Wnt signalling is a well-known mode of cell-to-cell communication in multicellular biological organisms. It involves the secretion of small Wnt glycoproteins, by signalling cells, that bind to receptor proteins in the membrane of receiving cells. This signal modifies proteins on the inside of these receiving cells to make cells grow, divide or differentiate. This mode of communication is fundamental in both normal and altered cellular development, such as in cancer and wound healing, and has remained in the limelight ...

A University of Ottawa-led research team has published rigorous new research that advances a quest to understand a puzzling – and heartbreaking – ultra-rare disease that’s found almost exclusively in boys. XLP-2 is a genetic X-linked lymphoproliferative disease first described in 2006. It typically has severe complications among patients who become infected with the Epstein-Barr virus, an exceedingly common virus that infects most people without problems in their teenage years or young adulthood. But when the few individuals with XLP-2 encounter the Epstein-Barr virus the experience is often fatal ...

About a third of the restaurants listed on iFood, the food delivery app most used by Brazilians, are “dark kitchens”, according to the first study of the topic conducted in Brazil, and one of only a few worldwide. An article on the study is published in the journal Food Research International. It has eight authors; the first three and the last are researchers at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in São Paulo state. Defined in the article as delivery-only restaurants that have no direct contact with consumers, have no premises for local consumption and sell solely ...

WASHINGTON —On a hot summer day, white clothing feels cooler than other colors due to reflecting—not absorbing—sunlight. Other colors like blue or black, will undergo a heating effect as they absorb light. To circumvent this heating effect in colored cooling films, researchers drew inspiration from nanostructures in butterfly wings. The new films, which don’t absorb any light, could be used on the outside of buildings, vehicles and equipment to reduce the energy needed for cooling while preserving vivid color properties. “In buildings, large amounts of energy are used for cooling and ventilation, and running ...

Thanks to the support of libraries participating in Direct to Open (D2O), the MIT Press will publish its full list (see below) of 2023 scholarly monographs and edited collections open access on the MIT Press Direct platform.  Launched in 2021, D2O is a sustainable framework that harnesses the collective power of libraries to support open and equitable access to vital, leading scholarship. D2O moves scholarly books from a solely market-based, purchase model, where individuals and libraries buy ...

INDIANAPOLIS -- A team including Eskenazi Health, Indiana University School of Medicine and Regenstrief Institute has helped guide a new dementia care and payment model announced by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center. Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) is the first model established by the Innovation Center that directly addresses the needs of unpaid caregivers, usually family, of individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia. The model will provide a comprehensive ...

The climate crisis is severely affecting marine ecosystems around the world and the Mediterranean is not an exception. Marine heat waves associated with this crisis are causing massive mortality events throughout the basin. Given this scenario, their correct definition and characterization become a key element in defining possible future scenarios. Now, a new study by the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) and the Institute of Marine Sciences of the National Research Council (CNR-ISMAR) has revealed how decoupling global warming trends affects the definition of marine heat waves characteristics. ...

Light affects living organisms in many different ways: for example, plants orient their growth direction towards the sun, while circadian rhythms in humans are controlled by daylight. These processes always involve photoreceptors, which are proteins that can sense different colours and intensities of light. 10,000-fold increase in enzymatic activity Now, researchers at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) have deciphered the function of a highly efficient photoreceptor. Their findings have been published in the journal Science Advances. The research ...

The western U.S., particularly the Southwest, has experienced a notable increase in record-breaking high temperatures over recent decades, with recurring drought and heatwaves. These conditions have resulted in severe consequences for both human and nature systems, including dire water shortages, rampant wildfires, substantial agricultural losses, and increased human mortality. These regions, dominated by water-limited ecosystems, face exacerbated water stress due to more frequent and protracted droughts and heatwaves, which can profoundly impair ecosystem ...

Sandwich complexes were developed about 70 years ago and have a sandwich-like structure. Two flat aromatic organic rings (the “slices of bread”) are filled with a single, central metal atom in between. Like the slices of bread, both rings are arranged in parallel. Adding further layers of ‘bread’ and ‘filling’ produces triple or multiple sandwiches. “These compounds are among the most important complexes used in modern organometallic chemistry,” says Professor Peter ...

Children raised in rural environments who spend a lot of time outdoors with some exposure to animals grow to have better regulated immune systems than children living in urban environments, a new study has found.  Research led by APC Microbiome Ireland (APC), a world-leading SFI research centre and University College Cork (UCC), has shown that early life immune development is highly dependent on a child’s living environment and lifestyle factors. Researchers say that the immune system needs to learn how not to over-respond ...

Fuel cells are compact energy conversion units that utilize clean energy sources like hydrogen and convert them into electricity through a series of oxidation–reduction reactions. Specifically, proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), an integral part of electric vehicles, utilize proton-conductive membranes for operation. Unfortunately, these membranes suffer from a trade-off between high durability and high ion conductivity, affecting the lifetime and performance of PEMFCs. To overcome this issue, scientists ...

University of Tennessee Extension and GAP Connections recently received a grant from the Southern Extension Risk Management Education Center to launch a series of workshops across the state to help agricultural producers and agribusinesses navigate the intricacies of labor management. Tennessee’s labor-intensive farming operations are increasingly in need of agricultural labor options, creating challenges for agricultural employers that have transitioned from readily available family labor to scarce hired labor that ...

