Researchers at The University of Queensland, working to gain a better understanding of how brain cells work, have discovered the underlying mechanism of a rare genetic mutation that can cause epilepsy. Dr Victor Anggono from UQ's Queensland Brain Institute said his team made the ground-breaking findings while researching nerve cell communications, which are an important process in normal brain function. ''We're both excited and astounded to make such an important contribution to the field of cellular and molecular neuroscience,'' Dr Anggono said. He stressed that the mutation was extremely rare, with only one reported case in the world to date. Dr Anggono's team studied protein structures, called receptors, that ...

A study by researchers in the Scene understanding and artificial intelligence (SUNAI) research group, of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya's (UOC) Faculty of Computer Science, Multimedia and Telecommunications, has developed a method that can learn to identify mosquitoes using a large number of images that volunteers took using mobile phones and uploaded to Mosquito Alert platform. Citizen science to investigate and control disease-transmitting mosquitoes As well as being annoying because of their bites, mosquitoes can be the carriers of pathogens. Rising temperatures worldwide are facilitating their spread. This is the case with the tiger ...

While the UK was in lockdown, certain species of captive amphibians became more visible, a new study suggests. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of zoos across the UK for several months from March 2020, with gradual re-openings from summer into autumn and winter. These closures provided a team of researchers, from the University of Exeter and WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre, a unique opportunity to study the effect of visitor presence on several species of amphibian at Slimbridge. The project assessed the number of individuals of six species - common toad, common frog, smooth newt, pool frog, golden mantella and golden poison dart frog - visible to observers while their exhibit was closed, when it partially reopened to more staff and when it reopened to visitors. "Amphibians ...

Lung cancer has the highest mortality rate of all cancers, and treatment options are extremely limited, especially for patients with oncogenic mutations in the KRAS gene. A great deal of hope was invested in the licensing of immune checkpoint inhibitors, but the reality is that some patients respond very well to this treatment while it is completely ineffective in others. In a paper just published in Science Translational Medicine, a MedUni Vienna research group led by Herwig Moll (Center for Physiology and Pharmacology) identified a potential marker for the success of immunotherapy in lung cancer patients and explained the underlying molecular processes. K-Ras it is a monomeric G protein that plays a key role in the growth of malignant ...

When you pour cream into a cup of coffee, the viscous liquid seems to lazily disperse throughout the cup. Take a mixing spoon or straw to the cup, though, and the cream and coffee seem to quickly and seamlessly combine into a lighter color and, at least for some, a more enjoyable beverage. The science behind this relatively simple anecdote actually speaks to a larger truth about complex fluid dynamics and underpins many of the advancements made in transportation, power generation, and other technologies since the industrial era--the seemingly random chaotic motions known as turbulence play a vital role in chemical and industrial ...

The ratios between the lengths of the second and fourth fingers, known as the 2D:4D ratio, are different in males and females, which is often explained by levels of androgens and oestrogens. However, an alternative theory states that men have bigger body parts, including fingers, which impacts the 2D:4D ratio. A research team including HSE University scholars refuted this hypothesis by collecting data on finger length from 7,500 people. The results of the study were published in Scientific Reports. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-87394-6 The ...

A new study conducted before COVID-19 busted open the leaky pipeline for women in leadership underscores the bias that men are naturally presumed to have leadership potential and women are not and highlights the increased efforts needed by organizations to address the incorrect stereotype post-pandemic. The research published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology highlights the continuing bias in leadership assessments of women, explores the contradictions between the perception and the reality of women's leadership, and shows why the slow rate of career advancement for women will likely continue at a snail's pace. "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women's career progression will likely be felt for years to come as ...

Faba beans are an excellent source of food protein, but about 4% of the world's population are afflicted by favism, which renders them sensitive to the faba bean anti-nutrients vicine and convicine. Now, an international research team has identified the VC1 gene as responsible for the production of these compounds. Faba beans have actually been a source of food protein since pre-historic times, but a fraction of the population, mostly from warm southern regions, cannot tolerate them. Pythagoras and his followers avoided them, and Roman priests of Jupiter ...

