Tsukuba, Japan -- How valuable are earmuffs? The answer to this simple question can depend. What brand are they? Are they good quality? What is the weather like? Given the choice between earmuffs and suntan lotion, most people would choose to have the earmuffs on a cold winter day and the lotion on a sunny day at the beach. This ability to place different values on objects depending on the environmental context is something that we do all the time without much thought or effort. But how does it work? A new study led by Assistant Professor Jun Kunimatsu at the University of Tsukuba in Japan and Distinguished Investigator Okihide Hikosaka at the National Eye Institute (NEI) in the United States has discovered the part of ...

The elusive axion particle is many times lighter than an electron, with properties that barely make an impression on ordinary matter. As such, the ghost-like particle is a leading contender as a component of dark matter -- a hypothetical, invisible type of matter that is thought to make up 85 percent of the mass in the universe. Axions have so far evaded detection. Physicists predict that if they do exist, they must be produced within extreme environments, such as the cores of stars at the precipice of a supernova. When these stars spew axions out into the universe, the ...

Tsukuba, Japan - A team of researchers from the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences at the University of Tsukuba filmed the ultrafast motion of electrons with sub-nanoscale spatial resolution. This work provides a powerful tool for studying the operation of semiconductor devices, which can lead to more efficient electronic devices. The ability to construct ever smaller and faster smartphones and computer chips depends on the ability of semiconductor manufacturers to understand how the electrons that carry information are affected by defects. However, these motions occur on the scale of trillionths of a second, and they can only be seen with a microscope that can image individual atoms. ...

The results of a study led by Northern Arizona University and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope, suggest the immune systems of people infected with COVID-19 may rely on antibodies created during infections from earlier coronaviruses to help fight the disease. COVID-19 isn't humanity's first encounter with a coronavirus, so named because of the corona, or crown-like, protein spikes on their surface. Before SARS-CoV-2 -- the virus that causes COVID-19 -- humans have navigated at least 6 other types of coronaviruses. The study sought to understand how coronaviruses (CoVs) ignite the human immune system and conduct a deeper ...

An adverse upbringing often impairs people's circumstances and health in their adult years, especially for couples who have both had similar experiences. This is shown by a new study, carried out by Uppsala University researchers, in which 818 mothers and their partners filled in a questionnaire one year after having a child together. The study is now published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE. "When we studied couples where both partners stated they'd had a hard time as children, the connection between negative childhood experience and a relatively ...

Early Medieval Europe is frequently viewed as a time of cultural stagnation, often given the misnomer of the 'Dark Ages'. However, analysis has revealed new ideas could spread rapidly as communities were interconnected, creating a surprisingly unified culture in Europe. Dr Emma Brownlee, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, examined how a key change in Western European burial practices spread across the continent faster than previously believed - between the 6th - 8th centuries AD, burying people with regionally specific grave goods was largely abandoned in favour of a more standardised, unfurnished burial. "Almost everyone from the eighth century onwards ...

As scientists increasingly rely on eyewitness accounts of earthquake shaking reported through online systems, they should consider whether those accounts are societally and spatially representative for an event, according to a new paper published in Seismological Research Letters. Socioeconomic factors can play a significant if complex role in limiting who uses systems such as the U.S. Geological Survey's "Did You Feel It?" (DYFI) to report earthquake shaking. In California, for instance, researchers concluded that DYFI appears to gather data across a wide socioeconomic range, albeit with some intriguing differences related to neighborhood income levels during earthquakes such as the ...

The neocortex is the part of the brain that humans use to process sensory impressions, store memories, give instructions to the muscles, and plan for the future. These computational processes are possible because each nerve cell is a highly complex miniature computer that communicates with around 10,000 other neurons. This communication happens via special connections called synapses. The bigger the synapse, the stronger its signal Researchers in Kevan Martin's laboratory at the Institute of Neuroinformatics at the University of Zurich (UZH) and ETH Zurich have now shown for the first time that the size of synapses determines the strength of their ...

TAMPA, Fla. -- Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are rare hematologic malignancies of the bone marrow. They can occur spontaneously or secondary to treatment for other cancers, so called therapy related disease, which is frequently associated with a mutation of the tumor suppressor gene TP53. Standard treatment for these patients includes hypomethylating agents such as azacitidine or decitabine but unfortunately outcomes are very poor. "Patients with TP53-mutant disease, which is roughly 10% to 20% of AML and de novo MDS cases, don't have many options ...

