RApid DIgital Crispr Approach (RADICA) is a molecular rapid testing methodology that allows absolute quantification of viral nucleic acids in 40-60 minutes. RADICA is four times faster and significantly less expensive than conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods as it does not require costly equipment for precise temperature control and cycling. Method has been tested on SARS-CoV-2 synthetic DNA and RNA, Epstein-Barr virus in human B cells and serum, and can be easily adapted to detect other kinds of viruses. Singapore, 7 June 2021 - Researchers from Critical Analytics for Manufacturing Personalized-Medicine (CAMP), an Interdisciplinary Research Group (IRG) at the Singapore-MIT ...

Nanoclusters, which consist of several or even thousands of atoms, represent an important intermediate state between microscopic atoms and macroscopic matter. A profound comprehension of the composition, structure, and properties of nanoclusters is crucial for exploring or extending their functional applications. Among the numerous types of nanoclusters, metal chalcogenide supertetrahedral clusters (MCSCs) have attracted great attention since the 1980s for their uniform sizes, well-defined structures, and semiconductor properties. Notably, because ...

Russian paleontologists discovered the skull of a Pleistocene small cave bear with artificial damage in the Imanay Cave (Bashkiria, Russia). A bear aged 9-10 years was killed with a spear during hibernation about 35 thousand years ago. If the assumptions of scientists are confirmed, the find will become the world's first direct evidence of a Paleolithic man hunting for a small cave bear. The description of the skull was published in the Vestnik Archeologii, Anthropologii I Ethnographii. "The hole in the skull could be either natural or artificial," said senior researcher of the laboratories at the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and ...

Measurement postulate is crucial to quantum mechanics. If we measure a quantum system, we can only get one of the eigenvalues of the measured observable, such as position, energy and so on, with a probability. Immediately after the measurement, the system will collapse into the corresponding eigenstate instantly, known as state collapse. It is argued that the non-cloning theorem is actually a result of the measurement postulate, because non-cloning theorem would also hold in classical physics. The possibility of cloning in classical physics is actually the ability to fully measure a classical system, ...

Various forms of complex multicellular organisms have evolved on Earth, ranging from simple Volvox carterii which possess only 2 cell- types to us humans with more than 200 cell types. All originate from a single celled zygote, and their developmental processes depend on switch-like gene regulation. These processes have been studied in great detail within a few model organisms such as the worm C. elegans, and the fruit fly D. melanogaster. It is also known that the key molecules and mechanisms that are involved in the development of multicellular organisms are highly conserved across species. What is also remarkable is that only a handful of molecules and mechanisms that go into the development of a multicellular organism can generate such a ...

In football, chance is defined as actions or situations occurring during the game that cannot be planned and are therefore difficult to train for. Take for instance deflected shots, balls that rebound off the post only to be kicked straight into the goal or goals that are unintentionally assisted by a defender. The primary focus of most researchers has been on analysing success factors, to enable the coach to build these systematically into the training programme. But they have often neglected to include the pure chance factor at play. This is because of the difficulty ...

C3 glomerulopathy (C3G) is a very rare immunological (or more precisely: complement-mediated) inflammation of the glomeruli. Due to progressive renal dysfunction, many such patients have to go on dialysis or receive a kidney transplant after about ten years. C3G has to date been treated by lowering blood pressure and proteinuria and by non-specific immunosuppression. In order to compare different therapeutic approaches in the future, a 'European Register for C3 glomerulopathy and immune-complex-mediated MPGN', in which cases are systematically registered, was initiated in 2015. Pathogenetic dysregulation in the 'alternative complement signaling pathway' of the immune system leads ...

Researchers at the University of Adelaide have used more than two decades of satellite-derived environmental data to form hypotheses about the possible foraging habitats of pre-contact Aboriginal peoples living in Australia's Western Desert. As one of the most arid and geographically remote regions of Australia, the Western Desert has always presented severe challenges for human survival. Yet despite the harsh conditions, Aboriginal peoples have maintained an enduring presence, continuously adapting to environmental variations through complex socioeconomic strategies. In the study published in Scientific Reports, the researchers used Earth Observation data to ...

Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is a rare form of kidney inflammation (glomerulonephritis) in which the glomeruli become increasingly scarred (sclerotic), leading to progressive loss of kidney function. Dysregulation of the immune system plays a role in pathogenesis, which is why immunosuppressive therapy with glucocorticoids can be successful, alongside supportive therapy (especially blocking of the renin-angiotensin system with ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers). Many patients nevertheless require dialysis in the course of the disease. New therapeutic approaches that stabilize or protect kidney function ...

Accumulation of water in the lungs (lungcongestion) is a common condition in hemodialysis patients, particularly in those at high cardiovascular risk, like those presenting coronary artery disease and/or heart failure. This alteration can be detected in an X-ray image, but cannot be heard easily with a stethoscope. When the congestion becomes so severe that fluid floods the alveoli ('alveolar pulmonary edema'), the sound of rattling breathing can be heard (and without a stethoscope at a later stage). Then, at the latest, pulmonary gas exchange is severely impaired, and the patients experience shortness of breath or even fear of death. For hemodialysis patients, ...

The battle against antibiotic-resistant bacteria: A new study at Tel Aviv University revealed a mechanism through which "good" viruses can attack the systems of "bad" bacteria, destroy them and block their reproduction. The researchers demonstrated that the "good" virus (bacteriophage) is able to block the replication mechanism of the bacteria's DNA without damaging its own, and note that the ability to distinguish between oneself and others is crucial in nature. They explain that their discovery reveals one more fascinating aspect of the mutual relations between bacteria and bacteriophages and may ...

IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is a chronic kidney disease occurring in young adults and is one of the most common reasons for kidney transplantation in this age group. IgAN is the most common form of glomerulonephritis (GN), i.e., immunologically induced inflammation of the renal glomeruli. It is characterized by glomerular deposition of immune complexes containing immunoglobulin A (IgA), and by a complex inflammatory response and progressive loss of kidney function. For many decades, IgAN has therefore been treated with anti-inflammatory or strong immunosuppressive agents. ...

Wider clean chemistry applications of the extraordinary Vortex Fluidic Device - invented by Flinders University's Professor Colin Raston - are likely in the wake of new research that has been published outlining the seemingly endless possible uses. The defining paper on understanding fluid flow in the Vortex Fluidic Device has just been comprehensively explained in an article published in Nanoscale Advances (DOI: 10.1039/D1NA00195G). This took more than 100,000 experiments to work out - and Professor Raston hopes this publication will encourage more researchers to embrace the VFD and explore yet more innovative applications for this ingenious device. "How fluid flows is one of the grand challenges of science," says Professor Raston. "What we have been ...

A world-first international study led by the University of South Australia has identified a new drug to stop athletes developing dementia after sustaining repeated head injuries in their career. The link between concussion and neurogenerative diseases is well established, but new research findings could halt the progression of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in sportspeople who sustain repeated blows to the head. CTE is a progressive and fatal brain disease associated with the accumulation of a protein known as hyperphosphorylated tau which affects cognition and behaviour. In a paper published in Scientific Reports, ...

LA JOLLA, CALIF. - June 7, 2021 - A preclinical study led by scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys has established that AAV8-TNAP-D10--a gene therapy that replaces a key enzyme found in bone--may be a safe and effective single-dose treatment for hypophosphatasia (HPP). The study, published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research and performed in a murine model of the disease, further supports advancing the therapy toward human clinical trials. "This is the most promising gene therapy study to date demonstrating a successful increase in life span, and improvement ...

Monash University researchers have provided a fundamental advance regarding how T cells become activated when encountering pathogens such as viruses. The recent study published in Science, co-led by Professor Nicole La Gruta, Professor Jamie Rossjohn and Professor Stephanie Gras with first author Dr Pirooz Zareie from the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, have found that T Cells need to recognise pathogens in a particular orientation in order to receive a strong activating signal. T cells play a key role in the immune system by eliminating invading pathogens, such as viruses, and it is crucial to understand ...

When we inhale isolated coronavirus particles, more than 65% reach the deepest region of our lungs where damage to cells can lead to low blood oxygen levels, new research has discovered, and more of these aerosols reach the right lung than the left. Lead author of the study Dr Saidul Islam, from the University of Technology Sydney, said while previous research has revealed how virus aerosols travel through the upper airways including the nose, mouth and throat - this study was the first to examine how they flow through the lower lungs. "Our ...

