No one expected the "Automated Guided Vehicles" at St. Olavs Hospital in Trondheim, Norway, to have personalities. These motorized units, like long boxes on wheels, are merely meant to transport garbage, medical equipment or food from one part of the hospital to another.  But because they have to interact with humans, by warning them to get out of the way, they have to talk. And that's when the fun began. Instead of using a generic Norwegian voice, they decided to give the hospital robots a voice that used the strong, distinctive local dialect. Suddenly these stainless-steel boxes, rolling around the hospital to transport goods, had a personality. They were kind of pushy. A little ...

The coronavirus pandemic has created a great demand for rapidly diagnosing SARS-CoV-2 infections. Reliable rapid tests are needed, for example, at airports and ports for testing travellers quickly and effortlessly before their journey. Researchers at the University of Helsinki have developed a new rapid assay principle for viral antigen detection, applying it to diagnosing SARS-CoV-2 infections. The test is based on a phenomenon known as time-resolved Förster resonance energy transfer (TR-FRET), where energy travels between two light-sensitive molecules when they are close enough to each other. TR-FRET makes it possible to measure viral particles or the body's own proteins by using what ...

Scientists from Tomsk Polytechnic University and Université Grenoble Alpes (France) have proposed a more accurate method for loading capability assessment of power transformers. As an example, the scientists defined the loading capability of the power transformer in Tomsk and Grenoble. The research findings are published in the International Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems (IF: 3,588, Q1). The cost of a power transformer can reach a few hundred million rubles that makes it the most expensive element of an electrical grid. Therefore, power engineers tend to use the loading capability of transformers in full. The method proposed by the TPU scientists can help to operate power transformers closer to their thermal limit. It will allow operators to control ...

Research has found that strict lockdowns to reduce the spread of COVID-19 might be responsible for delaying normal cardiorespiratory development in children. The study, the first to examine the topic, is published in the European Journal of Pediatrics. It was carried out by Dr Lee Smith of Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and a team of academics from Spain, led by Dr Ruben Lopez-Bueno of the University of Zaragoza. The research involved a group of 89 children from a school in north-eastern Spain. The country introduced a strict six-week lockdown in spring 2020, during which under-15s were unable to leave their homes except for medical ...

World-leading eye experts have made a breakthrough that could potentially change the way cataracts are treated - with potential for drug therapy to replace surgery. Cataract is a clouding of the eye lens that develops over time and affects the quality of vision. It is caused by an accumulation of protein in the lens that reduce the transmission of light to the retina. Previous research led by ARU found that cataracts account for almost half of global cases of blindness. A significantly developed cataract can only currently be treated by a surgical procedure to remove the cloudy lens and insert an artificial replacement. A team of international scientists, ...

Due to the extensive clearing of their habitat, these primates sometimes turn to palm oil monocultures while foraging. This often leads to conflicts with farmers. The macaques do not damage the palm oil fruits to any great extent. On the contrary, they can even benefit palm oil cultivation, as they are excellent hunters of the masses of rats found on plantations, the main pest found there. As a new study has now been able to prove, however, regularly visiting the plantations has a significant impact on macaques' social behaviour. This was shown by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), Leipzig University (UL), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv). The new findings ...

Active music-making can provide cognitive benefits to older adults with mild cognitive impairment or dementia, according to an analysis of all relevant studies. The analysis, which is published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, also found that music may help improve their quality of life and mood. The analysis included nine studies with a total of 495 participants. The authors noted that music-based interventions could potentially provide millions of older adults with critical support for their cognitive, emotional, and social well-being. "We are excited to see these results because participating in music, like singing in a choir or playing ...

Brazil is the world leader in sweet orange production, but citrus cultivation in the region faces constant threats concerning the availability of water and the outbreak of diseases. New research published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology indicates that a fatty acid called hexanoic acid may help protect against one such problem: citrus canker, a bacterial infection that causes brownish eruptive lesions on the leaves, stems, and fruit of citrus trees. Hexanoic acid might be a suitable substitute for chemicals used to protect citrus from bacterial infections. Investigators examined several ...

