Mammalian mitochondrial electron transport chain complexes are the most important and complicated protein machinery in mitochondria. Although this system has been studied for more than a century, its composition and molecular mechanism are still largely unknown. Here, Yang’s group report the high-resolution cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures of porcine respiratory chain megacomplex-I2III2IV2 (MCI2III2IV2) in five different conformations, including State 1, State 2, Mid 1, Mid 2, and Mid 3. High-resolution cryo-EM imaging, combined with super-resolution gated stimulated emission depletion microscopy (gSTED), strongly supports ...

This study is led by Prof. Ying Li (Xuzhou Medical University), Prof. Zuobin Zhu (Xuzhou Medical University), and Prof. Wenqiang Chang (Shandong University). A small molecule library consisting of 40 compounds, specifically N-substituted maleimide and its derivatives were initially screened in the study. Among them, twelve maleimides, each with a distinct N-protection group, were synthesized using ring-opening and ring-closing reactions involving various amines and maleic anhydride. Additionally, a set of twenty-eight ...

Researchers from the University of Tartu and the University of Copenhagen have proposed the theoretical description of an ideal electrocatalysis process, which, if implemented, could double the efficiency of energy conversion and storage devices.   As the world seeks sustainable solutions to meet escalating energy demands, a collaborative team of researchers from the Universities of Tartu and Copenhagen has proposed an innovative approach to overcome long-standing limitations in oxygen electrocatalysis. Oxygen electrocatalysis ...

Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, have discovered that a protein called Piezo1 prevents a type of immune cell in the lung from becoming hyperactivated by allergens. The study, to be published March 26 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM), suggests that switching on Piezo1 could represent a new therapeutic approach to reducing lung inflammation and treating allergic asthma. Type 2 innate lymphoid cells (also known as ILC2s) are a type of immune cell that resides in the lungs, skin, and other tissues of the body. ILC2s in the lungs become activated in the presence of allergens and produce ...

Cardiac computed tomography angiography (CCTA or CTA) has emerged as a first-line tool for diagnosing, treating, and evaluating the prognosis of various cardiac diseases. In this special issue of JSCAI, "The Role of Cardiac Computed Tomography Angiography in Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prognosis of Cardiac Disease", experts detail the broad spectrum of uses of this imaging modality, acknowledging the role of this test in current clinical and procedural practice, including: Risk stratification Ruling out coronary artery disease in patients with chest pain Assessing ...

Simply asking patients to get the flu vaccine, and combining it with helpful video and print messages, is enough to persuade many who visit emergency departments to roll up their sleeves, according to a new study led by UC San Francisco.    Researchers found a 32% vaccine uptake in patients who were asked if they’d be interested in getting the flu shot and told their health providers would be informed. They saw a 41% uptake for those who were asked about receiving a flu shot and received a pamphlet, watched ...

A multidisciplinary team of University of Cincinnati Cancer Center researchers have opened a Phase 2 clinical trial to test a new combination treatment for glioblastomas (GBM), the most deadly form of brain tumors.  The team, led by UC’s Pankaj Desai, PhD, and Trisha Wise-Draper, MD, PhD, has been awarded a Catalyst Research Award from the Dr. Ralph and Marian Falk Medical Research Trust to move the trial forward.  Study background  Difficult to diagnose at early stages, GBMs are aggressive brain tumors that become symptomatic once the tumor is substantial. Current treatments include ...

An international research team led by RMIT University has designed and manufactured a virus-killing surface that could help control disease spread in hospitals, labs and other high-risk environments.  The surface made of silicon is covered in tiny nanospikes that skewer viruses on contact.  Lab tests with the hPIV-3 virus – which causes bronchitis, pneumonia and croup – showed 96% of the viruses were either ripped apart or damaged to the point where they could no longer replicate to cause infection.  These impressive results, featured on the cover of top nanoscience journal ACS Nano, show the material’s promise ...

