Researchers have revealed the regulatory mechanism of a specific protein that plays a key role in balancing the immune response triggered by viral infections in mammal cells. These findings could help drive the development of antiviral therapies and nucleic acid medicines to treat genetic disorders. For cells to protect themselves from viral infections, a series of immune responses typically occur, including programmed cell death called apoptosis and interferon signaling. While apoptosis is a normal process, which occurs with or without the presence ...

Professors Kimoon Kim and Ji Hoon Shim along with Dr. Yeonsang Lee from the Department of Chemistry at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) and Professor Jun Sung Kim from POSTECH’s Department of Physics and the Center for Artificial Low Dimensional Electronic Systems at the Institute for Basic Science created conducting two-dimensional polymers exhibiting electron mobility comparable to graphene. Their research has been featured in the online edition of Chem, an international chemistry journal.   Graphene, called a ...

A systemic review of the current body of research shows that investigators have inadequately addressed the intersection of aging, health disparities, and cancer outcomes among older adults. This is the conclusion of a new paper published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, and led by Nikesha Gilmore, PhD, a member of Wilmot Cancer Institute at the University of Rochester. As the population of survivors of cancer 65 and older will likely double in size during the next two decades, the review reveals an urgent need for ...

Dietary treatment is more effective than medications in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). These are the findings of a study conducted at the University of Gothenburg. With dietary adjustments, more than seven out of ten patients had significantly reduced symptoms. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common diagnosis that causes abdominal pain, gas and abdominal bloating, diarrhea, and constipation, in various combinations and with varying degrees of severity. Treatment often consists of dietary advice such as eating small and frequent meals and avoiding excessive intake of food triggers such as coffee, alcohol and fizzy drinks. Patients may also be given medications to improve specific ...

The study, published today in Journal of Fluid Mechanics, reveals for the first time how noise is generated and propagated from these engines, technically known as boundary layer ingesting (BLI) ducted fans. BLI ducted fans are similar to the large engines found in modern airplanes but are partially embedded into the plane's main body instead of under the wings. As they ingest air from both the front and from the surface of the airframe, they don't have to work as hard to move the plane, so it burns ...

A heart attack will leave a permanent scar on a human heart, yet other animals, including some fish and amphibians, can clear cardiac scar tissue and regrow damaged muscle as adults. Scientists have sought to figure out how special power works in hopes of advancing medical treatments for human cardiac patients, but the great physiological differences between fish and mammals make such inquiries difficult. So University of Utah biologists, led by assistant professor Jamie Gagnon, tackled the problem ...

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has elected surgeon-researcher Jay Lieberman, MD, chair and professor of orthopaedic surgery at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, among its class of 2024 fellows. The AAAS is the world’s oldest and largest general science organization and the publisher of Science, a top peer-reviewed academic journal. Election as a fellow is a lifetime honor — and one of the AAAS’s highest — signaling extraordinary achievement in the advancement or application of science.  Lieberman ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — ReElement Technologies on Thursday (April 18) signed an exclusive license to use patented Purdue University technologies to domestically refine and sell minerals critical in manufacturing modern, high-tech products for commercial and industrial use. The license was signed during the Purdue Innovates Startup and Technology Expo 2024 at the Purdue University Memorial Union. Sourcing rare earth and critical battery elements Rare earth elements are foundational essentials in permanent ...

Kaushik Rajashekara, Distinguished Professor of Engineering at the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering, continues to receive recognition and awards on a global scale. The man who ushered in the era of electric cars, working on the General Motors EV1 in 1995 when he was a Technical Fellow there, has been elected an International Fellow of the Engineering Academy of Japan, recognized for his contributions to power conversion and, of course, electrification of transportation.   According to the academy, Rajashekara’s ...

To study how parasites evolve to break the defenses of their hosts, the National Institutes of Health has granted UC Riverside nematologist Simon “Niels” Groen a $1.9 million Outstanding Investigator Award. Roundworm parasites infect humans, livestock, and crop plants. Insights into why certain worms can evade host immune protections could help preempt a ticking time bomb: the decreasing effectiveness of pesticides and antibiotics for infections.     Bacterial, fungal, and parasite resistance to drugs and pesticides is making it harder, and sometimes impossible, to treat common infections ...

Three scientists from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, or AAAS, the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the Science family of journals. "Keith Kline, Rigoberto Advincula and Takeshi Egami have delivered significant impact for the scientific community," said ORNL Director Stephen Streiffer. "This distinguished honor highlights their commitment, hard work and leadership in their respective fields. I offer my congratulations to them on this well-deserved recognition.” AAAS ...

HOUSTON – (April 18, 2024) – Bioengineers at Rice University have been awarded $1.4 million as part of a multi-center consortium funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) to develop strategies for reversing the effects of osteoarthritis. “We’re thrilled to be a part of this collaborative effort to tackle one of the most challenging degenerative joint diseases and develop, test and commercialize solutions for patients,” said Antonios Mikos, the Louis Calder Professor of Chemical Engineering and professor of bioengineering ...

April 18, 2024, TORONTO – Thinking about getting a spring-time booster shot? A new study coming out of York University’s Centre for Disease Modelling in the Faculty of Science shows that immunity after a COVID-19 booster lasts much longer than the primary series alone. These findings are among other, sometimes “unintuitive,” revelations of how factors like age, sex and comorbidities do and don’t affect immune response.  The study’s authors – York Post Doctoral researchers Chapin ...

