Fukuoka, Japan—Researchers at Kyushu University have developed a device that combines a catalyst and microwave flow reaction to efficiently convert complex polysaccharides into simple monosaccharides. The device utilizes a continuous-flow hydrolysis process, where cellobiose—a disaccharide made from two glucose molecules—is passed through a sulfonated carbon catalyst that is heated using microwaves. The subsequent chemical reaction breaks down cellobiose into glucose. Their results were published in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering. Converting biomass into ...

A recent study has uncovered the essential roles of two proteoglycans, biglycan and decorin, in maintaining bone mass, water retention, and bulk/in situ mechanical competence. Through the use of genetically modified mouse models, the research demonstrates that while biglycan plays a predominant role in preserving bone structure and toughness, decorin significantly contributes to the bone’s mechanical properties. These findings reveal how these proteins interact with water and other matrix components to regulate the mechanical ...

Researchers Ibuki Taniuchi, Ryota Akiyama, Rei Hobara, and Shuji Hasegawa of the University of Tokyo have demonstrated that the direction of the spin-polarized current can be restricted to only one direction in a single-atom layer of a thallium-lead alloys when irradiated at room temperature. The discovery defies conventions: single-atom layers have been thought to be almost completely transparent, in other words, negligibly absorbing or interacting with light. The one-directional flow of the current observed in this study makes possible functionality beyond ...

A team led by researchers at the University of Tokyo have created a dataset of the whole atmosphere, enabling new research to be conducted on previously difficult-to-study regions. Using a new data-assimilation system called JAGUAR-DAS, which combines numerical modeling with observational data, the team created a nearly 20-yearlong set of data spanning multiple levels of the atmosphere from ground level up to the lower edges of space. Being able to study the interactions of these layers vertically and around the globe could improve climate modeling and seasonal weather forecasting. There is also potential for interdisciplinary research between atmospheric scientists ...

PITTSBURGH, Jan. 10, 2025 – A self-destructing vaccine administered intravenously provides additional safety and protection against tuberculosis (TB) in macaque monkeys, suggests new University of Pittsburgh research published today in Nature Microbiology. The in-built safety mechanisms circumvent the possibility of an accidental self-infection with weakened mycobacteria, offering a safe and effective way to combat the disease that was named as the deadliest of 2024 by the World Health Organization. “Although the idea of intravenous vaccination with a live vaccine may sound scary, it was very ...

The group of bacteria called Enterobacteriaceae, including Klebsiella pneumoniae, Shigella, E.coli and others, is present at low levels as part of a healthy human gut microbiome. But at high levels - caused for example by increased inflammation in the body, or by eating contaminated food - these bugs can cause illness and disease. In extreme cases, too much Enterobacteriaceae in the gut can be life-threatening. Researchers have used computational approaches including AI to analyse the gut microbiome composition of over 12,000 people across 45 countries from their stool samples. They found that a person’s microbiome ‘signature’ can predict ...

Whether it’s the meeting room of an office building, the exhibition room of a museum or the waiting area of a government office, many people gather in such places, and quickly the air becomes thick. This is partly due to the increased humidity. Ventilation systems are commonly used in office and administrative buildings to dehumidify rooms and ensure a comfortable atmosphere. Mechanical dehumidification works reliably, but it costs energy and – depending on the electricity used – has a negative climate impact. Against this backdrop, a team of researchers from ETH Zurich investigated a new approach to passive dehumidification of indoor spaces. Passive, in this context, means ...

More than half of 23-year-olds in a European study show restrictive, emotional or uncontrolled eating behaviours, according to new research led by the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London. Structural brain differences appear to play a role in the development of these eating habits. The study, published in Nature Mental Health, investigates the links between genetics, brain structure and disordered eating behaviours in young people. Researchers found that the process of ‘brain maturation’, ...

A research team led by Prof. QIN Guozheng from the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has unveiled a previously unrecognized mechanism by which the RNA N6–methyladenosine (m6A) demethylase SlALKBH2 undergoes reduction-oxidation (redox) modification. This alteration affects its stability and its physiological role in regulating the normal ripening of tomato fruits. In this study, published in Nature Plants, the researchers deepened their understanding of the role of hydrogen peroxide ...

T cells can independently prevent acute viral infections to an extent previously thought only possible with neutralising antibodies. Findings challenge the longstanding reliance on neutralising antibodies for assessing viral immunity, and suggest that development of future vaccines must consider both antibody and T-cell responses for comprehensive protection. Singapore, 10 January 2025—Scientists from Duke-NUS Medical School and the Singapore General Hospital have discovered that T cells—white blood cells that can destroy harmful pathogens—can completely prevent viral infection, to an extent ...

A new study based on the sampling and analysis of volcanic ash at Cumbre Vieja volcano in the Canary Islands, located off Africa’s northwest coast, suggests that the composition of magma could drive tremors during volcanic eruptions. The findings, which are detailed today in the journal Nature Geoscience in a paper led by scientists at the American Museum of Natural History and the City University of New York (CUNY), highlight the potential of volcanic ash analysis as a monitoring and forecasting tool.  “The volcano research community has gotten ...

A new study published in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences has found that ocean warming in 2024 has led to new record high temperatures. The ocean is the hottest it has ever been recorded by humans, not only at the surface temperature but also for the upper 2000 meters. “The broken records in the ocean have become a broken record.” Said Prof. Lijing Cheng with the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He led a team of 54 scientists from 7 countries and discussed how ...

In today’s world, telecommunications and global connectivity have witnessed an unprecedented increase, making intercultural communication an unavoidable reality. A concerning aspect of such communication is the element of cultural and linguistic diversity between people. However, there is very little consensus on whether cultural diversity truly matters in intercultural communications or if it simply promotes miscommunication. “In academic literature, culture tends to be approached in a dichotomous stance, either through a lens of miscommunication or is considered an altogether irrelevant construct when it ...

