was designed for non-autistic people. This can lead to a gradual deterioration in their mental health. Many underachieve academically and only 15% of autistic adults are employed. Most worryingly, one in four autistic adults have planned or attempted suicide. He said “Autistic people are being failed by our society”.

In 2017 Baron-Cohen was invited by the United Nations to give a keynote lecture on Autism Acceptance Day. He described how autistic people are excluded from many basic human rights. These include the right to education, the right to health services, the right to dignity, and the right to employment.

In an effort to change this, Baron-Cohen created a charity called the Autism Centre of Excellence (ACE) at Cambridge. The charity is science-led and aims to put the science into the hands of policymakers, so there’s no delay in translating policy-relevant findings.

Alongside his applied research, Baron-Cohen’s team also conducts basic research. Autism starts prenatally and is partly but not completely genetic. For decades it was unclear what other factors might contribute to the cause of autism. Over the past 20 years Baron-Cohen made two big discoveries which have helped understand what causes autism. First, his team found elevated levels of prenatal androgens (sex hormones such as testosterone) in pregnancies that later resulted in autism. Second, they found that prenatal oestrogens (another group of sex hormones which are synthesised from androgens) levels were also elevated in pregnancies resulting in autism. 

Autism is an example of neurodiversity. Autistic individuals’ brains develop differently, from before birth. Some of these differences result in disability, for example, in social skills and communication. But others result in strengths or talents. For example, many autistic people have excellent memory for facts and excellent attention to detail. And many are strongly attracted to patterns. Baron-Cohen’s recent book The Pattern Seekers celebrates autistic people’s different minds. In many environments, such skills are assets. In his research group, he employs neurodivergent individuals.

Baron-Cohen will receive the prestigious medal, specially created by The Royal Mint, and will be listed amongst the most highly influential and impactful researchers in the UK. He will deliver a lecture about his research, and his achievements will be celebrated at an Awards Ceremony on 20 June 2024 in the Law Society where he will receive the medal.

On receiving the news that he was to be awarded the MRC Millennium Medal, Baron-Cohen said: “This is the result of team work and I am fortunate to be surrounded by a talented team of scientists. I hope this Medal shines a light on how autistic people need a lot more support, from the earliest point, to lead fulfilling lives.”

The UKRI Medical Research Council (MRC) in the UK will today present the MRC Millennium Medal 2023 to Professor Sir Simon Baron-Cohen, in recognition of his pioneering MRC-funded research into the prenatal sex steroid theory of autism, his establishment of the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge, and his work in the public understanding of neurodiversity.

I hope this Medal shines a light on how autistic people need a lot more support, from the earliest point, to lead fulfilling livesSimon Baron-CohenBrian HarrisProfessor Sir Simon Baron-Cohen

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Yes

The Chancellor, Lord Sainsbury of Turville, presided over a special congregation at Senate House which was attended by around 400 staff, students, alumni and invited guests. The honorary graduands this year were;

Professor Dame Carol Black (Doctor of Medical Science): From 2012-2019 Dame Carol was Principal of Newnham College and is an Honorary Fellow of both Newnham and Lucy Cavendish Colleges. A clinician and medical scientist, Carol was Director of the Centre for Connective Tissue Disorders at the Royal Free Hospital and the second woman President of the Royal College of Physicians.

Professor Stephen Stahl (Doctor of Medical Science): A psychologist and psychopharmacologist, Stephen is Clinical Professor of Health Sciences at the University of California Riverside. He is a former Visiting Fellow of Clare Hall and Honorary Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry. 

Professor Adele Diamond (Doctor of Science): A world leading neuroscientist, Adele is Professor of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of British Colombia. Her work has led to improvements in treatments for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Professor Dame Carol Robinson (Doctor of Science): Carol is Dr Lee's Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford and founding director of the Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery. Formerly President of the Royal Society of Chemistry she is an Honorary Fellow of Churchill College. 

Professor Kip Thorne (Doctor of Science): Kip is Richard P. Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). In 2017 he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. He is also a winner of the Kavli Prize in Astrophysics and a celebrated author. 

Professor The Hon Michael Ignatieff (Doctor of Letters): A historian, writer and broadcaster, Michael is also a former politician having led the Liberal Party in his native Canada from 2008 to 2011. A member of the Canadian Privy Council and the Order of Canada he has won the Heinemann, Orwell and Dan David Prizes. 

Murray Perahia (Doctor of Music): Murray is a world renowned pianist whose interpretations of Brahms, Beethoven Chopin and Schubert have gained much acclaim. He is Principal Guest Conductor of the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields and the winner of three Grammy Awards. He was appointed an Honorary KBE in 2004 and is an Honorary Fellow of Jesus College.   

Kip Thorne summed up the day: 

"Early in my career the three places which were the most important to me in terms of the colleagues I had were Cambridge, Moscow and the place I came from, Princeton. Cambridge, being home to good friends like Stephen Hawking and Martin Rees, was a special place...for me this is just tremendous to receive this honour from the place that has had such a big impact on my career."

And Dame Carol Black said:

"It almost feels unreal...I'm just so pleased and humbled by it. Nothing better could have happened to me. I'm not a Cambridge or Oxford graduate so I never thought this would happen. This is such a wonderful day and it's been lovely to see some of the people I knew when I was here as Head of House." 

 

 

The University has conferred honorary degrees to seven distinguished individuals in recognition of the achievements they have made in their respective fields. An honorary doctorate is the highest accolade the University can bestow and the ceremony is steeped in tradition. 

This is just tremendous to receive this honour from the place that has had such a big impact on my careerKip Thorne Paul SeagroveHonorary graduands

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Yes

Echion, a Cambridge University spinout headquartered just outside the city, has invented and patented a niobium-based anode material, XNO®, for use with re-chargeable lithium-ion batteries. The material enables the lithium-ion batteries to safely charge in less than ten minutes, last for more than 10,000 cycles and not lose power in extreme cold or hot temperatures.  

By improving the power density and thermal stability of lithium-ion batteries, XNO® extends their lifespan. Batteries using XNO®  have been shown to have a lower environmental impact than those based on other commonly used materials such as graphite. Graphite is the dominant anode material, with over 90% market share, due to its high energy density and low cost. But for fast charging, graphite-based cells are limited in maximum charge rate compared to XNO® based cells. XNO®’s higher capacity retention and cycle life when charging, across a wider temperature range, boosts available battery capacity. Despite the same volume and weight, higher total energy delivered across the lifetime of the battery lowers total cost of ownership.

The £29 million investment will mean Echion’s XNO® anode material can start to be used in real-world applications, such as battery electric and hybrid trains, mining haul trucks, opportunity-charging e-buses, heavy-duty industrial transport and delivery vehicles.

Echion’s longstanding partnership with the world’s leading producer of niobium, CBMM, will see the opening of a 2,000 tonne per year XNO® manufacturing facility in 2024. This will provide Echion with the manufacturing capacity to supply its global customer base of major cell manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

The investment round was led by specialist battery and energy storage technology investor Volta Energy Technologies (Volta), with participation from existing investors CBMM, BGF and Cambridge Enterprise Ventures.

Jean de La Verpilliere, CEO of Echion Technologies, said: “Our ambition is to deliver the best fast-charging batteries to unlock the electrification of heavy-duty vehicles. The investment from our partners Volta Energy Technologies, CBMM, BGF and Cambridge Enterprise Ventures cements our ambition to achieve full-scale commercialisation and full production volume.

“The entire Echion team has worked tirelessly to develop our flagship XNO® material into what it is today and this has enabled us to establish partnerships with many major OEMs and cell manufacturers which have recognised the benefits of our materials. I look forward to being able to satisfy their demand for innovative niobium-based anode materials, and to see industrial and commercial applications powered by XNO®.”