Bentham Science Publishers is now a signatory organization of United2Act's consensus statement on paper mills. We are committed to upholding the highest standards of research integrity in academic and scientific publishing. Part of the effort to uphold integrity in scientific publishing includes preventing publication from fraudulent 'paper mills' which negatively impact the credibility of research. We fully support the COPE position statement on this critical issue. The intrusion of fraudulent papers into the publication record not only undermines public trust in research but also poses significant risks to ...

Contrary to previous assumptions, nerve cells in the human neocortex are wired differently than in mice. Those are the findings of a new study conducted by Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and published in the journal Science.* The study found that human neurons communicate in one direction, while in mice, signals tend to flow in loops. This increases the efficiency and capacity of the human brain to process information. These discoveries could further the development of artificial neural networks. The neocortex, a critical structure for human intelligence, is less than five millimeters thick. There, in the outermost layer of the brain, 20 billion neurons process ...

Scientists Identify Airway Cells That Sense Aspirated Water and Acid Reflux  The new work by UCSF researchers could lead to interventions to prevent pneumonia or treat certain types of chronic cough.  When a mouthful of water goes down the wrong pipe – heading toward a healthy person’s lungs instead of their gut – they start coughing uncontrollably. That’s because their upper airway senses the water and quickly signals the brain. The same coughing reflex is set off in people with acid reflux, when acid from the stomach reaches the throat.  Now, UC San Francisco scientists have identified the rare type of cell responsible ...

The land under nearly half of China’s major cities is undergoing moderate to severe subsidence, affecting roughly one-third of the nation’s urban population, according to a systematic national-scale satellite assessment. The findings suggest that within the next century, 22 to 26% of China’s coastal land will have a relative elevation lower than sea level, putting hundreds of millions of people at elevated risk of flooding due to sea-level rise. Over the last several decades, China has experienced one of the most rapid and extensive urban expansions in human history. This massive wave of urbanization may be threatened ...

Drugs of abuse, like cocaine and opioids, alter neuronal signaling in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), hijacking a key brain reward system involved with the fulfillment of innate needs for survival, according to a new study in mice. The findings provide mechanistic insights into the intensification of drug-seeking behaviors in substance use disorders. Persistent drug use is accompanied by a profound reprioritization of motivations, skewing decision-making behaviors toward a myopic focus on drug use over other innate needs, like eating or drinking water, often ...

The energy density of supercapacitors – battery-like devices that can charge in seconds or a few minutes – can be improved by increasing the ‘messiness’ of their internal structure. Researchers led by the University of Cambridge used experimental and computer modelling techniques to study the porous carbon electrodes used in supercapacitors. They found that electrodes with a more disordered chemical structure stored far more energy than electrodes with a highly ordered structure. Supercapacitors are a key technology for the energy transition and could be useful for certain forms of public transport, as well as for ...

An international research team led by scientists from the CNRS1 has discovered that the magnetic nanobubbles2 known as skyrmions can be moved by electrical currents, attaining record speeds up to 900 m/s. Anticipated as future bits in computer memory, these nanobubbles offer enhanced avenues for information processing in electronic devices. Their tiny size3 provides great computing and information storage capacity, as well as low energy consumption. Until now, these nanobubbles moved no faster than 100 m/s, which is too slow for computing applications. ...

Land subsidence is overlooked as a hazard in cities, according to scientists from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and Virginia Tech. Writing in the journal Science, Prof Robert Nicholls of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at UEA and Prof Manoochehr Shirzaei of Virginia Tech and United Nations University for Water, Environment and Health, Ontario, highlight the importance of a new research paper analysing satellite data that accurately and consistently maps land movement across China. While they say in their comment article that consistently measuring subsidence is a great achievement, they argue it is only the start of finding solutions. Predicting ...

With negotiations around the Global Plastics Treaty set to resume next week, an international group of scientists has renewed calls for the ambitions and commitments of the Treaty to be driven by robust scientific evidence that is free from conflicts of interest. Government officials from across the world, and around 4,000 observers representing different aspects in society will gather in Ottawa, Canada, from April 23 to 29 for the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4). It will be the fourth of an expected five sessions convened to negotiate an international and legally binding global treaty after the mandate ...

By Shawn Ballard Electrostatic capacitors play a crucial role in modern electronics. They enable ultrafast charging and discharging, providing energy storage and power for devices ranging from smartphones, laptops and routers to medical devices, automotive electronics and industrial equipment. However, the ferroelectric materials used in capacitors have significant energy loss due to their material properties, making it difficult to provide high energy storage capability. Sang-Hoon Bae, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials science in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in ...

Mount Sinai researchers, in collaboration with scientists at The Rockefeller University, have uncovered a mechanism in the brain that allows cocaine and morphine to take over natural reward processing systems. Published online in Science on April 18, these findings shed new light on the neural underpinnings of drug addiction and could offer new mechanistic insights to inform basic research, clinical practice, and potential therapeutic solutions. “While this field has been explored for decades, our study is ...

Sinking land is overlooked as a hazard in urban areas globally, according to scientists from Virginia Tech and the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom.  In an invited perspective article for the journal Science, Virginia Tech’s Manoochehr Shirzaei collaborated with Robert Nicholls of the University of East Anglia to highlight the importance of recent research analyzing how and why land is sinking — including a study published in the same issue that focused on sinking Chinese cities.   Results from the accompanying research study showed that ...