Endocytosis is an important cellular process through which cells internalize substances such as water and nutrients. These substances are first transported as cargo to the initial sorting compartment (endosomes) before being degraded (endo-lysosomal pathway) or recycled (recycling pathway of the plasma membrane). The trans-Golgi network (TGN), which lies adjacent to the Golgi apparatus, is a key mediator of this intracellular transport. Endocytosis mediates the infection of harmful pathogens such as bacteria and virus, and its disruption may lead to several diseases. It is, ...

[Rome, 25 September] - The cacao sector has long grappled with challenges stemming from the absence of commonly agreed standardised protocols for evaluating cacao quality and flavour, as well as the lack of a common language to describe the sensory experience of cacao. These issues have impeded effective communication and understanding between producers and buyers, disproportionately affecting farmers in developing countries who strive to cultivate and sell superior quality cacao deserving of higher prices. Today, Cacao of Excellence is proud to unveil a groundbreaking initiative aimed at addressing these long-standing issues — the Guide for the Assessment of Cacao Quality and Flavour. ...

GENETIC CODE OF RARE KIDNEY CANCER CRACKED The genetic code of a rare form of kidney cancer, called reninoma, has been studied for the first time. In the new paper, published today (25th September) in Nature Communications, researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Great Ormond Street Hospital and The Royal Free Hospital also revealed a new drug target that could serve as an alternative treatment if surgery is not recommended.  There are around 100 cases of reninoma reported to date worldwide (1), and it is amongst the rarest of tumours in humans. Although it can usually be cured with surgery, ...

Tiny waterfleas could play a pivotal role in removing persistent chemical pollutants from wastewater – making it safe to use in factories, farms and homes, a new study reveals. Rapid urbanisation, population growth, unsustainable food production and climate change have put unprecedented pressure on water resources, culminating in a global water crisis. The sustainable management and reuse of water resources is paramount for ensuring societal, economic, and environmental well-being. Persistent chemical pollutants, originating from domestic and industrial processes, ...

Antibiotic resistant bacteria are a threat to human lives, and yet the development of new drugs to treat bacterial infections is slow. A group of proven drugs used in cancer treatment for decades could possibly be the solution. A new class of antibiotics is now being developed by researchers at Linköping University, Sweden. Many drugs and drug candidates have proven highly effective in killing bacteria or tumour cells. The problem is that they also harm the patient, and they are therefore used very sparingly or not at all. When used to treat for instance cancer, they are delivered directly into the blood and spread throughout the body. ...

New research has uncovered elevated rates of high blood sugar, or hyperglycemia, among patients with breast cancer who are treated with the oral medication alpelisib. The results are published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. Alpelisib targets the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) protein that is involved in cell growth and when mutated can contribute to cancer. In 2019, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the use of this drug in combination with fulvestrant, ...

It's hard to keep a language in the family. Many people who migrate to different countries find that their language of origin has become a heritage language, passed on to future generations with varying degrees of success. These languages come under pressure from the dominant language in a country as well as the lack of opportunities to practice and fluent speakers to practice with. So how do kids use or retain heritage languages? And can visits to their parents’ countries of origin help them increase their fluency? “The role of parental language use in the country of residence is well-established,” ...

For the upcoming hyper-realistic metaverse world in the era of digital transformation, domestic researchers are showcased their achievements in the development of display and stereoscopic imaging technologies. Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute(ETRI) participated in consecutive events, starting from the 16th August at COEX in Seoul for 'K-Display 2023,' followed by 'IMID 2023' at BEXCO in Busan from the 23rd, where they exhibited a variety of innovative technologies capable of realizing a truly realistic metaverse world. At this exhibition, ETRI unveiled a total of 11 technologies across four categories, including ▲hyper-realistic ...

A comprehensive new guideline with 16 preventive care recommendations aims to promote health equity for people disadvantaged because of racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination. The guideline, created by a diverse team of clinicians from across Canada with patient involvement, is published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal): https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.230237 Some key recommendations: Colorectal cancer — prioritize colorectal cancer screening for patients starting at age 45 years ...

Philadelphia, September 25, 2023 – Cardiovascular rehabilitation (CR) improves health outcomes and well-being and can reduce death and re-hospitalization rates by 20%. However, programs are underutilized and women are much less likely to participate than men, so they do not reap these benefits. This first global comparative study into barriers to using CR in men and women assesses the extent of these barriers and discusses ways in which patients can overcome them. It determined that women and men face some common, but also many different barriers, and barriers differ by global region. The study appears in the Canadian ...

Exposure to blue light, like that from smartphones or tablets, may lead to early puberty in male rats, according to research presented at the 61st Annual European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology Meeting in The Hague. This study is the first to investigate the association between blue light exposure and early puberty in male rats, and sheds light on how environmental factors, such as screen time, impact early puberty and testicular tissue, which could eventually lead to future prevention strategies for children. Early puberty for most children does not have an obvious cause. Sometimes it is due to genetics, or there is a problem in the brain, such as an injury or tumour, or in the thyroid, ...

Recently, a research paper titled "Chromosome-scale genome sequence of Suaeda glauca sheds light on salt stress tolerance in halophytes", completed by Professor Qin Yuan's team from the Center for Genomics, Haixia Institute of Science and Technology (Future Technology College) at Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, has been published in the top-ranked journal "Horticulture Research" in the field of horticultural science. Soil salinity is a growing concern for global crop production ...

