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The 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine goes to discoveries of temperature & pressure sensing

The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has today decided to award the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch.

Here are two phone interviews by Adam Smith of the Nobelprize.org website with the two Laureates:

 

Our ability to sense heat, cold and touch is essential for survival and underpins our interaction with the world around us. In our daily lives we take these sensations for granted, but how are nerve impulses initiated so that temperature and pressure can be perceived? This question has been solved by this year’s Nobel Prize laureates.

David Julius utilised capsaicin, a pungent compound from chili peppers that induces a burning sensation, to identify a sensor in the nerve endings of the skin that responds to heat. Ardem Patapoutian used pressure-sensitive cells to discover a novel class of sensors that respond to mechanical stimuli in the skin and internal organs. These breakthrough discoveries launched intense research activities leading to a rapid increase in our understanding of how our nervous system senses heat, cold, and mechanical stimuli. The laureates identified critical missing links in our understanding of the complex interplay between our senses and the environment.

How do we perceive the world?

One of the great mysteries facing humanity is the question of how we sense our environment. The mechanisms underlying our senses have triggered our curiosity for thousands of years, for example, how light is detected by the eyes, how sound waves affect our inner ears, and how different chemical compounds interact with receptors in our nose and mouth generating smell and taste. We also have other ways to perceive the world around us. Imagine walking barefoot across a lawn on a hot summer’s day. You can feel the heat of the sun, the caress of the wind, and the individual blades of grass underneath your feet. These impressions of temperature, touch and movement are essential for our adaptation to the constantly changing surrounding.

In the 17th century, the philosopher René Descartes envisioned threads connecting different parts of the skin with the brain. In this way, a foot touching an open flame would send a mechanical signal to the brain (Figure 1). Discoveries later revealed the existence of specialised sensory neurons that register changes in our environment. Joseph Erlanger and Herbert Gasser received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1944 for their discovery of different types of sensory nerve fibers that react to distinct stimuli, for example, in the responses to painful and non-painful touch. Since then, it has been demonstrated that nerve cells are highly specialised for detecting and transducing differing types of stimuli, allowing a nuanced perception of our surroundings; for example, our capacity to feel differences in the texture of surfaces through our fingertips, or our ability to discern both pleasing warmth, and painful heat.

Prior to the discoveries of David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian, our understanding of how the nervous system senses and interprets our environment still contained a fundamental unsolved question: how are temperature and mechanical stimuli converted into electrical impulses in the nervous system?

Figure 1 Illustration depicting how the philosopher René Descartes imagined how heat sends mechanical signals to the brain.

The science heats up!

In the latter part of the 1990’s, David Julius at the University of California, San Francisco, USA, saw the possibility for major advances by analysing how the chemical compound capsaicin causes the burning sensation we feel when we come into contact with chili peppers. Capsaicin was already known to activate nerve cells causing pain sensations, but how this chemical actually exerted this function was an unsolved riddle. Julius and his co-workers created a library of millions of DNA fragments corresponding to genes that are expressed in the sensory neurons which can react to pain, heat, and touch. Julius and colleagues hypothesised that the library would include a DNA fragment encoding the protein capable of reacting to capsaicin. They expressed individual genes from this collection in cultured cells that normally do not react to capsaicin. After a laborious search, a single gene was identified that was able to make cells capsaicin sensitive (Figure 2). The gene for capsaicin sensing had been found! Further experiments revealed that the identified gene encoded a novel ion channel protein and this newly discovered capsaicin receptor was later named TRPV1. When Julius investigated the protein’s ability to respond to heat, he realised that he had discovered a heat-sensing receptor that is activated at temperatures perceived as painful (Figure 2).

Figure 2 David Julius used capsaicin from chili peppers to identify TRPV1, an ion channel activated by painful heat. Additional related ion channels were identified and we now understand how different temperatures can induce electrical signals in the nervous system.

The discovery of TRPV1 was a major breakthrough leading the way to the unravelling of additional temperature-sensing receptors. Independently of one another, both David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian used the chemical substance menthol to identify TRPM8, a receptor that was shown to be activated by cold. Additional ion channels related to TRPV1 and TRPM8 were identified and found to be activated by a range of different temperatures. Many laboratories pursued research programs to investigate the roles of these channels in thermal sensation by using genetically manipulated mice that lacked these newly discovered genes. David Julius’ discovery of TRPV1 was the breakthrough that allowed us to understand how differences in temperature can induce electrical signals in the nervous system.

Research under pressure!

While the mechanisms for temperature sensation were unfolding, it remained unclear how mechanical stimuli could be converted into our senses of touch and pressure. Researchers had previously found mechanical sensors in bacteria, but the mechanisms underlying touch in vertebrates remained unknown. Ardem Patapoutian, working at Scripps Research in La Jolla, California, USA, wished to identify the elusive receptors that are activated by mechanical stimuli.

