Tsukuba, Japan - Although the heart beats autonomously, its function can be regulated by the brain in response to, for instance, stressful events. In a new study, researchers from the University of Tsukuba discovered a novel mechanism by which a specific part of the brain, the lateral habenula (LHb), regulates the cardiovascular system. The cardiovascular system, specifically the heart and blood vessels, have a certain autonomy that allows them to function independently from the brain. In order for the individual to adapt to new, potentially threatening situations, the brain does have some regulatory power over the cardiovascular ...

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a rare, chronic, inflammatory disease of the bile ducts and is difficult to treat, since its causes have not yet been adequately researched. Using RNA sequencing, an international research consortium led by Michael Trauner, Head of MedUni Vienna's Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology (Department of Medicine III), has now succeeded in identifying a new prognostic factor for PSC from liver biopsies. This is so-called cellular ER stress. ER stress is the name given to a complex cellular response to stress caused by the build-up of misfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). PSC is a rare disease with a poor prognosis and can lead to cirrhosis ...

In modern basic life science research as well as in drug discovery, recording and analyzing the images of cells over time using 3D microscopy has become extremely important. Once the images have been recorded, the same cell in different images at different time points has to be accurately identified ("cell tracking") because the living cells captured in the images are in motion. However, tracking many cells automatically in 3D microscope videos has been considerably difficult. In the Kimura laboratory at the Nagoya City University, Dr. Chentao Wen and colleagues developed the 1st AI-based software called 3DeeCellTracker that can run on a desktop PC and automatically track cells in 3D microscope videos. ...

Researchers have mapped the distribution of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in deceased patients with the disease, and shed new light on how viral load relates to tissue damage. Their study of 11 autopsy cases, published today in eLife, may contribute to our understanding of how COVID-19 develops in the body following infection. More than 24 million SARS-CoV-2 infections have been reported to date, and the number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 has exceeded 828,000 worldwide. COVID-19 occurs with varying degrees of severity. While most patients have mild symptoms, some experience more severe symptoms and may need to be hospitalised. A minority of those in hospital may enter a critical condition, with respiratory failure, blood vessel complications, or multiple organ ...

Recent studies indicate a link between children's cardiorespiratory fitness and their school performance: the more athletic they are, the better their marks in the main subjects - French and mathematics. Similarly, cardiorespiratory fitness is known to benefit cognitive abilities, such as memory and attention. But what is the real influence of such fitness on school results? To answer this question, researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland tested pupils from eight Geneva schools. Their results, published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sport & Exercise, show that there is an indirect link with cardiorespiratory fitness influencing ...

Alloying, the process of mixing metals in different ratios, has been a known method for creating materials with enhanced properties for thousands of years, ever since copper and tin were combined to form the much harder bronze. Despite its age, this technology remains at the heart of modern electronics and optics industries. Semiconducting alloys, for instance, can be engineered to optimize a device's electrical, mechanical and optical properties. Alloys of oxygen with group III elements, such as aluminum, gallium, and indium, are important semiconductor materials with vast applications ...

It's no secret. Colorado's forests have had a tough time in recent years. While natural disturbances such as insect outbreaks and wildfires occurred historically and maintained forest health over time, multiple, simultaneous insect disturbances in the greater region over the past two decades have led to rapid changes in the state's forests. A bird's eye view can reveal much about these changes. Annual aerial surveys conducted by the Colorado State Forest Service and USDA Forest Service have provided yearly snapshots for the state. New collaborative research led by Colorado State University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison now supplements this understanding with even greater spatial detail. The ...

A growing number of young people are identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community, and many are challenging binaries in gender and sexual identity to reflect a broader spectrum of experience beyond man or woman and gay or straight. But not everyone is participating equally in these diverse forms of expression, according to new research from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Psychology Professor Phillip Hammack's latest paper, published in the Journal of Adolescent Research, is shedding light on the social factors that can either hinder or support expression of diversity in sexual and gender identity ...

