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Daniel Dunaief

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Above, an AI-Grid prototype that is being built by the research team. Image courtesy of Stony Brook Power Lab

By Daniel Dunaief

The Department of Energy is energized by the possibility of developing and enhancing microgrids.

What are microgrids? They are autonomous local power systems that have small, independent and often decentralized energy sources. Often, they use renewable energy, like wind or solar power, although some use natural gas or diesel.

The DOE’s dedication to developing these microgrids may cut costs, create efficiencies and enhance energy reliability.

Peng Zhang. Photo from SBU

Peng Zhang, SUNY Empire Innovation Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Stony Brook University, is leading a diverse team of researchers and industry experts who received $5 million of a $50 million investment the DOE recently made to developing, enhancing and improving microgrid technology.

Bringing together these energy experts, Zhang hopes to use artificial intelligence to create a usable, reliable and efficient source of energy, particularly during periods of power outages or disruption to the main source of energy.

“The traditional microgrid operation is based on models and human operators,” Zhang said. “We developed this data-driven or AI-based approach.”

Artificial intelligence can enhance the safety and reliability of microgrids that can receive and transmit power.

One of the objectives of the systems Zhang and his collaborators are developing will include protecting the power supplies against faults, accidents from natural disasters and cyberattacks.

“This project led by Professor Zhang is a great example demonstrating the impact of this novel research on essential infrastructure that we rely on daily,” Richard Reeder, Vice President for Research at Stony Brook University, said in a statement.

Zhang said he has verified the methods for this AI-driven approach in the lab and in a simulation environment.

“Now, it’s time to demonstrate that in more realistic, microgrid settings,” he said. He is working with microgrid representatives in Connecticut, Illinois and New York City. His team will soon work with a few representative microgrids to establish a more realistic testing environment.

The urgency to demonstrate the feasibility of this approach is high. “We need to kick the project off immediately,” said Zhang, whose team is recruiting students, postdocs, administrative staff and technicians to meet a two-year timeline.

The group hopes AI-grids can be used in different microgrids around the country. If the platform is generic enough, it can have wide applications without requiring significant modifications.

While operators of a microgrid might be able to know the ongoing status, they normally are not able to respond to contingencies manually. “It’s impossible for the operator to know the ongoing status” of power sources and power use that can change readily, Zhang explained. “That’s why we had to rely on a data driven approach.”

Additionally, end users of electricity don’t necessarily want their neighbors to know about their power needs. They may not want others who are using the same microgrid system to know what appliances or hardware are in their homes.

Instead, the system will rely on the data collected within each microgrid, which reflects the behavior at different intervals. Those energy needs can change, as people turn on a TV or unplug a wind turbine.

At the same time, the power system load and generation need to remain in balance. Microgrids that produce more energy than the system or end users need can send them to a utility grid or to neighboring microds or communities. If they don’t send that energy to others who might use it, they can lose some of that energy.

Power needs to be balanced between supply and demand. Storage systems can buffer an energy imbalance, although the cost of such storage is still high. Researchers in other departments at Stony Brook and Brookhaven National Laboratory are pursuing ways to improve efficiencies and reduce energy storage costs.

Balancing energy is challenging in most microgrids, which rely on intermittent and uncertain renewable energy sources such as sunlight. In this project, Zhang plans to connect several microgrids together into a “mega microgrid system,” that can allow any system with a surplus to push extra energy into one with a deficiency.

Microgrids aren’t currently designed to replace utilities. They may reduce electricity bills during normal operations and can become more useful during emergencies when supplies from utilities are lower.

While artificial intelligence actively runs the system, people are still involved in these programmable microgrids and can override any recommendations.

In addition to having an alarm in the event that a system is unsafe or unstable, the systems have controllers in place who can restore the system to safer functioning. The programming is flexible enough to change to meet any utility needs that differ from the original code.

In terms of cybersecurity, the system will have three lines of defense to protect against hacking.

By scanning, the system can localize an attack and mitigate it. Even if a hacker disabled one controller, the control function would pop up in a different place to replace it, which would increase the cost for the attacker.

Stony Brook created a crypto control system. “If an attacker got into our system, all the information would be useless, because he would not understand what this signal is about,” Zhang said.

While he plans to publish research from his efforts, Zhang said he and others would be careful in what they released to avoid providing hackers with information they could use to corrupt the system.

For Zhang, one of the appeals of coming to Stony Brook, where he arrived two years ago and was promoted last month to Professor from Associate Professor, was that the university has one of the best and best-funded microgrid programs in the country.