Dr Jeff Chamberlain, CEO and Founder of Volta Energy Technologies, said: “We are excited to lead Echion’s Series B and make Volta’s first investment in Europe. Echion and their XNO® technology complements our growing portfolio of technologies that address significant market needs through innovations in the supply chains of battery and energy storage technology. We believe the power of XNO® can uniquely improve performance, lower cost, and meet the demands of the growing, international markets across mining, logistics, railways, automotive and more.”

Rodrigo Barjas Amado, Managing Partner and Commercial Head of Battery Program at CBMM, said: “Having invested in Echion since 2021, we are pleased to see the progress that has been made through our partnership so far and we are proud to support bringing this ground-breaking, niobium-based technology to the market with our 2,000 tonne per year manufacturing capacity.”

Dennis Atkinson, Investor at BGF, said: “Echion is a world class UK based battery technology business. We are proud to have them as part of our climate and deeptech portfolio, and excited to support the team and their XNO® technology in electrifying and decarbonising heavy transport.”

"Echion is entering the market with their next generation battery material at scale. This is a great team that has combined great technology, great talent, great partners and great money for their go-to-market journey. We’re pleased to have been with Echion from the start and to continue our relationship into this B round with a terrific syndicate of co-investors,” says Chris Gibbs, Investment Director, Cambridge Enterprise Ventures.

Adapted from media release published by Cambridge Enterprise.

Cambridge spinout, Echion Technologies has raised £29 million in investment capital to help it increase the production of its fast-charging, long-life battery material based on niobium.

Echion Technologies senior management team (L-R: Dr Alex Groombridge, Chief Technology Officer, Dr Sarah Stevenson, Chief Operating Officer, Jean de La Verpilliere, Chief Executive Officer, Ceri Neal, Chief Financial Officer, and Benjamin Ting, Chief Comm

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Yes

This overturns the traditional thinking that regulatory T cells exist as multiple specialist populations that are restricted to specific parts of the body. The finding has implications for the treatment of many different diseases – because almost all diseases and injuries trigger the body’s immune system.

Current anti-inflammatory drugs treat the whole body, rather than just the part needing treatment. The researchers say their findings mean it could be possible to shut down the body’s immune response and repair damage in any specific part of the body, without affecting the rest of it. This means that higher, more targeted doses of drugs could be used to treat disease – potentially with rapid results.

“We’ve uncovered new rules of the immune system. This ‘unified healer army’ can do everything - repair injured muscle, make your fat cells respond better to insulin, regrow hair follicles.  To think that we could use it in such an enormous range of diseases is fantastic: it’s got the potential to be used for almost everything,” said Professor Adrian Liston in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Pathology, senior author of the paper.

To reach this discovery, the researchers analysed the regulatory T cells present in 48 different tissues in the bodies of mice. This revealed that the cells are not specialised or static, but move through the body to where they’re needed. The results are published today in the journal Immunity.

“It's difficult to think of a disease, injury or infection that doesn’t involve some kind of immune response, and our finding really changes the way we could control this response,” said Liston.

He added: “Now that we know these regulatory T cells are present everywhere in the body, in principle we can start to make immune suppression and tissue regeneration treatments that are targeted against a single organ – a vast improvement on current treatments that are like hitting the body with a sledgehammer.”

Using a drug they have already designed, the researchers have shown - in mice - that it’s possible to attract regulatory T cells to a specific part of the body, increase their number, and activate them to turn off the immune response and promote healing in just one organ or tissue.

“By boosting the number of regulatory T cells in targeted areas of the body, we can help the body do a better job of repairing itself, or managing immune responses,” said Liston.

He added: “There are so many different diseases where we’d like to shut down an immune response and start a repair response, for example autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis, and even many infectious diseases.”

Most symptoms of infections such as COVID are not from the virus itself, but from the body’s immune system attacking the virus. Once the virus is past its peak, regulatory T cells should switch off the body’s immune response, but in some people the process isn’t very efficient and can result in ongoing problems. The new finding means it could be possible to use a drug to shut down the immune response in the patient’s lungs, while letting the immune system in the rest of the body continue to function normally.

In another example, people who receive organ transplants must take immuno-suppressant drugs for the rest of their lives to prevent organ rejection, because the body mounts a severe immune response against the transplanted organ. But this makes them highly vulnerable to infections. The new finding helps the design of new drugs to shut down the body’s immune response against only the transplanted organ but keep the rest of the body working normally, enabling the patient to lead a normal life.

Most white blood cells attack infections in the body by triggering an immune response. In contrast, regulatory T cells act like a ‘unified healer army’ whose purpose is to shut down this immune response once it has done its job - and repair the tissue damage caused by it.

The researchers are now fundraising to set up a spin-out company, with the aim of running clinical trials to test their findings in humans within the next few years.

The research was funded by the European Research Council (ERC), Wellcome, and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

Reference: Liston, A. ‘The tissue-resident regulatory T cell pool is shaped by transient multi-tissue migration and a conserved residency program.’ Immunity, June 2024. DOI: 10.1016/j.immuni.2024.05.023

Scientists at the University of Cambridge have discovered that a type of white blood cell - called a regulatory T cell - exists as a single large population of cells that constantly move throughout the body looking for, and repairing, damaged tissue.

It's difficult to think of a disease, injury or infection that doesn’t involve some kind of immune response, and our finding really changes the way we could control this response.Adrian ListonLouisa Wood/ Babraham InstituteDr James Dooley, a senior author of the study, in the laboratoryIn brief

• A single large population of healer cells, called regulatory T cells, is whizzing around our body - not multiple specialist populations restricted to specific parts of the body as previously thought.
• These cells shut down inflammation and repair the collateral damage to cells caused after our immune system has responded to injury or illness.
• Tests, in mice, of a drug developed by the researchers showed that regulatory T cells can be attracted to specific body parts, boosted in number, and activated to suppress immune response and rebuild tissue.
• Current anti-inflammatory drugs used for this purpose suppress the body’s whole immune system, making patients more vulnerable to infection.
• The discovery could lead to more targeted treatments, with fewer side-effects, for issues from lengthy COVID infections to autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis. Clinical trials in humans are now planned.

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YesLicence type: Attribution-Noncommerical

Professor Tony Kouzarides, Professor of Cancer Biology, Senior Group Leader at the Gurdon Institute and Director and Co-Founder of the Milner Institute, has been awarded a Knighthood for his services to Healthcare Innovation and Delivery. Professor Kouzarides said: “I am delighted to receive this honour, which reinforces the importance of translating basic research into therapies by engaging academic researchers with healthcare businesses.”

Professor Barbara Sahakian, Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology in the Department of Psychiatry and a Fellow at Clare Hall, receives a CBE. Professor Sahakian, who is known for her research aimed at understanding the neural basis of cognitive, emotional and behavioural dysfunction in order to develop more effective pharmacological and psychological treatments, is honoured for her services to Research in Human Cognitive Processes. Professor Sahakian said: “I am delighted to receive this prestigious award which recognises my research on human cognitive processes in health, psychiatric disorders and neurological diseases. I am grateful to my PhD students, post-doctoral fellows and colleagues for their collaboration."

Professor Christine Holt, Professor of Developmental Neuroscience, receives a CBE for services to Neuroscience. Professor Holt said: "I'm surprised and thrilled to receive this honour. It's a marvellous recognition of the research that has involved a whole team of talented, dedicated and inspiring colleagues over many years."

Professor David Menon, founder of the Neurosciences Critical Care Unit (NCCU) at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, has been awarded a CBE. Professor Menon, who is noted for his national and global clinical and research leadership in traumatic brain injury, is honoured for his services to Neurocritical Care. He said: “I am deeply honoured to be nominated for a CBE and accept it on behalf of all those who have worked with me, during what has been – and continues to be – a very rewarding career.”

Professor Patrick Maxwell, Regius Professor of Physic and Head of School of Clinical Medicine receives a CBE for services to Medical Research.

