While atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy have already provided information on the morphology of bitumen surfaces in the past, for a long time it was not known whether surface and chemical composition correlate with each other. However, the chemical composition of the surface is of particular interest because oxidation processes take place there, triggered by oxygen-containing molecules in the air such as ozone, nitrogen oxides or hydroxyl radicals. The oxidation process accelerates the aging of the material - the bitumen becomes porous and damage develops. The materials ...

Metals with similar chemical properties are usually extracted together, which limits the opportunities to separate high-purity metals. To increase those opportunities, it's important to understand how different metal species act during the solvent extraction process. Researchers from the Institute of Process Engineering (IPE), of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, have developed a new strategy to characterise polymeric transition metal species in acidic solution, which may help to separate those high-purity metals. Their study, which was published in the KeAi journal Green Chemical Engineering (GreenChE) employed a high-resolution electrospray ionization ...

A multidisciplinary research team, led by the CSIC biologist at CRAG, Ana I. Caño Delgado, and the physicist from the University of Barcelona, Marta Ibañes, has discovered that two plant stem cell proteins, known for their role in the correct development of the root, physically interact and regulate each other to avoid cellular division. The study, result of fifteen years of continued research carried out by the two researchers, reveals that these two proteins, known as BRAVO and WOX5, act in a specific manner in a small group of stem cells, and that their interaction is key to the plant's survival under genomic and environmental stress factors like extreme cold, heat, or floods. The results, obtained with the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, have recently been published in the ...

A team of researchers at the Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) has successfully solved the problem of finding a straightforward, cost-effective process for producing hexaarylbenzene molecules with six different aromatic rings. These molecules are important functional materials. The results were published in the reputable journal Angewandte Chemie. Until now, it has been possible to use certain chemical procedures to produce simple, symmetrical hexaarylbenzene (HAB) molecules, in which the hydrogen atoms of the benzene are replaced by the same atomic groups. However, only very little HAB was produced in this way. The team of researchers led by Prof. Dr. Svetlana Tsogeva and Prof. Dr. Norbert Jux, both professors of organic ...

The paper describes amperometric biosensors developed for the determination of diclofenac based on planar platinum electrodes modified with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in chitosan, fullerene C60 in Boltorn H20, gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) in chitosan, and immobilized tyrosinase enzyme. It was found that diclofenac is a reversible tyrosinase inhibitor (a decrease in the analytical signal is observed), which makes it possible to determine it using appropriate biosensors modified with nanomaterials in the concentration range from 10 pM to 1 μM with CH 5 pM. Modification with composites of CNT / Au NPs and fullerene C60 / Au NPs made it possible to improve the analytical characteristics of the developed biosensors, in particular, ...

A new study by researchers at the University of Eastern Finland shows for the first time that blood-based measurement of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) enables distinguishing patients with frontotemporal dementia from those with primary psychiatric disorders or healthy individuals. Frontotemporal dementia is the second most common cause of dementia in the working age population. Its diagnostics are complicated by the similar symptoms presented by patients with psychiatric disorders or other neurodegenerative diseases as well as the lack of reliable diagnostic tools for differentiating these patients from each other. A new study by researchers at the University of Eastern Finland ...

The international collaborative team of Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT) in Japan and Indian Institute of Technology Ropar (IIT Ropar) in India has explored, for the first time, viscous fingering (VF, one of classical interfacial hydrodynamics) of annular ring where VF in fluid of finite volume grow radially through combination of experiment and numerical simulation. They demonstrate that the VF of an annular ring is a persistent phenomenon in contrast to the transient nature of VF of a slice where VF in fluid of finite volume grow rectilinearly. The researchers published their results ...

New research evaluating the drugs commonly used by rheumatoid arthritis patients suggests two combinations could reduce the risk of heart attack and strokes. The new publication in Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine has found that anti-rheumatic drug regimens that include either tumour necrosis factor inhibitors or hydroxychloroquine might significantly protect the endothelium in rheumatoid arthritis. Occurring in about one in 100 people, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common autoimmune disease which leads to inflammation and pain in the connective tissue of a patient's joints. "Rheumatoid arthritis patients have an increased ...