Zhang feels like he’s settled into the Stony Brook community, benefiting from interacting with his neighbors at home and with a wide range of colleagues at work. He appreciates how top scholars at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard and national labs have proactively approached Stony Brook to establish collaborations.

Zhang is currently discussing a Phase II collaboration on a microgrid project with the Navy, which has funded his research since his arrival. “Given the federal support [from the Navy], I was able to recruit top people in the lab,” he said, including students from Columbia and Tsinghua University.

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Steve Bellone. Stock photo by Rita J. Egan

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) tested positive for COVID-19.

The County Executive, who is vaccinated and has been observing mask mandates, is unsure of how he contracted the virus.

Bellone has mild symptoms and is currently not receiving any medical treatment.

“I hope this serves as a reminder to all residents that while we are making incredible progress in the war against COVID-19, we are not done just yet,” Bellone said in a statement. “I encourage anyone who is eligible to receive their booster shot to do so.”

At this point, no other members of his office staff or his family has tested positive.

Bellone said he feels in “good health and spirits,” according to the statement. He will continue to carry out the duties of the County Executive.

Meanwhile, the percentage of positive tests on a seven-day average in Suffolk County fell below 3% on Oct. 20, dropping to 2.9%, according to the Suffolk County Department of Health.

Local health care providers have been encouraged by the overall decline in positive tests, which they attribute in part to ongoing vaccination efforts.

The Food and Drug Administration provided emergency use authorization for the Moderna booster for a specific groups of people who were fully vaccinated at least six months ago. Those groups include: people 65 years and older; people 18 through 64 who are considered at high risk; and people 18 through 64 with occupational exposure.

The FDA also approved the use of a single booster dose for people who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at least two months ago.

The FDA also allowed a mix and match approach to boosters, authorizing those who received one type of vaccination to choose a different booster. Local health care providers said studies have shown that people who received the J&J vaccine had a higher antibody response after receiving a Moderna booster.

“The available data suggest waning immunity in some populations who are fully vaccinated,” Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodccock said in a statement. “The availability of those authorized boosters is important for continued protection against COVID-19 disease.”

Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research said the FDA would gather additional data as quickly as possible to assess the benefits and risks of the us of booster doses in additional populations and plans to update the healthcare community and the public in the coming weeks.

For more information on vaccines in the area, residents can go to the web site: suffolkcountyny.gov/vaccine.

The web site also includes answers to frequently asked questions, such as: what are the side effects after I get the COVID-19 vaccine, is it safe to get a COVID-19 vaccine if I have an underlying medical condition, and what should I do if I am exposed to COVID-19 after being vaccinated.

Early in the pandemic, Bellone remained in quarantine and managed his responsibilities from home after Deputy County Executive Peter Scully tested positive for the virus. Bellone didn’t test positive at that point, although he, like so many others in the early days of the disease, waited days for the results of his COVID test.

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Stock photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

With 10 weeks left until the end of 2021, it seems fitting to consider what we might put into a time capsule that future generations might open to understand the strange world that was so incredibly different from the one just two years ago.

Here are a few items I’d throw into a box I’d bury or shoot into space.

— Masks. Even with so many events where people aren’t wearing masks, including huge gatherings of fans at sporting events, masks are still a part of our lives in 2021.

— A Netflix app. I’m not a streaming TV person. Most of my regular TV watching involves sports or movies (many of which I’ve seen a few times before). Still, I got caught up in the “Stranger Things” phenomenon and am now impressed with the storylines from “Madam Secretary,” which include prescient references to our withdrawal from Afghanistan and to the potential (and now real) pandemic.

— Pet paraphernalia. The number of homes with pets has climbed dramatically, as people who seemed unwilling or uninterested in having dogs are out with their collection of poop bags, leashes and pieces of dog food to entice the wayward wanderer in the right direction.

— A zoom app. Even with people returning to work, many of us are still interacting with large groups of people on a divided screen. Future generations may find all this normal and the start of eSocializing and virtual working. Many of us today are still trying to figure out where to look and avoid the temptation to scrutinize our own image.

— Cargo ships. The year started off in March with the blocking of the Suez Canal. For six days, the Ever Given kept one of the world’s most important canals from functioning, blocking container ships from going from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. As the year has progressed, concerns about shortages and supply chains have triggered fears about empty shelves.

— A small model of the Enterprise. The ship from the show “Star Trek” seems apt in a 2021 time capsule in part because William Shatner, who played the fictional Captain James T. Kirk (or admiral, if you’re also a fan of the movies), traveled briefly into space. In many ways, the science fiction of the past — a telephone that allowed you to look at someone else — is the fact of the present, with FaceTime and the aforementioned zoom.

