A new corona test developed at the University Hospital Bonn can analyze a large number of swabs simultaneously using sequencing technology and has a similarly high sensitivity as the common qPCR test. The innovative method offers great potential, especially for systematic testing in daycare centers, schools or companies. Today, the results of the study on the new Corona test have been published in the renowned journal "Nature Biotechnology". Bonn, 6/29/2021 - In addition to vaccination, systematic testing of the population remains of central importance in order to effectively monitor and contain the spread of infections during the Coronavirus pandemic. Only in this way can the spread of the virus be effectively monitored and ...

Crystallization is one of the most fundamental processes found in nature - and it's what gives minerals, gems, metals, and even proteins their structure. In the past couple of decades, scientists have tried to uncover how natural crystals self-assemble and grow - and their pioneering work has led to some exciting new technologies - from the quantum dots behind colorful QLED TV displays, to peptoids, a protein-mimic that has inspired dozens of biotech breakthroughs. Now, a research team led by scientists at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and UC Berkeley has developed a nanoparticle composite that grows ...

The electronic properties of graphene can be specifically modified by stretching the material evenly, say researchers at the University of Basel. These results open the door to the development of new types of electronic components. Graphene consists of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. The material is very flexible and has excellent electronic properties, making it attractive for numerous applications - electronic components in particular. Researchers led by Professor Christian Schönenberger at the Swiss Nanoscience Institute and the Department of Physics at the University of Basel have now studied how the material's ...

Mineral resources from Chile are of great importance to Germany. According to statistics from the World Bank, thousands of tons of valuable minerals are imported from the South American country every year, including raw materials for lithium-ion batteries. But their extraction causes ecological and social problems: "The use of the limited freshwater resources in northern Chile for mining regularly fuels conflicts with the local population," says Professor Thomas Kohl from KIT's Institute of Applied Geosciences (AGW). "Northern Chile is one of the driest regions on earth, but has extensive geothermal resources. With a novel type of plant, it is not only possible to generate electricity in a climate-friendly way, but also to extract ...

When positioned strategically, garment seams sewn with conductive yarn can be used to accurately track body motion, according to computer scientists at the University of Bath in the UK. Best of all, these charged seams are able to respond to subtle movements that aren't picked up by popular fitness trackers, such as watches and wristbands. In a new study, the Bath researchers found that clothing made with conductive seams can be analysed to identify the wearer's movements. PhD student Olivia Ruston, who presented the work at the ACM Designing Interactive Systems conference this month, said: "There are lots of potential applications for conductive yarn in any activity where you want to identify and improve ...

Mice are an important animal model of human vision due to the powerful genetic tools available in this species. However, mouse vision was thought to be different to that of humans because humans have a region of the retina specialized for fine details called the 'fovea' whereas mice do not. Researchers from the Netherlands Institute of Neuroscience (NIN) have shown that the visual cortex of mice does contain a region of enhanced visual sensitivity dubbed the 'focea', making the mouse a better model of human vision than previously expected. The findings were published ...

Lithia, Florida -- June 29, 2021 -- Surgical resident training has traditionally occurred in a master-apprentice-type relationship, with graduated responsibilities until trainees are expected to perform procedures on their own. Given recent changes in the health care system, including reduced operating room time, increased difficulty of procedures and working hour restrictions, there is less time for residents to learn using traditional methods. Researchers from the University of Manitoba and the Pan Am Clinic recently published a paper in the journal Arthroscopy, Sports Medicine, ...

Aerosol generated by playing woodwind and brass instruments is less than that produced when vocalising (speaking and singing) and is no different than a person breathing, new research has found. The findings, published online in the journal Aerosol Science and Technology, could be crucial to developing a roadmap for lifting COVID-19 restrictions in the performing arts, which have been significantly restricted since the start of the pandemic. The research project, known as PERFORM (ParticulatE Respiratory Matter to InForm Guidance for the Safe Distancing of PerfOrmeRs in a COVID-19 PandeMic), was supported by Public Health England, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), and UKRI and was carried out by a collaborative team from ...