Patapoutian and his collaborators first identified a cell line that gave off a measurable electric signal when individual cells were poked with a micropipette. It was assumed that the receptor activated by mechanical force is an ion channel and in a next step 72 candidate genes encoding possible receptors were identified. These genes were inactivated one by one to discover the gene responsible for mechanosensitivity in the studied cells. After an arduous search, Patapoutian and his co-workers succeeded in identifying a single gene whose silencing rendered the cells insensitive to poking with the micropipette. A new and entirely unknown mechanosensitive ion channel had been discovered and was given the name Piezo1, after the Greek word for pressure (í; píesi). Through its similarity to Piezo1, a second gene was discovered and named Piezo2. Sensory neurons were found to express high levels of Piezo2 and further studies firmly established that Piezo1 and Piezo2 are ion channels that are directly activated by the exertion of pressure on cell membranes (Figure 3).

Figure 3 Patapoutian used cultured mechanosensitive cells to identify an ion
channel activated by mechanical force. After painstaking work, Piezo1 was
identified. Based on its similarity to Piezo1, a second ion channel was found
(Piezo2).

The breakthrough by Patapoutian led to a series of papers from his and other groups, demonstrating that the Piezo2 ion channel is essential for the sense of touch. Moreover, Piezo2 was shown to play a key role in the critically important sensing of body position and motion, known as proprioception. In further work, Piezo1 and Piezo2 channels have been shown to regulate additional important physiological processes including blood pressure, respiration and urinary bladder control.

It all makes sense!

The groundbreaking discoveries of the TRPV1, TRPM8 and Piezo channels by this year’s Nobel Prize laureates have allowed us to understand how heat, cold and mechanical force can initiate the nerve impulses that allow us to perceive and adapt to the world around us. The TRP channels are central for our ability to perceive temperature. The Piezo2 channel endows us with the sense of touch and the ability to feel the position and movement of our body parts. TRP and Piezo channels also contribute to numerous additional physiological functions that depend on sensing temperature or mechanical stimuli. Intensive ongoing research originating from this year’s Nobel Prize awarded discoveries focusses on elucidating their functions in a variety of physiological processes. This knowledge is being used to develop treatments for a wide range of disease conditions, including chronic pain (Figure 4).

Figure 4 The seminal discoveries by this year’s Nobel Prize laureates have explained how heat, cold and touch can initiate signals in our nervous system. The identified ion channels are important for many physiological processes and disease conditions.

Source: https://www.nobelprize.org/

Key publications

Caterina MJ, Schumacher MA, Tominaga M, Rosen TA, Levine JD, Julius D. The capsaicin receptor: a heat-activated ion channel in the pain pathway. Nature 1997:389:816-824.

Tominaga M, Caterina MJ, Malmberg AB, Rosen TA, Gilbert H, Skinner K, Raumann BE, Basbaum AI, Julius D. The cloned capsaicin receptor integrates multiple pain-producing stimuli. Neuron 1998:21:531-543.

Caterina MJ, Leffler A, Malmberg AB, Martin WJ, Trafton J, Petersen-Zeitz KR, Koltzenburg M, Basbaum AI, Julius D. Impaired nociception and pain sensation in mice lacking the capsaicin receptor. Science 2000:288:306-313

McKemy DD, Neuhausser WM, Julius D. Identification of a cold receptor reveals a general role for TRP channels in thermosensation. Nature 2002:416:52-58

Peier AM, Moqrich A, Hergarden AC, Reeve AJ, Andersson DA, Story GM, Earley TJ, Dragoni I, McIntyre P, Bevan S, Patapoutian A. A TRP channel that senses cold stimuli and menthol. Cell 2002:108:705-715

Coste B, Mathur J, Schmidt M, Earley TJ, Ranade S, Petrus MJ, Dubin AE, Patapoutian A. Piezo1 and Piezo2 are essential components of distinct mechanically activated cation channels. Science 2010:330: 55-60

Ranade SS, Woo SH, Dubin AE, Moshourab RA, Wetzel C, Petrus M, Mathur J, Bégay V, Coste B, Mainquist J, Wilson AJ, Francisco AG, Reddy K, Qiu Z, Wood JN, Lewin GR, Patapoutian A. Piezo2 is the major transducer of mechanical forces for touch sensation in mice. Nature 2014:516:121-125

Woo S-H, Lukacs V, de Nooij JC, Zaytseva D, Criddle CR, Francisco A, Jessell TM, Wilkinson KA, Patapoutian A. Piezo2 is the principal mechonotransduction channel for proprioception. Nature Neuroscience 2015:18:1756-1762

David Julius was born in 1955 in New York, USA. He received a Ph.D. in 1984 from University of California, Berkeley and was a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University, in New York. David Julius was recruited to the University of California, San Francisco in 1989 where he is now Professor.

Ardem Patapoutian was born in 1967 in Beirut, Lebanon. In his youth, he moved from a war-torn Beirut to Los Angeles, USA and received a Ph.D. in 1996 from California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Francisco. Since 2000, he is a scientist at Scripps Research, La Jolla, California where he is now Professor. He is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator since 2014.

Illustrations: © The Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine. Illustrator: Mattias Karlén

Did you know?

  • 112 Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine have been awarded between 1901 and 2021.
  • 12 women have been awarded the medicine prize so far.
  • 32 years was the age of the youngest medicine laureate ever, Frederick G. Banting, who was awarded the 1923 medicine prize for the discovery of insulin.
  • 87 years was the age of the oldest medicine laureate ever, Peyton Rous, when he was awarded the medicine prize in 1966 for his discovery of tumour-inducing viruses.

