WASHINGTON, April 6, 2021 -- Scientists from MIT and the Indian Institute of Technology Madras have grown small amounts of self-organizing brain tissue, known as organoids, in a tiny 3D-printed system that allows observation while they grow and develop. The work is reported in Biomicrofluidics, by AIP Publishing. Current technology for real-time observation of growing organoids involves the use of commercial culture dishes with many wells in a glass-bottomed plate placed under a microscope. The plates are costly and only compatible with specific microscopes. They do not allow for the flow or replenishment of a nutrient medium to the growing tissue. Recent advances have used a technique known as microfluidics, where a nutrient ...

WASHINGTON, April 6, 2021 -- Cryocoolers are ultracold refrigeration units used in surgery and drug development, semiconductor fabrication, and spacecraft. They can be tubes, pumps, tabletop sizes, or larger refrigerator systems. The regenerative heat exchanger, or regenerator, is a core component of cryocoolers. At temperatures below 10 kelvins (-441.67 degrees Fahrenheit), performance drops precipitously, with maximum regenerator loss of more than 50%. In their paper, published in Applied Physics Letters, by AIP Publishing, researchers at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences used ...

WASHINGTON, April 6, 2021 -- Dragonfly wings, lotus leaves, cicada wings -- thanks to millennia of evolution, nature has optimized the ways these surfaces and others behave to offer antibacterial functionality. An international, interdisciplinary team of researchers is trying to find the best way to translate these features to create nature-inspired bactericidal surfaces for use in medical implants. They discuss the surface structures and chemical compositions for an ideal implant material in the journal Applied Physics Reviews, from AIP Publishing. "Objects in ...

What The Study Did: Researchers compared the effectiveness of case-based (including contact tracing and quarantine) and population-based (including social distancing and facial masking) interventions for COVID-19 containment in Taiwan, one of the few countries with initial success in COVID-19 control without strict lockdown or school closure. Authors: Hsien-Ho Lin, M.D., Sc.D., of National Taiwan University in Taipei, Taiwan, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2021.1644) Editor's Note: The article includes conflicts of interest and funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including ...

What The Study Did: This study investigated the role of droplet or contact transmission in the development of Kawasaki disease in Japan during the COVID-19 state of emergency. Kawasaki disease primarily affects children and is characterized by fever and swelling in the walls of some blood vessels. Authors: Toshiro Hara, M.D., Ph.D., of the Fukuoka Children's Hospital in Fukuoka, Japan, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.4475) Editor's Note: The article includes conflicts of interest and funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, ...

What The Study Did: A model to prioritize vaccination was developed that estimates the risk of SARS-CoV-2-related death among enrollees in the Veterans Affairs health care system. Authors: George N. Ioannou, B.M.B.Ch., M.S., of the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Healthcare System in Seattle, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.4347) Editor's Note: The article includes conflicts of interest and funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support. INFORMATION: Media ...

What The Study Did: The clinical and other characteristics of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children in the United States, a condition that occurs in association with the COVID-19 pandemic, are described in this study. Authors: Ermias D. Belay, M.D., of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.0630) Editor's Note: The article includes conflict of interest ...

WASHINGTON, April 6, 2021 -- With research increasingly showing the COVID-19 virus is transmissible via smaller droplets suspended in air, there is a growing concern current public health guidelines of mask wearing and social distancing are insufficient in combating its spread in indoor environments, like prisons, hospitals, and meatpacking plants, where people tend to be in close quarters. Most research has focused on coughing and sneezing. But studies on how simply breathing might contribute to airborne spread of the virus are rare. In AIP Advances, by AIP Publishing, researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar show social distancing is equally ...

Spain is among the five countries in the world with the highest levels of social acceptance of LGBTIQ+ people and rights, and was the third country in the world to legalize same-sex marriages, in 2005. In 2019, 3.1% of marriages were between same-sex couples (INE 2020). In this context, it would seem consistent that sexual orientation should not determine wage inequalities. But is this really so? What is the relationship between sexual orientation and wages? The study, recently published in Journal of Family Issues, found a significant correlation ...