The death of neurons specialised in the synthesis of dopamine, one of the brain's main neurotransmissors, deteriorates the motor and cognitive capacities of those with Parkinson's disease. The loss of these neurons is related to alpha-synuclein aggregation. Recent studies show that oligomers, the initial aggregates of this protein, are the most pathogenic forms of α-synuclein and are responsible for the spreading of the disease in the brain. Therefore, one of the more promising approaches in fighting this disorder consists in neutralising these oligomers and, thus, slow down the pathological progression. ...

During the last twenty years, the trading in stock markets has undergone significant changes. Researchers from the University of Turku and the University of Palermo have investigated the role of high-frequency traders in the markets. Technological evolution and innovations both in the technology used by stock exchanges and the resources of the traders using their services have made faster trading possible. As a result, high-frequency trading in sub millisecond scale has increased. However, not everyone has the opportunity to use high-frequency trading, and generally, the scales can be anything from microseconds to tens of thousands of seconds. The role of high-frequency traders has given rise to broad debate over ...

HERSHEY, Pa. -- A new study by researchers at Penn State College of Medicine indicates that people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) -- approximately 38 million worldwide -- are more likely to have suicidal thoughts and die from suicide than members of the general population. The researchers said that despite significant medical advancements related to HIV treatment and patients' quality of life, risk of suicide in these patients is high and health care providers should prioritize mental health screenings in this population. According to the World Health Organization, roughly 800,000 people worldwide die from suicide annually. Among ...

Tuesday, 29 June 2021 - New research has shown that early testing for blood clots in patients who had received the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine led to them being treated successfully, highlighting the need for heightened awareness of the risk among doctors. The work, led by researchers from RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences and the National Coagulation Centre at St James's Hospital, is published in the British Journal of Haematology. Unusual blood clots with low blood platelets have been recognised as a very rare complication of the AstraZeneca vaccine. However, with increased awareness, ...

RUDN University chemists derived molecules that can assemble into complex structures using chlorine and bromine halogen atoms. They bind to each other as "velcro" - chlorine "sticks" to bromine, and vice versa. As a result supramolecules are assembled from individual molecules. The obtained substances will help to create supramolecules with catalytic, luminescent, conducting properties. The study is published in Mendeleev Communications. Supramolecules are the structures made of several molecules. Individual molecules are combined, for example, by self-assembly or without external control. The resulting structure has properties that the molecules did not have individually. That is the way to create new materials, catalysts, molecular machines for ...

For the first time, scientists detected gravitational waves caused by mergers between black holes and neutron stars. Researchers from LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA detected the two gravitational wave events--from distances of more than 900 million light-years away--within a span of 10 days in January 2020 during the second half of LIGO and Virgo's third observing run. Astrophysical Journal Letters published the results and their implications today: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ac082e. Researchers from Rochester Institute of Technology's Center ...

The LSL60101 compound, a specific ligand of the I2-IR receptors in the brain, could shed light on the development of future strategies against Alzheimer's disease. This is stated in the recent studies by the Research Group on Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacology of Neurodegenerative Diseases of the University of Barcelona, published in the journals European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry and British Journal Pharmacology. In studies carried out with mice, LSL60101 has improved the cognitive deficit and the biomarkers related to the disease in these animal models. These studies result from the collaboration of the research teams led by professors Carmen Escolano, from the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences and the Institute of Biomedicine of the UB ...

Preschool children are sensitive to the gap between how much they know and how much there is to learn, according to a Rutgers University-New Brunswick study. The research, published in the journal END ...

Under a concrete drainage culvert at the edge of a town in Botswana, a troop of banded mongoose is getting ready to leave its den. Moving from shade into light, the cat-sized animals scan the area for signs of danger and for opportunities to find something to eat in an increasingly crowded neighborhood. Unbeknownst to them, the genetics of this troop's members -- and others like them -- are providing researchers in the College of Natural Resources and Environment with new understandings of how and why animal behavior changes in proximity to human development and how that change can impact infectious disease spread. The researchers used genetic tools to identify changes in movement behavior among mongooses ...