The Nobel Assembly, consisting of 50 professors at Karolinska Institutet, awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Its Nobel Committee evaluates the nominations. Since 1901 the Nobel Prize has been awarded to scientists who have made the most important discoveries for the benefit of humankind.

Nobel Prize® is the registered trademark of the Nobel Foundation.

Cover image illustration of David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian, The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2021. CREDIT: Ill. Niklas Elmehed © Nobel Prize Outreach

Kid's Health, Our Environment

Learn nature’s secrets with Bali-based Kenny Peavy!

Learn Nature’s Secrets!

Explore Nature and Learn the mysteries of Nature and her inhabitants. We’ll explore cool habitats, learn fun facts, and discover the amazing and interesting stories Nature has to tell us! Let’s connect with as many inhabitants here as we can while creating lives full of adventure, learning and building healthy and sustainable communities! Along the way, we’ll explore Nature’s Secrets alongside Sustainable Living, BALANCED Living, Wellbeing, Mindfulness, Creating a Healthy Lifestyle, and discover how we can connect with People and Planet. It’s incredibly crucial that we make deep connections with Nature and spend time discovering her secrets while we Learn to Love Life on The Pale Blue Dot.

 

 

We only have one planet as far as I can tell. I reckon it would be best if we learned to get along and start sharing this place we all call home. For Samara. You will never know how much happiness and Joy you bring to me. May the sun forever shine after the rain on this Pale Blue Dot we all share. Attributions All photos by Kenny Peavy shot on location in Borobudur (Java, Indonesia), Prabanan (Java, Indonesia), Kuala Lumpur (Bukit Kiara, Malaysia), Tioman Island (Malaysia), FRIM (Malaysia), Sirinat National Park (Phuket, Thailand) Krabi (Thailand), Gunung Leuseur National Park (Bukit Lawang, Sumatra), Inspired by The Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan.

Kenny Peavy

Attributions: All photos by Kenny Peavy shot on location in Borobudur (Java, Indonesia), Prabanan (Java, Indonesia), Kuala Lumpur (Bukit Kiara, Malaysia), Tioman Island (Malaysia), FRIM (Malaysia), Sirinat National Park (Phuket, Thailand) Krabi (Thailand), Gunung Leuseur National Park (Bukit Lawang, Sumatra), Inspired by The Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan.

If you are interested in Nature, Biology, Ecology, Natural History & Sustainable living, subscribe or follow Kenny Peavy:

Cite this article:

Originally published in Asia Fitness Today, “Learn nature’s secrets with Bali-based Kenny Peavy!”, Authored by: Jasmine Low, URL: https://www.asiafitnesstoday.com/learn-natures-secrets-with-bali-based-kenny-peavy/, first published on 29 August 2021.

Reprinting enquiries:

click here

Diet & Nutrition, Healthy Recipes, Wellness

A Healthier Twist to Malaysia’s Favourite Local Dishes

Three nutritionists from Malaysia’s Alpro Pharmacy have come together to create healthier versions of much-loved Malaysian breakfast dishes.

Without much further ado, here are the recipes:

Roti ‘Wholemeal’ Sarang Burung (Bird’s Nest)

Ingredients A

2 slices of wholemeal bread

1 whole egg

1 teaspoon of butter

1 slice of cheddar cheese

Ingredients B

2 teaspoons of boiled chicken

1 teaspoon of holland onion

1 teaspoon of capsicum

1 teaspoon of tomato

1 teaspoon of button mushroom

Ingredients C

Pinch of salt

Black pepper powder

Chili flakes

Method

  1. Dice the holland onion, capsicum, tomato, and mushroom.
  2. Shred the chicken.
  3. Mix Ingredients B in a bowl.
  4. Mix Ingredients C with Ingredients B and mix well.
  5. Spread butter on the bread.
  6. With butter side up, place the slices of bread in a cup, making sure to cover the bottom entirely and allowing the bread corners to extend above the rims. Use a spoon the press to make the bird’s nest shape.
  7. Pour the mixed ingredients onto the bread.
  8. Put cheese on top.
  9. Crack the egg into the cup.
  10. Bake the bread at 150 C – 160 C for 3-5 minutes (in an air fryer)

Thosai

Ingredients

500gms thosai flour

6 cups of water

2 scoops of metabolic sauver

1 teaspoon of metabolic virgin coconut oil

Method

1. Mix the thosai flour with the six cups of water. Mix well and allow it to sit for 30 minutes.

2. Stir the batter until it reaches pouring consistency.

3. Add 2 scoops of metabolic sauver.

4. Heat a pan and grease it with a little bit of metabolic virgin coconut oil.

5. Using a serving spoon, pick up a spoonful of batter and pour it at the center of the pan. Spread the batter quickly with the serving spoon. Note that the batter should not touch the edges of the pan.

6. Trickle a bit of metabolic virgin coconut oil around the edges.

7. When the edges begin to brown, flip the batter.

8. Let it cook for around 1 minute.

9. After one minute, your thosai is ready to be consumed.

Kolo Mee (Chicken)

Cite this article:

Published by Asia Fitness Today, “A Healthier Twist to Malaysia’s Favourite Local Dishes”, Authored by: Alpro Pharmacy, URL: https://www.asiafitnesstoday.com/a-healthier-twist-to-malaysias-favorite-local-dishes/, first published on 27 August 2021.