Growing perennial grasses on abandoned cropland has the potential to counteract some of the negative impacts of climate change by switching to more biofuels, according to a research group from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Researchers consider increased use of biofuels to be an important part of the solution to reduce CO2 emissions. But the production of plants for biofuels can have some unfortunate trade-offs. Now, the NTNU researchers have come up with a scenario that would put less pressure on food production and plant and animal life. "We can grow perennial grasses in areas that until recently were used for growing food but that are no longer used for that purpose," explains Jan Sandstad ...

DURHAM, N.C. - Researchers at Duke and Mt. Sinai have identified a molecular mechanism that prevents a viral infection during a mother's pregnancy from harming her unborn baby. When a person becomes infected by a virus, their immune system sends out a chemical signal called type I interferon, which tells surrounding cells to increase their anti-viral defenses, including making more inflammation. This response helps to prevent the virus from copying itself and gives the adaptive immune system more time to learn about the new invader and begin to hunt it down. A pregnant woman ...

Initially earmarked for covert military operations, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones have since gained tremendous popularity, which has broadened the scope of their use. In fact, "remote pilot" drones have been largely replaced by "autonomous" drones for applications in various fields. One such application is their usage in rescue missions following a natural or man-made disaster. However, this often requires the drones to be able to land safely on uneven terrain--which can be very difficult to execute. "While it is desirable to automate the landing using a depth camera that can gauge terrain unevenness and find suitable landing spots, a framework serving as a useful base needs to be developed first," ...

A neurosurgeon from RUDN University studied the mental activity of developers at work. In his novel method, he combined mobile EEG devices and software that analyzes neurophysiological data. The results of the study were published in the materials of the 23rd Euromicro Conference on Digital System Design (DSD). To collect data about the activity of specific areas of the brain, one can use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). However, this method involves massive equipment and is only available at clinics or laboratories. Therefore, it is quite difficult to register human mental activity in a natural environment. Even if usual conditions are reproduced in a lab, the very fact that it is an experiment would still affect the behavior of the participants. ...

Peer-reviewed / Modelling / People UK modelling study estimates 59% of SARS-CoV-2 transmission may be prevented by completing the WHO recommended 14-day quarantine period after exposure to a confirmed COVID-19 case Model assumes that quarantine adherence levels are moderate, with 67% of people completing the recommended 14-day isolation period after testing positive for COVID-19 and 50% of contacts of confirmed cases completing 14 days of quarantine. A similar proportion of transmission could be prevented with only 7 days of quarantine (assuming the same level of adherence) if a COVID-19 ...

In normal times, end-of-life care discussions are most commonly led by senior doctors. However, new research from a busy London hospital shows that the high numbers of deaths taking place in hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic, frequently out-of-hours, is leading to junior (foundation level) doctors having to lead on these difficult discussions with families, often with no formal experience or training. The study is by Dr Edmund Lodwick, King's College Hospital NHS Trust, London, UK, and presented at this month's Winter Scientific Meeting of the Association of Anaesthetists, held online. He analysed the situation at Croydon University Hospital, London, where he spent his own foundation level training. This is a typically busy London hospital ...

Researchers say they have been able to greatly improve the readout of data from digital memories - thanks to a phenomenon known as 'quantum entanglement'. The research team, which included researchers from the Italian Institute of Metrological Research (INRIM) and the University of York, say the findings could have major applications for digital storage devices, including optical memories such as CD or BluRay disks. This is the first experimental demonstration that quantum sources of light can enhance the readout of information from digital memories, an advance that could potentially lead to faster access of data in large databases and to construct memories with higher capacities in our next-generation computers. In an ...

TAMPA, Fla. -- Evolution within groups of tumor cells follows the principles of natural selection, as evolution in pathogenic microbes. That is, the diversity of cellular characteristics within a group leads to differences in the ability of cells to survive and divide, which leads to selection for cells that bear characteristics that are most fit to the malignant environment. The ability to continuously create a diverse set of new cellular features enables cancers to develop the ability to grow in new tissue environments and to acquire resistance to anti-cancer drugs. The diversity of cell characteristics within ...