Alexandra Bolton, Director of the Climate Governance Initiative is awarded an OBE for services to the Built and Natural Environment. Alexandra said: "This wonderful and humbling recognition makes me in turn recognise the talented people who, throughout my career, have selflessly given me support, guidance and advice. I am enormously grateful for the honour, and for all those who have helped me along the way."

Professor Peter John Clarkson, Director of Cambridge Engineering Design Centre and Co-Director of Cambridge Public Health receives an OBE for services to Engineering and Design.

Professor Anne-Christine Davis, Professor of Mathematical Physics receives an OBE for services to Higher Education and to Scientific Research.

Professor Shruti Kapila, Professor of History and Politics receives an OBE for services to Research in Humanities.

Details of University of Cambridge alumni who are recognised in the King's Birthday Honours will be published on www.alumni.cam.ac.uk.

The University extends its congratulations to all academics, staff and alumni who have received an honour.

Academics and staff from the University of Cambridge are featured in the King's Birthday Honours 2024, which recognises the achievements and service of people across the UK, from all walks of life.

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Yes

When Eyjafjallajökull erupted in 2010, it ejected roughly 250 million tonnes of volcanic ash into the atmosphere: much of which was blown over Europe and into flight paths. With planes grounded, millions of air passengers were left stranded.

Forecasts of how ash will spread in the aftermath of an explosive eruption can help reduce impacts to aviation by informing decisions to shut down areas of airspace. But these forecasts require knowledge of what is happening at the volcano, information that often can’t be obtained directly and must instead be estimated.

In the new study, the researchers split a 17-minute film into time segments to understand how the Eyjafjallajökull ash cloud grew upwards and outwards as the eruption ensued.

“No one has previously observed the shape and speed of wind-blown ash clouds directly,” said Professor Andy Woods, lead author of the study from Cambridge’s Department of Earth Sciences and Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows. Their new video analysis method was reported in Nature Communications Earth and Environment.

By comparing characteristics of the ash cloud, such as its shape and speed, at time intervals through the video, the researchers were able to calculate the amount of ash spewed from the volcano.

That rate of ash flow, called eruption rate, is an important metric for forecasting ash cloud extent, said Woods. “The eruption rate determines how much ash goes up into the atmosphere, how high the ash cloud will go, how long the plume will stay buoyant, how quickly the ash will start falling to the ground and the area over which ash will land.”

Generally, the higher the ash plume, the wider the ash will be dispersed, and the smaller the ash particles are, the longer they stay buoyant. This dispersal can also depend on weather conditions, particularly the wind direction.

Volcanoes across the world are increasingly monitored via video, using webcams or high-resolution cameras. Woods thinks that, if high frame rate video observations can be accessed during an eruption, then this real-time information could be fed into ash cloud forecasts that more realistically reflect changing eruption conditions.

During the 17-minute footage of the Eyjafjallajökull eruption, the researchers observed that the eruption rate dropped by about half. “It’s amazing that you can learn eruption rate from a video, that’s something that we’ve previously only been able to calculate after an eruption has happened,” said Woods. “It’s important to know the changing eruption rate because that could impact the ash cloud dispersal downwind.”

It’s usually challenging for volcanologists to take continuous measurements of ash clouds whilst an eruption is happening. "Instead, much of our understanding of how ash clouds spread in the atmosphere is based on scaled-down lab models,” said Dr Nicola Mingotti, a researcher in Woods’ group and co-author of this study. These experiments are performed in water tanks, by releasing particle-laden or dyed saline solutions and analysing footage of the plume as it dissipates.

Woods and his collaborators have been running lab experiments like these for several years, most recently trying to understand how eruption plumes are dragged along by the wind. But it’s a big bonus to have video measurements from a real eruption, said Woods, and the real observations agree closely with what they’ve been observing in the lab. “Demonstrating our lab experiments are realistic is really important, both for making sure we understand how ash plumes work and that we forecast their movements effectively.”

Reference:
Mingotti, N., & Woods, A. W. (2024). Video-based measurements of the entrainment, speed and mass flux in a wind-blown eruption column. Communications Earth & Environment (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s43247-024-01402-x

 

Video footage of Iceland’s 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption is providing researchers from the University of Cambridge with rare, up-close observations of volcanic ash clouds — information that could help better forecast how far explosive eruptions disperse their hazardous ash particles.

Árni FriðrikssonEruption at Eyjafjallajökull April 17, 2010.

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YesLicence type: Attribution-ShareAlike

In pausing to think before making an important decision, we may imagine the potential outcomes of different choices we could make. While this ‘mental simulation’ is central to how we plan and make decisions in everyday life, how the brain works to accomplish this is not well understood. 

An international team of scientists has now uncovered neural mechanisms used in planning. Their results, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, suggest that an interplay between the brain’s prefrontal cortex and hippocampus allows us to imagine future outcomes to guide our decisions.

“The prefrontal cortex acts as a ‘simulator,’ mentally testing out possible actions using a cognitive map stored in the hippocampus,” said co-author Marcelo Mattar from New York University. “This research sheds light on the neural and cognitive mechanisms of planning—a core component of human and animal intelligence. A deeper understanding of these brain mechanisms could ultimately improve the treatment of disorders affecting decision-making abilities.”

The roles of both the prefrontal cortex—used in planning and decision-making—and hippocampus—used in memory formation and storage—have long been established. However, their specific duties in deliberative decision-making, which are the types of decisions that require us to think before acting, are less clear.

To illuminate the neural mechanisms of planning, Mattar and his colleagues—Kristopher Jensen from University College London and Professor Guillaume Hennequin from Cambridge’s Department of Engineering —developed a computational model to predict brain activity during planning. They then analysed data from both humans and rats to confirm the validity of the model—a recurrent neural network (RNN), which learns patterns based on incoming information. 

The model took into account existing knowledge of planning and added new layers of complexity, including ‘imagined actions,’ thereby capturing how decision-making involves weighing the impact of potential choices—similar to how a chess player envisions sequences of moves before committing to one. These mental simulations of potential futures, modelled as interactions between the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, enable us to rapidly adapt to new environments, such as taking a detour after finding a road is blocked.

The scientists validated this computational model using both behavioural and neural data. To assess the model’s ability to predict behaviour, the scientists conducted an experiment measuring how humans navigated an online maze on a computer screen and how long they had to think before each step.

To validate the model’s predictions about the role of the hippocampus in planning, they analysed neural recordings from rodents navigating a physical maze configured in the same way as in the human experiment. By giving a similar task to humans and rats, the researchers could draw parallels between the behavioural and neural data—an innovative aspect of this research.

“Allowing neural networks to decide for themselves when to 'pause and think' was a great idea, and it was surprising to see that in situations where humans spend time pondering what to do next, so do these neural networks,” said Hennequin. 

The experimental results were consistent with the computational model, showing an intricate interaction between the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. In the human experiments, participants’ brain activity reflected more time thinking before acting in navigating the maze. In the experiments with laboratory rats, the animals’ neural responses in moving through the maze resembled the model’s simulations.

“Overall, this work provides foundational knowledge on how these brain circuits enable us to think before we act in order to make better decisions,” said Mattar. “In addition, a method in which both human and animal experimental participants and RNNs were all trained to perform the same task offers an innovative and foundational way to gain insights into behaviours.”

“This new framework will enable systematic studies of thinking at the neural level,” said Hennequin. “This will require a concerted effort from neurophysiologists and theorists, and I'm excited about the discoveries that lie ahead.” 

Reference:
Kristopher T. Jensen, Guillaume Hennequin & Marcelo G. Mattar. ‘A recurrent network model of planning explains hippocampal replay and human behavior.’ Nature Neuroscience (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-024-01675-7

Adapted from an NYU press release.

Study uncovers how the brain simulates possible future actions by drawing from our stored memories.

Andriy Onufriyenko via Getty ImagesMetaverse portrait

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Yes

Restless leg syndrome can cause an unpleasant crawling sensation in the legs and an overwhelming urge to move them. Some people experience the symptoms only occasionally, while others get symptoms every day. Symptoms are usually worse in the evening or at night-time and can severely impair sleep.

