108 articles from FRIDAY 4.10.2019

Next-generation single-photon source for quantum information science

Over the last two decades, tremendous advances have been made in the field of quantum information science. Scientists are capitalizing on the strange nature of quantum mechanics to solve difficult problems in computing and communications, as well as in sensing and measuring delicate systems. One avenue of research in this field is optical quantum information processing, which uses photons—tiny...

Anesthetizing fish may affect research outcomes

Fish use colorful patterns to signal to each other, including advertising for mates and warding off rivals. Studying these colors, especially in small and squirmy species, sometimes entails anesthetizing and photographing the fish to obtain color measurements from digital images.

Household bleach inactivates chronic wasting disease prions

A 5-minute soak in a 40% solution of household bleach decontaminated stainless steel wires coated with chronic wasting disease (CWD) prions, according to a new study. The scientists used the wires to model knives and saws that hunters and meat processors use when handling deer, elk and moose - all of which are susceptible to CWD.

Scientists find timekeepers of gut's immune system

Shift work and jet lag disrupt not just sleep cycles, but feeding and digestive cycles as well. Such disruptions have been linked to risk of obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, infection, and other conditions. Now, researchers have identified an immune cell that helps set the daily rhythms of the gut. The findings open the door to new treatments for digestive ailments targeting such cells.

Edible sensor helps TB patients take their meds: study

An ingestible sensor that allows doctors to remotely monitor tuberculosis patients' intake of medication has the potential to save millions of lives and revolutionise treatment for the world's most deadly infectious disease, researchers said Friday. A randomised trial of 77 patients in California, published in the journal PLOS medicine, found that 93 percent of patients using the sensor were...

New metasurface design can control optical fields in three dimensions

A team led by scientists at the University of Washington has designed and tested a 3-D-printed metamaterial that can manipulate light with nanoscale precision. As they report in a paper published Oct. 4 in the journal Science Advances, their designed optical element focuses light to discrete points in a 3-D helical pattern.

Rare view into the formation of viruses

For the first time, researchers have captured images of the formation of individual viruses, offering a real-time view into the kinetics of viral assembly. The research provides new insights into how to fight viruses and engineer self-assembling particles.

Scientist designs 'express courier service' for immune cells

A researcher who is currently doing his post-doctoral training at Stanford University, has successfully invented a novel transfection method to deliver DNA into immune cells with minimal stress on these cells. This new technique is expected to boost DNA-based cancer immunotherapy by significantly improving the process of generating high-quality genetically modified immune cells.

Research shows the 'magic range' of twisted bilayer graphene is larger than previously expected

In materials science and quantum physics, flat bands and correlated behaviors within the "magic angle" twisted bilayer graphene (tBLG) has sparked significant interest, although many of its properties face intense debate. In a new report published in Science Advances, Emilio Codecido and colleagues in the departments of physics and materials science in the U.S. and Japan observed both...

Dust in ice cores leads to new knowledge on the advancement of the ice before the ice age

Working with the ice core ReCap, drilled close to the coast in East Greenland, researchers wondered why the dust particles from the interglacial period -- the warmer period of time between the ice ages -- were several times bigger than the dust particles from the ice age. The research led to the invention of a method able to map the advancement of the glaciers in cold periods and the melting in...

Weak spot in pathogenic bacteria

Antibiotics are still the most important weapon for combatting bacterial infections. But medical science is running out of ''ammunition'' because of more and more frequently occurring resistances. Research teams have now elucidated the structure of the proteolytic complex ClpX-ClpP. This is a key to development of innovative antibiotics which target the degradation process of defective proteins in...

A breath test for opioids

A test to detect opioid drugs in exhaled breath has been developed by engineers and physicians. A breath test could be useful in caring for chronic pain patients as well as for checking for illegal drug use.

New defensive mechanism against bacterial wound infections

Wound inflammation which results in impaired wound healing can have serious consequences for patients. Researchers have discovered a new defensive mechanism which enables our skin to actively kill bacteria. Central to this mechanism is a cellular messenger molecule known as 'interleukin 6', whose mode of action may be used in the future to prevent wound infections.

The fast dance of electron spins

Metal complexes show a fascinating behavior in their interactions with light, which for example is utilized in organic light emitting diodes, solar cells, quantum computers, or even in cancer therapy. In many of these applications, the electron spin, a kind of inherent rotation of the electrons, plays an important role. Researchers succeeded in simulating the extremely fast spin flip processes...

Antibiotic resistant genes prevalent in groundwater

The spread of antibiotic resistant genes (ARGs) through the water system could put public safety at-risk. Researchers studied and compared samples from an advanced groundwater treatment facility in California and groundwater aquifers to detect differences in ARG concentrations. They found that the advanced groundwater treatment facility reduced nearly all targeted ARGs to below detection limits,...

Targeting certain rogue T cells prevents and reverses multiple sclerosis in mice

Multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disorder, is known to be driven by 'helper' T cells, white blood cells that mount an inflammatory attack on the brain and spinal cord. A new study pinpoints the specific subgroup of helper T cells that cause MS, as well as a protein on their surface, called CXCR6, that marks them. An antibody targeting CXCR6 both prevented and reversed MS in a mouse model, the...

Sinking groundwater levels threaten the vitality of riverine ecosystems

Groundwater is the world's largest source of freshwater and it is of vital importance for food production. Increasing extraction of groundwater in recent decades has resulted in sinking water tables worldwide. A study by a hydrologist shows that almost 20 percent of the catchments areas where groundwater is pumped suffer from a flow that is too low to sustain freshwater ecosystems. This number is...

New fluorescence method reveals signatures of individual microbes

Researchers have developed a new method that reveals the unique fluorescence patterns produced by individual cells in mixtures of bacteria, yeast and fungi. They combined confocal microscopy with micro-spectroscopy to determine the fluorescence signatures from different types of microbes. They trained machine learning systems to analyze the images and identify different individual cells and...

Researchers find antibiotic resistant genes prevalent in groundwater

With climate change comes increasing water shortages, and potentially longer periods of drought. As policymakers look urgently to wastewater recycling to stem the gap in water resources, the question is— how best to reuse water and ensure public safety. New and emerging contaminants like antibiotic resistant genes (ARGs) pose a potential hazard to public safety and water security. One concern is...

Twin baby stars grow amongst a twisting network of gas and dust

Astronomers have obtained an extremely high-resolution image showing two disks in which young stars are growing, fed by a complex pretzel-shaped network of filaments of gas and dust. Observing this remarkable phenomenon sheds new light on the earliest phases of the lives of stars and helps astronomers determine the conditions in which binary stars are born.