Until now, scientific evidence has been inconclusive regarding the ability of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID, to replicate in the human placenta. Answering this question, as well as understanding the response of the placenta to other viral infections during pregnancy, is crucial for the development of effective preventive and therapeutic strategies for both the mother and the baby. At Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital, researchers have taken a novel approach to shed light on ...

The mucus in the airways is not as sticky, inflammation in the lungs significantly reduced: Triple combination therapy can achieve these positive, lasting effects in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Researchers from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Max Delbrück Center have just recently published their findings in the European Respiratory Journal.* According to their research, this form of medication improves the symptoms of CF in many patients. Two years ago, a research ...

This study is led by Dr. Taihua Wang and Dr. Dawen Yang (Tsinghua University), together with experts in the field of both permafrost and glacier including Dr. Tandong Yao, Dr. Xin Li (Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences), Dr. Guodong Cheng and Dr. Huijun Jin (Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences). In a warming climate, the sustainability of cryospheric meltwater on the Tibetan Plateau has raised concerns because of its importance for the fragile ecosystem in the headwater regions and the dense populations in the downstream. Existing studies ...

An apple a day not only keeps the doctor away, it also could save the United States at least $40 billion in medical bills, report Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University researchers in a new study published July 7 in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Their modeled implementation of a nationwide produce prescription program—which would provide free or discounted fruits and vegetables to eligible Americans living with diabetes—projected extensive reductions in national rates of cardiovascular disease and associated healthcare ...

A multi-model ensemble (MME) prediction system has been recently developed by a team led by Dr. Dake Chen. This prediction system consists of 5 dynamical coupled models with various complexities, parameterizations, resolutions, initializations, and ensemble strategies, to address various possible uncertainties of ENSO prediction. One long term over past 100 year (1880-2017) ensemble hindcast demonstrated the superiority of the MME over individual models, evaluated by both deterministic and probabilistic skills, and suffered less from ...

In a new study, a group from Institute of Geographic Science and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, proposed a concept of ecosystem water stress and comprehensively compared the impacts of high atmospheric vapor pressure deficit and low soil water content on vegetation growth in Eurasian drylands Drought, a multifaceted phenomenon encompassing atmospheric and soil drought, has sparked a lively debate over which type of dryness stress exerts a more significant impact on vegetation growth. "Through our defined concept of ecosystem water stress, we can discern where water-stressed vegetation growth is dominated by ...

One of the main risks posed by climate change is exceeding the thermal limits of the human body. In hot environments, evaporation is considered to be the primary means by which human bodies cool down. However, atmospheric humidity is a crucial factor affecting the efficiency of evaporation, making the combination of hot and humid conditions more physiologically stressful than extreme dry-temperature conditions. Besides the human health impacts, the occurrence of extreme-heat events also has severe socioeconomic impacts. For example, the record-breaking ...

In June 2023, Prof. Riyuan Chen's team of South China Agricultural University online published a research article entitled Role of BraRGL1 in regulation of Brassica rapa bolting and flowering in the well-reputed journal Horticulture Research (Advance Access). In this study, the authors performed highly efficient and inheritable mutagenesis using the CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing system in BraPDS (phytoene desaturase) and BraRGL1 (key DELLA protein) genes. The flower bud differentiation and bolting time ...

Fukuoka, Japan—In research that could lead to a new age in illumination, researchers from Japan and Germany have developed an eco-friendly light-emitting electrochemical cells using new molecules called dendrimers combined with biomass derived electrolytes and graphene-based electrodes. Their findings were published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials. Electroluminescence is the phenomenon where a material emits light in response to a passing electric current. Everything from the screen you're using to read this sentence to the lasers used in cutting edge scientific research are results of the electroluminescence of different materials. Due ...

The mitochondrial genome of cybrid citrus (G1 + HBP) is from the CMS callus parent ‘Guoqing No. 1’ Satsuma mandarin (G1), while the nuclear and chloroplast genomes of G1 + HBP are from the fertile mesophyll parent Hirado Buntan pummelo (HBP). The tree of G1+HBP resembles HBP, as well as fruit appearance and flavor, while G1+HBP showed typical male sterility including degenerated petals and stamens and aborted pollen which resulted in seedless fruit. The interaction of mitochondrion from CMS parent G1and nucleus from HBP might attribute to male sterility of G1+HBP. The male sterility candidate genes of the cybrid were identified using comparation analysis of ...

Reduced fertility prolongs the interval from calving to conception in dairy cows, resulting in significant economic losses to dairy farms. Up to 25% of cows are culled due to reproductive failure, and this accounts for a larger proportion than that caused by other major factors, including mastitis and lameness. A variety of factors are considered to cause low fertility in cows, including farm management factors like estrus detection, nutritional control, and cowshed environment, as well as cow-specific ...

Researchers from Nagoya University and the National Institute of Polar Research in Japan have found that dust from land without snow cover in the Arctic is a major source of particles that form ice crystals in low-level clouds of the Arctic (at altitudes below about 3 km) during summer and fall. The formation of ice crystals in low-level clouds is considered to affect climate because it can cause ice particles to grow at the expense of liquid droplets and then fall as precipitation, resulting in a lower sunlight reflectance and a shorter lifetime for clouds. “The Arctic is said to be heating up two to four times faster than the rate ...

Financial materiality pertains to crucial and pertinent data that a company is obligated to reveal in its financial statements. It provides companies with the insights necessary to discern elements influencing their performance and profitability, thereby enabling them to mitigate risks and captivate potential investors. There have been conflicts between shareholders and stakeholders regarding issues that are not directly related to finances, like environmental and social concerns. However, ignoring these factors like ESG (environmental, social and governance) could pose risks to both ...