Despite the condition being relatively common – up to one in 10 older adults experience symptoms, while 2-3% are severely affected and seek medical help – little is known about its causes. People with restless leg syndrome often have other conditions, such as depression or anxiety, cardiovascular disorders, hypertension, and diabetes, but the reason why is not known.

Previous studies had identified 22 genetic risk loci – that is, regions of our genome that contain changes associated with increased risk of  developing the condition. But there are still no known ‘biomarkers’ – such as genetic signatures – that could be used to objectively diagnose the condition.

To explore the condition further, an international team led by researchers at the Helmholtz Munich Institute of Neurogenomics, Institute of Human Genetics of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the University of Cambridge pooled and analysed data from three genome-wide association studies. These studies compared the DNA of patients and healthy controls to look for differences more commonly found in those with restless leg syndrome. By combining the data, the team was able to create a powerful dataset with more than 100,000 patients and over 1.5 million unaffected controls.

The results of the study are published today in Nature Genetics.

Co-author Dr Steven Bell from the University of Cambridge said: “This study is the largest of its kind into this common – but poorly understood – condition. By understanding the genetic basis of restless leg syndrome, we hope to find better ways to manage and treat it, potentially improving the lives of many millions of people affected worldwide.”

The team identified over 140 new genetic risk loci, increasing the number known eight-fold to 164, including three on the X chromosome. The researchers found no strong genetic differences between men and women, despite the condition being twice as common in women as it is men – this suggests that a complex interaction of genetics and the environment (including hormones) may explain the gender differences we observe in real life.

Two of the genetic differences identified by the team involve genes known as glutamate receptors 1 and 4 respectively, which are important for nerve and brain function. These could potentially be targeted by existing drugs, such as anticonvulsants like perampanel and lamotrigine, or used to develop new drugs. Early trials have already shown positive responses to these drugs in patients with restless leg syndrome.

The researchers say it would be possible to use basic information like age, sex, and genetic markers to accurately rank who is more likely to have severe restless leg syndrome in nine cases out of ten.

To understand how restless leg syndrome might affect overall health, the researchers used a technique called Mendelian randomisation. This uses genetic information to examine cause-and-effect relationships. It revealed that the syndrome increases the risk of developing diabetes.

Although low levels of iron in the blood are thought to trigger restless leg syndrome – because they can lead to a fall in the neurotransmitter dopamine – the researchers did not find strong genetic links to iron metabolism. However, they say they cannot completely rule it out as a risk factor.

Professor Juliane Winkelmann from TUM, one of senior authors of the study, said: “For the first time, we have achieved the ability to predict restless leg syndrome risk. It has been a long journey, but now we are empowered to not only treat but even prevent the onset of this condition in our patients.”

Professor Emanuele Di Angelantonio, a co-author of the study and Director of the NIHR and NHS Blood and Transplant-funded Research Unit in Blood Donor Health and Behaviour, added: "Given that low iron levels are thought to trigger restless leg syndrome, we were surprised to find no strong genetic links to iron metabolism in our study. It may be that the relationship is more complex than we initially thought, and further work is required."

The dataset included the INTERVAL study of England’s blood donors in collaboration with NHS Blood and Transplant.

A full list of funders can be found in the study paper.

Reference
Schormair et al. Genome-wide meta-analyses of restless legs syndrome yield insights into genetic architecture, disease biology, and risk prediction. Nature Genetics; 5 June 2024; DOI: 10.1038/s41588-024-01763-1

Scientists have discovered genetic clues to the cause of restless leg syndrome, a condition common among older adults. The discovery could help identify those individuals at greatest risk of the condition and point to potential ways to treat it.

By understanding the genetic basis of restless leg syndrome, we hope to find better ways to manage and treat it, potentially improving the lives of many millions of people affected worldwideSteven BellDANNY GWoman covered with white blanket

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YesLicence type: Public Domain

Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), an international team of astronomers led by the University of Cambridge observed a very young galaxy in the early universe and found that it contained surprising amounts of carbon, one of the seeds of life as we know it.

In astronomy, elements heavier than hydrogen or helium are classed as metals. The very early universe was almost entirely made up of hydrogen, the simplest of the elements, with small amounts of helium and tiny amounts of lithium.

Every other element that makes up the universe we observe today was formed inside a star. When stars explode as supernovas, the elements they produce are circulated throughout their host galaxy, seeding the next generation of stars. With every new generation of stars and ‘stardust’, more metals are formed, and after billions of years, the universe evolves to a point where it can support rocky planets like Earth and life like us.

The ability to trace the origin and evolution of metals will help us understand how we went from a universe made almost entirely of just two chemical elements, to the incredible complexity we see today.

“The very first stars are the holy grail of chemical evolution,” said lead author Dr Francesco D’Eugenio, from the Kavli Institute for Cosmology at Cambridge. “Since they are made only of primordial elements, they behave very differently to modern stars. By studying how and when the first metals formed inside stars, we can set a time frame for the earliest steps on the path that led to the formation of life.”

Carbon is a fundamental element in the evolution of the universe, since it can form into grains of dust that clump together, eventually forming into the first planetesimals and the earliest planets. Carbon is also key for the formation of life on Earth.

“Earlier research suggested that carbon started to form in large quantities relatively late – about one billion years after the Big Bang,” said co-author Professor Roberto Maiolino, also from the Kavli Institute. “But we’ve found that carbon formed much earlier – it might even be the oldest metal of all.”

The team used the JWST to observe a very distant galaxy – one of the most distant galaxies yet observed – just 350 million years after the Big Bang, more than 13 billion years ago. This galaxy is compact and low mass – about 100,000 times less massive than the Milky Way.

“It’s just an embryo of a galaxy when we observe it, but it could evolve into something quite big, about the size of the Milky Way,” said D’Eugenio. “But for such a young galaxy, it’s fairly massive.”

The researchers used Webb’s Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) to break down the light coming from the young galaxy into a spectrum of colours. Different elements leave different chemical fingerprints in the galaxy’s spectrum, allowing the team to determine its chemical composition. Analysis of this spectrum showed a confident detection of carbon, and tentative detections of oxygen and neon, although further observations will be required to confirm the presence of these other elements.

“We were surprised to see carbon so early in the universe, since it was thought that the earliest stars produced much more oxygen than carbon,” said Maiolino. “We had thought that carbon was enriched much later, through entirely different processes, but the fact that it appears so early tells us that the very first stars may have operated very differently.” 

According to some models, when the earliest stars exploded as supernovas, they may have released less energy than initially expected. In this case, carbon, which was in the stars’ outer shell and less gravitationally bound than oxygen, could have escaped more easily and spread throughout the galaxy, while a large amount of oxygen fell back and collapsed into a black hole.

“These observations tell us that carbon can be enriched quickly in the early universe,” said D’Eugenio. “And because carbon is fundamental to life as we know it, it’s not necessarily true that life must have evolved much later in the universe. Perhaps life emerged much earlier – although if there’s life elsewhere in the universe, it might have evolved very differently than it did here on Earth.”

The results have been accepted for publication in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics and are based on data obtained within the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES).

The research was supported in part by the European Research Council, the Royal Society, and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

 

Reference:
Francesco D’Eugenio et al. ‘JADES: Carbon enrichment 350 Myr after the Big Bang.’ Astronomy & Astrophysics (in press). DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2311.09908

Astronomers have detected carbon in a galaxy just 350 million years after the Big Bang, the earliest detection of any element in the universe other than hydrogen.

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Brant Robertson (UC Santa Cruz), Ben Johnson (CfA), Sandro Tacchella (Cambridge), Phill Cargile (CfA)Deep field image from JWST

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Yes

Researchers from the University of Cambridge used a method similar to charging a battery to instead charge activated charcoal, which is often used in household water filters.