Diving deep into quantum biology or cognitive science alone is challenging enough. That being said, a research team recently wrote a review article highlighting molecular quantum computing, a newly emerged research area that is likely to push the research boundaries of both. The review was published Feb. 21 in Intelligent Computing, a Science Partner Journal. Future theoretical breakthroughs may be achieved by connecting molecular quantum computing, the bridge research area, with cognitive science and quantum ...

One of the features of the deaf community is that it is highly diverse. As well as including people of different ages and genders, the members of the community do not all share the same type of deafness or form of communication. Firstly, the time of onset of deafness and the degree of hearing loss vary greatly. And secondly, not everybody uses sign and oral language in the same way. All these aspects have a bearing on the well-being of deaf people. However, few studies specifically analyse the effect of each one. The PhD thesis, defended by Amaia Jauregi-Orbe at the Faculty ...

Named for its ropy-looking long branches, Aplysina cauliformis, a coral reef sponge, provides a critical 3D habitat for marine organisms and helps to stabilize the foundation of coral reefs. However, these upright branching sponges are highly susceptible to breaking during storms, which increases sponge fragmentation and contributes to population clonality and inbreeding. Many sponges can survive severe damage and undergo frequent fragmentation, which is considered a mechanism for asexual reproduction. While fragmentation is a commonly utilized reproductive strategy in rope sponges, they also can reproduce sexually by producing larvae. How and whether they recolonize following ...

LOS ANGELES – (3/26/24) - In a landmark move for biomedical progress, the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI) today unveiled the launch of four pioneering startup companies. These ventures represent a strategic leap forward in TIBI's commitment to transforming healthcare through innovation. By harnessing the institute's groundbreaking research in biomaterials, micro-needles, organoids, tissue engineering, and advanced biosensing, these startups are poised to tackle some of the most pressing health challenges ...

Engineers have designed a modular artificial reef that can dissipate wave energy far better than natural coral reefs, according to a study. Sixty percent of the world’s coral reefs are under threat from rising ocean temperatures, overfishing, or coastal development. At the same time, climate change is leading to sea level rise, frequent high-tide flooding, and powerful storm surges. Artificial reefs can help protect coastal infrastructure from storms as well as provide habitat for marine organisms. Michael Triantafyllou and colleagues proposed and tested an architected cellular reef structure ...

A Medicare policy requiring primary care providers (PCPs) to share in the decision-making with patients on whether to proceed with lung cancer screening is fraught with confusion and lack of evidence-based information, and may actually be undermining the purpose for which it was created, Mount Sinai researchers say. In their study, published in Annals of Family Medicine, the team reported that the policy, enacted nearly 10 years ago to encourage the use of lung cancer screening, is in urgent need of new ...

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (or NPC) is a rare type of cancer affecting the epithelial tissue of the nasopharynx, the upper part of the throat behind the nasal cavity. Among the three main subtypes of NPC, non-keratinizing undifferentiated squamous carcinoma is endemic to the regions of Southern China and Southeast Asia, with a strong association with Epstein-Barr virus (or EBV) infection. EBV, also known as human tumor virus, is a double-stranded DNA virus that is associated with various cancers, such as Burkitt lymphoma, T-cell lymphoma, and gastric cancer. EBV genomes mostly survive autonomously as episomes or extrachromosomal ...

Entropy, the amount of molecular disorder, is produced in several systems but cannot be measured directly. An equation developed by researchers at Chalmers University of Technology and Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, now sheds new light on how entropy is produced on a very short time scale in laser excited materials. “New computational models give us new research opportunities. Extending thermodynamics for ultrashort excitations will provide novel insights into how materials function on the nanoscale,” says Matthias Geilhufe, Assistant Professor ...