Reprinting enquiries:

click here

AFTNews, Daily Digest, PRNews

Sarcopenia Prevention

Studies have shown that after middle age, adults will on average lose three percent of their muscle strength with each passing year.  This progressive loss of muscle strength has been associated with shorter life expectancy and reduced quality of life, when compared to individuals who have maintained normal muscle strength.

Loss of muscle mass – also known as sarcopenia – is a common consequence of the aging process and contributes to, weakness, balance instability, and age-related decline of health and well being. 

Fortunately, there are simple and effective ways to prevent muscle breakdown and the health impact of sarcopenia with age.

Use it or lose it

The muscles need regular use to maintain their strength and function.  The ill effects of a sedentary lifestyle and immobility for prolonged periods of time lead to an accelerated muscle loss and weakness.  Therefore, the first step for reducing the risk of sarcopenia is to reduce physical inactivity by adopting a consistent fitness routine.  Research has shown that the best approach is to engage in aerobic and resistance training, along with balance exercises for maintaining muscle strength.

Protein Power

The body requires an adequate amount of calories and nutrients to function properly.  A diet that lacks essential nutrients such as protein, fails to provide the building blocks necessary to grow, repair, and maintain muscle health.  The latest nutrition recommendations suggest that healthy adults consume approximately 0.8 grams of protein per 1 kg of body weight and increase with greater physical activity levels.  Try to include healthy portions of foods and snacks that are high in protein, throughout the day.  Some high protein sources include fish, lean meats, eggs and dairy products, nuts and seeds, beans, and tofu.

Strengthen Digestion

Unfortunately, as we age, our digestion becomes weaker and without a strong digestive process, even a healthy diet may fail to provide essential nutrients required to maintain the health and function of your muscles.  It’s important to support all aspects of the digestive sequence to maximize nutrient breakdown and absorption.  Starting with the mouth by maintaining proper oral hygiene, regular dental checkups, and chewing your food thoroughly.  In general, you can consume smaller portions and eat more times to ensure adequate intake of nutrients and lessen the digestive burden of large, heavy meals.  You can include a small cup of warm lime water before meals to stimulate digestion, support acidity, and promote digestive enzyme function.

Practice Wellness Promotion

The importance of staying healthy cannot be overstated and although there are numerous reasons to practice a wellness lifestyle, here’s one more benefit to consider.  Chronic illness, such as inflammation, places significant stress on the mind and body.  This prolonged stress response leads to the breakdown of muscle, as seen in chronic liver and kidney disease, as well as cancer.  Also, the feeling of fatigue, soreness, and overall lack of well being discourages or hinders physical movement, resulting in muscle loss and weakness due to inactivity.  When it comes to chronic illness, prevention through practicing a wellness lifestyle is possible.

By Dr. Jason Culp

Research & Development Director

Chiva-Som International Health Resort

AFT TV, Documentary, Our Environment, Wellness

5 documentaries that bring hope in Regenerating our Planet

Team AFT explores the narrative about people who are trying to make a positive change for the planet. People who are regenerating lands and greening the planet with regenerative agriculture. We’ve handpicked five titles for your enjoyment. It must be mentioned, that we got onto this exploratory path after watching Diana Rodgers RD’s Sacred Cow. A Real Food Nutritionist, Author & Sustainability Advocate, Rodgers’ film discusses the meat industry that’s being blamed for everything from cancer to global warming. Are cattle being unfairly scapegoated?

 

1. Fools & Dreamers: Regenerating a native forest

Summary: Fools & Dreamers: Regenerating a Native Forest is a 30-minute documentary telling the story of Hinewai Nature Reserve, on New Zealand’s Banks Peninsula, and its kaitiaki/manager of 30 years, botanist Hugh Wilson. When, in 1987, Hugh let the local community know of his plans to allow the introduced ‘weed’ gorse to grow as a nurse canopy to regenerate farmland into native forest, people were not only skeptical but outright angry – the plan was the sort to be expected only of “fools and dreamers”.

Now considered a hero locally and across the country, Hugh oversees 1500 hectares resplendent in native forest, where birds and other wildlife are abundant and 47 known waterfalls are in permanent flow. He has proven without doubt that nature knows best – and that he is no fool.

Find out more about the film at foolsanddreamers.com

Directed by Jordan Osmond & Antoinette Wilson
Written by Antoinette Wilson, Jordan Osmond, and Nick Tucker
Producer: Antoinette Wilson
Executive producer: Quatro Trust
Cinematography: Jordan Osmond & Jason Hosking
Editing: Jordan Osmond
Sound recording: Anna Veale
Original score: Karl Steven and Ariana Tikao
Sound mixing: James Henderson
Color grade: Mike Kelland

2. Regreening the desert with John D. Liu

Summary: For more than 15 years, cameraman and ecologist John D. Liu has been working on his worldwide mission to green deserts and to restore biodiversity. It all started in 1995 when Liu filmed the Loess-plateau in China. He witnessed a local population who turned an area of almost the same size as The Netherlands from a dry, exhausted wasteland into one green oasis. This experience changed his life. From that moment on, Liu has been travelling all over the world to convince and inspire government leaders, policy-makers and farmers with his film material and knowledge. Liu diligently spreads the message that restoration of ecosystems is not only possible, but also economically very meaningful. Backlight accompanies Liu on his mission in Jordan and shows on the basis of Liu’s own film material that a green future is possible worldwide.