By charging the charcoal ‘sponge’ with ions that form reversible bonds with CO2, the researchers found the charged material could successfully capture CO2 directly from the air.

The charged charcoal sponge is also potentially more energy efficient than current carbon capture approaches, since it requires much lower temperatures to remove the captured CO2 so it can be stored. The results are reported in the journal Nature.

“Capturing carbon emissions from the atmosphere is a last resort, but given the scale of the climate emergency, it’s something we need to investigate,” said Dr Alexander Forse from the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, who led the research. “The first and most urgent thing we’ve got to do is reduce carbon emissions worldwide, but greenhouse gas removal is also thought to be necessary to achieve net zero emissions and limit the worst effects of climate change. Realistically, we’ve got to do everything we can.”

Direct air capture, which uses sponge-like materials to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, is one potential approach for carbon capture, but current approaches are expensive, require high temperatures and the use of natural gas, and lack stability.

“Some promising work has been done on using porous materials for carbon capture from the atmosphere,” said Forse. “We wanted to see if activated charcoal might be an option, since it’s cheap, stable and made at scale.”

Activated charcoal is used in many purification applications, such as water filters, but normally it can’t capture and hold CO2 from the air. Forse and his colleagues proposed that if activated charcoal could be charged, like a battery, it could be a suitable material for carbon capture.

When charging a battery, charged ions are inserted into one of the battery’s electrodes. The researchers hypothesised that charging activated charcoal with chemical compounds called hydroxides would make it suitable for carbon capture, since hydroxides form reversible bonds with CO2.

The team used a battery-like charging process to charge an inexpensive activated charcoal cloth with hydroxide ions. In this process, the cloth essentially acts like an electrode in a battery, and hydroxide ions accumulate in the tiny pores of the charcoal. At the end of the charging process, the charcoal is removed from the “battery”, washed and dried.

Tests of the charged charcoal sponge showed that it could successfully capture CO2 directly from the air, thanks to the bonding mechanism of the hydroxides.

“It’s a new way to make materials, using a battery-like process,” said Forse. “And the rates of CO2 capture are already comparable to incumbent materials. But what’s even more promising is this method could be far less energy-intensive, since we don’t require high temperatures to collect the CO2 and regenerate the charcoal sponge.”

To collect the CO2 from the charcoal so it can be purified and stored, the material is heated to reverse the hydroxide-CO2 bonds. In most materials currently used for CO2 capture from air, the materials need to be heated to temperatures as high as 900°C, often using natural gas. However, the charged charcoal sponges developed by the Cambridge team only require heating to 90-100°C, temperatures that can be achieved using renewable electricity. The materials are heated through resistive heating, which essentially heats them from the inside out, making the process faster and less energy-intensive.

The materials do, however, have limitations that the researchers are now working on. “We are working now to increase the quantity of carbon dioxide that can be captured, and in particular under humid conditions where our performance decreases,” said Forse.

The researchers say their approach could be useful in fields beyond carbon capture, since the pores in the charcoal and the ions inserted into them can be fine-tuned to capture a range of molecules.

“This approach was a kind of crazy idea we came up with during the Covid-19 lockdowns, so it’s always exciting when these ideas actually work,” said Forse. “This approach opens a door to making all kinds of materials for different applications, in a way that’s simple and energy-efficient.”

A patent has been filed and the research is being commercialised with the support of Cambridge Enterprise, the University’s commercialisation arm.

The research was supported in part by the Leverhulme Trust, the Royal Society, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and the Centre for Climate Repair at Cambridge.

 

Reference:
Huaiguang Li et al. ‘Capturing carbon dioxide from air with charged sorbents.’ Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07449-2

Researchers have developed a low-cost, energy-efficient method for making materials that can capture carbon dioxide directly from the air.

The first and most urgent thing we’ve got to do is reduce carbon emissions worldwide, but greenhouse gas removal is also thought to be necessary to achieve net zero emissions and limit the worst effects of climate change. Realistically, we’ve got to do everything we canAlex ForseAlex ForseSample of activated charcoal used to capture carbon dioxide

The text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright ©University of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

Yes

The ANDES instrument will be installed on ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), currently under construction in Chile’s Atacama Desert. It will be used to search for signs of life in exoplanets and look for the very first stars. It will also test variations of the fundamental constants of physics and measure the acceleration of the Universe’s expansion.

The University of Cambridge is a member institution on the project, which involves scientists from 13 countries. Professor Roberto Maiolino, from Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory and Kavli Institute for Cosmology, is ANDES Project Scientist.  

Formerly known as HIRES, ANDES is a powerful spectrograph, an instrument which splits light into its component wavelengths so astronomers can determine properties about astronomical objects, such as their chemical compositions. The instrument will have a record-high wavelength precision in the visible and near-infrared regions of light and, when working in combination with the powerful mirror system of the ELT, it will pave the way for research spanning multiple areas of astronomy.

“ANDES is an instrument with an enormous potential for groundbreaking scientific discoveries, which can deeply affect our perception of the Universe far beyond the small community of scientists,” said Alessandro Marconi, ANDES Principal Investigator.

ANDES will conduct detailed surveys of the atmospheres of Earth-like exoplanets, allowing astronomers to search extensively for signs of life. It will also be able to analyse chemical elements in faraway objects in the early Universe, making it likely to be the first instrument capable of detecting signatures of Population III stars, the earliest stars born in the Universe.

In addition, astronomers will be able to use ANDES’ data to test if the fundamental constants of physics vary with time and space. Its comprehensive data will also be used to directly measure the acceleration of the Universe’s expansion, one of the most pressing mysteries about the cosmos.

When operations start later this decade, the ELT will be the world’s biggest eye on the sky, marking a new age in ground-based astronomy.

Adapted from an ESO press release. 

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has signed an agreement for the design and construction of ANDES, the ArmazoNes high Dispersion Echelle Spectrograph.

ESOArtist's impression of the ANDES instrument

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YesLicence type: Attribution

At first glance, the simple, spikey sea sponge is no creature of mystery.

No brain. No gut. No problem dating them back 700 million years. Yet convincing sponge fossils only go back about 540 million years, leaving a 160-million-year gap in the fossil record.

In a paper released in the journal Nature, an international team including researchers from the University of Cambridge, have reported a 550-million-year-old sea sponge from the “lost years” and proposed that the earliest sea sponges had not yet developed mineral skeletons, offering new parameters to the search for the missing fossils.

The mystery of the missing sea sponges centred on a paradox.

Molecular clock estimates, which involve measuring the number of genetic mutations that accumulate within the Tree of Life over time, indicate that sponges must have evolved about 700 million years ago. And yet, there had been no convincing sponge fossils found in rocks that old.

For years, this conundrum was the subject of debate among zoologists and palaeontologists.

This latest discovery fills in the evolutionary family tree of one of the earliest animals, connecting the dots all the way back to Darwin’s questions about when the first animals evolved and explaining their apparent absence in older rocks.

Shuhai Xiao from Virginia Tech, who led the research, first laid eyes on the fossil five years ago when a collaborator texted him a picture of a specimen excavated along the Yangtze River in China. “I had never seen anything like it before,” he said. “Almost immediately, I realised that it was something new.”

The researchers began ruling out possibilities one by one: not a sea squirt, not a sea anemone, not a coral. They wondered, could it be an elusive ancient sea sponge?

In an earlier study published in 2019, Xiao and his team suggested that early sponges left no fossils because they had not evolved the ability to generate the hard needle-like structures, known as spicules, that characterise sea sponges today.

The team traced sponge evolution through the fossil record. As they went further back in time, sponge spicules were increasingly more organic in composition, and less mineralised.

“If you extrapolate back, then perhaps the first ones were soft-bodied creatures with entirely organic skeletons and no minerals at all,” said Xiao. “If this was true, they wouldn’t survive fossilisation except under very special circumstances where rapid fossilisation outcompeted degradation.”