The study, published in Nature Geoscience, produced a global model mapping pollution risk caused by 92 chemicals commonly used in agricultural pesticides in 168 countries. The study examined risk to soil, the atmosphere, and surface and ground water. The map also revealed Asia houses the largest land areas at high risk of pollution, with China, Japan, Malaysia, and the Philippines at highest risk. Some of these areas are considered "food bowl" nations, feeding a large portion of the world's population. University of Sydney Research Associate and the study's lead author, Dr Fiona Tang, said the widespread use of pesticides in agriculture - while boosting productivity - could have potential implications for the environment, human and animal ...

The latest gene editing technology, prime editing, expands the "genetic toolbox" for more precisely creating disease models and correcting genetic problems, scientists say. In only the second published study of prime editing's use in a mouse model, Medical College of Georgia scientists report prime editing and traditional CRISPR both successfully shut down a gene involved in the differentiation of smooth muscle cells, which help give strength and movement to organs and blood vessels. However, prime editing snips only a single strand of the double-stranded DNA. CRISPR makes double-strand cuts, which can be lethal to cells, and produces unintended edits at both the work site as well as randomly across the genome, ...

HANOVER, N.H. - March 30, 2021 - Cyanobacteria living at the bottom of lakes may hold important, under-researched clues about the threat posed by these harmful organisms, according to a Dartmouth-led study. The research, published in the Journal of Plankton Research, urges a more comprehensive approach to cyanobacteria studies in order to manage the dangerous blooms during a time of global climate change. "Most studies of cyanobacteria focus on the times when they are visible in the water column," said Kathryn Cottingham, the Dartmouth Professor in the Arts and ...

As our planet warms, seas rise and catastrophic weather events become more frequent, action on climate change has never been more important. But how do you convince people who still don't believe that humans contribute to the warming climate? New UBC research may offer some insight, examining biases towards climate information and offering tools to overcome these and communicate climate change more effectively. Researchers examined 44 studies conducted over the past five years on the attentional and perceptual biases of climate change - the tendency to pay special attention to or perceive particular aspects of climate change. They identified a number of ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- A reproducibility crisis is ongoing in scientific research, where many studies may be difficult or impossible to replicate and thereby validate, especially when the study involves a very large sample size. For example, to evaluate the validity of a high-throughput genetic study's findings scientists must be able to replicate the study and achieve the same results. Now researchers at Penn State and the University of Minnesota have developed a statistical tool that can accurately estimate the replicability of a study, thus eliminating the need to duplicate the work and effectively ...

In a joint effort, researchers from the Humboldt-Universität (Berlin), the Max Born Institute (Berlin) and the University of Central Florida (USA), have revealed the necessary conditions for the robust transport of entangled states of two-photon light in photonic topological insulators, paving the way the towards noise-resistant transport of quantum information. The results have appeared in Nature Communications. Originally discovered in condensed matter systems, topological insulators are two-dimensional materials that support scattering-free (uni-directional) transport along their edges, even in the presence of defects and disorder. In ...

IIASA researchers have used Sentinel 1 satellite imagery from the European Space Agency to produce a map of the extent and year of detection of oil palm plantations in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand that will help policymakers and other stakeholders understand trends in oil palm expansion while also providing an accurate map for landscape-level planning. The world's appetite for palm oil seems to know no bounds. We use it in everything from beauty products and food, to industrial processes and biofuels to fulfill our energy needs. This ever growing demand has caused oil palm production to more than double in the last two decades, a development which has in turn deeply impacted natural forest ecosystems and biodiversity, while also significantly ...

One in four Germans suffers from metabolic syndrome. Several of four diseases of affluence occur at the same time in this 'deadly quartet': obesity, high blood pressure, lipid metabolism disorder and diabetes mellitus. Each of these is a risk factor for severe cardiovascular conditions, such as heart attack and stroke. Treatment aims to help patients lose weight and normalise their lipid and carbohydrate metabolism and blood pressure. In addition to exercise, doctors prescribe a low-calorie and healthy diet. Medication is often also required. However, it is not fully clear ...

Researchers at KU Leuven (Belgium) have succeeded for the first time in measuring brain waves directly via a cochlear implant. These brainwaves indicate in an objective way how good or bad a person's hearing is. The research results are important for the further development of smart hearing aids. A cochlear implant enables people with severe hearing loss to hear again. An audiologist adjusts the device based on the user's input, but this is not always easy. Think of children who are born deaf or elderly people with dementia. They have more difficulty assessing and communicating ...

