A new study from the University of Wisconsin–Madison suggests that chemotherapy may not be reaching its full potential, in part because researchers and doctors have long misunderstood how some of the most common cancer drugs actually ward off tumors. For decades, researchers have believed that a class of drugs called microtubule poisons treat cancerous tumors by halting mitosis, or the division of cells. Now, a team of UW–Madison scientists has found that in patients, microtubule poisons don't actually stop cancer cells from dividing. Instead, these drugs alter ...

TURKU, Finland – October 27, 2023 – The SynGAP Research Fund 501(c)(3) announced a $100,000 grant to researchers Pekka Postila and Olli Pentikäinen from the Institute of Biomedicine and InFLAMES Flagship at the University of Turku. Prof. Pentikäinen’s research focuses on molecular modeling and computer-aided drug discovery. Assoc. Prof. Postila is an expert on advanced molecular dynamics simulations of complex biomolecular systems. The dual research team was formed to study the structural effects of missense variants on the SynGAP protein, whose normal functioning ...

Oct. 26, 2023 Media contacts: Emily Gowdey-Backus, director of media relations, Emily_GowdeyBackus@uml.edu Nancy Cicco, assistant director of media relations, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu UMass Lowell’s Nicolai Konow wants to bridge the gap between research on food processing and nutrient absorption. “There is a divide between biomechanists, who study chewing and food transport, and physiologists, who examine what actually happens to food in the gastrointestinal tract,” said the assistant professor ...

Viral infections are known to be a central cause of more than 10% of cancers worldwide. University of California researchers may have uncovered one of the key reasons why. Their findings were published today in PLOS Pathogens, a journal that reports groundbreaking work to advance understanding of how pathogens impact diseases such as cancer. UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center researcher Yoshihiro Izumiya teamed up with Michiko Shimoda, who previously worked in the Izumiya Lab at UC Davis. Currently, she is a member of the Core Immunology Lab at UC San Francisco. Together, they led UC Davis researchers in the study of Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV). The ...

Media Note: Pictures of VRoxy can be viewed and downloaded here: https://cornell.box.com/v/VRoxyrobotproxy ITHACA, N.Y. – Researchers from Cornell and Brown University have developed a souped-up telepresence robot that responds automatically and in real-time to a remote user’s movements and gestures made in virtual reality. The robotic system, called VRoxy, allows a remote user in a small space, like an office, to collaborate via VR with teammates in a much larger space. VRoxy represents the latest in remote, robotic embodiment. Donning a VR headset, a user has access to two view modes: Live mode shows an immersive image of the ...

Coherence stands as a pillar of effective communication, whether it is in writing, speaking or information processing. This principle extends to quantum bits, or qubits, the building blocks of quantum computing. A quantum computer could one day tackle previously insurmountable challenges in climate prediction, material design, drug discovery and more. A team led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory has achieved a major milestone toward future quantum computing. They have extended the coherence time for their novel type of qubit to an impressive 0.1 milliseconds — nearly a thousand times better than the previous record. “Rather ...

Amsterdam, October 26, 2023 – "The Human Right to the Environment affirms the right to life itself. When humans protect nature, they are also securing human health and wellbeing." An article by eminent environmental lawyer Prof. Nicholas A. Robinson sees the recognition of the Human Right to the Environment (HRE) as a first step in a long process of restoring a healthy environment for people and the planet. Professor Robinson’s article is published in a special issue of the Journal of Environmental Policy and Law on The Human Right to Sustainable Environment. In the preface Editor-in-Chief Bharat H. Desai, PhD, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Centre ...

ITHACA, N.Y. – Researchers from the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management have developed a new method for measuring food insecurity, which for millions of people in the U.S. is more than just an abstract concept. The group’s probability of food security (PFS) measures the likelihood that a household’s food expenditures equal or exceed the minimum cost of a healthful diet. The researchers then put the PFS to the test, analyzing food security dynamics over a recent 17-year period, and found that a third of U.S. households experienced at least temporary food insecurity. Seungmin Lee, a doctoral student in the field of applied economics and management, ...