WASHINGTON—The number of girls diagnosed with precocious puberty increased during the COVID-19 pandemic due to potential risk factors such as increased screen time and less physical activity, according to a new study published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society. The number of girls referred to pediatric endocrinologists for precocious puberty has increased significantly over the last two years, potentially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Precocious puberty is when children's bodies begin to change into adult bodies too soon. They start to develop physical changes before the age of 8 such as breasts ...

In an era of unprecedented LGBTQ2+ visibility coupled with incredible backlash, coming out as a sexual minority can be a deeply ambivalent experience, according to new research. In a study published in Theory and Society, sociologists Dr. Amin Ghaziani and Andy Holmes conducted in-depth interviews with 52 adult Vancouverites about their experiences coming out over the last five years. We spoke to Dr. Ghaziani (he/him), professor in the UBC department of sociology and Canada Research Chair in Urban Sexualities, about the findings. Why were you interested in recent experiences of coming out? Coming out is about sharing your identity with someone, and it’s an ongoing ...

(LOS ANGELES) – August 3, 2023 - Scientists from the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI) have developed a nanoengineered bioink with improved bonding and cross-linking capabilities for 3D bioprinting of tumor models. A key component of this bioink is Laponite, highly charged, disk-shaped, crystalline nanoparticles. As explained in their recent paper in Biofabrication, these nanoparticles were shown to enhance the biological signaling that occurs in the tumor microenvironment ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A first-of-its-kind study examined 2.2 million news stories shared on Facebook and found that publishers create two very different news environments.   These distinct ecosystems involve low-credibility publishers – those that publish what is sometimes referred to as fake news – versus high-credibility publishers.   Findings showed that while these two types of publishers often pushed out bursts of coverage at the same time – a common feature of news coverage – they were often about different topics, said Kelly Garrett, senior author of the study and professor of communication at The Ohio State University.   “These ...

The Access to Advanced Health Institute Receives $18 Million Award to Develop a Temperature Stable, Single-Dose Chikungunya RNA Vaccine Through a Phase 1 Clinical Trial KEY POINTS: The goal of the award is to develop an effective chikungunya vaccine candidate that can reach endemic areas of the world by using AAHI’s innovative RNA platform technology. The project will demonstrate that classic large-scale manufacturing challenges of live-attenuated vaccines can be overcome by using standard manufacturing equipment and techniques that are easy to tech transfer and scale. The award supports a first-in-human clinical trial of a dried (lyophilized) ...

It’s a mold that causes billions in crop losses every year, infecting berries, tomatoes and most other fruits and vegetables. Now, researchers have found a way to defeat the mold without showering toxic chemicals on the crops.  If you’ve ever seen a fuzzy gray strawberry, you’ve seen gray mold. It affects more than 1,400 different plant species, and there is no real cure for it. Being able to control it may hinge on the discovery of lipid “bubbles” secreted by the ...

Research Highlights: In a retrospective analysis of stroke patients, Black adults who had a stroke due to a severe blockage of a major artery in the brain (intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis) were younger, had higher rates of high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes, and had lower physical activity scores compared to non-Black adults. After one year of aggressive, individualized medical management, including lifestyle coaching and regular follow-up care, diastolic blood pressure and physical activity scores improved among Black adults. Embargoed until 4 a.m. CT/5 a.m. ET, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023 DALLAS, Aug. 3, 2023 — Significant stroke risk factor disparities ...

Osaka, Japan – Chronic inflammation of the middle ear can cause several problems and complications that can affect a person’s hearing and balance. One such problem is the formation of a cholesteatoma, which is an abnormal collection of cells in the ear that can cause bone erosion if left untreated. In turn, this can cause symptoms such as hearing loss, dizziness, facial paralysis, and even a brain infection. In a study published recently in Nature Communications, researchers from Osaka University have revealed the cause of cholesteatomas, which may help in developing new therapies for patients who are suffering ...

A machine commonly used for pain relief has shown to improve breathing in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea, a clinical trial has found. Results of the TESLA trial, published today in eClinical Medicine by researchers from King’s College London and Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, shows the potential of a new therapeutic option for patients using a transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TENS) machine. Sleep apnoea affects about 1 billion people worldwide, and millions in the UK. The condition can be frequently associated with snoring; ...

CLEVELAND—What if there was a more effective way to coach and inspire your employees? Athletes? Students? Even your kids? A new study by a team of researchers from Case Western Reserve University suggests there is. Their newly published work used neuroimaging to peer into the brains of participants as they responded to two different styles of coaching. The researchers wanted to see what happens in the brain that either helps people grow or causes them to resist change. “You could say it’s about how we get around the problem that you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink,” said Anthony “Tony” ...

Canadian vertebrate palaeontologist, Aaron Kilmury, and a team of researchers from the University of Manitoba have published new research in PeerJ Life and Environment, unveiling the first-ever formal description of microvertebrate fossil assemblages from the late Cenomanian to middle Turonian periods in Manitoba, Canada. “One of the most significant findings of this study is that the new microvertebrate material described from Manitoba shares several similarities with microvertebrate assemblages collected ...

Researchers have found that robots can have a ‘U-shaped’ effect on profits: causing profit margins to fall at first, before eventually rising again. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, studied industry data from the UK and 24 other European countries between 1995 and 2017, and found that at low levels of adoption, robots have a negative effect on profit margins. But at higher levels of adoption, robots can help increase profits. According to the researchers, this U-shaped phenomenon is due to the relationship between reducing costs, developing new processes ...