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 ...

Not long after the sun goes down, pairs of burying beetles, or Nicrophorus orbicollis, begin looking for corpses. For these beetles, this is not some macabre activity; it's house-hunting, and they are in search of the perfect corpse to start a family in. They can sense a good find from miles away, because carrion serves as a food source for countless members of nature's clean-up crew. But because these beetles want to live in these corpses, they don't want to share their discovery. As a result, burying beetles have clever ways of claiming their decaying prize all for themselves. In new research published in The American Naturalist, researchers from UConn and The University of Bayreuth have found these beetles recruit microbes to help throw rivals off the scent. Immediately following ...

The NFL playoffs are underway, and fans are finding ways to simulate tailgating during the COVID-19 pandemic. Football watch parties are synonymous with eating fatty foods and drinking alcohol. Have you ever wondered what all of that eating and drinking does to your body? Researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine simulated a tailgating situation with a small group of overweight but healthy men and examined the impact of the eating and drinking on their livers using blood tests and a liver scan. They discovered remarkably differing responses in the subjects. "Surprisingly, we found that in overweight men, after an afternoon of eating and drinking, how their bodies reacted to food and drink was not uniform," said Elizabeth Parks, PhD, professor of nutrition and ...

University of Arizona researchers read between the lines of tree rings to reconstruct exactly what happened in Alaska the year that the Laki Volcano erupted half a world away in Iceland. What they learned can help fine-tune future climate predictions. In June 1783, Laki spewed more sulfur into the atmosphere than any other Northern Hemisphere eruption in the last 1,000 years. The Inuit in North America tell stories about the year that summer never arrived. Benjamin Franklin, who was in France at the time, noted the "fog" that descended over much of Europe in the aftermath, and correctly reasoned that it led to an unusually cold winter on the continent. Previous analyses of annual tree rings have shown that the entire 1783 growing season for the spruce ...

A meteorite that fell in northern Germany in 2019 contains carbonates which are among the oldest in the solar system; it also evidences the earliest presence of liquid water on a minor planet. The high-resolution Ion Probe - a research instrument at the Institute of Earth Sciences at Heidelberg University - provided the measurements. The investigation by the Cosmochemistry Research Group led by Prof. Dr Mario Trieloff was part of a consortium study coordinated by the University of Münster with participating scientists from Europe, Australia and the USA. Carbonates are ubiquitous rocks on Earth. They can be found in the mountain ranges of the Dolomites, the chalk cliffs on the island of Rügen, and in the coral reefs of the ...

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive method of brain stimulation, in which electrodes are applied over certain places on the scalp, creating a weak electric field. It is currently used for a variety of purposes: from treating depression and pain syndromes to better acquisition of new words and even sports techniques. During stimulation, the active electrode can transmit a positive or negative electrical charge. In the former case, this stimulation is called 'anodal'; in the latter one, it is called 'cathodal'. Researchers believe that anodal tDCS generally leads to depolarisation of neurons, which increases the likelihood of their excitation when new information arrives. Cathodal ...