Tetraneutron is an elusive atomic nucleus consisting of four neutrons, whose existence has been highly debated by scientists. This stems primarily from our lack of knowledge about systems consisting of only neutrons, since most atomic nuclei are usually made of a combination of protons and neutrons. Scientists believe that the experimental observation of a tetraneutron could be the key to exploring new properties of atomic nuclei and answering the age-old question: Can a charge-neutral multineutron system ever exist? Two recent experimental studies reported the presence of tetraneutrons in bound state and resonant state (a state that decays ...

Over the past decades, scientists have made substantial progress unveiling the underlying mechanisms behind many psychiatric disorders. Every year, new genetic mutations or protein dysregulations are identified as potential culprits for the symptoms, and sometimes even the root causes of complex neurological diseases, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s. Despite these efforts, the precise roles of several proteins involved in brain function remain obscure. Such is the case for indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 2 (IDO2), an enzyme expressed in the brain and metabolized by the ...

Surface electromyography (sEMG) is a traditional method used to measure the electrical activity of muscles during physical activity. This method has remained unchanged for over 70 years and involves the use of two standard approaches. The first involves a pair of electrodes—metals that conduct electricity through non-metals—to record from a particular muscle, while the second employs a grid of electrodes arranged in a small rectangular layout in order to measure the potential distribution of intra-muscle activity. However, these approaches only provide a measurement of a single muscle at a time. Thus, limiting our understanding of how our muscles coordinate ...

Weather forecasting is important for various sectors, including agriculture, military operations, and aviation, as well as for predicting natural disasters like tornados and cyclones. It relies on predicting the movement of air in the atmosphere, which is characterized by turbulent flows resulting in chaotic eddies of air. However, accurately predicting this turbulence has remained significantly challenging owing to the lack of data on small-scale turbulent flows, which leads to the introduction of ...

How deeply someone can be hypnotized — known as hypnotizability — appears to be a stable trait that changes little throughout adulthood, much like personality and IQ. But now, for the first time, Stanford Medicine researchers have demonstrated a way to temporarily heighten hypnotizablity — potentially allowing more people to access the benefits of hypnosis-based therapy. In the new study, to be published Jan. 4 in Nature Mental Health, the researchers found that less than two minutes of electrical ...

LA JOLLA (January 4, 2024)—Overwhelming fear, sweaty palms, shortness of breath, rapid heart rate—these are the symptoms of a panic attack, which people with panic disorder have frequently and unexpectedly. Creating a map of the regions, neurons, and connections in the brain that mediate these panic attacks can provide guidance for developing more effective panic disorder therapeutics. Now, Salk researchers have begun to construct that map by discovering a brain circuit that mediates panic ...

New study reveals striking similarities in synaptic abnormalities and behavioral patterns between male and female mouse models of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The study challenges the traditional focus on male subjects in ASD research and highlights the critical importance of including both sexes in investigations. This finding urges a pivotal shift in the scientific community's approach to understanding and addressing ASD, emphasizing the necessity of considering both males and females to comprehensively ...

Researchers from Amsterdam UMC and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) have discovered that the persistent fatigue in patients with long-COVID has a biological cause, namely mitochondria in muscle cells that produce less energy than in healthy patients. The results of the study were published today in Nature Communications. "We're seeing clear changes in the muscles in these patients," says Michèle van Vugt, Professor of Internal Medicine at Amsterdam UMC.  25 long-COVID patients and 21 healthy ...

Autophagy, which declines with age, may hold more mysteries than researchers previously suspected. In the January 4th issue of Nature Aging, it was noted that scientists from the Buck Institute, Sanford Burnham Prebys and Rutgers University have uncovered possible novel functions for various autophagy genes, which may control different forms of disposal including misfolded proteins—and ultimately affect aging. “While this is very basic research, this work is a reminder that it is critical for us to understand whether we have the whole story about the different genes that have been related to aging or age-related diseases,” said Professor ...

The gut microbiome is so useful to human digestion and health that it is often called an extra digestive organ. This vast collection of bacteria and other microorganisms in the intestine helps us break down foods and produce nutrients or other metabolites that impact human health in a myriad of ways. New research from the University of Chicago shows that some groups of these microbial helpers are amazingly resourceful too, with a large repertoire of genes that help them generate energy for themselves and potentially influence human health as well. The paper, published January 4, 2024, in Nature ...

In a landmark study recently published in the journal Nature Methods, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have unveiled mEnrich-seq—an innovative method designed to substantially enhance the specificity and efficiency of research into microbiomes, the complex communities of microorganisms that inhabit the human body.  Unlocking the Microbial World with mEnrich-seq Microbiomes play a crucial role in human health. An imbalance or a decrease in the variety of microbes in our bodies can lead to an increased risk of several diseases. However, in many microbiome applications, the focus is on studying specific ...

Meet MYC, the shapeless protein responsible for making the majority of human cancer cases worse. UC Riverside researchers have found a way to rein it in, offering hope for a new era of treatments.   In healthy cells, MYC helps guide the process of transcription, in which genetic information is converted from DNA into RNA and, eventually, into proteins. “Normally, MYC’s activity is strictly controlled. In cancer cells, it becomes hyper active, and is not regulated properly,” said UCR associate professor of chemistry Min Xue.  “MYC is less like food for cancer cells and more like a steroid ...

A team of researchers has developed an innovative method to design complicated all-α proteins, characterized by their non-uniformly arranged α-helices as seen in hemoglobin. Employing their novel approach, the team successfully created five unique all-α protein structures, each distinguished by their complicated arrangements of α-helices. This capability holds immense potential in designing functional proteins. This research has been published in the journal Nature Structural and Molecular Biology on January 4, 2024. Proteins fold into unique three-dimensional structures based on their amino acid sequences, which then dictate their ...