You have probably often said to yourself: "This time, I will only buy what I need!" But then you still ended up coming home with things that were not on your shopping list. How can you prevent such impulse buying? A team from the Chair of Psychology II at Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany, looked at this question. The answer is not that simple, says psychologist Dr Anand Krishna. It depends on what type of person you are: a pleasure-seeker or a person who focuses on security. Anand Krishna and his JMU colleagues Sophia Ried and Marie Meixner have published ...

The two major challenges in industrial enzymatic catalysis are the limited number of chemical reaction types that are catalyzed by enzymes and the instability of enzymes under harsh conditions in industrial catalysis. Expanding enzyme catalysis to a larger substrate scope and greater variety of chemical reactions and tuning the microenvironment surrounding enzyme molecules to achieve high enzyme performance are urgently needed. Recently, a research team led by Prof. Jun Ge from Tsinghua University, China reviewed their efforts using the de novo approach to synthesize hybrid enzyme catalysts that can address these two challenges and the structure-function relationship is discussed to reveal ...

A research team at the University of Córdoba has developed and evaluated models for the prediction of solar radiation in nine locations in southern Spain and North Carolina (USA). Measuring solar radiation is costly, as are all the tasks related to the maintenance and calibration of the most commonly used sensors: pyranometers and radiometers. The result is a paucity of reliable data. Hence, a research group from the University of Córdoba has developed and evaluated several Machine Learning models to predict solar radiation in nine locations (southern Spain and North Carolina, USA) spanning a range of different geo-climatic conditions ...

Washington, DC, July 8, 2021 - A study in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP), published by Elsevier, reports that the type of one-on-one treatment plans delivered to toddlers, aged 12-30 months, diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) did not lead to any significantly different outcomes. Neither the type of evidence-based intervention provided, nor the number of hours of therapy were shown to have an impact. The treatments, or intervention methods, delivered by specialized staff to the very young, during the study were either the Early ...

Of the Swedish men in their late teens who performed well in the physical fitness tests for military conscription, a relatively high proportion were able to avoid hospital care when they became infected with COVID-19 during the pandemic up to 50 years later. This has been shown by University of Gothenburg researchers in a register study, with results now published in the BMJ Open. The study is based on the Swedish Conscription Register, which contains particulars of over 1.5 million young Swedish men who began their military service in the years 1969-2005. Almost all of these men then underwent both a bicycle test and a strength test. Some 2,500 of the men included in the Conscription Register were later, in spring 2020, hospitalized with COVID-19. For their study, the scientists ...

A research study from the The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research iPSYCH shows that people with ADHD, who also have another psychiatric diagnosis, are more likely to stop taking their ADHD medicine. ADHD is one of the most common psychiatric disorders in childhood and is commonly treated with medication. ADHD medicine can be divided into two groups: medicine that has a stimulating effect - also known as stimulants - and non-stimulants, which are often used if a person does not respond well to the other form of medicine. The medication can be an effective way of reducing symptoms, by ...

Researchers have used the latest wireless technology to develop a new radio receiver for astronomy. The receiver is capable of capturing radio waves at frequencies over a range several times wider than conventional ones, and can detect radio waves emitted by many types of molecules in space at once. This is expected to enable significant progresses in the study of the evolution of the Universe and the mechanisms of star and planet formation. Interstellar molecular clouds of gas and dust provide the material for stars and planets. Each type of molecule emits radio waves at characteristic frequencies and astronomers have detected emissions from various molecules ...

(Boston)--As analytical instrumentation (gas- and liquid-chromatographs coupled with mass spectrometers) increase in sensitivity and speed, forensic scientists may find themselves still hindered by the process of preparing samples (blood, urine, etc.) for analysis and seeking more efficient approaches. In an article in WIRES Forensic Science, researchers from Boston University School of Medicine's (BUSM) Biomedical Forensic Sciences program, provide an overview of sample preparation techniques and information on routine sample types that may be encountered in forensic toxicology cases. Forensic toxicology encompasses a large variety of scenarios including drug-facilitated crimes, understanding ...