Little is known concerning environmental contaminants in predators at the top of a food chain. A study published in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry has demonstrated that new types of brominated flame retardants accumulate in the tissues of killer whales near Norway and are also passed on to nursing offspring. Investigators also detected man-made chemicals called perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the tissues of adult killer whales. Thresholds for health effects of PFAS in marine mammals are not established, but the chemical has been linked to reproductive and endocrine effects in wildlife. In addition, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which have long been banned, were detected in the blubber of 7 of the 8 killer whales in the study at levels that exceeded the ...

Skoltech researchers and their colleagues from China and Germany have presented a new search algorithm for single-atom-alloy catalysts (SAACs) that found more than 200 yet unreported candidates. Their work provides a recipe for finding best SAACs for various applications. The paper was published in the journal END ...

Scientists have successfully treated flies displaying behavioural problems linked to newly discovered schizophrenia-associated genes in humans, using common anti-psychotics. Schizophrenia is a severe long-term mental health condition that is historically poorly understood and treated. It is relatively common, affecting one to two per cent of the population, and is known to be up to 80 per cent genetic in origin. Recent advances in sequencing genomes of people with schizophrenia have identified a list of novel genes and mutations associated with the disease. Many ...

NEW YORK, NY (May 19, 2021)--A new study from Columbia University and an international team of researchers identifies multiple ways to achieve the same health benefits from exercise--as long as the exercise "cocktail" includes plenty of light physical activity. "For decades, we've been telling people that the way to stay healthy is to get at least 30 minutes of exercise five days a week," says Keith Diaz, PhD, assistant professor of behavioral medicine and director of the exercise testing laboratory at the Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. "But even if you're one of the few adults who can stick to this advice, 30 minutes represents ...

The work was conducted under the auspices of the Russian Science Foundation; the project "Synthesis and research of a new class of nanocomposite ceramics with degenerate dielectric constant for optoplasmonic applications" is headed by Professor Sergey Kharintsev (KFU's Institute of Physics). Professor Kharintsev, the first co-author, comments, "Under the influence of light, collective oscillations of electrons can be excited in metallic nanostructures, and as a result the electric field in the vicinity of the nanostructures strongly increases. The field of physics that studies the effects of generation and propagation of such electromagnetic excitations is ...

Computed tomography -- CT scanning -- which combines a series of X-ray images taken from different angles around an organism and uses computer processing to create cross-sectional images of its bones, is providing new insight into an old initiative to characterize fishes in Africa's Lake Malawi. The process, demonstrated in a new study using the high-resolution X-ray computer system in Penn State's Center for Quantitative X-Ray Imaging, is important because it will lead to the identification and management of more of the fish species in Africa's second largest lake, according to lead researcher Jay Stauffer Jr., distinguished professor of ichthyology in the College of Agricultural Sciences. "Before they can effectively ...

"I think you're on mute." This was the most-used phrase of 2020, according to Human Resources Online. Emblazoned on T-shirts and embossed on coffee-mugs, we used the meme to make fun of ourselves while learning video-conferencing tools like Zoom and Microsoft's Teams. But for the more than 7 million Americans who suffer from vocal disorders, not being heard is a serious matter. Many people who have normal speaking skills have great difficulty communicating when their voice box, the larynx, fails. This can occur if the vocal cords, the two bands of smooth muscle tissue in the larynx, suffer damage from an accident, surgical procedure, viral infection or cancer. There is no replacement for the ...

SARS-CoV-2 has evolved to acquire mutations on the spike protein--the part of the virus that protrudes from its surface and latches onto cells to infect them--that enhance the coronavirus' ability to bind to human cells or evade antibodies. A new study from the Centers for Genomics and Systems Biology at New York University and NYU Abu Dhabi uses computational modeling to assess the biological significance of spike protein mutations, uncovering versions of the virus that bind more tightly or resist antibodies and offering a promising public health surveillance tool. The study, which appears in the Journal of Molecular Biology, also suggests that these mutations on the spike protein are a key ...