— Competing signs. Protesting seems to have returned in full force this year. As the year comes to a close, people who do and don’t believe in vaccinations often stand on opposite sides of a road, shouting at cars, each other and the wind to get their messages across.

— A syringe. We started the year with people over 65 and in vulnerable groups getting their first doses of a vaccine that has slowed the progression of COVID-19, and we’re ending it with the distribution of booster shots for this population and, eventually, for others who received a vaccine eight months earlier.

— Take-out menus. I would throw several take-out menus, along with instructions about leaving food at a front door, into the time capsule. While numerous restaurants are operating close to their in-dining capacity, some of us are still eating the same food at home.

— An Amazon box. Barely a day goes by when I don’t see an Amazon delivery truck in the neighborhood, leaving the familiar smiling boxes at my neighbors’ front doors.

— Broken glass. I would include some carefully protected broken glass to reflect some of the divisions in the country and to remember the moment protesters stormed the capital, overwhelming the police and sending politicians scrambling for cover.

— Houses of gold. I would throw in a golden house, to show how the value of homes, particularly those outside of a city, increased amid an urban exodus.

— A Broadway playbill. My wife and I saw a musical for the first time in over two years. We were thrilled to attend “Wicked.” The combination of songs, staging, acting, and lighting transported us back to the land of Oz. Judging from the thunderous applause at the end from a fully masked audience, we were not the only ones grateful to enjoy the incredible talents of performers who must have struggled amid the shutdown.

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Photo from Deposit Photos

With the Food and Drug Administration expected to vote this week on boosters for Johnson & Johnson and Moderna vaccines for COVID-19, local doctors suggested the current studies may support some switching, particularly for those who received a single dose of Johnson & Johnson.

“There is preliminary data that has demonstrated that mixing and matching the vaccines may be beneficial,” said Dr. Sunil Dhuper, chief medical officer at Port Jefferson’s St. Charles Hospital.

Indeed, recent studies suggested that people who received the J&J vaccine had a considerably higher increase in their antibody response from a Moderna booster than from a second J&J shot.

“There may be some merit” to switching from the traditional method J&J deployed to create an antibody response to the mRNA-based approach from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, Dhuper added.

Dr. Adrian Popp, chair of Infection Control at Huntington Hospital, added that data from studies with J&J are “showing that folks who received the initial J&J vaccine may benefit from receiving a booster with Pfizer or Moderna as this may lead to a very high immune response.”

As for side effects from the boosters, Popp explained that the reactions are similar to those for the initial series of vaccinations.

In an email, Popp noted that the Moderna booster is half the dose of the original shots, which “may lead to a decrease in side effects.”

Dr. Susan Donelan, medical director of the Healthcare Epidemiology Department at Stony Brook Medicine and assistant professor of Infectious Diseases in the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, is pleased that “many people are quite eager to obtain boosters. This bodes well for enhanced protection as we enter the indoor/ holiday season.”

In another encouraging sign, the percentage of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Suffolk County continues to decline, with the seven-day average falling to 3% as of Oct. 19, which is down from 4.2% a month earlier, according to the Suffolk County Department of Health.

Sporting events

Meanwhile, people have been attending college and professional sporting events in large numbers, often without masks. These competitions haven’t yet produced documented superspreader events.

“Outdoor venues overall provide a reduced opportunity for spread compared to indoor events,” Donelan explained in an email. “If proof of vaccination or a negative test within a set time frame (e.g. 72 hours) before the event is required for entry, it is reasonable to anticipate that inadvertent spread can be limited.”

Other health care professionals also suggested that outdoor events, despite thousands of people standing and shouting to urge on their teams, presented lower risk than indoor gatherings.

“In an outdoor event, the virus would get diluted within seconds,” said Dhuper. “You’re not going to get a high dose” of any viral particles at such a gathering.

As for the bigger picture, Popp said he is “happy to report that, as of Oct. 6, the fully vaccinated rate is 69% in Nassau and 65% in Suffolk. It is not as high as we would like to see, but it is an increase of 7% to 8% since July 29.”

Health care professionals urged residents who haven’t already done so to get a flu shot soon.

“With all the attention on COVID vaccinations, masks will come off as people are reassured that they are safer in regards to COVID, and flu will ‘take advantage’ of this scenario,” Donelan explained. “We need to be vaccinated against both viruses.”