A new analysis of U.S. mortality data reveals the disproportionate impact of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) on older adults, males and certain racial and ethnic groups. The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Brain Injury, provides a comprehensive analysis of TBI-related deaths across different population groups across the U.S. in 2021. The findings indicate that suicides remain the most common cause of TBI-related deaths, followed by unintentional falls, and specific groups are disproportionately affected by these tragedies. Men, in particular, were found to be most likely to die from a TBI – more than three times ...

Oral cancer is an increasingly prevalent disease worldwide, with over 300,000 new cases diagnosed each year. Among oral cancers, tongue cancer (TC) is the most common type and often carries a poor prognosis. Surgery combined with chemoradiotherapy is one of the main lines of treatment for high-risk cases of TC. However, recurrence rates are high since the tumors can reestablish themselves from only a few surviving cells. A few surviving cells are referred to as minimal residual disease (MRD). Understanding the mechanisms behind MRD formation is paramount to improving treatment outcomes ...

With the intensification of global population aging, muscle atrophy, characterized by the loss of muscle mass and function, has become an important health issue affecting the elderly. Researchers have widely used various animal and cellular models to gain a deeper understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms of muscle atrophy and develop effective treatment strategies (Figure 1). These models simulate human muscle atrophy through different induction methods, such as natural aging, gene editing, nutritional changes, physical activity, chronic wasting diseases, ...

Group Activity Recognition (GAR), which aims to identify activities performed collectively in videos, has gained significant attention recently. Existing GAR datasets typically annotate only a single Group Activity (GA) instance per sample, carefully selected from original videos. This approach, while precise, diverges significantly from real-world contexts, which often involve multiple GA instances. Moreover, single word-level annotations are insufficient to encapsulate the complex semantic information in GA, thereby constraining the expansion and ...

Researchers have developed a transfer learning-enhanced physics-informed neural network (TLE-PINN) for predicting melt pool morphology in selective laser melting (SLM). This novel approach combines physics-informed constraints with deep learning techniques, achieving superior accuracy, faster training times, and reduced computational demands. Published in Advanced Manufacturing, this breakthrough has significant potential to improve the efficiency of SLM processes, enable intelligent real-time process control, and enhance manufacturing quality. Selective Laser Melting ...

In the quest to address contemporary health challenges and advance medical science, the concept of Holistic Integrative Medicine (HIM) emerges as a pivotal approach. This paradigm emphasizes the integration of medical knowledge and practices, advocating for a shift from traditional, fragmented medical models to a more comprehensive and human-centered system. HIM represents a conscious evolution in medical thought, aiming to align with the holistic needs of patients and the complex dynamics of health and disease. It underscores the importance of dimensionality reduction and differentiation as ...

Electron transport in bilayer graphene exhibits a pronounced dependence on edge states and a nonlocal transport mechanism, according to a recent study led by Professor Gil-Ho Lee and Ph.D. candidate Hyeon-Woo Jeong of POSTECH’s Department of Physics, in collaboration with Dr. Kenji Watanabe and Dr. Takashi Taniguchi at Japan’s National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS). The findings were published in the international nanotechnology journal Nano Letters. Bilayer graphene, comprising two vertically stacked graphene layers, can exploit externally applied electric fields ...

MINNEAPOLIS – The American Academy of Neurology announces today its newest journal, Neurology® Open Access, which joins the flagship journal Neurology® and its four subspecialty journals. The new online peer-reviewed journal publishes original research articles, scholarly reviews, case reports and study protocols in all areas of neurology and the clinical neurosciences. Editor-in-Chief of Neurology® José G. Merino, MD, MPhil, FAAN, FAHA, said, “The new journal complements the lineup of the Neurology® ...

An independent study by researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) suggests the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza underreported the death toll due to violence by approximately 41%. The LSHTM study estimated 64,260 traumatic injury deaths in Gaza between 7 October 2023 and 30 June 2024 compared to the 37,877 reported by the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The findings, published in The Lancet, indicate that approximately 3% of the population of Gaza has died due to violence with an analysis showing ...

MIAMI, FLORIDA (EMBARGOED UNTIL JAN. 9, 2025 AT 6:30 P.M. EST) – Even though lung and related cancer deaths decreased in the world’s 10 most populous countries from 1990 to 2019, these positive statistics do not address trends in mortality linked to tobacco use, air pollution and asbestos exposure. Those areas need ongoing policy measures and research to further reduce deaths, according to a new study from researchers at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and collaborating organizations. Their study, published in eClinicalMedicine, ...

A series of more than 100 small earthquakes in Surrey in 2018 and 2019 might have been triggered by oil extraction from a nearby well, suggests a new study by UCL researchers. The earthquakes, which occurred in Newdigate and surrounding areas from April 2018 until early 2019, were recorded as being between 1.34 and 3.18 magnitude, and were linked to cracks in walls and ceilings and other damage to people’s homes, with reports of houses and beds shaking. Geologists have been divided over whether these earthquakes could have been triggered by extraction at the Horse Hill well in Horley about 5km ...

Launch of world’s most significant protein study set to usher in new understanding for medicine  Strict embargo: 00.01 (GMT), Friday 10 January 2025  UK Biobank has today announced the launch of the world’s most comprehensive study of the proteins circulating in our bodies, which will transform the study of diseases and their treatments. This unparalleled project aspires to measure up to 5,400 proteins in each of 600,000 samples, including those taken from half a million UK Biobank participants and 100,000 second samples taken from these volunteers up to 15 years later.  This will ...