Researchers from McGill University, led by Professor Alanna Watt of the Department of Biology, have identified previously unknown changes in brain cells affected by a neurological disease. Their research, published in eLife, could pave the way to future treatments for the disease. Spinocerebellar ataxia type 6, known as SCA6, is a rare neurological disease that disrupts the function in a part of the brain called the cerebellum, causing difficulties with movement and coordination. The condition results from genetic mutations, ...

Considerable attention has focused on burnout and mental health of physicians and nurses on the frontline during the COVID-19 pandemic. First responders – law enforcement personnel, firefighters and emergency medical service (EMS) providers, also experienced increased levels of stress, anxiety and depression due to job-related pressures associated with the pandemic. Given their exposure to work-related stress during this time, first responders may have been at considerable risk of developing problematic substance use. However, little is known about the factors associated with first responder drug and alcohol use during the pandemic.  A study by Florida ...

Organic semiconductors are a class of materials that find applications in various electronic devices owing to their unique properties. One attribute that influences the optoelectronic property of these organic semiconductors is their "exciton binding energy," which is the energy needed to divide an exciton into its negative and positive constituents. Since high binding energies can have a significant impact on the functioning of optoelectronic devices, low binding energies are desirable. This can help in reducing energy losses in devices like organic solar cells. While several methods for designing organic materials with low binding energies have ...

Quasicrystals are intermetallic materials that have garnered significant attention from researchers aiming to advance condensed matter physics understanding. Unlike normal crystals, in which atoms are arranged in an ordered repeating pattern, quasicrystals have non-repeating ordered patterns of atoms. Their unique structure leads to many exotic and interesting properties, which are particularly useful for practical applications in spintronics and magnetic refrigeration. A unique quasicrystal variant, known as the Tsai-type icosahedral quasicrystal (iQC) and their cubic approximant crystals (ACs), display intriguing characteristics. These include long-range ferromagnetic (FM) ...

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have used DNA origami, the art of folding DNA into desired structures, to show how an important cell receptor can be activated in a previously unknown way. The result opens new avenues for understanding how the Notch signalling pathway works and how it is involved in several serious diseases. The study is published in Nature Communications. Notch is a cell receptor that is of great importance to a wide range of organisms and plays a crucial role in many different processes, including early embryonic development in both flies and humans. Notch ...

The mystery behind why Alaskan horses, cryptodiran turtles and island lizards shrunk over time may have been solved in a new study.  The new theoretical research proposes that animal size over time depends on two key ecological factors: the intensity of direct competition for resources between species, and the risk of extinction from the environment.  Using computer models simulating evolution, the study, published today (Thursday, 18 January) in communications biology, identifies why some species gradually get smaller, as indicated by fossil records. Dr Shovonlal Roy, an ecosystem modeller from the University of Reading who led the research, ...

Researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported promising results in a Phase I/II trial of 37 patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies who were treated with cord blood-derived chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) natural killer (NK) cell therapy targeting CD19.   Published today in Nature Medicine, the findings reveal an overall response (OR) rate of 48.6% at 100 days post treatment, with one-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates of 32% & 68%, respectively. The trial reported an excellent safety profile with no cases of severe cytokine release syndrome (CRS), neurotoxicity, ...

  ·  New finding to understand brain cell loss in neurodegenerative disease ·  Increasing protective short RNAs may be new approach to halt or delay Alzheimer’s ·  SuperAgers with superior memories have more protective short RNAs in their brains   CHICAGO --- Alzheimer’s disease, which is expected to have affected about 6.7 million patients in the U.S. in 2023, results in a substantial loss of brain cells. But the events that cause neuron death are poorly understood. A new Northwestern Medicine study shows that RNA interference may play a key role in Alzheimer’s. For the first time, ...

The way science is funded is hampering Earth System Models and may be skewing important climate predictions, according to a new comment published in Nature Climate Change by Woodwell Climate Research Center and an international team of model experts.   Emissions from thawing permafrost, frozen ground in the North that contains twice as much carbon as the atmosphere does and is thawing due to human-caused climate warming, are one of the largest uncertainties in future climate projections. But accurate representation of permafrost dynamics is missing from ...

A team of researchers from China, Australia, France, Spain, and Germany has revealed advanced material culture in East Asia by 45,000 years ago. The new study was published in Nature Ecology & Evolution on Jan. 18. The researchers examined a previously excavated archaeological collection from the Shiyu site, located in Shanxi Province. "Our new study identified an Initial Upper Palaeolithic archaeological assemblage from the Shiyu site of North China dating to 45,000 years ago that includes blade technology, tanged and hafted projectile points, long-distance obsidian transfer, and the use of a perforated ...

Throughout the brain’s cortex, neurons are arranged in six distinctive layers, which can be readily seen with a microscope. A team of MIT neuroscientists has now found that these layers also show distinct patterns of electrical activity, which are consistent over many brain regions and across several animal species, including humans. The researchers found that in the topmost layers, neuron activity is dominated by rapid oscillations known as gamma waves. In the deeper layers, slower oscillations called alpha and beta waves ...

200 US communities will fail to transition to 100% renewable energy by 2050 despite their pledges to do so, according to a new study published in IOP Publishing’s journal Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability.    The study shows that by 2050 gas will firmly remain the primary source of energy in the US given that the current infrastructure plans for implementing renewable energy cannot provide sufficient energy output. Recent projections suggest that renewable energy generation will need to triple to meet even a 45% share of energy production. The results indicate that in many instances renewable energy ...