Later in 2019, Xiao’s group found a sponge fossil preserved in just such a circumstance: a thin bed of marine carbonate rocks known to preserve abundant soft-bodied animals, including some of the earliest mobile animals. Most often this type of fossil would be lost to the fossil record. The new finding offers a window into early animals before they developed hard parts.

The surface of the new sponge fossil is studded with an intricate array of regular boxes, each divided into smaller, identical boxes.

“This specific pattern suggests our fossilised sea sponge is most closely related to a certain species of glass sponges,” said first author Dr Xiaopeng Wang, from Cambridge’s Department of Earth Sciences and the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology.

Another unexpected aspect of the new sponge fossil is its size.

“When searching for fossils of early sponges I had expected them to be very small,” said co-author Alex Liu from Cambridge’s Department of Earth Sciences. “The new fossil can reach over 40 centimetres long, and has a relatively complex conical body plan, challenging many of our expectations for the appearance of early sponges”.

While the fossil fills in some of the missing years, it also provides researchers with important guidance about what they should look for, which will hopefully extend understanding of early animal evolution further back in time.

“The discovery indicates that perhaps the first sponges were spongey but not glassy,” said Xiao. “We now know that we need to broaden our view when looking for early sponges.”

Reference:
Xiaopeng Wang et al. ‘A late-Ediacaran crown-group sponge animal.’ Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07520-y

Adapted from a Virginia Tech press release.

The discovery, published in Nature, opens a new window on early animal evolution.

Dinghua YangArtist's impression of Helicolocellus

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Yes

Previous studies in both humans and animal models have shown that the offspring of mothers living with obesity have a higher risk of developing obesity and type 2 diabetes themselves when they grow up. While this relationship is likely to be the result of a complex relationship between genetics and environment, emerging evidence has implicated that maternal obesity in pregnancy can disrupt the baby’s hypothalamus—the region of the brain responsible for controlling food intake and energy regulation.

In animal models, offspring exposed to overnutrition during key periods of development eat more when they grow up, but little is known about the molecular mechanisms that lead to these changes in eating behavior.

In a study published today in PLOS Biology, researchers from the Institute of Metabolic Science and the MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit at the University of Cambridge found that mice born from obese mothers had higher levels of the microRNA miR-505-5p in their hypothalamus—from as early as the fetal stage into adulthood. The offspring of obese mothers chose to eat more specifically of foods that were high in fat, which is consistent with fat sensing being disrupted in the hypothalamus.  

Dr Laura Dearden from the Institute of Metabolic Science, the study’s first author, said: “Our results show that obesity during pregnancy causes changes to the baby's brain that makes them eat more high fat food in adulthood and more likely to develop obesity.”

Senior author Professor Susan Ozanne from the MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit and Institute of Metabolic Science said: “Importantly, we showed that moderate exercise, without weight loss, during pregnancies complicated by obesity prevented the changes to the baby's brain.”

Cell culture experiments showed that miR-505-5p levels can be influenced by exposing hypothalamic neurons to long-chain fatty acids and insulin, which are both high in pregnancies complicated by obesity. The researchers identified miR-505-5p as a regulator of pathways involved in fatty acid uptake and metabolism – high levels of the miRNA make the offspring brain unable to sense when they are eating high fat foods. Several of the genes that miR-505-5p regulates are associated with high body mass index in human genetic studies, showing these same changes in humans can cause obesity.

The study is one of the first to demonstrate the molecular mechanisms linking nutritional exposure in utero to eating behavior. 

Dr Dearden added: “While our work was only carried out in mice, it may help us understand why the children of mothers living with obesity are more likely to become obese themselves, with early life exposures, genetics and current environment all being contributing factors.”

Reference
Dearden, L et al. Maternal obesity increases hypothalamic miR-505-5p expression in mouse offspring leading to altered fatty acid sensing and increased intake of high-fat food. PLOS Biology; 4 Jun 2024; DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002641

Adapted from a press release by PLOS Biology

Maternal obesity in pregnancy changes the eating behaviors of offspring by increasing long-term levels of particular molecules known as microRNAs in the part of the brain that controls appetite ­– but this can be changed by exercise during pregnancy, a study in obese mice has suggested.

We showed that moderate exercise, without weight loss, during pregnancies complicated by obesity prevented the changes to the baby's brainSusan OzanneEngin_Akyurt (Pixabay)Fast food meal of burger and fries

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YesLicence type: Public Domain

A team of computer scientists, engineers, mathematicians and cognitive scientists, led by the University of Cambridge, developed an open-source evaluation platform called CheckMate, which allows human users to interact with and evaluate the performance of large language models (LLMs).

The researchers tested CheckMate in an experiment where human participants used three LLMs – InstructGPT, ChatGPT and GPT-4 – as assistants for solving undergraduate-level mathematics problems.

The team studied how well LLMs can assist participants in solving problems. Despite a generally positive correlation between a chatbot’s correctness and perceived helpfulness, the researchers also found instances where the LLMs were incorrect, but still useful for the participants. However, certain incorrect LLM outputs were thought to be correct by participants. This was most notable in LLMs optimised for chat.

The researchers suggest models that communicate uncertainty, respond well to user corrections, and can provide a concise rationale for their recommendations, make better assistants. Human users of LLMs should verify their outputs carefully, given their current shortcomings.

The results, reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), could be useful in both informing AI literacy training, and help developers improve LLMs for a wider range of uses.

While LLMs are becoming increasingly powerful, they can also make mistakes and provide incorrect information, which could have negative consequences as these systems become more integrated into our everyday lives.

“LLMs have become wildly popular, and evaluating their performance in a quantitative way is important, but we also need to evaluate how well these systems work with and can support people,” said co-first author Albert Jiang, from Cambridge’s Department of Computer Science and Technology. “We don’t yet have comprehensive ways of evaluating an LLM’s performance when interacting with humans.”

The standard way to evaluate LLMs relies on static pairs of inputs and outputs, which disregards the interactive nature of chatbots, and how that changes their usefulness in different scenarios. The researchers developed CheckMate to help answer these questions, designed for but not limited to applications in mathematics.

“When talking to mathematicians about LLMs, many of them fall into one of two main camps: either they think that LLMs can produce complex mathematical proofs on their own, or that LLMs are incapable of simple arithmetic,” said co-first author Katie Collins from the Department of Engineering. “Of course, the truth is probably somewhere in between, but we wanted to find a way of evaluating which tasks LLMs are suitable for and which they aren’t.”

The researchers recruited 25 mathematicians, from undergraduate students to senior professors, to interact with three different LLMs (InstructGPT, ChatGPT, and GPT-4) and evaluate their performance using CheckMate. Participants worked through undergraduate-level mathematical theorems with the assistance of an LLM and were asked to rate each individual LLM response for correctness and helpfulness. Participants did not know which LLM they were interacting with.

The researchers recorded the sorts of questions asked by participants, how participants reacted when they were presented with a fully or partially incorrect answer, whether and how they attempted to correct the LLM, or if they asked for clarification. Participants had varying levels of experience with writing effective prompts for LLMs, and this often affected the quality of responses that the LLMs provided.

An example of an effective prompt is “what is the definition of X” (X being a concept in the problem) as chatbots can be very good at retrieving concepts they know of and explaining it to the user.

“One of the things we found is the surprising fallibility of these models,” said Collins. “Sometimes, these LLMs will be really good at higher-level mathematics, and then they’ll fail at something far simpler. It shows that it’s vital to think carefully about how to use LLMs effectively and appropriately.”

However, like the LLMs, the human participants also made mistakes. The researchers asked participants to rate how confident they were in their own ability to solve the problem they were using the LLM for. In cases where the participant was less confident in their own abilities, they were more likely to rate incorrect generations by LLM as correct.

“This kind of gets to a big challenge of evaluating LLMs, because they’re getting so good at generating nice, seemingly correct natural language, that it’s easy to be fooled by their responses,” said Jiang. “It also shows that while human evaluation is useful and important, it’s nuanced, and sometimes it’s wrong. Anyone using an LLM, for any application, should always pay attention to the output and verify it themselves.”