An immunotherapy based on supercharging the immune system's natural killer cells has been effective in treating patients with recurrent leukemia and other difficult to treat blood cancers. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown in preclinical studies conducted in mice and human cells that this type of cell-based immunotherapy also could be effective against solid tumors, starting with melanoma, a type of skin cancer that can be deadly if not caught early. The study is published June 29 in Clinical Cancer Research, ...

[BRIDGEWATER, NJ; June 29, 2021] The American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) has released the updated 2021 AAFP Feline Senior Care Guidelines to be published in the July issue of the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery. This update provides emerging advances in feline medicine with respect to the aging cat. The Task Force of experts provides a thorough current review in feline medicine that emphasizes the individual senior patient. As defined in the 2021 AAHA/AAFP Feline Life Stage Guidelines, cats over 10 years of age are considered to be 'senior.' Understanding the changing needs of each individual senior cat is critical for both veterinary professionals and cat owners. "Veterinary professionals are encouraged to use the 2021 ...

Osaka, Japan - A team of scientists led by the Department of Applied Physics at Osaka University, the Department of Physics and Electronics at Osaka Prefecture University, and the Department of Materials Chemistry at Nagoya University used photoinduced force microscopy to map out the forces acting on quantum dots in three dimensions. By eliminating sources of noise, the team was able to achieve subnanometer precision for the first time ever, which may lead to new advances in photocatalysts and optical tweezers. Force fields are not the invisible barriers of science fiction but are a set of vectors indicating the magnitude and direction of forces acting in a region ...

Overview The research team of Professor Toshihiko Eki of the Department of Applied Chemistry and Life Science (and Research Center for Agrotechnology and Biotechnology), Toyohashi University of Technology used a next-generation sequencer to develop a highly efficient method to analyze soil nematodes by using the 18S ribosomal RNA gene regions as DNA barcodes. They successfully used this method to reveal characteristics of nematode communities that inhabit fields, copses, and home gardens. In the future, the target will be expanded to cover all soil-dwelling organisms in agricultural soils, etc., to allow investigations into a soil's environment and bio-diversity. This is expected to contribute to advanced agriculture. Details Similar to when the ...

Receiving a simple thank you, spending time with peers and further developing their expertise, are all factors that make veterinarians feel good at work, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Adelaide. In the study published by Vet Record, researchers investigated the positive side of veterinary work and specifically what brings vets pleasure in their job. Lead author Madeleine Clise, a psychologist and Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Adelaide's School of Psychology says: "At a time in Australia when there are national shortages of vets, particularly in regional areas, and increased publicity about the ...

Prolonged exposure to antibiotics leads to the gain of bacteria's ability to defeat the drugs designed to fight them. Thus, if such antibiotic-resistant bacteria cause the infection, the only chance to use a specialized virus called phage infecting specific bacteria species. It is a powerful weapon against deadly diseases. At the same time, the effective treatment depends on factors that would not be suspected for years to impact the successful therapy. Recently, researchers from the Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences led by dr. Jan Paczesny and Professor ...

Tsukuba, Japan - Depression is a worldwide problem, with serious consequences for individual health and the economy, and rapid and effective screening tools are thus urgently needed to counteract its increasing prevalence. Now, researchers from Japan have found that artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to detect signs of depression. In a study published this month in BMJ Open, researchers from University of Tsukuba have revealed that an AI system using machine learning could predict psychological distress among workers, which is a risk factor for depression. ...

Atomic nuclei contain enormous energy that can be extracted through their fission mechanism, for example, as a result of the radioactive decay of uranium or plutonium nuclei. Likewise, a quantum of light of several electron-volts (2.4 eV in a laser pointer with a green beam) has colossal energy. If all photons were absorbed by matter, then its temperature could reach several thousand degrees. However, in practice this does not happen. The reason is the weak light-matter interaction due to the fact that the wavelength of light (500 nm) is a thousand times larger than the size of an emitting / absorbing atom (0.5 nm). It is this physical mechanism that prevents the destruction of matter when illuminated. The efficiency of light absorption increases ...