The European Society of Endocrinology (ESE) is pleased to announce that the new Editor-in-Chief of our flagship journal, the European Journal of Endocrinology (EJE), is Professor Felix Beuschlein, M.D. He will assume his post in May 2024 when the current Editor in Chief, Professor Wiebke Arlt, steps down. Professor Philippe Chanson, Chair of ESE’s Publications and Communications Committee said, “I am delighted that Felix will be the next Editor in Chief of ESE’s flagship journal and will continue to build on the strong foundations laid by his predecessors. Felix’s internationally ...

Mice lacking a certain gene are unable to produce offspring because their sperm lack the connection between the tail and the head. A new thesis from the University of Gothenburg indicates a probable cause of male infertility. Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have identified a new protein, dubbed by them as “MC2”, that plays a crucial part in the formation of swimmable sperm in mice. This protein is needed to create a functional connection between the head and the tail of the sperm. “The connection is located in the ‘neck’ of the sperm head and facilitates coordinated movement and function ...

(WASHINGTON, DC) 18 JANUARY 2024 — Bottom trawling is a previously unaccounted for source of atmospheric carbon emissions, scientists reveal in a study published today. As the world scrambles to slash emissions caused by fossil fuels, deforestation and other sources, the study finds bottom trawling — the act of dragging a heavy fishing net across the ocean floor and resuspending some of the carbon in the seafloor sediment — to be a significant source of atmospheric carbon pollution. A previous study found that part of that disturbed ...

Osaka, Japan – At the heart of global internet connectivity, optical communications form an indispensable foundation.  Key to this foundation are optical isolators, created by combining multiple components. The result is a complex structure that transmits light in only one direction, to prevent damage to lasers and minimize noise by avoiding the reversal of light. However, some magnetic materials have an optical diode effect – an unconventional nonreciprocal absorption of light manifested by the material itself. This effect leads to a change in transmittance depending ...

Fukuoka, Japan – Researchers at Kyushu University, in collaboration with Osaka University and the Fine Ceramics Center, have developed a framework that uses machine learning to speed up the discovery of materials for green energy technology. Using the new approach, the researchers identified and successfully synthesized two new candidate materials for use in solid oxide fuel cells – devices that can generate energy using fuels like hydrogen, which don’t emit carbon dioxide. Their findings, which were reported in the journal, ...

In response to the pressing need to reduce pesticide usage and adapt grapevine varieties to climate change, there's an unprecedented effort to phenotype new genotypes using high-throughput methods. Teams globally are developing advanced systems, employing technologies like multispectral cameras and LiDAR, to assess growth traits, photosynthetic capability, and other architectural parameters. However, traditional methods remain time-consuming and less efficient for large-scale studies. The current research gap lies in effectively employing LiDAR technology ...

Cultivating seed mixtures for local pastures is an age-old method to produce cost-effective and balanced animal feed, enhancing agricultural autonomy and environmental friendliness in line with evolving European regulations and organic consumer demands. Despite its benefits, farmers face adoption challenges due to the asynchronous ripening of cereals and legumes and the difficulty in assessing the nutritional value of heterogeneous seeds. Current practices rely on informal, empirical methods, and a proposed solution is to develop a mobile app or online service, similar to Pl@ntNet, for automated nutritional evaluation of seed mixtures, ...

The 3-dimensional point cloud technology revolutionizes non-invasive measurement of plant phenotypic parameters, offering vital data for agriculture and research. Current research focuses on overcoming the limitations of 2.5D imaging and occlusions. Methods such as structure from motion, multi-view stereo, and advanced active 3D reconstruction techniques are being explored for this purpose. However, issues persist with incomplete data acquisition and the inaccuracy of phenotypic parameter extraction due ...

To improve grape yield predictions, automated berry counting has emerged as a crucial yet challenging task due to the dense distribution and occlusion of berries. While grape cultivation is a significant global economic activity, traditional manual counting methods are inaccurate and inefficient. Recent research has shifted towards deep learning and computer vision, employing detection and density estimation techniques for more precise counts. However, these methods grapple with the variability of farmland and high occlusion rates, leading to significant counting errors. Additionally, creating high-performance ...

Advancements in whole-genome sequencing have revolutionized plant species characterization, providing a wealth of genotypic data for analysis. The combination of genomic selection and neural networks, especially deep learning and autoencoders, has emerged as a promising method for predicting complex traits from this data. Despite the success in applications like plant phenotyping, challenges remain in accurately translating visual information from images into measurable data for genomic studies. In November 2023, Plant ...

Erin Overstreet has been selected as the new executive director of the USC Stevens Center for Innovation where she will oversee the university’s commercialization of USC-driven intellectual property.   Overstreet’s expertise and experience embody technology transfer and innovation across the academic, educational, and venture capital sectors; such experience is critical for bridging USC research to a broadened, national technology transfer ecosystem, said Ishwar Puri, senior vice president of the Office of Research and Innovation. “The university has the utmost confidence in Dr. Overstreet’s ability to ...

In the field of Landscape Architecture, Topography aims to study the complex and ongoing changing relationship between humans and the land through continuously updated and iterative tools and media. It maintains a balance between abstract concepts and concrete perceptions, which can both drive the development of science and technology in this field and hold on to openness to artistic expression. Thus, topographical design may be an effective way to help facilitate refining landscape design methods.    The work entitled “Can Topography ...

Associate Professor Andrew Baker from QUT School of Biology and Environmental Science said antechinuses are carnivorous marsupials well-known for suicidal sex sessions where all males die after the 1 to 3 week breeding period. “During the breeding season, male and females mate promiscuously in frenzied bouts lasting as long as 14 hours. Certain stress-induced death follows for all males as surging testosterone causes cortisol to flood uncontrolled through the body, reaching pathological levels,” Professor Baker said. “The males drop dead, which provides an opportunity ...