The Tibetan Plateau, known as "the roof of the world", has warmed more rapidly than global average in the past decades. The observed warming of the Tibetan Plateau since 1960s can be attributed to human activities, particularly greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, the Plateau may warm faster in the future than climate models projected, according to a study recently published in Environmental Research Letters. The Tibetan Plateau contains the largest volumes of ice outside the Arctic and Antarctic, feeding water to dozens of major Asian rivers. However, the rapid warming of the "Water Tower of Asia" has significantly affected regional hydrological cycle and ecosystem services, leading to remarkable glacier retreat and geohazard ...

New research led by the universities of Kent and Warwick has found that, contrary to previous beliefs, adolescents born preterm have the same levels of self-esteem and overall wellbeing as those born full-term. Preterm birth, defined as birth before 37 weeks of gestation, has been previously found to be associated with an increased risk for lower academic achievement, higher mental health problems and increased difficulties in social relationships compared to those born full-term. This new study, co-led by Dr Ayten Bilgin (Kent) alongside colleagues from Warwick, demonstrates that in contrast, preterm birth ...

A total of 108 women participated in the research from the first weeks of pregnancy to delivery, having recorded their stress levels before, during, and after conception (via the concentration of cortisol in hair) and performed different psychological tests A study carried out by scientists from the University of Granada (UGR) has revealed that women who experience stress both before becoming pregnant and during conception are almost twice as likely to have a girl as a boy. Researchers from the Mind, Brain and Behaviour Research Centre (CIMCYC), the Department of Pharmacology (Faculty of Pharmacy), and the Faculty of Psychology have analysed the levels of cortisol (a steroid hormone that is released in response to stress) ...

Cuckoo wasps - also called emerald wasps - are some of the most beautiful insects we have, with colourful exteriors that shine like jewels. However, these beauties have also created a lot of headaches. "Normally we distinguish insects from each other by their appearance, but cuckoo wasps are so similar to each other that it makes it difficult," says Frode Ødegaard. Ødegaard is an insect researcher at the NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) University Museum and belongs to the European research group that has now ...

New research suggests Ireland's increasing populations of Sika deer may be linked to local outbreaks of TB infection in cattle. Although TB infection rates have decreased in general in recent decades, county-level data shows a correlation between higher Sika numbers and higher local TB infections - with County Wicklow a particular hotspot. The research, conducted by researchers from Trinity College Dublin and the National Parks and Wildlife Service and supported by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, has major implications for controlling TB. It has ...

Is there a way to chemically manipulate small, confined areas on cellular surfaces? Scientists have developed a microfluidic probe to send a flow of free radicals on live cells and track the outcome using fluorescence imaging. As outlined in the journal Angewandte Chemie, this approach makes it possible for the first time to generate a reaction zone of free radicals with controlled size and concentration for subcellular research. Free radicals are important stimulants for cells. When live cells are exposed to radicals, they develop intense reactions that can lead to cell ...

Researchers at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) have experimentally demonstrated a novel cancer diagnosis technique based on the scattering of circularly polarized light. Computational studies revealed that this technique can detect the progression of precancerous lesions and early cancer. This method can be implemented using an endoscope equipped with spin-LEDs--devices that emit circularly polarized light. Most cancers of the digestive system emerge in the surface layer first and then progress into deeper layers. While surface layer carcinomas can be readily treated using an endoscope, carcinomas that have advanced onto deeper layers need surgical intervention to prevent them from metastasizing to lymph nodes or other organs. Thus, accurate measurements of the depth of cancer ...

Amsterdam, April 6, 2021 - The rarity of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) means that promising new treatments may be tested in only a limited spectrum of patients before approval. Investigators evaluated a newly approved drug, onasemnogene abeparvovec, in a broader spectrum of patients in order to obtain expanded data on its side effects profile. They report in the Journal of Neuromuscular Diseases that the drug is associated with an immune response against the adeno-associated viral vector and needs careful monitoring, but showed no long-term adverse effects. In recent years, the availability of a growing number of drug treatments has significantly ...