Artificial Intelligence is now capable of generating novel, functionally active proteins, thanks to recently published work by researchers from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden. "What we are now able to demonstrate offers fantastic potential for a number of future applications, such as faster and more cost-efficient development of protein-based drugs," says Aleksej Zelezniak, Associate Professor at the Department of Biology and Biological Engineering at Chalmers. Proteins are large, complex molecules that play a crucial role in all living cells, building, modifying, and breaking down other molecules naturally inside our cells. They are also widely used in industrial processes and products, and in our daily lives. Protein-based drugs are very common - the diabetes drug ...

Working with fruit flies, scientists at Johns Hopkins Medicine say they have identified a new molecular pathway that helps steer moving cells in specific directions. The set of interconnected proteins and enzymes in the pathway act as steering and rudder components that drive cells toward an "intended" rather than random destination, they say. In a report on the work, published March 2 in Cell Reports, these same molecular pathways, say the scientists, may drive cancer cells to metastasize or travel to distant areas of the body and may also be important for understanding how cells assemble and migrate in an embryo to form organs and other structures. The team of scientists was led by Deborah Andrew, Ph.D., professor of cell biology and associate director for faculty development for ...

Physical activity is important in preventing heart and blood vessel disease in young people so long as they don't undertake very strenuous activity on days when air pollution levels are high, according to a nationwide study of nearly 1.5 million people published today (Tuesday) in the European Heart Journal [1]. Until now, little has been known about the trade-offs between the health benefits of physical activity taking place outdoors and the potentially harmful effects of air pollution. Previous research by the authors of the current study had investigated the question in middle-aged people at a single point in time, but this is the first time that it has been investigated in people aged between 20-39 years over a period of several years. In addition, the researchers wanted to ...

Scientists have identified three genes associated with an increased risk of developing cervical cancer. The study, led by scientists from Imperial College London and published in the journal The Lancet Oncology, studied data from over 150,000 European women. The research is one of the first studies to pinpoint genetic variants associated with an increased risk of cervical precancer and cancer. The study team say the findings open avenues for identifying women at higher risk and monitoring their health more closely - particularly if genetic information is ...

Markers of the pandemic's impact - testing rates, positivity ratio (cases among total tests), case rates by overall population and deaths - are clustered in neighborhoods, with low-income and predominantly minority communities experiencing worse outcomes than wealthier and predominantly white neighborhoods. The findings, part of the first research to look at comprehensive neighborhood-level data from March through September 2020 from three large U.S. cities - Chicago, New York and Philadelphia - were published today in Annals of Internal Medicine by researchers from Drexel University's Dornsife School of Public Health. The ...

March 29, 2021 - Acute kidney injury (AKI) occurred in nearly 20 percent of patients who underwent surgery with implantation of antibiotic-loaded "spacers" and intravenous (IV) antibiotics for the treatment of deep infections after total knee arthroplasty, reports a study in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio in partnership with Wolters Kluwer. Patients with preexisting chronic kidney disease (CKD) are at particularly high risk of AKI, according to the new research by Matthew P. Abdel, MD, and colleagues of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. High doses of antibiotics in bone cement linked to higher ...

Paris, Nairobi, London, 29 March 2021 - Five major cooling suppliers are racing to net zero but they represent fewer than ten per cent of the 54 suppliers assessed in a new report, meaning the industry has a lot of work to do to catch up on climate action and reduce pollution from the sector, currently estimated at 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions. With the world still falling short of meeting the Paris Agreement goals of holding global temperature rise this century to under 2 degrees C, and pursue 1.5 degrees C, action to reduce the climate impact of cooling will be essential. According to the International Energy Agency, emissions from cooling are expected to double by 2030 and triple by 2100, driven by heat waves, population growth, urbanization, and a growing middle ...

A new study by Simon Fraser University's Faculty of Health Sciences researchers - published today in the American Journal of Epidemiology - found correlations between increased expressions of autistic-like behaviours in pre-school aged children to gestational exposure to select environmental toxicants, including metals, pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), phthalates, and bisphenol-A (BPA). This population study measured the levels of 25 chemicals in blood and urine samples collected from 1,861 Canadian women during the first trimester of pregnancy. A follow up survey was conducted with 478 participants, using the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) ...