Press release - ESE statement: COVID-19 and endocrine and metabolic diseases. An updated statement from the European Society of Endocrinology New expert statement confirms strong links between our hormones and COVID-19 The endocrine system is strongly involved in SARS-Cov-2 infection - so much so that evidence of an "endocrine phenotype" of COVID-19 has emerged, according to a statement by the European Society of Endocrinology (ESE) published in the journal Endocrine in April 2021. Leading endocrinology researchers looked into the evidence that has accumulated over the past year since the pandemic emerged, and consistently found evidence ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- The field of mathematical topology is often described in terms of donuts and pretzels. To most of us, the two differ in the way they taste or in their compatibility with morning coffee. But to a topologist, the only difference between the two is that one has a single hole and the other has three. There's no way to stretch or contort a donut to make it look like a pretzel -- at least not without ripping it or pasting different parts together, both of which are verboten in topology. The different number of holes make two shapes that are fundamentally, inexorably different. In recent years, researchers have drawn on mathematical topology to help explain a range of phenomena like phase transitions in matter, aspects of Earth's climate and even how zebrafish ...

One-quarter to one-third of young, active patients who undergo anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction experience a second ACL injury after they return to sport (RTS). New research indicates that young athletes who feel confident about their knee health at the time of medical clearance for sports participation after ACL surgery have a higher likelihood of meeting all RTS criteria related to physical function but also have a higher likelihood of experiencing a second ACL injury within 2 years after RTS. The study, which included 159 participants with an average age of 17 years, is published in the Journal of Orthopaedic Research. "These data suggest that as health care providers, we may need to re-evaluate the tools we currently use to determine readiness to return ...

The rhythmic motions of hair-like cilia move liquids around cells or propel the cells themselves. In nature, cilia flap independently, and mimicking these movements with artificial materials requires complex mechanisms. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have made artificial cilia that move in a wave-like fashion when a rotating magnetic field is applied, making them suitable for versatile, climbing soft robots and microfluidic devices. Watch a video of the artificial cilia here. Replicating movements found in nature -- for example, the small, whip-like movements of cilia -- could ...

While the APP protein is well-known for its key role in Alzheimer's disease, its contribution to healthy brain function, by contrast, has remained largely unknown until now. Recently, an international research team, led by molecular biologist Prof. Dr Ulrike Müller from Heidelberg University, gained new insights on the physiological functions of the APP protein family by using a mouse model lacking APP. The absence of APP during brain development was shown to result in the malformation of important brain regions implicated in learning and memory. Consequently, these mice were severely impaired in their learning abilities and exhibited autistic-like ...

In an article published in the International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, experts stress that the COVID-19 pandemic presents the "perfect storm" for family violence, where a set of rare circumstances have combined to aggravate intimate partner violence, domestic abuse, domestic violence, and child abuse. Factors during the pandemic that have come together to contribute to family violence may include increased stress and trauma, economic hardship, imposed isolation, and decreased access to community and faith-based support. The authors note that public health officials and mental health professionals need to be aware of the impact of disasters on family violence, and they should strive to identify those at risk and provide ...

Individuals are often prescribed increasing numbers of medications as they age, and while many of these prescriptions are justifiable, some may be inappropriate. A recent analysis published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology examined the results of all studies investigating associations between potentially inappropriate prescribing--which includes prescribing medications that may not produce benefits relative to harm and not prescribing medications that are recommended--and outcomes of older adults. Potentially inappropriate prescribing was significantly associated with a range of health-related and system-related outcomes, including functional decline, falls, ...

By the end of the first year of the pandemic in metropolitan Stockholm, investigators estimate that one-fifth of adults in the region previously had COVID-19. The findings, which are published in the Journal of Internal Medicine, come from analyses of anti-viral antibody responses in healthy blood donors and pregnant women. For the study, researchers examined blood from 2,600 blood donors and 2,500 pregnant women taken between March 14th 2020 and February 28th 2021. Blood donors and pregnant women had a similar rate of past infection, approaching 19% of the study group by the end of February 2021, shortly ...

Monash University researchers have engineered new antimicrobial surfaces that can significantly reduce the formation of bacteria on medical instruments, such as urinary catheters, and reduce the risk of patient infection while in hospital. This world-first study demonstrates the potential for 3D engineered surfaces in preventing the initial formation of microcolonies of Escherichiacoli (E.coli), Klebsiellapneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa - the three most common urinary tract bacterial infections (UTIs) associated with catheters. The study team, led by Dr Victor Cadarso, from Monash University's Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the ...