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Freddie Freeman of the Atlanta Braves. Wikipedia photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

Before I get to the current difficulty of deciding which of the four remaining baseball teams to support, if any, I’d like to offer the following observations on a bipolar Yankees season, in which a 13-game winning stream seemed as unlikely as a 70 loss season.

The team had the talent, sort of. They are, as the saying goes, what their record says they are. In many ways, it’s remarkable that they even made the one-game wildcard playoff. They weren’t exactly world beaters against the Baltimore Orioles, who almost single handedly made it possible for the other four teams in the division to finish with over 90 wins.

They also gave away games that they seemed a lock to win, coughing up leads late, and losing key games to a Mets team that struggled to find its identity and mojo after the best pitcher on the planet, Jacob deGrom, was injured.

But this isn’t about the Mets. So, for what it’s worth, here are my Yankees thoughts. Stop worrying about how much money you’re paying players. Go with the players that helped you win. That means, if defensively-gifted shortstop Andrew Velazquez played a key role in big games with his range and defense, give him a chance.

If that also means Greg Allen needs a few at bats and a chance to race around the bases, give him a shot, too. Oh, and Tyler Wade? I know he’s not going to hit 400-foot home runs too often, but he is a versatile gamer with an ability to play numerous positions and, on occasion, to have a high contact hot streak.

Stock photo

If I were managing my favorite team, I’d stick with whatever is working and not try to race injured and under performing players back. Sure, Gleyber Torres and Gio Urshela have been valuable pieces in the past, but that’s not a reason to put them back on the field in the hopes that they’ll be something they weren’t before each of them got injured.

As for the current playoff conundrum, what should Yankees fans who are still paying attention to baseball root for during the last three series?

Come on, it’s almost impossible to root for the Red Sox because, well, they’re the Red Sox. Then again, the Astros are not just a baseball villain, but are also Yankee killers. Jose Altuve, who used to be a beloved versoin of the little engine that could, hits a huge home run in 2019 off of Aroldis Chapman then covers up his uniform so no one can rip it off and show a tattoo he didn’t like? Yeah, I’m sure that’s what happened because these players are so modest about their body ink.

One of those two teams will represent the American League in the World Series. If I had to choose one, I think, gulp, I’d go with the Red Sox. Part of the reason for that is that I have so many friends and professional colleagues who love the team that I’d be happy for them.

In the National League, the Braves are a feel good team. I saw Freddie Freeman at the All Star Game a few years ago and he seemed like a genuinely good father. I know that’s not a critical criteria for rooting for someone, but he held his kids and smiled at almost anyone who talked to him.

The Dodgers are the beasts of baseball in the last few years. Just when you think they couldn’t get any better, they add Max Scherzer (seriously?) and Trea Turner, two incredible deadline acquisitions for a team that was already a powerhouse. Mookie Betts is otherworldly in one way or another, with his speed, incredible and accurate arm and his ability to put the ball in play and, at times, over the wall.

I’m going to root for the underdog in the national league here, pulling for the Braves to make a Cinderella journey into the World Series and beat the deep and talented Dodgers.

Now, if I get my way and it’s the Braves against the Red Sox? I’m going to root for the Braves because it’s still the Red Sox. No matter who wins, though, I’m hoping for a seven-game series because that’s good for baseball and for the baseball fan. I know the season is long enough, but those last few games are like the final number in a Broadway musical. The energy is high, the fans are on their feet, and no one wants to leave.

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Daniel Tuttle received the therapeutic treatment Intracept for back pain. Photo from Tuttle

Over 30 years as a plumber took its toll on Daniel Tuttle.

Daniel Tuttle, who received the therapeutic treatment Intracept for back pain, enjoys a boat ride. Photo from Tuttle

The 79-year old Northport resident felt daily pain in his lower back, which limited his ability to walk for any length of time.

“I always lifted up [stuff] you shouldn’t lift,” Tuttle said. “It was too heavy. Over the years, I got more and more pain.”

Tuttle visited several specialists. His cardiologist recommended he see Dr. Frank Ocasio, director of Acute Pain Management and chair of Pain Management at Huntington Hospital and the director of North Shore Head and Spine in Huntington.

Ocasio recently started performing a therapeutic treatment called Intracept, which involves cutting a small incision in the back, inserting a tube and providing enough heat to deactivate the nerve that causes chronic lower back pain.

About a month after the procedure, Tuttle is pleased to report that his pain has declined from “an 11” to closer to a three on a daily basis.

Several doctors around Long Island have provided the Intracept procedure, which was developed by Relievant Medsystems, over the last few years, including at Stony Brook University and Port Jefferson’s St. Charles Hospital.