Long-term consumption of water with fluoride levels far above established drinking water standards may be linked to cognitive impairments in children, according to a new pilot study from Tulane University. The study, published in the journal Neurotoxicology and Teratology, was conducted in rural Ethiopia where farming communities use wells with varying levels of naturally occurring fluoride ranging from 0.4 to 15.5 mg/L. The World Health Organization recommends fluoride levels below 1.5 mg/L. Researchers ...

Contacts: David Hosansky, UCAR/NCAR Manager of Media Relations hosansky@ucar.edu 720-470-2073 Audrey Merket, UCAR/NCAR Science Writer and Public Information Officer amerket@ucar.edu 303-497-8293  Hurricanes that rapidly intensify for mysterious reasons pose a particularly frightening threat to those in harm’s way. Forecasters have struggled for many years to understand why a seemingly commonplace tropical depression or tropical storm sometimes blows up into a major hurricane, packing catastrophic winds and driving a potentially deadly surge of water ...

Inflammation is a risk factor for many chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease (CVD), and the impact of diet on inflammation is an area of growing scientific interest. In particular, recommendations to limit red meat consumption are often based, in part, on old studies suggesting that red meat negatively affects inflammation – yet more recent studies have not supported this. “The role of diet, including red meat, on inflammation and disease risk has not been adequately studied, which can lead to public health recommendations that are not based on strong evidence,” said Dr. Alexis Wood, associate professor of pediatrics – ...

Rochester Institute of Technology distinguished professor and founding director of the Center for Computational Relativity and Gravitation Manuela Campanelli has been honored with the American Physical Society’s (APS) 2024 Richard A. Isaacson Award in Gravitational-Wave Science for her extraordinary contributions to and leadership in the understanding and simulation of merging binaries of compact objects in strong-field gravity. The annual honor is granted to esteemed scientists for their remarkable achievements in the fields of gravitational-wave physics, gravitational wave astrophysics, and associated ...

Link to full release with images: https://www.washington.edu/news/2023/10/26/bat-teeth/ (Note: researcher contact information at the end)   They don’t know it, but Darwin’s finches changed the world. These closely related species — native to the Galapagos Islands — each sport a uniquely shaped beak that matches their preferred diet. Studying these birds helped Charles Darwin develop the theory of evolution by natural selection. A group of bats has a similar — ...

Receiving a clot-busting drug in an ambulance-based mobile stroke unit (MSU) increases the likelihood of averting strokes and complete recovery compared with standard hospital emergency care, according to researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine, NewYork-Presbyterian, UTHealth Houston, Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center and five other medical centers across the United States. The study, published online in the Annals of Neurology on Oct. 6, determined that MSU care was associated with both increased odds of averting stroke compared with hospital emergency medical service (EMS) – ...

U.S. government reached a settlement with thousands of families separated under the zero-tolerance policy Experts highlight ‘mountain of a challenge’ that U.S. Family Reunification Task Force has had in accounting for separations Task force reuniting families is working within a limited scope of separated families  ‘If using DNA data to reunite families could help even one child, it’s worth giving it a shot,’ says researcher CHICAGO --- Five years since the retraction of the Trump-era zero-tolerance policy on illegal border crossings, which resulted in the separation ...

Bacteriophages, also called phages, are viruses that infect and kill bacteria, their natural hosts. But from a macromolecular viewpoint, phages can be viewed as nutritionally enriched packets of nucleotides wrapped in an amino acid shell. A study published October 26th in the open access journal PLOS Biology by Jeremy J. Barr at Monash University, Victoria, Australia, and colleagues suggests that mammalian cells internalize phages as a resource to promote cellular growth and survival. Phage interactions with bacteria are well known, and interactions between bacteria and their mammalian host can lead ...

