Typically T cells of the immune system respond to a specific feature (antigen) of a microbe, thereby generating protective immunity. As reported in the journal Immunity, an international team of scientists have discovered an exception to this rule. Namely, a group of divergent bacterial pathogens, including pneumococci, all share a small highly conserved protein sequence, which is both presented and recognized by human T cells in a conserved population-wide manner. The study set out to understand immune mechanisms that protect against pneumococcus, a bacterial pathobiont that can reside harmlessly in the upper respiratory mucosae but can also cause infectious ...

Biosensors—sensors that can detect biological samples—are powerful tools for understanding the function, composition, and structure of biochemical molecules. Biosensors are often applied for the detection of proteins and their subunits, called peptides, yielding a wide range of biomedical applications. In 2017, researchers from Columbia University in USA engineered a living yeast biosensor by rewiring pheromone-related signaling pathways used by yeast for mating. In the presence of the pheromone peptide, the G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) could detect the peptide, triggering a cascade that would eventually activate a ...

Rapeseed or oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) is an important crop cultivated worldwide for its oil-rich seeds. The rapeseed silique is an organ that plays a role in photosynthesis, sends developmental signals to maturing seeds, and provides a capsule that harbors the seeds. High-yield rapeseed varieties have both a high number and optimal morphology–the form and structure–of siliques. In this regard, rapeseed genotype and cultivation method directly influence the number of siliques that a plant produces. Thus, accurately quantifying silique development parameters is critical for predicting ...

NEW YORK, April 24, 2023—Columbia University today announced the establishment of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Center for Precision Psychiatry & Mental Health at Columbia University. The center will catalyze the scientific innovation and clinical implementation of precision medicine to advance the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of mental illness. The center is being established with a $75 million grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), an international philanthropic organization, as part of SNF’s Global Health Initiative (GHI).  The SNF Center is a joint effort of the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians ...

A new study from The University of Toledo suggests early exposure to a common class of insecticides called pyrethroids may increase the risk of autism and other developmental disorders, even at levels currently recognized as safe by federal regulators. The findings, which come from a study of mice, were published today in the peer-reviewed journal PNAS Nexus. Pyrethroids are some of the most widely used insecticides in the country, appearing in both consumer products and industrial preparations. “If ...

With so many eHealth tools available, it can be challenging to select the best one for a specific health need. A recent study published in JMIR Human Factors provides valuable insights on how to choose quality eHealth tools in an evolving landscape of digital health technology. This study titled “Assessing the Quality and Impact of eHealth Tools: Systematic Literature Review and Narrative Synthesis” comprehensively examined how the quality and impact of eHealth tools are currently assessed. Led by Dr Christine Jacob, a health tech researcher at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern ...

SAN ANTONIO – April 25, 2023 – Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has created a 3D simulation tool to test automated vehicles in virtual off-road environments modeled after real-world conditions. The research expands SwRI’s investment into software-in-the-loop solutions to test connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) in scenarios ranging from congested roadways to off-road terrain. A simulated environment, or a 3D “software loop,” supports evaluations of an infinite number of scenarios that would be cost-prohibitive to test in the real world. The technology meets U.S. Department of Defense demands ...

A study of 72 mice mothers and their litters suggests a popular pesticide may cause neurodevelopmental disorders in humans. Previous studies have shown that nearly half of the risk for neurodevelopment disorders, including autism, is environmental, but few specific environmental causes have been clearly identified. James Burkett and colleagues exposed mice to low doses of  pyrethroid pesticide deltamethrin during pregnancy and lactation. Pups of exposed mothers vocalized less compared to pups of unexposed mothers. ...

Homologous Recombination Deficiency (HRD) is a biomarker that predicts ovarian cancer treatment with PARP inhibitors or breast cancer treatment with first-line platinum-based chemotherapy. However, limited research is documented on platinum-based treatment prediction with HRD as a biomarker in ovarian cancer patients, especially in the Chinese population. This first-ever China prospective cohort study, jointly conducted by BGI Genomics clinical researcher Dr. Shao Di and the Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center team and published on the Journal of Ovarian ...

“Ted brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in virology and human immune responses to viruses. He has played a key role in developing antiviral vaccines and furthering our understanding of important viruses transmitted by mosquitoes and ticks—arboviruses—and how neutralizing antibodies work against flaviviruses, such as Zika virus,” said Acting NIAID Director Hugh Auchincloss, M.D. “He is exceptionally well-suited to lead the VRC and its continued pursuit of innovative basic, translational and clinical discovery.”   Prior to his VRC appointment, Dr. Pierson served as a senior investigator and chief of NIAID’s Laboratory of ...

Brain Canada, Heart & Stroke, and the Canadian Stroke Consortium are thrilled to announce the recipients of the 2022 Stroke Clinical Research Catalyst Grants. The purpose of this program is to increase capacity for clinical stroke research within Canada, with an aim to reduce the burden of stroke, prevent recurrence, and improve patient outcomes through clinical research that will improve our understanding of stroke and advance stroke care. “We are thrilled to be collaborating with two leading organizations ...

Gaithersburg, MD; April 25, 2023 - Cartesian Therapeutics, a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company pioneering RNA cell therapy for autoimmune diseases and cancer, today announced the appointment of three world-renowned scientists and engineers as charter members of the company’s Scientific Advisory Board (SAB): Prof. Jennifer Elisseeff (Johns Hopkins University), Prof. Andrés García (Georgia Institute of Technology), and Prof. David Mooney (Harvard University). “These distinguished research leaders bring vast ...