European eels spawn in the subtropical Sargasso Sea but spend most of their adult life in a range of fresh- and brackish waters, across Europe and Northern Africa. How eels adapt to such diverse environments has long puzzled biologists. Using whole-genome analysis, a team of scientists led from Uppsala University provides conclusive evidence that all European eels belong to a single panmictic population irrespective of where they spend their adult life, an extraordinary finding for a species living under such variable environmental conditions. The study is published in PNAS, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. How species adapt to the environment is of fundamental importance in biology. Genetic changes that facilitate survival in individuals occupying new or variable environments ...

Japan -- Despite being our two closest relatives -- separated by just two million years of evolution from one another and six million from us -- chimpanzees, bonobos, and humans have numerous important differences, such as in lethal aggression demonstrated by chimpanzee males and the high social status of bonobo females. Now a research study suggests that the hormone oxytocin may have played a central role in this evolutionary divergence. "Oxytocin is a hormone neuropeptide found in mammals," explains author James Brooks, "but despite its ancient origins, its role can vary even among closely-related species." Among these roles are a wide array of social behaviors, some of which have recently been associated with certain species-typical behaviors in great apes. Based on these behavioral ...

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) ranks among the globally most important causes of infections in humans and is considered a dreaded hospital pathogen. Active and passive immunisation against multi-resistant strains is seen as a potentially valuable alternative to antibiotic therapy. However, all vaccine candidates so far have been clinically unsuccessful. With an epitope-based immunisation, scientists at Cologne University Hospital and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) have now described a new vaccination strategy against S. aureus in the Nature Partner Journal NPJ VACCINES. S. aureus causes life-threatening conditions such as deep wound infections, sepsis, endocarditis, ...

PITTSBURGH--A smile that lifts the cheeks and crinkles the eyes is thought by many to be truly genuine. But new research at Carnegie Mellon University casts doubt on whether this joyful facial expression necessarily tells others how a person really feels inside. In fact, these "smiling eye" smiles, called Duchenne smiles, seem to be related to smile intensity, rather than acting as an indicator of whether a person is happy or not, said Jeffrey Girard, a former post-doctoral researcher at CMU's Language Technologies Institute. "I do think it's possible that we might ...

An international research team has developed a fast and affordable quantum random number generator. The device created by scientists from NUST MISIS, Russian Quantum Center, University of Oxford, Goldsmiths, University of London and Freie Universität Berlin produces randomness at a rate of 8.05 gigabits per second, which makes it the fastest random number generator of its kind. The study published in Physical Review X is a promising starting point for the development of commercial random number generators for cryptography and complex systems modeling. INFORMATION: ...

ATHENS, Ohio (Jan. 20, 2021) - While the world awaits broad distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, researchers at Ohio University just published highly significant and timely results in the search for another way to stop the virus -- by disrupting its RNA and its ability to reproduce. Dr. Jennifer Hines, a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, along with graduate and undergraduate students in her lab, published the first structural biology analysis of a section of the COVID-19 viral RNA called the stem-loop II motif. This is a non-coding section of the RNA, which means that it is not translated into a protein, but it is likely key to the ...

LEXINGTON, Ky. (January 20, 2021) - More than 5.7 million Americans live with Alzheimer's disease and that number is projected to triple by 2050. Despite the growing number there is not a cure. Florin Despa a professor with the University of Kentucky's department of pharmacology and nutritional sciences says, "The mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases are largely unknown and effective therapies are lacking." That is why numerous studies and trials are ongoing around the world including at the University of Kentucky. One of those studies by University of Kentucky researchers was recently published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions. It is the ...

Older adults are managing the stress of the coronavirus pandemic better than younger adults, reporting less depression and anxiety despite also experiencing greater general concern about COVID-19, according to a study recently published by researchers at the UConn School of Nursing. Their somewhat paradoxical findings, published last month in the journal Aging and Mental Health, suggest that although greater psychological distress has been reported during the pandemic, older age may offer a buffer against negative feelings brought on by the virus's impact. "When you think about older adulthood, oftentimes, there are downsides. For example, with regard to physical well-being, we don't recover as well from injury or ...