*Note- this is an early release from the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) meeting in Hamburg, October 2-6. Please credit the meeting if you use this story* A new meta-analysis combining 22 studies, to be presented at this year’s Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Hamburg, Germany (2-6 October), shows that tirzepatide is superior to semaglutide for both control of blood sugar and in terms of amount of body weight lost by patients. The study is by Dr Thomas Karagiannis, Aristotle ...

A collaboration between researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Duke University has developed a robotic eye examination system, and the National Institutes of Health has awarded the researchers $1.2 million to expand and refine the system. The researchers have developed a robotic system that automatically positions examination sensors to scan human eyes. It currently uses an optical scan technique which can operate from a reasonably safe distance from the eye, and now the researchers are working to add more features that will help it perform most steps of a standard eye exam. These features will require ...

There is a largely untapped energy source along the world’s coastlines: the difference in salinity between seawater and freshwater. A new nanodevice can harness this difference to generate power. A team of researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has reported a design for a nanofluidic device capable of converting ionic flow into usable electric power in the journal Nano Energy. The team believes that their device could be used to extract power from the natural ionic flows at seawater-freshwater boundaries. “While our design is still a concept at this stage, it is quite versatile and already ...

New Program Helps Health Professionals and Community Members Determine Health Risks and Create Medical Interventions for People Experiencing Homelessness   A consortium of population health professionals, physicians, frontline staff, and community partners in Toronto established the Community Assessment and Risk Evaluation (CARE) program, a rapid risk assessment and clinical population medicine intervention to respond to challenges faced by people experiencing homelessness (PEH). The intervention also helped characterize health needs and mitigate risks among this population. ...

The unique symposium, taking place 22-24 September 2023, is designed to highlight progress in the continuum of stem cell science from early development into clinical applications. Scientists from Latin America and across the globe are convening to share their latest stem cell research in areas such as pluripotency and early development and its adult counterpart, tissue stem cells and regeneration. Advances in understanding cellular plasticity through reprogramming and directed differentiation will be showcased as will the emerging field of tissue self-organization dynamics and innovative new technologies and tools that are driving the field forward. The program will be capped ...

A Texas A&M-led research team has discovered that a population of endangered red-crowned parrots is thriving in urban areas of South Texas. The parrots are a unique case, considering that many animal species are affected negatively by the expansion of human urban areas, which can lead to deforestation and pollution of natural habitats.  These mostly green parrots, which have a cluster of bright red feathers on their heads, are also an unusual example of a species that has adapted well in the face of poaching and the pet trade ...

“We have summarized some of our findings regarding the response of various subsets of CRC to kinase inhibitors [...].” BUFFALO, NY- September 22, 2023 – A new editorial paper was published in Oncoscience (Volume 10) on June 27, 2023, entitled, “Kinase-targeted therapy in subsets of colorectal cancer.” In this new editorial, researchers Patricia M. Gomez Barila and Jan Paul Medema from the University of Amsterdam and Amsterdam University Medical Centers discuss colorectal cancer (CRC) — one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Early diagnosis and adequate treatment are crucial ...

MIAMI, FLORIDA (Sept. 22, 2023) – Researchers at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine found an association between “social determinants of health” and outcomes and survival in patients undergoing surgery and treatment for non-small cell lung cancer. The findings are based on a statistical scoring system the researchers developed that consolidates and analyzes several measures of socioeconomic status and related factors. “We believe our social determinants of health scoring system is the first to provide a composite perspective on many of the ...

A research team led by Prof. WANG Junxian from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) revealed a clumped, multi-component eclipsing absorber in a study of X-ray occultation events in the active galaxy NGC 6814. The results were published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society on Aug. 23. Active galactic nuclei have strong X-ray emission originating in a compact region near the supermassive black hole, the so-called corona region. When an absorbing ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Macrophages are little cells vital to the immune system and could possibly inform cell-based therapies for a variety of medical conditions. However, realizing the full potential of macrophage therapies relies on being able to see what these cellular allies are doing inside our bodies, and a team of Penn State researchers may have developed a way to watch them do their thing.   In a study published in the journal Small, the Penn State researchers report a novel ultrasound imaging technique to view macrophages continuously in mammal tissue, with potential for human ...

On August 23, 2023, a research team led by SHI Chaowei from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) published a paper titled "Fluoride permeation mechanism of the Fluc channel in liposomes revealed by solid-state NMR" in Science Advances. The team adopted the fluoride ion channel protein Fluc-Ec1 combined with deuterium substitution and 19F labeling methods, paving a new path for membrane protein nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) research. NMR not only provides insights into molecular structures ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Earth’s crust continued a slow process of reworking for billions of years, rather than rapidly slowing its growth some 3 billion years ago, according to a Penn State-led research team. The new finding contradicts existing theories that suggest the rapid formation of tectonic plates earlier in Earth’s history, researchers said. They published the research in Geochemical Perspectives Letters. The work may help answer a fundamental question about our planet and could hold clues as to the formation of other planets, according to lead author ...

How similar are dinosaurs to modern birds? This question is at the heart of a new study that examined how proteins found in dinosaur feathers changed over millions of years and under extreme heat. Previous studies suggest that dinosaur feathers contained proteins that made them less stiff than modern bird feathers. Now, researchers with University College Cork (UCC), the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Light Source (SSRL) at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and other institutions have discovered that dinosaur feathers originally had a very similar protein composition to those of modern birds. That result ...