Food security: Irradiation and essential oil vapors for cereal treatment
A combined treatment of irradiation and essential oil vapors could effectively eliminate insects, bacteria and mold in stored grains
2021-03-05
(Press-News.org) A combined treatment of irradiation and essential oil vapors could effectively destroy insects, bacteria and mold in stored grains. A team from the END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Retinal implants can give artificial vision to the blind
2021-03-05
Being able to make blind people see again sounds like the stuff of miracles or even science fiction. And it has always been one of the biggest challenges for scientists. Diego Ghezzi, who holds the Medtronic Chair in Neuroengineering (LNE) at EPFL's School of Engineering, has made this issue a research focus. Since 2015, he and his team have been developing a retinal implant that works with camera-equipped smart glasses and a microcomputer. "Our system is designed to give blind people a form of artificial vision by using electrodes to stimulate their retinal cells," says Ghezzi.
Read more: https://actu.epfl.ch/news/a-retinal-implant-that-is-more-effective-against-b/
Star-spangled sky
The camera embedded in the smart glasses captures images in the wearer's field of vision, and ...
Tracking proteins in the heart of cells
2021-03-05
In order to stay alive, the cell must provide its various organelles with all the energy elements they need, which are formed in the Golgi apparatus, its centre of maturation and redistribution of lipids and proteins. But how do the proteins that carry these cargoes - the kinesins - find their way and direction within the cell's "road network" to deliver them at the right place? Chemists and biochemists at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, have discovered a fluorescent chemical dye, making it possible for the first time to track the transport ...
Antarctic seals reveal worrying threats to disappearing glaciers
2021-03-05
More Antarctic meltwater is surfacing than was previously known, modifying the climate, preventing sea ice from forming and boosting marine productivity- according to new research from the University of East Anglia (UEA).
For the first time, researchers have been able to obtain full-depth glacial meltwater observations in winter, using instruments attached to the heads of seals living near the Pine Island Glacier, in the remote Amundsen Sea in the west of Antarctica.
The harsh environmental conditions in the Antarctic limit the use of most traditional observation systems, such as ships and airplanes, especially ...
Fine particulate matter from wildfire smoke more harmful than pollution from other sources
2021-03-05
Researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego examining 14 years of hospital admissions data conclude that the fine particles in wildfire smoke can be several times more harmful to human respiratory health than particulate matter from other sources such as car exhaust. While this distinction has been previously identified in laboratory experiments, the new study confirms it at the population level.
This new research work, focused on Southern California, reveals the risks of tiny airborne particles with diameters of up to 2.5 microns, about one-twentieth that of a human hair. These particles - termed PM2.5 - are the ...
The collapse of Northern California kelp forests will be hard to reverse
2021-03-05
Satellite imagery shows that the area covered by kelp forests off the coast of Northern California has dropped by more than 95 percent, with just a few small, isolated patches of bull kelp remaining. Species-rich kelp forests have been replaced by "urchin barrens," where purple sea urchins cover a seafloor devoid of kelp and other algae.
A new study led by researchers at UC Santa Cruz documents this dramatic shift in the coastal ecosystem and analyzes the events that caused it. This was not a gradual decline, but an abrupt collapse of the kelp forest ecosystem in the aftermath of unusual ocean warming along the West Coast starting in 2014, part of a series of events that combined to decimate the kelp forests.
Published March 5 in Communications Biology, ...
New Corona test developed
2021-03-05
Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) is the most widely used diagnostic method to detect RNA viruses such as SARS-CoV-2. However, it requires expensive laboratory equipment and global shortages of reagents for RNA purification has increased the need to find simple but reliable alternatives. One alternative to the qPCR technology is RT-LAMP (reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification). This test amplifies the desired target sequences of the virus at a constant temperature, using minimal equipment compared to qPCR. In 2020, it was adapted to the detection of SARS-CoV-2. It was also shown that instead of a swab, which many people find unpleasant, it can be performed on gargle lavage samples.
First author Lukas Bokelmann and colleagues have now ...