Dr. Jonathan Raanan, assistant professor of Neurosurgery, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation in the Department of Neurosurgery at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, has performed about 10 such surgeries over the last few years.

Raanan described such lower back pain that lasts more than six months or a year as being something of a “big black hole” in terms of treatment.

In a magnetic resonance image, the disc becomes darker, indicating it doesn’t have good hydration and that it isn’t an effective shock absorber.

Intracept can help reduce the pain.

“It’s very satisfying when someone comes in who has tried everything but the kitchen sink to treat this” who then says “I do feel better,” Raanan said.

Tuttle’s wife Susan, who has been married to him for over three decades, said the procedure has improved his quality of life.

Susan Tuttle said her husband has been able to “do everything he wanted to do.”

Ocasio found the idea of Intracept appealing, particularly because it was a one-time effort that didn’t require ongoing follow up visits.

“There’s not much out there in the pain management space that’s a non medication, a non-opioid strategy that’s a one and done,” Ocasio said.

The surgery is an outpatient procedure and can take anywhere from 45 minutes to two hours, depending on the area over which the nerve is sending a repeated pain signal.

Patients either receive mild sedation or are under general anesthesia.

“People see results within weeks,” Ocasio said. In some cases, they can get relief within 24 hours.

Dr. Frank Ocasio recently began to perform the therapeutic treatment. Photo from Ocasio

To be sure, the procedure, as with any, involves some level of risk and isn’t appropriate for everyone.

Raanan advised potential patients to discuss the risks and benefits with any provider.

Starting in January, Intracept will have a Current Procedural Terminology, or CPT, code, which will give health care providers a standard way to describe the procedure and insurance companies a way of determining patient eligibility.

Until then, patients need to appeal to indicate to insurance companies what other treatments they’ve had for back pain.

In Raanan’s experience, patients sometimes have flare-ups of other pain that is similar to sciatic discomfort after the treatment for days or even weeks after Intracept.

“That might be a reasonable trade-off in the eyes of the patient,” Raanan added.

Deadening the nerve doesn’t cause any loss of control of motor function, Ocasio said, as the nerve provides a sensory benefit while others provide necessary muscle control.

“You still have multiple nerves around that area,” Ocasio added.

Candidates for this procedure typically have lower back pain associated with activities that require bending forward, like loading a dishwasher or flexing at the waist, Ocasio described.

Ocasio said doctors who perform Intracept receive training under guidance from the company.

Patients interested in this approach are anywhere from their 30s through their late 70s, local doctors said.

For Daniel Tuttle, the procedure provided relief.

“He’s outside, puttering around, doing the things that make him happy,” Susan
Tuttle said.

“It gave me my lifestyle back,” Daniel Tuttle said.

The Tuttles are planning a trip to Italy next summer.

Raanan cautioned that, for at least one patient, the relief led to another problem.

A female patient returned to working out in the gym, where she exercised so vigorously that she created a different spine injury that he treated.

“When patients feel better, they have to remember they are still vulnerable,” Raanan said. “Poor mechanics, postures, flexibility or excessive and prolonged activity come with some risk.”

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David Thanassi. Photo by Jeanne Neville
*Please note: This article was updated on Oct. 15 to include a reference to former President Bill Clinton (D) in the fifth paragraph.

By Daniel Dunaief

David Thanassi wants to give dangerous bacteria in the kidney a haircut.

No, not exactly, but Thanassi, Zhang Family Professor and Chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, has studied how hair-like structures called P pili in the bacteria Escherichia coli are assembled on the bacterial surface. 

These pili allow bacteria to hang on to the walls of the kidney, where urine would otherwise flush them out.

Learning about pili at different stages of development could provide a way to keep them from attaching themselves to the kidney and from entering the bloodstream, which could lead to the potentially lethal problem of bacterial sepsis. Indeed, this week, former President Bill Clinton (D) checked into the intensive care unit at the University of California Irvine Medical Center after a urinary tract infection spread to his bloodstream.

“We have been looking at this as a really important aspect of initiating infection from a bacteria’s point of view,” Thanassi said. “How do they build these structures” that lead to infection and illness?

Recently, Thanassi published the structure of these pili in the journal Nature Communication.

The current work builds on previous efforts from Thanassi to determine the structure of these pili in the bladder. He has been exploring how the thousands of proteins that make up the pili get transported and assembled in the correct order. “If we can understand that aspect, we can disrupt their assembly or function,” he said.

Urinary tract infections are a major infectious disease, particularly for women. Indeed, about half of all women will have at least one urinary tract infection, which can be uncomfortable and can require some form of medication. 