A research collaboration based in Kumamoto University (Japan) has shown that lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1), an enzyme involved in gene expression, produces individualized metabolism depending on the type of acute myeloid leukemia cells. Cancer cells are known to have a unique ability to metabolize substances differently from normal cells, and this ability is considered to be a promising therapeutic target. The new research findings may contribute to the safe and effective use of LSD1 inhibitors as potential anticancer agents, and to the development of highly specific treatments for various ...

Researchers have devised a way to multiply by more than ten-fold the accessible details of gene activity in individual cells. It's a big leap in the effort to understand cancer development, brain function, immunity and other biological processes driven by the complex interactions of multitudes of different cell types. Organs and tissues are made up of cells that may look the same, but individual cells can actually differ dramatically. Single-cell analysis allows the study of this cell-to-cell variation within an organ, tissue or cancerous tumor. But the research has been hampered by limits on the depth of information that can be gleaned at the single-cell level when working with large numbers of cells. "The downside has been the low-quality of ...

Most of us are familiar with the fact that women live longer than men. But fellas, if we told you there was one thing that could be done to increase your lifespan, would you do it? In a study published today in eLife , University of Otago researchers along with collaborators from the United States, have shown that castration of male sheep delays aging of DNA compared to intact males, and that it also drives feminine characteristics of DNA and the chemical tags it holds, known as DNA methylation. "Both farmers and scientists have known for some time that castrated male sheep live on average much longer than their intact counterparts; however, this is ...

Three mutations in the Epsilon coronavirus spike protein dampen the neutralizing potency of antibodies induced by current vaccines or past COVID infections. The mutations give this coronavirus variant of concern a means to totally evade specific monoclonal antibodies used in clinics and reduce the effectiveness of antibodies from the plasma of vaccinated people. To better understand the exact immune escape strategies at work here, the scientists visualized this variant's infection machinery to see what is different from the original configuration of the pandemic coronavirus, and what the implications of these changes are. The international project was led by David Veesler's lab in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Washington ...

In a retrospective, multi-centre cohort study conducted by researchers from Nanjing University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Jinling Hospital and the Second Hospital of Nanjing, a microRNA-like small RNA encoded by SARS-CoV-2 was identified in the serum of COVID-19 patients, which can be developed as a non-invasive biomarker for stratification of severe patients from mild/moderate ones and for identification of high-risk individuals before clinical manifestation of severe symptoms. This biomarker ensures proper allocation of patients to different ...

A research team, led by Professor Dai-Sik Kim in the Department of Physics at UNIST has developed a new technique of predefining the crack pattern on a flexible substrate by a sequential deposition of metallic layers which leads to a formation of a "zero-nanometer gap, or a "zerogap," between the adjacent lateral patterns. These gaps, according to the research team, readily open and recover with gentle bending and relaxing of the flexible substrate, precisely along the rims of the pre-patterns of centimeter lengths. Furthermore, in a prototypical pattern of densely packed slit arrays, these gaps serve as antennas achieving transparency for polarizations perpendicular to the length of the gap when opened ...

Chemical elements make up pretty much everything in the physical world. As of 2016, we know of 118 elements, all of which can be found categorized in the famous periodic table that hangs in every chemistry lab and classroom. Each element in the periodic table appears as a one-, two-letter abbreviation (e.g. O for oxygen, Al for aluminum) along with its atomic number, which shows how many protons there are in the element's nucleus. The number of protons is enormously important, as it also determines how many electrons orbit the nucleus, which essentially makes the element what it is and gives it its chemical properties. In short, the atomic number is an element's ID card. The periodic table ...

A new organic (carbon-based) semiconducting material has been developed that outperforms existing options for building the next generation of biosensors. An international research team led by KAUST is the first to overcome some critical challenges in developing this polymer. Much research effort is currently expended into novel types of biosensors that interact directly with the body to detect key biochemicals and serve as indicators of health and disease. "For a sensor to be compatible with the body, we need to use soft organic materials with ...