A new UBC Sauder School of Business study shows that depending on how employees understand their boss' motivation, employees can feel anger or guilt, and consequently, react differently to abusive supervision. Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs was a famously harsh corporate leader, one who pushed his employees to extremes to achieve the company's lofty aims. But while many aspiring leaders still believe that the "tough love" approach is effective, a new study from UBC Sauder shows that, even when abusive leadership is meant to push employees to new heights, it can land them in deep lows in the long term. Abusive supervision -- which includes behaviours like yelling at employees, giving them the silent treatment, or putting them down in front of their ...

More than a third of coal miners and former coal miners suffering from black lung disease struggle with depression, and more than one in 10 has recently considered suicide, a new study finds. The study is believed to be the first to examine mental-health issues in a large population of coal miners in the United States. Based on the troubling results, the researchers are calling for more mental health resources and treatment for current and former miners. They also are urging further study of potential contributors to the problem, including social determinants of health, ...

Evidence from an ancient eggshell has revealed important new information about the extreme climate change faced by human early ancestors. The research shows parts of the interior of South Africa that today are dry and sparsely populated, were once wetland and grassland 250,000 to 350,000 years ago, at a key time in human evolution. Philip Kiberd and Dr Alex Pryor, from the University of Exeter, studied isotopes and the amino acid from ostrich eggshell fragments excavated at the early middle Stone Age site of Bundu Farm, in the upper Karoo region ...

Reston, VA--A performance evaluation of the uEXPLORER total-body PET/CT scanner showed that it exhibits ultra-high sensitivity that supports excellent spatial resolution and image quality. Given the long axial field of view (AFOV) of the uEXPLORER, study authors have proposed new, extended measurements for phantoms to characterize total-body PET imaging more appropriately. This research was published in the June issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. uEXPLORER is the world's first commercially available total-body PET scanner. The scanner has an AFOV of 194 cm, which allows PET data collection from the ...

Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, have found a way to simultaneously increase the strength and ductility of an alloy by introducing tiny precipitates into its matrix and tuning their size and spacing. The precipitates are solids that separate from the metal mixture as the alloy cools. The results, published in the journal Nature, will open new avenues for advancing structural materials. Ductility is a measure of a material's ability to undergo permanent deformation without breaking. It determines, among other ...

Batteries are potentially a game-changing technology as we decarbonize our economy, and their benefits are even greater when shared across communities, a University of Otago-led study has found. Co-author Associate Professor Michael Jack, Director of the Energy Programme in the Department of Physics, says reducing costs are seeing rapid deployment of batteries for household use, mainly for storing solar and wind power for later use, but they could have a variety of uses in a future electricity grid. "For example, they could be used to feed energy back into the grid when there is a shortfall in renewable supply. ...

Firearm purchases and firearm violence surged dramatically during the first five months of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study from the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program (VPRP), published in Injury Epidemiology. From March through July 2020, an estimated 4.3 million more background checks for firearm purchases occurred nationwide than would have ordinarily -- an 85 percent increase. The total number of firearm purchases during this period was 9.3 million. From April through July 2020, there was a 27% increase in interpersonal firearm injuries, which includes firearm homicides or nonfatal firearm assault injuries. This is approximately 4,075 more injuries ...

Eight pieces of salmon-based maki, nigiri or sashimi or maki unagi (eel) is the safest combination of sushi for adult and adolescent populations. That is one of the findings of TecnATox (Centre for Environmental, Food and Toxicological Technology), a joint research group from the URV and the Pere Virgili Health Research Institute (IISPV), which has analysed the presence of arsenic and various heavy metals in sushi. The consumption of sushi has increased significantly since the start of the 21st century, as has the number of restaurants offering it throughout the region. Although eating fish is recommended because of its high nutritional value, it can also lead to exposure to contaminants, such as heavy metals. Likewise, rice is a food that provides many nutrients ...

The rationale for the research is in the fact that despite the high number of recognized Indigenous groups who are struggling to maintain their languages, cultures, and identities in Russia, there is little research done on the matters of cultural and linguistic revitalization. This study sought to address this gap by exploring the views of two Indigenous groups, Karelian and Mari, on the development of their Indigenous languages and educational strategies to protect and revive their languages. The study relied on in-depth one-on-one interviews with 20 participants, ten from each Indigenous group. The findings show that despite older generations' relative proficiency and interest in their respective Indigenous languages, motivation to master them is ...