Norovirus clusters are resistant to environmental stresses and UV disinfection, new study finds

Since the 1970s, the Standard Model of Physics has served as the basis from which particle physics are investigated. Both experimentalists and theoretical physicists have tested the Standard Model's accuracy, and it has remained the law of the land when it comes to understanding how the subatomic world behaves. This week, cracks formed in that foundational set of assumptions. Researchers of the "Muon g-2" collaboration from the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) in the United States published further experimental findings that show that muons--heavy subatomic relatives of electrons--may have a larger "magnetic moment" than earlier Standard Model estimates had predicted, indicating that an unknown particle or force might be influencing ...

The DNA molecule is not naked in the nucleus. Instead, it is folded in a very organized way by the help of different proteins to establish a unique spatial organization of the genetic information. This 3D spatial genome organization is fundamental for the regulation of our genes and has to be established de novo by each individual during early embryogenesis. Researchers at the MPI of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg in collaboration with colleagues from the Friedrich Mischer Institute in Basel now reveal a yet unknown and critical role of the protein HP1a in the 3D genome re-organization after fertilisation. The study published in the scientific journal Nature identifies HP1a as an epigenetic regulator that is involved in establishing ...

Leesburg, VA, April 15, 2021--A Scientific E-Poster to be presented at the 2021 ARRS Virtual Annual Meeting found that as the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 transitions from a numerical score to pass or fail--as early as January 2022--radiology residency program directors will likely rely on USMLE Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK) scores as an objective and standardized metric to screen applicants. "However," wrote lead investigator Rebecca Zhang of the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, "program directors remain unsure whether they will ...

Leesburg, VA, April 15, 2021--A Scientific E-Poster to be presented at the 2021 ARRS Virtual Annual Meeting found that in the setting of a high pretest probability of COVID-19 infection or with a quick turnaround of the rapid real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) COVID-19 test, a chest x-ray (CXR) scoring system may be used prospectively to predict patient outcomes. "We developed an accurate and reliable tool for classifying COVID-19 severity, which can be used both at the attending chest radiologist and junior resident level. This study identifies the laboratory, clinical and radiographic data that predict important patient outcomes such as death, intubation, and the need for chronic renal replacement ...

Scientists of Tomsk Polytechnic University has conducted research on the 35ClO2 isotope and developed a mathematical model and software, which allow predicting characteristics by 10 folds more accurate than already known results. The research work was conducted by a research team of Russian, German and Swiss scientists. The research findings are published in the Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics (IF: 3,4; Q1) academic journal and listed as one of the best articles. The ClO2 molecule is extremely important for medicine and biophysics, as well as for the Earth atmosphere. It is used in medicine for disinfection and ...

A study published this week in The Lancet Public Health examines how we can use our income assistance systems to address drug use and drug-related harm. The study, led by University of British Columbia (UBC) medical sociologist Dr. Lindsey Richardson and conducted at the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use (BCCSU), tests whether varying the timing and frequency of income assistance payments can mitigate drug-related harms linked to the existing once-monthly payment schedule that is common across North America and Europe. Monthly synchronized income assistance payments have long been linked to considerable and costly increases in drug use and resulting harm, including overdose, hospital admission, treatment interruption and emergency service calls. The study finds that varying when ...

Tokyo, Japan - A team of scientists led by the Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering at Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) have created novel molecules that prevent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) particles from attacking immune cells. This is accomplished by injecting compounds mimicking the protein the virus usually uses to enter the cells. This work may lead to new treatments for HIV that may be more effective at stopping the proliferation of the virus with fewer side effects. HIV is a very dangerous pathogen because it attacks the very immune cells, including T helper cells, that are needed for the body to fight back. An HIV particle first ...

Researchers from Kumamoto University (Japan) have found that the anti-diabetic drug metformin significantly prolongs the survival of mice in a model that simulates the pathology of non-diabetic chronic kidney disease (ND-CKD) by ameliorating pathological conditions like reduced kidney function, glomerular damage, inflammation and fibrosis. Metformin's mechanism is different from existing therapeutics which only treat symptoms, such as the blood pressure drug losartan, so the researchers believe that a combination of these medications at low dose will be highly beneficial. CKD (chronic kidney disease) ...

It is often said that before air travel our skies were bluer yet how, in the 21st century, could we ever know what light and colors were like one hundred years ago? Recently, a group of researchers from EPFL's Audiovisual Communications Laboratory, in the School of Computer and Communication Sciences (IC), had a unique opportunity to try to find out. Normally hidden treasures locked away in the vaults of a handful of museums, the researchers were offered access to some of the original photographic plates and images of the scientist and inventor Gabriel Lippmann, who won the 1908 Nobel Prize in physics for his method of reproducing colors in photography. In a paper just published in the Proceedings of the National ...

Research led by the University of Kent's Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) has found that the personification of animals in recent wildlife documentaries leads to significant misinformation and creates problems for public understanding of wider conservation. In a research paper published by People and Nature, Professor Keith Somerville (DICE), Dr Amy Dickman, Dr Paul Johnson (both from the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, University of Oxford), and Professor Adam Hart (University of Gloucestershire) argue that the portrayal of charismatic animals in nature films, while ...