Finding the hypothetical particle axion could mean finding out for the first time what happened in the Universe a second after the Big Bang, suggests a new study published in Physical Review D on June 7. How far back into the Universe's past can we look today? In the electromagnetic spectrum, observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background -- commonly referred to as the CMB -- allow us to see back almost 14 billion years to when the Universe cooled sufficiently for protons and electrons to combine and form neutral hydrogen. The CMB has taught us an inordinate amount about the evolution of the cosmos, but photons in the CMB were released 400,000 years after the Big Bang making it extremely challenging to learn about the history of ...

TAMPA, Fla. (June 4, 2021) — Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease in which a misdirected immune system gradually destroys healthy pancreatic islet β cells, resulting in a lack of insulin. The exact cause of T1D remains unknown. However, β cell-reactive autoantibodies can be detected in circulating blood months to years before diagnosis, raising the possibility of intervening to stop or delay T1D before children develop the disease. Monitoring the number, type, and concentration of autoantibodies appearing in the blood can help predict the long-term risk of progression from autoimmunity to symptomatic T1D. Now new findings suggest that measuring how patterns ...

A research team from the University of Copenhagen and University of Helsinki demonstrates it is possible to predict individual preferences based on how a person's brain responses match up to others. This could potentially be used to provide individually-tailored media content -- and perhaps even to enlighten us about ourselves. We have become accustomed to online algorithms trying to guess our preferences for everything from movies and music to news and shopping. This is based not only on what we have searched for, looked at, or listened to, but also on how these activities compare to others. Collaborative filtering, as the technique is called, uses hidden ...

A team of astronomers from the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA-TIFR) in Pune, and the Raman Research Institute (RRI), in Bangalore, has used the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) to measure the atomic hydrogen gas content of galaxies 9 billion years ago, in the young universe. This is the earliest epoch in the universe for which there is a measurement of the atomic hydrogen content of galaxies. The new result is a crucial confirmation of the group's earlier result, where they had measured the atomic hydrogen content of galaxies 8 billion years ago, and pushes our understanding of galaxies to even earlier in the universe. ...

Decades of research has revealed the remarkable morphological adaptations of sea snakes to aquatic life, which include paddle-shaped tails, salt-excreting glands, and the ability to breathe through their skin. In a new study published in Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, researchers at the University of Adelaide detail the enlarged touch receptors that evolved in male turtle-headed sea snakes (Emydocephalus annulatus), to help them locate and court females in aquatic environments. Lead author, Jenna Crowe-Riddell, PhD graduate at the University of Adelaide's School of Biological Sciences, says on land, snakes use tongue-flicking ...

Older people need digital skills training to learn to use digital technology more independently, but they also seek digital training opportunities because of the social benefits they offer, according to a recent study from the University of Eastern Finland. Published in International Journal of Lifelong Education, the study examined perceived benefits of digital skills training among older adult learners, their teachers and peer tutors. Data for the study were collected in liberal adult education organisations, such as community colleges, as well as in peer tutoring sessions organised by third sector actors. New skills and friendships The coronavirus pandemic has, for its part, highlighted inequalities in the availability and ...

The Amami, Okinawa region of Japan may be designated a World Heritage Site in July of 2021 based on the recent recommendation from the IUCN. The Iriomote wild cat is a symbolic species of the region, having evolved independently on the island. The area is home to many other highly endemic and unique evolutionary species. A research group comprised mostly of former students of Professor Koji Tojo's Faculty of Science lab of Shinshu University focused on the study of dragonflies, continuing from their previous study of their comparative embryogenesis. About 5,000 species of insects belonging to 26 families of the order Dragonfly are known ...

A long-standing basic question in biology relates to how life satisfies the fundamental constraints put on it by physics and chemistry. Darwin's warm pond hypothesis for the origin of primordial cells is a familiar one. Advances have been made in mapping out the organic molecules that likely existed on the early Earth, and recently candidate prototypic pathways in early cells have been formulated. But how did these candidates' early biochemistry actually function as a system, on which subsequent cellular life is based? A team of bioengineers at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, DTU, has now defined ten overarching classes of constraints on early metabolic ...