In some cases, the infections can be recurrent, leading to frequent infections and the repeated need for antibiotics.

The bacteria that cause these infections can become resistant to antibiotics, increasing the importance of finding alternative approaches to these infections, such as interfering with pili.

To be sure, the solution to reducing the bacteria’s ability to colonize the kidney or urinary tract would likely require other steps, as these invaders have additional ways beyond the pili to colonize these organs. Nonetheless, disrupting the way they adhere to the kidney could be a constructive advance that could lead to improved infection prevention and treatment.

One likely strategy could involve using an anti-pilus treatment in combination with other antibiotics, Thanassi explained.

For people who have recurrent infections, anti-pilus therapeutics could offer a solution without resorting to long-term antibiotics.

In his lab, Thanassi is interested in small molecules or chemicals that would disrupt the early stage in pili assembly. “We think of these as protein-protein interactions that are required to build these” pili, he said.

By using a fluorescence reporter, Thanassi and his colleagues can screen libraries of chemicals to determine what might inhibit the process.

As with many biological systems, numerous compounds may seem appropriate for the job, but might not work, as medicine often requires a specific molecule that functions within the context of the dynamic of a living system.

For the helpful bacteria in the gut, pili are not as important as they are for the harmful ones in the kidney, which could mean that an approach that blocked the formation of these structures may not have the same intestinal and stomach side effects as some antibiotics.

To determine the way these pili develop structurally, Thanassi and his lab used molecular and biochemical techniques to stop the assembly of pili at specific stages.

Bacteria assemble these pili during the course of about 30 minutes. An usher proteins serves as the pilus assembly site and pilus secretion channel in the bacterial outer membrane. The usher acts as a nanomachine, putting the pilus proteins into their proper order. A chaperone protein brings the pilus subunits to the usher protein.

In their development, the pili require a protein channel, which is an assembly site.

Thanassi started by working on the usher protein in isolation. The usher proteins function to assemble the thousands of pilus subunits that make up each pilus fiber. The process also involves chaperone proteins, which bind to nascent subunit proteins and help the subunits fold. The chaperone then delivers the subunit proteins to the usher for assembly into the pilus fiber. He used molecular and biochemical methods to express and purify the usher protein.

The assembly process involves interactions between chaperone-subunit complexes and the usher. Over the years, Thanassi has determined how the different proteins work together to build and secrete a pilus.

He was able to force the bacteria to express only one version of the assembly step and then isolate that developmental process.

The majority of the pilus is like a spring or a coil, which can stretch and become longer and straighter to act as a shock absorber, allowing the bacteria to grab on to the kidney cells rather than breaking.

Other researchers are studying how they might make the pili more brittle, preventing that spring-like action from working and compromising its ability to function.

“We’re trying to prevent the pili from assembling in the first place,” Thanassi explained. “Our approach is to try and get molecules that prevent the interaction from occurring.” He is looking at the specific function of one molecule that prevents the usher assembly platform from developing properly, which would wipe out the assembly site.

Thanassi credits former Stony Brook Professor Huilin Li, who is now Chair in the Department of Structural Biology at the Van Andel Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with providing structural insights from his work with the cryo-electron microscoipe. The technology has “revolutionized the work we do,” said Thanassi.

Residents of Smithtown, Thanassi and his wife Kate Kaming, who is Senior Director of Cancer Development at Northwell Health Foundation, have two children. Joseph, 22, attends Northeastern University. Miles, 20, is studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Thanassi grew up in South Burlington, Vermont and is an avid skier. He also enjoys mountain biking, walking and music.

Thanassi hopes this latest structural work may one day offer help either with the prevention of infections or with their treatment.

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Pixabay photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

What do you name after the man who’s already named everything after himself?

That is the question people will grapple with when they consider how to deploy the name of the 45th president.

Did you know, apart from edifices and casinos, the Trump name has been added to a species of small moth with yellowish-white scales on its head, called the Neopalpa donaltrumpi? Additionally, a sea urchin fossil is called Tetragramma donaldtrumpi.

What should be in the running to honor the legacy of a man who may extend his presidential legacy in 2024?

Here are a few suggestions that, hopefully, will delight and alienate people on both sides of the aisle equally.

— A pizza slicer. Called the Trump, this great divider will cut a pie into two pieces, elevating the one on the right while crushing the one on the left into a mess of tomato sauce and crumbled cheese that wants to tax the rich.