A decades-old mystery of how natural antimicrobial predatory bacteria are able to recognize and kill other bacteria may have been solved, according to new research. In a study published today (4th January) in Nature Microbiology, researchers from the University of Birmingham and the University of Nottingham have discovered how natural antimicrobial predatory bacteria, called Bdellovibrio bacterivorous, produce fibre-like proteins on their surface to ensnare prey. This discovery may enable scientists to use these predators to target and kill ...

Breakthrough could dramatically cut the use of pesticides and unlock other opportunities to bolster plant health Scientists have engineered the microbiome of plants for the first time, boosting the prevalence of ‘good’ bacteria that protect the plant from disease. The findings published in Nature Communications by researchers from the University of Southampton, China and Austria, could substantially reduce the need for environmentally destructive pesticides. There is growing public awareness about the significance of our microbiome – the myriad of microorganisms that live in and around our bodies, most notably in our guts. Our gut ...

Introduction to the Event: As the world witnesses rapid technological advancements and the increasing reality of space travel and habitation, Chiba University is taking the lead in shaping the dialogue on the future of space development and humanity. The upcoming conference will feature distinguished speakers from Chiba University and international institutions, converging to facilitate interdisciplinary discussions. Through diverse lenses encompassing philosophy, ethics, law, political science, and horticulture, the conference aims to gain profound insights, welcoming active ...

In light of an estimated replication rate of only 36% out of 100 replication attempts conducted by the Open Science Collaboration in 2015 (OSC2015), many believe that experimental psychology suffers from a severe replicability problem.  In their own study, recently published in the open-access peer-reviewed scientific journal Social Psychological Bulletin, Drs Brent M. Wilson and John T. Wixted at the University of California San Diego (USA) suggest that what has since been referred to as a “replication crisis” might not be as bad as it seems.  “No one asks a critical question,” the scientists argue, “if ...

Overview A research team consisting of members of the Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute and the Functional Materials Engineering Laboratory at the Toyohashi University of Technology, has developed a novel high-performance photoelectrode by constructing a zinc oxide nanopagoda array with a unique shape on a transparent electrode and applying silver nanoparticles to its surface. The zinc oxide nanopagoda is characterized by having many step structures, as it comprises stacks of differently sized hexagonal prisms. In addition, it exhibits very few crystal defects and excellent electron conductivity. By decorating its surface with silver nanoparticles, the zinc oxide nanopagoda ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University researchers have discovered vitamin B1 produced by microbes in rivers, findings that may offer hope for vitamin-deficient salmon populations. Findings were published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology. The authors say the study in California’s Central Valley represents a novel piece of an important physiological puzzle involving Chinook salmon, a keystone species that holds significant cultural, ecological and economic importance in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Christopher ...

Overview A research team from the Institute for Research on Next-generation Semiconductor and Sensing Science (IRES²) at the Toyohashi University of Technology, National Institute of Technology, Ibaraki College, and TechnoPro R&D Company has successfully demonstrated low-invasive neural recording technology for the brain tissue of diabetic mice. This was achieved using a small needle-electrode with a diameter of 4 µm. Recording neuronal activity within the diabetic brain tissue is particularly challenging due to various complications, including the development of cerebrovascular disease. Because of the significant advantage of the miniaturized needle-electrode compared to conventional ...

Medical technology innovations achieved by integrating science and medicine have improved the quality of life for patients. Especially noteworthy is the emergence of electronic devices implanted in the body, such as in the heart or brain, which enable real-time measurement and regulation of physiological signals, presenting new solutions for challenging conditions like Parkinson's disease. However, technical constraints have hindered the semi-permanent use of electronic devices after their implantation.   A collaborative research team led by Professor Sung-Min Park from the Departments of Convergence IT Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and ...

LOS ANGELES — Hearing loss affects approximately 40 million American adults, yet only one in 10 people who need hearing aids use them, research shows.   Those who don’t use hearing aids but should may want to make wearing them one of their New Year’s resolutions, according to a new study from Keck Medicine of USC published today in The Lancet Healthy Longevity.   “We found that adults with hearing loss who regularly used hearing aids had a 24% lower risk of mortality than those who never wore them,” ...

Australian researchers have successfully trialled a novel experiment to address offensive and rude comments in operating theatres by placing ‘eye’ signage in surgical rooms. The eye images, attached to the walls of an Adelaide orthopaedic hospital’s operating theatre without any explanation, had the desired effect in markedly reducing poor behaviour among surgical teams. Lead researcher University of South Australia Professor Cheri Ostroff attributed the result to a perception of being “watched”, even though the eyes were not real. The three-month experiment ...

The avocado has soared to unprecedented heights of popularity, gracing the plates of toast enthusiasts and health-conscious individuals worldwide. But what are the overlooked consequences of our latest food obsession? “The avocado has come to represent so much more than just a fruit. It’s wrapped up with ideas of generational conflict, environmental chaos and social injustice. Over the last century, through careful marketing, it has evolved into a commodity crop with a huge social media following.” says Honor May Eldridge, a food policy expert who works to promote sustainable agriculture around the ...

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Jonathan Stamler, MD, has been named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Dr. Stamler is the co-founder and president of Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals (UH), and the Robert S. and Sylvia K. Reitman Family Foundation Distinguished Professor of Cardiovascular Innovation at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Election as an Academy Fellow is the highest professional distinction awarded solely to inventors and the 2023 Class of Fellows ...