Originally broadcasted by VPRO in 2012. © VPRO Backlight April 2012 On VPRO broadcast you will find nonfiction videos with English subtitles, French subtitles and Spanish subtitles, such as documentaries, short interviews and documentary series. VPRO Documentary publishes one new subtitled documentary about current affairs, finance, sustainability, climate change or politics every week. We research subjects like politics, world economy, society and science with experts and try to grasp the essence of prominent trends and developments.

3. This country isn’t just carbon neutral – it’s carbon negative

Summary: Deep in the Himalayas, on the border between China and India, lies the Kingdom of Bhutan, which has pledged to remain carbon neutral for all time. In this illuminating talk, Bhutan’s Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay shares his country’s mission to put happiness before economic growth and set a world standard for environmental preservation.

4. ecologyst films presents Farmer.Sailor.Chef

Summary: Taking place on land and sea, Farmer.Sailor.Chef follows the adventure of the Providence (the oldest working vessel in BC, a 1903 80′ tall ship). Sail with her owner and captain, Simon Fawkes, and his crew across the Salish Sea to Salt Spring Island, off the coast of Vancouver Island. Pause en route to fish with wild chef and fisherman Teddy Cusco, landing at the beautiful biodynamic Stowell Lake Farm. A farm renowned in the local area for its community ownership model, its beautiful quiet spaces, and its abundant fresh veg from regenerative farming practices. The film dives into our characters’ stories and sustainable practices, sunrise to sunset on the farm, and the wild BC landscape. It culminates in a visually captivating celebratory meal outside with produce from the farm and other hyperlocal ingredients, cooked up by the film’s chef, Kyle Gerrard.

A delight for the senses, an ode to BC’s adventurous spirit, a culinary experience. Step aboard.

Directed by Cam MacArthur
Executive Producer: Rene Gauthier
Co-Executive Producers: Simon Fawkes and Kyle Gerrard
Associate Producer: Momme Halbe
Cinematographers: Cam MacArthur and Hugh Allen
Sound by Jasper Sassaman
Edited by Cam MacArthur and Gabriel Swift

5. Unbroken Ground: Revolutions start from the bottom

Summary: Unbroken Ground explains the critical role food will play in the next frontier of our efforts to solve the environmental crisis. It explores four areas of agriculture that aim to change our relationship to the land and oceans. Most of our food is produced using methods that reduce biodiversity, decimate soil and contribute to climate change. We believe our food can and should be a part of the solution to the environmental crisis – grown, harvested and produced in ways that restore our land, water and wildlife. The film tells the story of four groups that are pioneers in the fields of regenerative agriculture, regenerative grazing, diversified crop development and restorative fishing.

AFTNews, PRNews

Coway Run 2021: Uniting the Nation (Virtually!) in The Pursuit of Better Health

Update (26 August 2021): Tickets for the Coway Run 2021: Run for Your Region has sold out within 24 hours of launch! But fret not as additional tickets will be on sale soon!

After months of lockdown and work-from-home mandates, Malaysians have had their fill of sitting around at home. With our current sedentary and isolated lifestyles, many of us may be looking for some extra motivation to stay healthy, or craving for ways to connect with each other safely. 

This is precisely why Coway Malaysia is organising Coway Run 2021: Run for Your Region this September; its first inter-regional virtual run that combines fun, healthy living, and community spirit in one exciting event. Kicking off on 23 September until 23 October, the month-long run allows participants to run anytime and anywhere — as long as they keep their feet moving to log in those kilometres.

Being an inter-regional event, this year’s run will see participants teaming up by region (Northern, Central, Southern, East Coast and East Malaysia) for a friendly nationwide competition. Within their teams, runners are encouraged to rack up as many kilometres as they can — the team with the highest average distance per person will be crowned as the overall winner. With five regional teams in the race, this is the perfect opportunity for runners to display their home-town pride and show off what their fellow statesmen are capable of.  At the same time, runners can also indulge in the shared experience with their peers from all across the country.

On an individual level, participants this year can expect an even more interactive experience. To keep runners motivated throughout the month, Coway Run 2021 has ramped up its “gamified” approach to inject a bit more fun and variety in the participants’ running journey. 

While participants can choose to run anywhere they please, they will also have access to a “live” map of their route which will display their progress visually. In addition to this, runners can also collect virtual achievement badges for every 5KM milestone reached.

Those keen on philanthropy will be excited to learn that Coway Run 2021 has “tripled” its commitment to doing good, with three different causes linked to the run. As with previous years, for every ticket sold, Coway will contribute RM10 to Happy Water Project, their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative to deliver clean water to impoverished Orang Asli communities across the country. 

Coway Run 2021 has also set a nationwide goal for participants to collectively achieve 200,000KM. Once participants hit this milestone, Coway Malaysia will donate a total of RM200,000 to three non-governmental organisations (NGOs) – EcoKnights, MERCY Malaysia and Reef Check Malaysia. An act that will surely inspire runners to work together and give it their all. 