— A board game. With a rotating cast of characters, the object of the Trump Cabinet Shuffle will be for each player to hold onto as many cabinet members for as long as possible, even as many of them either want to leave or write books about their experience.

— A remote control. The former president clearly found TV a relevant and important medium. People around the country could search their couches for the “Trump,” so they can change the channel to watch Fox News, which will provide the names for the Trump Cabinet Shuffle.

— The Trump label maker. Borrowing from an episode of “Seinfeld,” people could develop a label maker named after someone who was fond of naming people and objects. The Trump label maker would default to the most common words in the Trump vernacular, including “disgrace,” “beautiful,” and “fake.”

— A fast-food franchise. Given the former president’s predilection for the fast food he served to college football players, it’s surprising no one has come up with Trump World Burgers. Each restaurant could have a game of darts, where patrons could sling darts at the faces or names of their least favorite democrats. Every wall would have a TV tuned to Fox News and every place setting would sit on top of the New York Post.

—A magic wand. Can’t you picture it? Let’s get out the Trump wand and make everything unpleasant — impeachments, investigations, and distasteful stories- disappear.

— A fertilizer company. Yeah, okay, this might seem especially harsh, but fertilizer, while it’s made from feces, is necessary for the growth of many of the foods we eat, whether we’re vegetarians and eat only greens, or carnivores and eat the meat that eats the greens.

— Oversized boxing gloves. With pictures of the former president on each hand, a boxer could put his small, medium or large hands into red Trumps to fight against the forces of evil.

— An especially tall straw pole next to a smaller pole. The taller Trump pole could show how, even at a distance, he’s leading his closest competitor. “Trump is always ahead at the polls.”

— A distorted mirror. Like the side view mirrors on cars, these Trump mirrors could accent certain features while minimizing others, creating whatever reality the viewer prefers.

— Stiff-legged pants. With material that stiffens during the playing of the National Anthem, the Trump pants would make it impossible to kneel.

— A huggable flag. Given his preference for hugging flags, someone should design a flag with arms that hug back, as in, “the Trump flag is ready for its hug.”

— A “yes” puppy. You know how people have little puppies whose heads pop up and down when you touch them on their dashboard? Someone could add a sound effect to that, like “yes, yes, yes, yes,” each time the Trump head moved.

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Photo from Deposit Photos

Amid a steady drumbeat of worry and anxiety, the last week produced several potential encouraging signs in the battle against COVID-19.

Pfizer recently applied for emergency use authorization for a vaccine for children who are five to 11 years old, a group that has returned to school but that hasn’t yet had access to any vaccines.

Pfizer will get early approval as “long as the [Food and Drug Administration] has enough data,” said Dr. Sunil Dhuper, chief medical officer at Port Jefferson’s St. Charles Hospital. “They’re going to get early approval.”

A vaccine would be a welcome defense for children who now constitute anywhere between 25% and 35% of infections, Dhuper said.

Vaccinations for those over the age of 12 have helped drive down an infection rate that had climbed toward the end of the summer.

In recent weeks, the percentage of positive cases in Suffolk County has continued to decline, with the seven-day average falling to 3.2% as of Oct. 10, according to data from the Suffolk County Department of Health.

While health officials and pharmacies continue to administer booster doses of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, Johnson & Johnson has applied for Emergency Use Authorization for a booster dose that enhances the immune response to the virus.

As of now, people who received J&J’s original vaccine are not eligible for the Pfizer BioNTech booster, according to Dr. Sritha Rajupet, director of Population Based Health Initiatives and director of the Post-COVID Health Clinic at Stony Brook Medicine,

Meanwhile, Merck recently produced a drug in pill form called Molnupiravir that reduced hospitalizations and death by 50% when taken within the first five to eight days of developing COVID symptoms.

The drug didn’t completely prevent hospitalizations or death but greatly reduced it, generating excitement in the health care community. Merck applied earlier this week for emergency use authorization for Molnupiravir.

“It’s a great study,” Dhuper said. “We are very delighted that there is going to be another alternative” treatment for patients.

Up to this point, hospitals, urgent care centers and doctors have not had access to an outpatient drug.

When given at the onset of symptoms, Molnupiravir acts like the flu drug Tamiflu, helping to reduce the symptoms and health challenges associated with COVID-19.

This medicine could help reduce hospitalizations, providing relief to patients and enabling hospitals to manage their resources better, Dhuper said.

Doctors remained cautiously optimistic about the ongoing battle against COVID-19. Dhuper added that the real challenge for the community would come within the next three to four weeks, during which time hospitals and count officials will watch carefully for any increase in infections in between when children return to schools and the FDA approves any vaccine for this age group.