In a new study, National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers found that altered B cell function in children with mitochondrial disorders led to a weaker and less diverse antibody response to viral infections. The study, published in Frontiers in Immunology was led by researchers at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), who analyzed gene activity of immune cells in children with mitochondrial disorders and found that B cells, which produce antibodies to fight viral infections, are less able to survive cellular stress. “Our work is one of the first examples to study how B cells are affected in mitochondrial disease by looking at human ...

Board games based on numbers, like Monopoly, Othello and Chutes and Ladders, make young children better at math, according to a comprehensive review of research published on the topic over the last 23 years. Board games are already known to enhance learning and development including reading and literacy. Now this new study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Early Years, finds, for three to nine-year-olds, the format of number-based board games helps to improve counting, addition, and the ability to recognize if a number is higher or lower than another. The researchers say children benefit from ...

Lasers with ultra-low threshold and compact size are highly desirable in photonic integrated circuits, aiming at the application of optical communications, chip-scale solid-state LIDAR and quantum information. The general approach to realizing such lasers is to effectively trap light and boost light-matter interaction by embedding gain materials into few- or sub-wavelength scale optical cavities with high quality (Q) factor and/or small mode volume (V-mode). Low-threshold lasing has been realized on planar photonic crystal via introducing defect-type PhC modes or ...

Using Cryo-EM, a powerful microscopy technique, researchers at IISc and collaborators have decoded the molecular architecture of a transporter protein controlling the movement of a key neurotransmitter. Neurons or nerve cells communicate by releasing chemical signals called neurotransmitters. Each neurotransmitter can activate specific sets of proteins called receptors that in turn either excite or inhibit neural communication. A balance between excitation and inhibition is vital for the neural circuitry to maintain normal structure and function. Imbalances in excitatory or inhibitory inputs can result in disorders like seizures, anxiety, and schizophrenia. The inhibitory neurotransmitter ...

Optical MNFs are cylindrical optical waveguides with diameter below or close to the wavelength of the light. Since its first experimental demonstration [Nature 426, 816 (2003)], low-loss silica MNF has been attracting increasing attention in wide applications from optical sensors, atom optics, nonlinear optics to optomechanics. Generally, increasing the waveguiding mode power is the most effective approach to enhance light-matter interaction, and explore new opportunities for both scientific research and technological applications. However, the highest CW mode power reported so far in a MNF is ~0.4 W [AIP Adv. 4, 067124 (2014)], with typical waveguiding ...

There are obvious differences between cancerous cells and normal cells in morphology, chemical properties and mechanical properties. The detection of cytochemical and mechanical properties of tumor tissues can provide multi-dimensional information for the pathological process of cells and human tissues. Among the existing detection methods for the morphology, mechanics and chemical properties of tissue and cells, confocal Raman spectroscopy can detect the chemical properties of micro-regions of samples without contact and label, and confocal Brillouin spectroscopy can detect ...

Regulations are urgently needed to protect children from harm in the unregulated online world, researchers at the University of Otago, New Zealand, say. The call comes as the researchers publish the results of their study into the after-school habits of 12-year-olds. Their research, published today in the New Zealand Medical Journal, finds children are spending a third of their after-school time on screens, including more than half their time after 8pm. Senior researcher Dr Moira Smith from the University's Department ...

While there is extensive data on the high rates of HIV, STIs and unintended pregnancies among Black populations in the U.S., this racial category problematically subsumes the ethnic diversity of immigrant Black populations. Today, one in ten Black people in the U.S. are immigrants, with Caribbean immigrants accounting for approximately 46% of the total Black immigrant population. It can’t be assumed that the variety of effective behavioral interventions (EBIs) that exist to address sexual and reproductive health for Black populations will be effective with Afro-Caribbean ...

Sophia Antipolis, 7 July 2023:  Unprocessed red meat and whole grains can be included or left out of a healthy diet, according to a study conducted in 80 countries across all inhabited continents and published today in European Heart Journal, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).1 Diets emphasising fruit, vegetables, dairy (mainly whole-fat), nuts, legumes and fish were linked with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and premature death in all world regions. The addition ...

HAMILTON, ON (July 6, 2023) – A study led by McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences researchers at the Population Research Health Institute (PHRI) has found that not eating enough of six key foods in combination is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in adults. Consuming fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, fish and whole-fat dairy products is key to lowering the risk of CVD, including heart attacks and strokes. The study also found that a healthy diet can be achieved in various ways, ...

PORTLAND, Oregon -- A vaccine originally developed to prevent bacteria-caused diarrhea has now also been found to help infant nonhuman primates grow faster, according to a new study published in Nature Communications.  “The 160 million people worldwide who get sick every year from Campylobacter bacteria is far too many,” said the study’s lead researcher, Mark Slifka, Ph.D., a professor at Oregon Health & Science University’s Oregon National Primate Center. “We need a new tool to prevent bacterial diarrhea in babies and to enable more children to grow into healthy adults, and this vaccine approach looks ...

Research conducted by The University of Queensland has revealed that Queensland native forestry, including timber harvesting, could actually help conserve biodiversity and mitigate climate risks. Dr Tyron Venn from UQ’s School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability reviewed more than 350 publications, studying the ecological and economic impacts of Queensland native forest management, which includes everything from fire management to timber harvesting. “Stopping forestry in Queensland’s native forests may sound like a positive outcome for the environment, but the research suggests that it would further shift our impacts offshore and increase ...