New Orleans, LA - A study led by Edward Wojcik, PhD, Associate Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, identified how microcephaly (abnormally small heads) and blindness may develop in Zika-infected fetuses, as well as a new way to potentially prevent these neurodevelopmental defects. The results are published online in iScience, available here. The mechanism by which Zika virus disrupts neuronal development and results in congenital Zika syndrome was unknown. Because of similarities between Zika syndrome and a recognized congenital genetic disease (Kinesin-5) known to cause microcephaly and retinopathies in developing infants, the research team studied both, looking for similarities. They discovered a direct link, the first ...

Comparison of coda waves, the scattered waves that arrive after the direct waves of a seismic event, can be used to determine the relative locations of two underground explosions, according to a new study published in the open-access journal The Seismic Record. The technique, called coda wave interferometry, was tested on explosions conducted as part of the Source Physics Experiment (SPE). Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers Sean Ford and Bill Walter report that coda wave interferometry can also put a limit on the extent of damage caused by an explosion. The findings suggest the technique could be used to improve the estimates of the relative locations ...

Using samples of small cell lung tumours, a research team led by biologist Dr Silvia von Karstedt has discovered two new ways to induce tumour cell death. One of two subsets of tumour cells can be targeted by activating ferroptosis: iron-dependent cell death caused by oxidative stress. In the second subtype, oxidative stress - and hence cell death - can also be induced in a different way. Both types of cell death must be triggered simultaneously by drugs to kill the majority of the tumour mass. The results of the study have been published in Nature Communications. Despite many advances in treatment, a diagnosis of small cell lung cancer means a particularly poor prognosis. In Germany, up to 8000 new cases ...

DURHAM, N.C. -- Some guys have it all: the muscle, the power, the high social status, the accelerated aging. But wait. Faster aging? Who wants that? For male baboons, it's the price they pay to be at the top. New research appearing April 6 in eLife by Jenny Tung, associate professor of evolutionary anthropology and biology at Duke University, and her colleagues shows that male baboons that climb the social ladder age faster than males with lower social standing. If a male drops in social status, his estimated rate of aging drops as well. Using blood samples from 245 wild baboons in the ...

TAMPA, Fla. -- Tumors are genetically diverse with different mutations arising at different times throughout growth and development. Many models have tried to explain how genetic heterogeneity arises and what impact these alterations have on tumor growth. In a new article published in Nature Communications, Moffitt Cancer Center researchers show how the location of the tumor and spatial constraints put on it by the surrounding tissue architecture impact genetic heterogeneity of tumors. Genetic differences are apparent among tumors from different patients, as well as within different regions of the same tumor of an individual patient. Some of these mutations may benefit the tumor and become selected for, such as mutations that allow the tumor to grow faster and spread to other ...

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is "seeing double." Peering back 10 billion years into the universe's past, Hubble astronomers found a pair of quasars that are so close to each other they look like a single object in ground-based telescopic photos, but not in Hubble's crisp view. The researchers believe the quasars are very close to each other because they reside in the cores of two merging galaxies. The team went on to win the "daily double" by finding yet another quasar pair in another colliding galaxy duo. A quasar is a brilliant beacon of intense light from the center of a distant galaxy that can outshine the ...

Breast cancer survivors with a higher risk of cancer recurrence based on genomic testing may experience greater fear of their cancer returning, according to a new study led by researchers at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing. However, psychological factors such as anxiety are the best predictors of survivors' fear of their cancer recurring. "Although genomic test results were associated with fear of cancer recurrence, our findings highlight that distressing, but treatable, psychological factors fuel cancer survivors' fear of recurrence," said Maurade Gormley, PhD, RN, an assistant professor and faculty fellow at NYU Meyers and the lead author of the study, which was published in the journal Psycho-Oncology. For breast cancer survivors, fear and worry that ...

Battling other male baboons to achieve high social status comes with physiological costs that accelerate aging, according to study published today in eLife. The findings suggest that current life circumstances may be more important contributors to premature aging than early life hardship, at least in baboons. Chemical changes to DNA, also called epigenetic changes, can be used as a kind of 'clock' to measure aging. While these epigenetic changes usually correspond with age, they can also be used to detect signs of premature aging. "Environmental stressors can make the clock tick faster, so that some individuals appear biologically older than their actual age and ...