Scientists on the hunt for evidence of quantum gravity’s existence at the South Pole University of Copenhagen team contributes to an Antarctic large-scale experiment striving to find out if gravity also exists at the quantum level. An extraordinary particle able to travel undisturbed through space seems to hold the answer. Several thousand sensors distributed over a square kilometer near the South Pole are tasked with answering one of the large outstanding questions in physics: does quantum gravity exist? ...

ITHACA, N.Y. – An international team of 25 scientists has proposed a roadmap for how to prevent the next pandemic by conserving natural areas and promoting biodiversity, thereby providing animals with enough food, safe havens and distance to limit contact and the transfer of pathogens to humans. Pandemics begin when disease-harboring animals, such as bats, come in close proximity with people, livestock or other animals and pass on new pathogens. Viruses such as SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1, Nipah, Hendra and possibly Ebola have all fatally spilled over from bats to humans, ...

Arlington, VA – As efforts to restore tree cover accelerate to help avoid runaway climate change, a new study highlights how restoring tree cover can, in some locations, heat up the Earth rather than cool it by affecting how much sunlight the surface reflects (i.e. “the albedo").    This new study by researchers at Clark University in the United States alongside scientists from The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and ETH-Zurich, published today in the journal Nature Communications, provides a global analysis of where restoration of tree cover is most effective at cooling the global climate system, considering ...

In a world inundated with a constant stream of new information—notifications, ads, emails, news—we often struggle to prevent our attention from being constantly hijacked by external events. But is it truly within our power to filter and select our perceptions? And why do we find ourselves so easily distracted? “Exogenous attention, the cognitive process that allows a salient visual stimulus to impose itself on us, is automatic. When a colleague walks past our desk, our attention is diverted from our computer screen despite ourselves,” explains Tal Seidel Malkinson (University of Lorraine), ...

Actually, the team from Naturalis Biodiversity Center in the Netherlands was looking for a Tyrannosaurus, that summer of 2013 in Wyoming. Instead, they found a Triceratops: the famous dinosaur with the three horns and the large neck frill. And then they found another one. And another one. And more. The dig turned into a project that would last for more than ten years.  All in all, they dug up 1200 bones and bone fragments, of at least five individuals. A team of professional and volunteer paleontologists ...

Research Highlights: Nontraditional risk factors for stroke were significantly associated with the development of strokes in adults younger than ages 35 to 45. Migraine was the most important nontraditional risk factor for stroke among both men and women, according to the study of adults in Colorado. Embargoed until 4 a.m. CT/5 a.m. ET Tuesday, March 26, 2024 DALLAS, March 26, 2024 — Adults younger than 35- to 45-years old may have a higher risk of developing a stroke from nontraditional risk factors ...

Bethesda, MD (March 26, 2024) – Modeling studies and expert consensus published today in the journals Gastroenterology and Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology shed new light on the promise and peril of liquid biopsy (blood tests) for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening that are currently in development.   “Based on their current characteristics, blood tests should not be recommended to replace established colorectal cancer screening tests, since blood tests are neither as effective or cost-effective, ...

One in three birders experiences accessibility challenges to participation in birding, according to Virginia Tech researchers Emily Sinkular and Ashley Dayer. “I like to think of our research as blending together two previously unconnected fields: disability studies and wildlife recreation,” said Sinkular, a Ph.D. student and lead author of the study published March 26 in the journal Human Dimensions and Wildlife. “There’s been quite a lot of research on disability and lots of research on birding, but very few researchers have combined these two topics together.” The ...

A global collaborative research group comprising 131 researchers from 105 laboratories across seven countries announces a groundbreaking research paper submitted to eLife. Titled "Large-scale Animal Model Study Uncovers Altered Brain pH and Lactate Levels as a Transdiagnostic Endophenotype of Neuropsychiatric Disorders Involving Cognitive Impairment," the study identifies brain energy metabolism dysfunction leading to altered pH and lactate levels as common hallmarks in numerous animal models of neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders, such as intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depressive disorders, and Alzheimer’s ...