New research from the University of Birmingham shows that the electronic structure of metals can strongly affect their mechanical properties. The research, published today (26th October) in the journal Science, demonstrates experimentally, for the first time, that the electronic and mechanical properties of a metal are connected. It was previously understood theoretically that there would be a connection, but it was thought that it would be too small to detect in an experiment. Dr Clifford Hicks, Reader in Condensed Matter Physics, who worked on the study said: “Mechanical properties are typically described ...

Semiconductors—most notably, silicon—underpin the computers, cellphones, and other electronic devices that power our daily lives, including the device on which you are reading this article. As ubiquitous as semiconductors have become, they come with limitations. The atomic structure of any material vibrates, which creates quantum particles called phonons. Phonons in turn cause the particles—either electrons or electron-hole pairs called excitons—that carry energy and information around electronic devices to scatter in a matter of nanometers and femtoseconds. This means that energy is lost in the form of heat, and that information transfer has ...

To date, research has suggested that only humans and some species of toothed whales live many years of active life after the loss of reproductive ability. But now, a new study shows female chimpanzees in Uganda show signs of menopause – surviving long past the end of their ability to reproduce. Signs of menopause in wild chimpanzees may provide insights into the evolution of this rare trait in humans. The vast majority of mammals stay fertile until the very ends of their lives, with humans and several species of toothed whales as the outliers; they experience menopause. In humans, menopause ...

For the first time in human history, say Daniel Gervais and John Nay in a Policy Forum, nonhuman entities that are not directed by humans – such as artificial intelligence (AI)-operated corporations – should enter the legal system as a new “species” of legal subject. AI has evolved to the point where it could function as a legal subject with rights and obligations, say the authors. As such, before the issue becomes too complex and difficult to disentangle, “interspecific” legal frameworks need to be developed by which AI can be treated as legal subjects, they write. Until now, the legal system has been univocal ...

While small, the hypothalamus – a complex structure located deep in the brain – plays a gargantuan role in coordinating the wide array of neuronal signals that are responsible for keeping the body in a stable state. In a Special Issue of Science, authors across four Reviews unpack this key brain region’s impact on physiological and behavioral homeostasis. The hypothalamus consists of a complex collection of neural circuits. These circuits receive, process, and integrate sensory inputs to drive coordinated communication via a range of behavioral, ...

In a Perspective, Stephen Tang and Samuel Sternberg discuss retroelement-based gene editing as a safer alternative to CRISPR-Cas approaches. Precision genome editing technologies have transformed modern biology. Capabilities for programable DNA targeting have improved rapidly, largely due to the development of bacterial RNA-guided CRISPR-Cas systems, which allow precise cleavage of target DNA sequences. However, CRISPR-Cas9 systems generate a DNA double strand break (DSB), which activates cellular DNA repair pathways that can lead to unwanted and complex byproducts, ...

Key takeaways Female chimpanzees in Uganda’s Ngogo community experienced a menopausal transition similar to women. Fertility among chimpanzees studied declined after age 30, and no births were observed after age 50. The data can help researchers better understand why menopause and post-fertile survival occur in nature and how it evolved in the human species.  A team of researchers studying the Ngogo community of wild chimpanzees in western Uganda’s Kibale National Park for two decades has published a report in Science showing that females in this population can ...

The hardness of materials is determined by the strength of the chemical bonds that are formed between the electrons of the neighbouring atoms.  For example, the bonds in diamond are very strong, so it is one of the hardest materials known.  The bonding is rooted in the laws of quantum mechanics, and the complex compounds that are of most interest in forefront research today are known as ‘quantum materials.’  In many quantum materials, layers of strongly bonded atoms separate layers in ...

Extreme conditions prevail in the Würzburg laboratory of experimental physicists Professor Matthias Bode and Dr. Artem Odobesko. Affiliated with the Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat, a collaboration between JMU Würzburg and TU Dresden, these visionaries are setting new milestones in quantum research. Their latest endeavor is unveiling the spinaron effect. They strategically placed individual cobalt atoms onto a copper surface, brought the temperature down to 1.4 Kelvin (–271.75° Celsius), and then subjected them to a powerful external magnetic field. “The magnet we use costs half a million euros. It’s not something that’s widely available,” explains ...