Networks of ground-based sensors paired with airborne drones could give firefighters a critical edge when battling wildfires, KAUST researchers have found. The sensor/unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) network could significantly shorten the time taken to detect a wildfire, giving firefighters a better chance to contain the fire before it grows too large to control. Wildfire detection is currently performed mainly by satellite imaging and remote cameras, but these technologies can be impeded by cloudy weather and fires can grow to a considerable size before they are spotted. With the recent significant global ...

The surprising results of a decade-long investigation by Alessandro Vezzosi and Agnese Sabato provide a strong basis for advancing a project researching Leonardo da Vinci's DNA. Their extensive study, published by the journal "Human Evolution" (Pontecorboli Editore, Florence), documents with new certainty the continuous male line, from father to son, of the Da Vinci family (later Vinci), from progenitor Michele (born 1331) to grandson Leonardo (6th generation, born 1452) through to today -- 21 generations in all, including five family branches -- and identifies 14 living descendants. The work fills gaps and corrects errors in previous genealogical research into Leonardo's family, while ...

A new study shows how urbanisation has influenced anthropogenic CO2 and air pollutant emissions across all world regions, by making use of the latest developments in the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR, https://edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu/) developed by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. The results show that by 2015 urban centres were the source of a third of global anthropogenic greenhouse gases, and the majority of air pollutant emissions. The authors, from institutions in France and Italy, used the EDGAR database to provide a country-to-global ...

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden publish new findings in the journal Cancer Discovery showing how pharmacological activation of the protein p53 boosts the immune response against tumours. The results can be of significance to the development of new combination therapies that will give more cancer patients access to immunotherapy. Given its ability to react to damage to cellular DNA and the key part it is thought to play in preventing tumour growth, the protein p53 has been dubbed the "guardian of the genome". Half of all tumours have mutations in the gene that codes for the protein, and in many other tumours, p53 is disabled by another protein, MDM2. It has long been known ...

Scientists have taken the first steps in developing a new method of identifying the movements of criminals using chemical analysis of soil and dust found on equipment, clothing and cars. The locating system allows police or security services to match soil remnants found on personal items to regional soil samples, to either implicate or eliminate presence at a crime scene. The work is presented as a Keynote Lecture at the Goldschmidt Geochemistry Conference, after recent publication. Dr Patrice de Caritat, Principal Research Scientist at Geoscience Australia, Australia's public sector geoscience organisation, said: "We've ...

A unique study of ancient diamonds has shown that the basic chemical composition of the Earth's atmosphere which makes it suitable for life's explosion of diversity was laid down at least 2.7 billion years ago. Volatile gases conserved in diamonds found in ancient rocks were present in similar proportions to those found in today's mantle, which in turn indicates that there has been no fundamental change in the proportions of volatiles in the atmosphere over the last few billion years. This shows that one of the basic conditions necessary to support life, the presence of life-giving elements in sufficient quantity, appeared soon after Earth formed, and has remained fairly constant ever since. Presenting the work at the Goldschmidt ...

Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not only on their own behalf, but also on behalf of the organization they represent. 1. Infusion centers associated with substantially better outcomes than the ER for patients with acute pain events and sickle cell disease Abstract: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-7171 Editorial: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M21-2650 Summary: ...

LAWRENCE -- A new paper from a lead author based at the University of Kansas finds wetlands constructed along waterways are the most cost-effective way to reduce nitrate and sediment loads in large streams and rivers. Rather than focusing on individual farms, the research suggests conservation efforts using wetlands should be implemented at the watershed scale. The paper, just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, relied on computer modeling to examine the Le Sueur River Basin in southern Minnesota, a watershed subject to runoff from intense agricultural production of corn and soybeans -- crops characteristic of the entire ...

In the movie "A Fish Called Wanda", the villain Otto effortlessly gobbles up all the occupants of Ken`s fish tank. Reality, however, is more daunting. At least one unfortunate fan who re-enacted this scene was hospitalized with a fish stuck in the throat. At the same time this also was a painful lesson in ichthyology (the scientific study of fishes), namely that the defense of some fishes consists of needle-sharp fin spines. Two types of fin elements Indeed, many fish species possess two types of fin elements, "ordinary" soft fin rays, which are blunt and flexible and primarily serve locomotion, and fin spines, which are sharp and heavily ossified. As fin spines serve the ...