Finally, this year will also see a big change in the type of merchandise runners will receive in their Starter Kits. In a bid to encourage environmental awareness among participants and spark an eco-friendly movement, most items from the Coway Run 2021 merchandise (including medals) will be either recyclable or made from recycled materials. 

Of course, no Coway Run is complete without amazing prizes for exceptional participants. The winning regional team will be given the chance to take part in a bonus lucky draw and win exclusive Coway products. Meanwhile, the top runners who log in the most kilometres will each receive a special reward. 

Whether you are just starting your fitness journey, or a seasoned runner looking to get back into the scene, Coway Run 2021 is the perfect chance for you to not only connect with like-minded running enthusiasts, but also a fun way of giving back to the community. 

The run is open to all Malaysian citizens or residents aged 16 and above, and participants must register online at the Coway Run 2021 website before 23 October 2021. To automatically record the distance covered during the run, participants can make use of the free app Strava and sync it to their Coway Run profile. Alternatively, they may also manually upload screenshots of their logs in other running or fitness apps suggested in the Coway Run website, to show their KM achieved in their Coway Run account.

So, let’s harness our sense of pride and be part of this virtual run scene while burning the calories with family and friends – ticket rate starts from RM39 per head!

To find out more information and sign up for the run, kindly visit: www.cowayrun.com.my 

AFTNews, AFTNews, Olympics

AIS congratulates Olympians for inspirational Games

Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) CEO Peter Conde said the success of the Australian team at the Tokyo Olympic Games is a testament not only to our outstanding athletes and coaches, but also the collaboration and teamwork within the nation’s high performance sector.

Australia finished the delayed Games in Japan sixth place on the medal tally and equalled the country’s best ever Olympics in Athens 2004 by winning 17 gold medals, as well as seven silver and 22 bronze.  An amazing achievement for a nation of our size.

The achievements from Tokyo included Australia’s best performance in the pool since 1956, inaugural medals in skateboarding, surfing and BXM Freestyle, the first beach volleyball medal since the Sydney Games, the end of a three-decade medal drought in men’s boxing, the Boomers first ever medal in basketball and some outstanding performances and medals in Athletics.

“This is an historic result for sport in Australia and I would like to congratulate every athlete, coach and performance support staff member for an inspirational 19 days in Japan,” Mr Conde said.

“Never before has there been a Games surrounded by so many challenges and uncertainty. Our athletes showed incredible resilience and courage and I couldn’t be happier to see them rewarded by this success.

“Big lessons were learnt following the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and I am proud of the leadership role the AIS has played in helping to unite the high performance sector and support our athletes. Podiums are a measure of success but so is having our athletes and teams as such an incredible source of pride and inspiration for the nation.

“The AIS Gold Medal Ready Program represents the wonderful legacy of Olympic sport, with more than 40 former Olympic and Paralympic gold medal winning athletes and coaches mentoring our current team in the lead up to Tokyo.

“The evolution and advancement of the inaugural National High Performance Sport Strategy, signed by all states and territory sporting bodies in 2018, has strengthened collaborative partnerships across the whole sporting sector and provided a collective vision for sport in Australia. I would like to thank all our partners in the National Institute Network for their hard work and contribution to the success we have seen in Japan.”

“It’s fantastic for the future to see that 13 of the record equalling 17 medals won featured at least one athlete making their Olympic debut. We also saw athletes such as Rohan Browning and Peter Bol make huge statements on the world stage, showing that their best is yet to come,” Mr Conde said.

“The future of Australian sport is looking bright and the AIS is proud to play a part in supporting our athletes as the focus turns to Paris and beyond. Through Federal Government investment, the AIS provides $14 million per annum in direct support to athletes through dAIS grants, and in the lead up to Tokyo. Thanks to the Australian Government, this funding will continue through to 2024, along with significant funding support for National Sporting Organisations to provide coaching, performance support, international competition, performance pathways programs and wellbeing programs, enabling the AIS to carry on supporting Australian high performance sport.”

“On behalf of everyone at the AIS, I would like to congratulate Matt Carroll as CEO and Ian Chesterman as Chef de Mission and the entire Australian Olympic Committee. There were many who doubted whether the Games could or should go ahead, and the work done by the AOC to get our athletes to Tokyo and keep them safe is extraordinary.  Their determination to provide an outstanding performance-focused environment at the Games was pivotal.

“While we will miss tuning in every day to see our Australian Olympians achieve the remarkable, the good news is that we are just over a week away from the start of the Paralympic Games. On behalf of the AIS, I wish all our Paralympians preparing for Tokyo good luck and we can’t wait to see you perform on the world stage.”