Chimpanzees without borders
2021-03-05
Researchers from the Pan African Programme: The Cultured Chimpanzee (PanAf) at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA) and a team of international researchers, collected over 5000 fecal samples from 55 sites in 18 countries across the chimpanzee range over 8 years. This is by far the most complete sampling of the species to date, with a known location of origin for every sample, thus addressing the sampling limitations of previous studies. "Collecting these samples was often a daunting task for our amazing field teams. The chimpanzees were almost all unhabituated to human presence, so it took a lot of patience, skill and luck to find chimpanzee dung at each of the sites," explains ...
New quantum theory heats up thermodynamic research
2021-03-05
Researchers have developed a new quantum version of a 150-year-old thermodynamical thought experiment that could pave the way for the development of quantum heat engines.
Mathematicians from the University of Nottingham have applied new quantum theory to the Gibbs paradox and demonstrated a fundamental difference in the roles of information and control between classical and quantum thermodynamics. Their research has been published today in Nature Communications.
The classical Gibbs paradox led to crucial insights for the development of early thermodynamics and emphasises the need to consider an experimenter's ...
RCSI researchers discover new way to halt excessive inflammation
2021-03-05
DUBLIN, Friday, 5 March 2021: RCSI researchers have discovered a new way to 'put the brakes' on excessive inflammation by regulating a type of white blood cell that is critical for our immune system.
The discovery has the potential to protect the body from unchecked damage caused by inflammatory diseases.
The paper, led by researchers at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, is published in Nature Communications.
When immune cells (white blood cells) in our body called macrophages are exposed to potent infectious agents, powerful inflammatory proteins ...
Overweight children exposed to lead in utero may have poor future kidney function
2021-03-05
New York, NY (March 5, 2021) - Overweight children who were exposed to lead in utero and during their first weeks of life have the potential for poorer kidney function in adulthood, according to an Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai study published in Environment International in March.
The study found that children with high body mass indexes who had been exposed to lead had lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), a measure of how well the kidneys are filtering or cleaning the blood. The researchers measured blood levels during mothers' pregnancy and later measured eGFR levels in the children when they were between 8 and 12 years old.
Decreased ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
SRI chosen by DARPA to develop next-generation computational design of metallic parts and intelligent testing of alloys
NJIT engineers muffle invading pathogens with a 'molecular mask'
Perinatal transmission of HIV can lead to cognitive deficits
The consumption of certain food additive emulsifiers could be associated with the risk of developing type 2 diabetes
New cancer research made possible as Surrey scientists study lipids cell by cell
Bioluminescence first evolved in animals at least 540 million years ago
Squids’ birthday influences mating
Star bars show Universe’s early galaxies evolved much faster than previously thought
Critical minerals recovery from electronic waste
The move by Apple Memories to block potentially upsetting content illustrates Big Tech’s reach and limits, writes Chrys Vilvang
Chemical tool illuminates pathways used by dopamine, opioids and other neuronal signals
Asian monsoon lofts ozone-depleting substances to stratosphere
PET scans reveal ‘smoldering’ inflammation in patients with multiple sclerosis
Genetics predict type 2 diabetes risk and disparities in childhood cancer survivors
Health information on TikTok: The good, the bad and the ugly
New study points to racial and social barriers that block treatment for multiple myeloma
Rensselaer researcher finds that frog species evolved rapidly in response to road salts
A new chapter in quantum vortices: Customizing electron vortex beams
Don’t be a stranger – study finds rekindling old friendships as scary as making new ones
There’s no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to addressing men’s health issues globally
Comparison of the “late catch-up” phenomenon between BuMA Supreme and XIENCE stents through serial optical coherence tomography at 1–2 month and 2 year follow-ups: A multicenter study
Marine plankton communities changed long before extinctions
Research reveals tools to make STEM degrees more affordable
Q&A: UW research shows neural connection between learning a second language and learning to code
Keane wins 2024 Gopal K. Shenoy Excellence in Beamline Science Award
Livestock abortion surveillance could protect livelihoods and detect emerging global pathogens
Optimal timing maximises Paxlovid benefits for treating COVID-19
IU researchers receive $4.8 million grant to study the role of misfolded protein TDP-43 in neurodegenerative diseases
DOE’s Office of Science Graduate Student Research Program selects 86 outstanding US graduate students
This tiny chip can safeguard user data while enabling efficient computing on a smartphone
[Press-News.org] Food security: Irradiation and essential oil vapors for cereal treatmentA combined treatment of irradiation and essential oil vapors could effectively eliminate insects, bacteria and mold in stored grains