Long haul issues

While health officials were pleased with the potential availability of additional medical tools to prevent or treat COVID-19, they said numerous residents continue to battle long haul COVID.

Described as persistent symptoms that can develop four to eight weeks after the initial symptoms, long haul COVID can include fatigue, brain fog, shortness of breath, palpitations and a wide range of other neurological discomforts.

Doctors said 10 to 35% of people who contract COVID can develop these longer-term symptoms.

Long haul COVID-19 remains a “big concern,” Dr. Gregson Pigott, commissioner of the Suffolk County Department of Health Services, wrote in an email. “We remind people who remain unvaccinated that people of all ages have suffered from long-range symptoms” from the virus. “We don’t know yet if these symptoms will be limited or if they may develop into chronic life-long conditions. We will be looking at the literature to learn more.”

Dhuper said some of those with long-haul symptoms feel as if they are “continuously living with an illness, almost like a flu.”

Such extended discomfort has an extended impact on the quality of life.

Treatment of these long-haul symptoms “is tailored to the patient’s specific symptoms,” Stony Brook’s Rajupet described in an email. “Identifying the organ systems involved and the symptoms or autoimmune conditions that have manifested are essential to developing a treatment plan.”

Rajupet suggested that leading a healthy lifestyle, with balanced sleep, nutrition and exercise can help in recovery. Stony Brook encourages this approach not only in the management of long-haul symptoms, but also for a patient’s overall health.

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Water quality impairments across Long Island during the summer of 2021. Photo from Stony Brook University

Water, water everywhere and far too many drops were not clean.

Christopher J. Gobler, endowed chair of Coastal Ecology and Conservation Stony Brook University; Peter Scully, Deputy Suffolk County Executive; Adrienne Esposito, Citizens Campaign for the Environment; Kevin McDonald, The Nature Conservancy at a recent press conference regarding water quality. Photo from Stony Brook University

That’s the conclusion of a recent summer water quality survey of Long Island conducted by Stony Brook University Professor Christopher Gobler, who is the endowed chair of Coastal Ecology and Conservation at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences.

Every estuary and bay across Long Island had either toxic algal blooms and oxygen-starved dead zones this summer.

This trend threatened marine life including fish and shellfish.

Excess nitrogen from household sewage that seeps into groundwater and into bays, harbors and estuaries or, in some cases, is discharged directly into surface waters, causes toxic algal blooms.

Double the average annual rainfall, caused by storms like Hurricanes Henri and Ida, exacerbated the dumping of nitrogen from onsite wastewater into local waterways as well, Gobler explained.

Calling this the “new normal,” Gobler said the duration of the rust tide that continues across eastern Long Island is the longest since he started monitoring water quality in 2014. Additionally, the number of dead zones is near a maximum.

For the past six years before 2021, the incidence of blue-green algal blooms was higher than any of the other 64 counties in New York State, which is likely to continue in 2021.

Blue green algae produce toxins that can be harmful to people and animals and has caused dog illnesses and deaths across the United States.

“We’re the most downstate county and warmer temperatures are a driver,” Gobler explained in an email. “Excess groundwater discharge in Suffolk means more lakes and ponds here than in Nassau.”

Heavy rains, which are expected to become the new normal amid climate change that brings wetter and slower-moving storms, flush nitrogen contaminated groundwater out into the bays.

Brown and rust tides have had a severely negative impact on habitats in the area, including seagrass, and major fisheries such as scallops and clams and the coastal wetlands that protect waterfront communities from storms.

Homeowners can reduce nitrogen runoff by fertilizing their lawns less, Gobler suggested.

Onsite systems in Suffolk County are legal, but are also “quite polluting,” Gobler explained in an email.

Gobler said Suffolk County has been more aggressive than any other county in the nation in requiring advanced septic systems.

Additionally, Gobler suggests that the best way to combat these problems is to upgrade onsite septic systems.

Nassau and Suffolk completed subwatershed studies last year that identified wastewater as the largest source of nitrogen to surface waters. Excess nitrogen stimulates toxic algal blooms which can remove oxygen from bottom waters as they decay.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation recommends that marine waters should not have less than three milligrams of dissolved oxygen per liter to sustain fish life. Through the summer, however, more than 20 sites across the Island fell below that threshold, which, in several cases, caused fish kills.

“The research findings are conclusive,” Carl LoBue, senior scientist for The Nature Conservancy, said in a statement. “The longer we wait to fix our water quality problems, the longer it will take and the more expensive it will be.”

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