Source: AFTNN

Rhythm & Movement

The Kurang Manis Playlist

Help! I’m pre-diabetic! The Kurang Manis (Sugar, Less) Podcast goes in search of ways to avoid diabetes. We interview health & fitness personalities from Asia and the Pacific; athletes, medical doctors, allied health professionals, fitness & wellness experts and people living with diabetes. Co-hosts Nikki Yeo & Jasmine Low chat over a cuppa tea! In Malaysia, it’s the Teh Tarik, made frothy by swift hand movements of a tea-pulling expert but 8tsp of condensed milk in one cup?! Kurang manis, boss! Less sugar please…

In each episode of The Kurang Manis (Sugar, Less) Podcast, our producers have selected music to complement and celebrate the essence of the personalities of our guest speakers (click on links below to view the interviews with each guest speaker). Here’s the playlist for your enjoyment:

AFTNews, AFTNews, Rhythm & Movement

Haifa Kamal releases “A Córdoba” – a flawless collision of Arabic ballads and Flamenco music

Haifa Kamal

With her calming voice that flies over the world of flamenco along with the enchanting guitar rhythms, Haifa Kamal, an independent Jordanian singer, releases her mini-album “A Córdoba” (To Cordoba) in collaboration with Obaider, a Palestinian-founded Spanish flamenco band.

Three songs are released in this mini album on various digital music platforms, such as Anghami, Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, and SoundCloud, with each song including a ballad from a different era. While “Shamsu Ennahari” is by Safi Al Din Al Hilli, a fourteenth-century Arab poet, “Asafa Al Hawa” is by Sumaya Saleh, a contemporary Syrian poet, and “En Konta” is by eighteenth-century poet and priest, Nicolas Al Sayegh Al Halabi.

The melodic Spanish tunes that accompany Kamal’s soothing voice are composed and arranged by Obaider, an independent Palestinian band founded by Baider Burman and Obai Al Bitar. Musicians from Spain and Sweden alongside Obaider are behind the tunes of both “Shamsu Ennahari” and “Asafa Al Hawa,” while “En Konta” is composed and arranged by Alvaro Llanos, the bass guitarist in the band.

This iconic team has worked on the album since the outbreak of the coronavirus at the beginning of 2020. Difficult production conditions were imposed due to the lockdowns brought by the pandemic, which extended the music recording for months. With few hours in hand not controlled by quarantine, musicians participating from Spain, Sweden, Jordan, and Qatar found time to work on the project.

The musicians include Haifa Kamal as lead singer, Baider Burman, and Obai Al Bitar on the guitar, Alvaro Llanos as bass guitarist, Manuel Arango on the percussion, Yehia Najem and Alexandra Shabo as backing vocals, along with Najati Al Suloh managing the production.

Haifa Kamal, who aspires to present a new style in each of her projects, adds in this album a new color to her musical career. Like all of her previous productions, this production is also considered independent. She has previously produced “Denya”, an independent album in 2014, and “#TheEDMProject” in 2018, in addition to dozens of singles between her first album and the last one, released this year.

Despite its higher cost and longer completion time, Haifa Kamal says that she prefers independent production. This is because she can not only manage the quality but also seek diversity in each of her works. While this “independency” releases her from the stress of being limited to what is usually required from production companies, it also allows her to shape her musical identity.

It is worth noting that Kamal holds a bachelor’s degree in music from the National Music Conservatory – Jordan, with a concentration in Arabic singing. Although she released her first album in 2014, the beginning of her music career goes way back. Her father, the Palestinian composer and musician Kamal Khalil, discovered her talent when she was six. Since then, she became the youngest lead singer of his band, Baladna. She has also participated in several music projects, such as the Rum Tariq Al-Nasser Group, the Amman Band for Arabic Music, and the National Institute of Music Orchestra, as well as singing different theme songs for Arabic drama series such as “Laysa Saraban”, “Wish Raja’ak”, “Al Aswar”, “Samarkand” and others.

Kamal has also participated in many local music festivals such as Jerash Festival and Fuheis Festival in Jordan. She has also made an appearance in international festivals in Scotland, Cyprus, Tunisia, Opera House in Cairo, Qurain Festival in Kuwait, Opera House in Damascus, and National Day celebrations in the United Arab Emirates.

Obaider is a Palestinian band founded by Baider Burman and Obai Al Bitar, with the participation of musicians from Spain and Sweden. Mixing between Arabic poetry and Spanish Flamenco music, this Andalusian- style band brings different music tastes from all around the world together. They aim not only to show the beauty of the Arabic language but also to allow the youth to reach the language from a different perspective.

Source: PRNewsGIG/AFTNN

AFT Features, AFTNews, AFTNews, Diet & Nutrition, Diet & Nutrition, Diet & Nutrition, Features Japan, Research

Study finds eating protein during breakfast is best for muscle growth

Researchers find the best time to consume proteins for building and strengthening muscles is during breakfast.

Proteins are essential for body growth and muscle building. However, protein metabolism varies depending on the body’s internal biological clock. Therefore, it is important to know how distribution of protein intake over the day affects muscles. Researchers from Japan have now found that consumption of proteins at breakfast increases muscle size and function in mice and humans, shedding light on the concept of ‘Chrononutrition’ that deals with the timing of diets to ensure organ health.

Image courtesy Waseda University

Proteins constitute an essential dietary component that help in the growth and repair of the body. Composed of long chains of amino acids, proteins promote the growth of skeletal muscles, the group of muscles that help us move. Humans have been aware of the benefits of proteins for long. However, recent studies have shown that having the right amount of protein at the right time of the day is essential for proper growth. This is called ‘Chrononutrition,’ in which when you eat is as important as what and how you eat.