A new class of immunotherapy shows promising results for fighting the most aggressive form of skin cancer. The study, published today in Nature Communications by researchers from King’s College London and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, investigates whether a novel antibody can target and treat melanomas. The results show that the antibody activates the immune response to fight cancer and slows melanoma growth in mice. Malignant melanoma is the most aggressive type of skin cancer with poor ...

What is shyness? Research has shown that shyness is characterized by fear and nervousness in response to social novelty and/or social evaluation. Shyness can manifest on behavioral, affective, and physiological levels, but little is known about how these components cluster. Longstanding theories note that shyness may be conceptualized as a trait that is relatively stable across development, which is described as temperamental shyness. Shyness may also be conceptualized as an emotion that is felt in a certain social situation, which is described as state shyness. To ...

Research shows that given the difficulties in navigating social relationships, children with more autistic traits might be prone to less attuned self-conscious emotions after transgression (displaying less guilt and embarrassment and more shame). A new study released in Child Development by researchers at Vrije Universiteit and the University of Amsterdam investigated for the first time the association between autistic traits and self-conscious emotions of guilt, embarrassment, and shame in young children.  Researchers also further examined ...

Social drinking after work is traditionally seen as an important way to build relationships in East Asia. There’s sometimes even a fear that missing out could leave you on the back foot when climbing the career ladder. However, a joint paper looking at the drinking habits and economic situation of working men in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea has found that those who can drink more do not seem to have a financial leg-up over their alcohol-intolerant and less-drinking colleagues. As almost half of the population in East Asia has some intolerance to alcohol, and with the growth of the sober-curious lifestyle, this result may come as good news to those ...

Raman imaging offers a greater potential for detecting multiple enzyme activities than fluorescence imaging, demonstrate Tokyo Tech researchers by developing 9CN-rhodol-based activatable Raman probes using a novel mechanism for Raman signal activation. The strategy allows a synthesis of highly activatable Raman probes with high aggregation and multiplexing ability, making it a promising tool for extending the range of Raman probes for the detection of multiple enzyme activities in heterogeneous biological tissues. The involvement of enzymes in a wide range of biological activities makes them ideal biomarkers for the detection of diseases. In fact, ...

In Japan, many municipalities have suffered from population decline due to low birth rates and an aging population. In 2022, the Japanese population over the age of 65 was 36.21 million, accounting for 28.9% of the total population. In addition, approximately 1,300 shrinking cities are within the 1,700 municipalities in Japan. Moreover, the large number of shrinking cities in Japan is unprecedented on a global scale. As a response to the low birthrate, the Japanese government is discussing “unprecedented” measures to reverse the decline, such as ...

A new Cochrane Review led by an Upstate Medical University professor has found that, compared with standard antibiotic treatment, stool transplantation can increase the number of people recovering from Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) infection, a condition which causes potentially life-threatening diarrhea. 77 percent of people who received a stool transplant did not experience reinfection within eight weeks, compared to 40 percent of those who received antibiotics alone. C. diff is a bacterium that can cause life-threatening diarrheal illness in individuals ...

Poor air quality linked to cognitive problems in babies Poor air quality could be causing cognitive deficits in babies and toddlers, according to new research from the University of East Anglia. A new study published today reveals an association between poor air quality in India and impaired cognition in infants under two. Without action, the negative impact on children’s long-term brain development could have consequences for life. Lead researcher Prof John Spencer, from UEA’s School of Psychology, said: “Prior work has shown that poor air quality is linked ...

During the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, a constant public fear was the rise of a new variant of the disease. Among the countless possibilities of a SARS-CoV-2 viral mutation, some were really alarming, such as Omicron, Delta, and Gamma. The strains with greater virulence and ability to invade the immune system are defined as variants of concern (VOCs), since they also have the potential to overwhelm the health system, increasing the number of admissions to intensive care units (UTIs). Recently published in the Intensive ...

Genetic markers such as fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP), simple sequence repeat (SSR), and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) provide unique identifiers for individual organisms. This aids the identification of significant genetic variations in plants, allowing modern plant breeding to select superior crop varieties. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has enhanced marker-assisted selection or backcross breeding of crops, which is the transfer a desired trait such into the favored genetic background of another. However, due to its expensive nature and extensive data processing requirements, NGS is not practical for screening large populations ...

Recently，Prof. LIU Lei's group from Peking University，the user of the Steady-state High Magnetic Field Experimental Facility (SHMFF), Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS) of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), together with Prof. WANG Zhaosheng from High Magnetic Field Center, HFIPS of CAS and other co-authors revealed the structure-property relationship in 2D amorphous materials for the first time by the study of amorphous monolayer carbon (AMC). The relevant research was published in ...

Recently, Professor WU Dayu of Changzhou University, the user of China's Steady High Magnetic Field Facility (SHMFF), Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), together with his collaborators proposed a facile mechanical strategy to optimize the electronic structures of the catalytic center by mechanically induced spin transition, and realized a new method for designing efficient biomimetic catalysts. The results were published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition. In recent years, the synthesis of transition-metal catalysts has received extensive attention. ...

Organic peroxy radicals (RO2) are important intermediates in the degradation of atmospheric volatile organic compounds (VOCs). RO2 not only participates in the chain cycles of atmospheric radicals and influences oxidizing capacity of the atmosphere, but also controls the formation of secondary pollutants. Under low NOx conditions, peroxy radicals react mainly with HO2 radicals, as well as with themselves, and their products tend to have low volatility easily entering the particulate phase. However, the associated double radical ...