Based on the results from CheckMate, the researchers say that newer generations of LLMs are increasingly able to collaborate helpfully and correctly with human users on undergraduate-level maths problems, as long as the user can assess the correctness of LLM-generated responses. Even if the answers may be memorised and can be found somewhere on the internet, LLMs have the advantage of being flexible in their inputs and outputs over traditional search engines (though should not replace search engines in their current form).

While CheckMate was tested on mathematical problems, the researchers say their platform could be adapted to a wide range of fields. In the future, this type of feedback could be incorporated into the LLMs themselves, although none of the CheckMate feedback from the current study has been fed back into the models.

“These kinds of tools can help the research community to have a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of these models,” said Collins. “We wouldn’t use them as tools to solve complex mathematical problems on their own, but they can be useful assistants if the users know how to take advantage of them.”

The research was supported in part by the Marshall Commission, the Cambridge Trust, Peterhouse, Cambridge, The Alan Turing Institute, the European Research Council, and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

 

Reference:
Katherine M. Collins, Albert Q. Jiang, et al. ‘Evaluating Language Models for Mathematics through Interactions.’ Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2318124121

 

Researchers have developed a platform for the interactive evaluation of AI-powered chatbots such as ChatGPT. 

Anyone using an LLM, for any application, should always pay attention to the output and verify it themselvesAlbert Jiangda-kuk via Getty ImagesChatbot

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Yes

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Deborah Prentice has written an article for the Financial Times reflecting on the University’s role as a driver of economic growth, innovation and productivity far beyond the city and its surrounding region.

She starts by comparing her current role with the one she had at Princeton in the United States where she worked for more than 30 years, latterly as its Provost. She discusses how Cambridge contributes to the UK at a scale and with a significance that no single US university can match, outlining its clear role to play as a national university, in the service of the country:

"Cambridge already contributes around £30bn each year to the UK economy. This delivers benefits right across the country. It is Europe’s 'unicorn' capital. Over the past three decades, 178 spin-outs and more than 200 start-ups connected to it have emerged, including semi-conductor giant Arm and the global life sciences firm Abcam. This success is no accident. For years, Cambridge has done things differently. The university’s intellectual property management policy is liberal, providing greater freedom to our researchers and ensuring that they benefit from the commercialisation of their ideas. We have established science parks, venture capital funds and accelerator programmes. Cambridge is now a globally significant place to start and grow businesses."

To continue with this success, she argues, Cambridge needs to be able to attract the brightest minds to the UK, something she considers to be at risk if the new government continues to pursue policies that make it appear unwelcoming to those from outside the UK:

"... they send a not-so-subtle message that foreigners are not welcome here. That alone is enough to deter talented students and academics, who are increasingly looking to the US, Asia, to other parts of Europe — our competitors for talent — for a warm welcome. Indeed, for Cambridge to sustain the success of our innovation ecosystem we need the brightest and best from the UK and around the world to come here — especially as postgraduate research students — and for a better environment to support them."

She urges that government to not just focus on infrastructure but to create an environment that supports other objectives in areas such as patents, licences, spin outs, industry collaborations and venture funding. This kind of reform, she says, would help universities like Cambridge really take off: 

"Britain is in a global competition; I know first-hand that what US universities spend on research in Boston and Silicon Valley is many times larger than what we see coming from our leading institutions in the UK. Despite this, Cambridge is ranked first globally for science intensity; we should aspire for it also to be the leader in translating research for economic impact. At the moment it is very good, but not yet great. The lessons for incoming ministers set on solving this country’s productivity under-performance are there to be learnt from our example, in terms of the barriers we face and the support we lack. This is both a huge challenge and huge opportunity for whoever wins the general election."

 

We need the brightest and best from the UK and around the world to come hereProf Deborah PrenticeDeborah Prentice

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Yes

Crucial strongholds for biodiversity are under threat as temperatures are rising in tropical forests, the world’s most diverse terrestrial ecosystems, a new study reveals.

It has been long assumed that the forest subcanopy and understorey – where direct sunlight is reduced – would be insulated from the worst climate change impacts by the shielding effect of the forest canopy.

A new study, published today in the journal Nature Climate Change, used a microclimate model to examine temperatures beneath the rainforest canopy across the global tropics.

This showed that between 2005 and 2019, most of the world’s undisturbed tropical forests experienced climate conditions at least partially outside the range of historic conditions. Many areas had transitioned to almost entirely new temperature averages.

Until recently, temperatures beneath the canopy in rainforests have remained relatively stable, meaning that the wildlife that lives there has evolved within a narrow range of temperatures. This leaves it poorly adapted to deal with temperatures outside this range.

The study found pronounced shifts in climate regimes in a significant proportion of tropical forests, including globally important national parks, indigenous reserves, and large tracts of ecologically unfragmented areas.

Recent studies in largely undisturbed, or primary lowland tropical forests have found changes in species composition and significant declines in animal, insect, and plant populations. These changes are attributed to warming temperatures and are consistent with the findings of the new research.

"Tropical forests are the true powerhouses of global biodiversity, and the complex networks of species they contain underpin vast carbon stocks that help to mitigate climate change. A severe risk is that species are no longer able to survive within tropical forests as climate change intensifies, further exacerbating the global extinction crisis and degrading rainforest carbon stocks," said Professor David Edwards at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Plant Sciences, a study co-author.   

“Our study challenges the prevailing notion that tropical forest canopies will mitigate climate change impacts and it helps us understand how to prioritise conservation of these key areas of biodiversity effectively,” said Dr Alexander Lees, Reader in Biodiversity at Manchester Metropolitan University, a study co-author.

He added: “It is paramount that distant, wealth-related drivers of deforestation and degradation are addressed and that the future of those forests acting as climate refuges is secured by effecting legal protection, and by empowering indigenous communities.

“Notwithstanding the fundamental need for global carbon emission reductions, the prioritisation and protection of refugia and the restoration of highly threatened forests is vital to mitigate further damage to global tropical forest ecosystems.”

“Tropical forests, home to many of the world’s highly specialised species, are particularly sensitive to even small changes in climate,” said Dr Brittany Trew, Conservation Scientist for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and lead author of the study.

She added: “Our research shows that climate change is already impacting vast areas of pristine tropical forest globally. To provide species with the best chance to adapt to these changes, these forests must be protected from additional human-induced threats.”

“The world's rainforests are incredible reservoirs of biodiversity, harbouring species that live in micro-environments in which climate conditions are generally stable. Thus, they are particularly sensitive to any changes brought about by climate change. It is vital that we take measures to safeguard these ecosystems from human pressures,” said Ilya Maclean, Professor of Global Change Biology at the University of Exeter and senior author of the study.

The study was made possible through a global collaboration that included researchers at Mountains of the Moon University, Uganda; Universidade Federal do Pará, Brazil; the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation and Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco, Perú. It was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Reference: Trew, B.T. et al: ‘Novel temperatures are already widespread beneath the world’s tropical forest canopies.’ Nature Climate Change, June 2024. DOI: 10.1038/s41558-024-02031-0

Adapted from a press released by Manchester Metropolitan University

Assumptions that tropical forest canopies protect from the effects of climate change are unfounded, say researchers.

A severe risk is that species are no longer able to survive within tropical forests as climate change intensifies, further exacerbating the global extinction crisis and degrading rainforest carbon stocks.David EdwardsAlexander LeesRainforest on the south-eastern edge of Amazonia, Brazil

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YesLicence type: Attribution-Noncommerical

The theory of coevolution says that when closely interacting species drive evolutionary changes in each other this can lead to speciation - the evolution of new species. But until now, real-world evidence for this has been scarce.

Now a team of researchers has found evidence that coevolution is linked to speciation by studying the evolutionary arms race between cuckoos and the host birds they exploit.