The reason behind this is the body’s internal biological clock, called the ‘circadian rhythm.’ This rhythm is followed by all cells and controls life functions like metabolism and growth. Interestingly, protein digestion and absorption have been found to fluctuate across day and night according to this clock. Moreover, earlier studies have reported that intake of protein at breakfast and lunch promotes skeletal muscle growth in adults. However, details on the effect of the time of protein intake on muscle growth and function have remained elusive.

Researchers from Waseda University, led by Professor Shigenobu Shibata, recently endeavoured to understand the effect of the distribution of protein intake through the day on muscles. They fed laboratory mice two meals per day containing either high (11.5% by proportion) or low (8.5% by proportion) protein concentrations. The researchers noted that protein intake at breakfast induced an increase in muscle growth, determined by assessing induced hypertrophy of the plantaris muscle in the leg, when compared with the effects of protein intake at dinner. Specifically, the ratio of muscle hypertrophy determined against the growth of the control muscle was 17% higher in mice fed 8.5% protein at breakfast, than that in mice fed 11.5% protein at dinner, despite the former group consuming a low proportion of protein overall. They also found that intake of a type of protein called the BCCA, short for branched-chain amino acids, early in the day increased the size of skeletal muscles specifically.

Infographic provided by Waseda University

To confirm the association of these effects with the workings of the circadian rhythm, the researchers next engineered whole-body mutant ClockΔ19 or muscle-specific Bmal1 knockout mice lacking the genes that control the biological clock. They repeated diet distribution experiments on these mice but did not observe similar muscle change, which confirmed the involvement of the circadian rhythm in muscle growth in the context of protein intake.

Excited about the findings of their study published in a recent issue of the Cell Reports, Prof. Shibata emphasizes, “Protein-rich diet at an early phase of the daily active period, that is at breakfast, is important to maintain skeletal muscle health and enhance muscle volume and grip strength.”

To check if their findings were applicable to humans, the team recruited women in their study and tested if their muscle function, determined by measuring skeletal muscle index (SMI) and grip strength, varied with the timing of the protein-rich diet consumed. Sixty women aged 65 years and above who took protein at breakfast rather than at dinner showed better muscle functions, suggesting the possibility of the findings to be true across species.  Additionally, the researchers also found a strong association between SMI and the proportion of protein intake at breakfast relative to total protein intake through the day.

Prof. Shibata is hopeful that the findings of their study will lead to a widespread modification in the current diet regime of most people across the Western and Asian countries, who traditionally consume low amounts of protein at breakfast.

“For humans, in general, the protein intake at breakfast averages about 15 grams, which is less than what we consume at dinner, which is roughly 28 grams. Our findings strongly support changing this norm and consuming more protein at breakfast or morning snacking time.”

– Professor Shigenobu Shibata

It seems, a simple change in our dietary regime can be our key to ensuring healthy muscles!

References:

Authors: Shinya Aoyama (1,2,5), Hyeon-Ki Kim (1,2), Rina Hirooka (1), Mizuho Tanaka (1), Takeru Shimoda (1), Hanako Chijiki (1), Shuichi Kojima (1), Keisuke Sasaki (1), Kengo Takahashi (1), Saneyuki Makino (1), Miku Takizawa (1), Masaki Takahashi (1), Yu Tahara (1), Shigeki Shimiba (4), Kazuyuki Shinohara (5), Shigenobu Shibata, Ph.D. (1)

Title of original paper: Distribution of dietary protein intake in daily meals influences skeletal muscle hypertrophy via the muscle clock

Journal: Cell Reports

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109336

Affiliations:        

(1) Laboratory of Physiology and Pharmacology, School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University

(2) Organization for University Research Initiatives, Waseda University

(3) Institute for Liberal Arts, Tokyo Institute of Technology

(4) Department of Health Science, School of Pharmacy, Nihon University

(5) Department of Neurobiology & Behavior, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University

About Waseda University 

Located in the heart of Tokyo, Waseda University is a leading private research university that has long been dedicated to academic excellence, innovative research, and civic engagement at both the local and global levels since 1882. The University ranks number one in Japan in international activities, including the number of international students, with the broadest range of degree programs fully taught in English. To learn more about Waseda University, visit https://www.waseda.jp/top/en  

This article was written by Waseda University and verified by AFT’s editorial team. Prof. Shibata heads the Department of Electrical Engineering and Bioscience, Faculty of Science and Engineering at Tokyo’s prestigious Waseda University (pictured above). His research focuses on basic and applied studies of biological rhythms for health science and industry. The human biological clock monitors the chronological timing of our body. Disruptive body clock systems have been known to cause various mental diseases such as developmental problems, insomnia, depression and also metabolic diseases such as obesity, hypercholesteremia and alcoholism, and cancer disease. In order to promote good health, Prof. Shibata’s team studies basic and applied sciences of biological clock systems based on chronobiology, chrono-pharmacology, chrono-nutrition and chrono-exercise using animals and humans. They focus on interventions such as functional foods and nutrients, exercises like running and swimming for maintaining healthy circadian rhythm. It is their desire to propose healthy advice for chrono-nutrition and chrono-exercise to enable good health and for industrial products. Learn more: http://www.chrono-nutrition.jp/