Bronze-cuckoos lay their eggs in the nests of small songbirds. Soon after the cuckoo chick hatches, it pushes the host’s eggs out of the nest. The host not only loses all its own eggs, but spends several weeks rearing the cuckoo, which takes up valuable time when it could be breeding itself.

Each species of bronze-cuckoo closely matches the appearance of their host’s chicks, fooling the host parents into accepting the cuckoo.

The study shows how these interactions can cause new species to arise when a cuckoo species exploits several different hosts. If chicks of each host species have a distinct appearance, and hosts reject odd-looking nestlings, then the cuckoo species diverges into separate genetic lineages, each mimicking the chicks of its favoured host. These new lineages are the first sign of new species emerging.

The study is published today in the journal Science.

“This exciting new finding could potentially apply to any pairs of species that are in battle with each other. Just as we’ve seen with the cuckoo, the coevolutionary arms race could cause new species to emerge - and increase biodiversity on our planet,” said Professor Kilner in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Zoology, a co-author of the report.

The striking differences between the chicks of different bronze-cuckoo lineages correspond to subtle differences in the plumage and calls of the adults, which help males and females that specialise on the same host to recognise and pair with each other.

“Cuckoos are very costly to their hosts, so hosts have evolved the ability to recognise and eject cuckoo chicks from their nests,’’ said Professor Naomi Langmore at the Australian National University, Canberra, lead author of the study. 

She added: “Only the cuckoos that most resemble the host’s own chicks have any chance of escaping detection, so over many generations the cuckoo chicks have evolved to mimic the host chicks.”

The study revealed that coevolution is most likely to drive speciation when the cuckoos are very costly to their hosts, leading to a ‘coevolutionary arms race’ between host defences and cuckoo counter-adaptations.

A broad scale analysis across all cuckoo species found that those lineages that are most costly to their hosts have higher speciation rates than less costly cuckoo species and their non-parasitic relatives.

“This finding is significant in evolutionary biology, showing that coevolution between interacting species increases biodiversity by driving speciation,” said Dr Clare Holleley at the Australian National Wildlife Collection within CSIRO, Canberra, senior author of the report.

The study was made possible by the team’s breakthrough in extracting DNA from eggshells in historical collections, and sequencing it for genetic studies.

The researchers were then able to combine two decades of behavioural fieldwork with DNA analysis of specimens of eggs and birds held in museums and collections.

The study involved an international team of researchers at the University of Cambridge, Australian National University, CSIRO (Australia’s national science agency), and the University of Melbourne. It was funded by the Australian Research Council.

Reference: Langmore, N.E. et al: ‘Coevolution with hosts underpins speciation in brood-parasitic cuckoos.’ Science, May 2024. DOI: 10.1126/science.adj3210

Adapted from a press release by the Australian National University.

Two decades of cuckoo research have helped scientists to explain how battles between species can cause new species to arise

This exciting new finding could potentially apply to any pairs of species that are in battle with each other...the coevolutionary arms race could cause new species to emerge - and increase biodiversity on our planetRebecca KilnerMark LethleanMale wren (left) brings food to a cuckoo fledgling (right)

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YesLicence type: Attribution-Noncommerical

Found in a region near the Hubble Ultra Deep Field by the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) team, these galaxies mark a major milestone in the study of the early Universe.

“These galaxies join a small but growing population of galaxies from the first half billion years of cosmic history where we can really probe the stellar populations and the distinctive patterns of chemical elements within them,” said Dr Francesco D’Eugenio of the Kavli Institute for Cosmology at the University of Cambridge, one of the team behind the discovery.

Because of the expansion of the Universe, the light from distant galaxies stretches to longer wavelength as it travels, an effect known as redshift. In these galaxies, the effect is extreme, stretching by a factor of 15, and moving even the ultraviolet light of the galaxies to infrared wavelengths where only JWST has the capability to see it.

Modern theory holds that galaxies develop in special regions where gravity has concentrated the cosmic gas and dark matter into dense lumps known as ‘halos’. These halos evolved quickly in the early Universe, rapidly merging into more and more massive collections of matter. This fast development is why astronomers are so eager to find yet earlier galaxies: each small increment moves our eyes to a less developed period, where luminous galaxies are even more distinctive and unusual.

The two newly discovered galaxies have been confirmed spectroscopically. In keeping with the collaboration’s standard naming practice, the galaxies are now known as JADES-GS-z14-0 and JADES-GS-z14-1, the former being the more distant of the two.

In addition to being the new distance record holder, JADES-GS-z14-0 is remarkable for how big and bright it is. JWST measures the galaxy at over 1,600 light-years in diameter. Many of the most luminous galaxies produce the bulk of their light via gas falling into a supermassive black hole, producing a quasar, but at this size JADES-GS-z14-0 cannot be this. Instead, the researchers believe the light is being produced by young stars.

The combination of the high luminosity and the stellar origin makes JADES-GS-z14-0 the most distinctive evidence yet found for the rapid formation of large, massive galaxies in the early Universe. This trend runs counter to the pre-JWST expectations of theories of galaxy formation. Evidence for surprisingly vigorous early galaxies appeared even in the first JWST images and has been mounting in the first two years of the mission.

“JADES-GS-z14-0 now becomes the archetype of this phenomenon,” said Dr Stefano Carniani of the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, lead author on the discovery paper. “It is stunning that the Universe can make such a galaxy in only 300 million years.”

Despite its luminosity, JADES-GS-z14-0 was a puzzle for the JADES team when they first spotted it over a year ago, as it appears close enough on the sky to a foreground galaxy that the team couldn’t be sure that the two weren’t neighbours. But in October 2023, the JADES team conducted even deeper imaging—five full days with the JWST Near-Infrared Camera on just one field—to form the “JADES Origins Field.” With the use of filters designed to better isolate the earliest galaxies, confidence grew that JADES-GS-z14-0 was indeed very distant.

“We just couldn’t see any plausible way to explain this galaxy as being merely a neighbour of the more nearby galaxy,” said Dr Kevin Hainline, research professor at the University of Arizona.

Fortunately, the galaxy happened to fall in a region where the team had conducted ultra-deep imaging with the JWST Mid-Infrared Instrument. The galaxy was bright enough to be detected in 7.7 micron light, with a higher intensity than extrapolation from lower wavelengths would predict.

“We are seeing extra emission from hydrogen and possibly even oxygen atoms, as is common in star-forming galaxies, but here shifted out to an unprecedented wavelength,” said Jakob Helton, graduate student at the University of Arizona and lead author of a second paper on this finding.

These combined imaging results convinced the team to include the galaxy in what was planned to be the capstone observation of JADES, a 75-hour campaign to conduct spectroscopy on faint early galaxies. The spectroscopy confirmed their hopes that JADES-GS-z14-0 was indeed a record-breaking galaxy and that the fainter candidate, JADES-GS-z14-1, was nearly as far away.

Beyond the confirmation of distance, the spectroscopy allows further insight into the properties of the two galaxies. Being comparatively bright, JADES-GS-z14-0 will permit detailed study.

“We could have detected this galaxy even if it were 10 times fainter, which means that we could see other examples yet earlier in the Universe—probably into the first 200 million years,” says Brant Robertson, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of California-Santa Cruz, and lead author of a third paper on the team’s study of the evolution of this early population of galaxies. “The early Universe has so much more to offer.”

The two earliest and most distant galaxies yet confirmed, dating back to only 300 million years after the Big Bang, have been discovered using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), an international team of astronomers today announced.

These galaxies join a small but growing population of galaxies from the first half billion years of cosmic history where we can really probe the stellar populations and the distinctive patterns of chemical elements within themFrancesco D’EugenioNASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Brant Robertson (UC Santa Cruz), Ben Johnson (CfA), Sandro Tacchella (Cambridge), Phill Cargile (CfA)Infrared image showing JADES-GS-z14-0 galaxy

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Yes