312 articles from TUESDAY 22.9.2020
New drug candidate found for hand, foot and mouth disease
Duke researchers have identified a potential drug candidate against enterovirus 71, a common cause of hand, foot and mouth disease in infants and young children. The compound of interest is a small molecule that binds to RNA, the virus's genetic material, and changes its 3-D shape in a way that stops the virus from multiplying without harming its human host. It's an antiviral strategy that could...
New freshwater database tells water quality story for 12K lakes globally
Although less than one per cent of all water in the world is freshwater, it is what we drink and use for agriculture. In other words, it's vital to human survival. York University researchers have just created a publicly available water quality database for close to 12,000 freshwater lakes globally - almost half of the world's freshwater supply - that will help scientists monitor and manage the...
New research says Sodium-ion batteries are a valid alternative to Lithium-ion batteries
A team of scientists including WMG at the University of Warwick combined their knowledge and expertise to assess the current status of the Na-ion technology from materials to cell development, offering a realistic comparison of the key performance indicators for NBs and LIBs.
New theory predicts movement of different animals using sensing to search
A Northwestern University research team has developed a new theory that can predict the movement of an animal's sensory organs -- such as eyes, ears and nose -- while searching for something vital to its life.
New vaccine strategy harnesses 'foot soldier' T-cells to protect against influenza
As Americans begin pulling up their sleeves for an annual flu vaccine, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have provided new insights into an alternative vaccine approach that provides broader protection against seasonal influenza.
News coverage in Chicago disproportionately devalues Black and Hispanic lives
Social scientists found that homicide victims killed in Chicago's predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods received less news coverage than those killed in mostly white neighborhoods.
NIH study details self-reported experiences with post-exertional malaise in ME/CFS
One of the major symptoms of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is post-exertional malaise (PEM), the worsening of symptoms after physical or mental activities. Using their own words and experiences, people with ME/CFS described how debilitating PEM can be in a study in Frontiers in Neurology. This is the first publication to come out of the National Institutes of Health's...
NIST scientists get soft on 3D printing
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new method of 3D-printing gels and other soft materials. Published in a new paper, it has the potential to create complex structures with nanometer-scale precision.
Parylene photonics enable future optical biointerfaces
Carnegie Mellon University's Maysam Chamanzar and his team have invented an optical platform that will likely become the new standard in optical biointerfaces. He's labeled this new field of optical technology 'Parylene photonics,' demonstrated in a recent paper in Nature Microsystems and Nanoengineering.
Patients with COVID-19 may have higher risk of kidney injury
According to Jochen Reiser, MD, PhD, the Ralph C Brown MD professor and chairperson of Rush's Department of Internal Medicine, patients with COVID-19 experience elevated levels of soluble urokinase receptor (suPAR), an immune-derived pathogenic protein that is strongly predictive of kidney injury.
People with 'silent' COVID-19 have as much coronavirus as those with symptoms
People with 'silent' COVID-19 infection have as much coronavirus in their noses and throats as those with symptoms, reveals research published online in the journal Thorax.
Perspective on employment rates after spinal cord injury - 30 years after the ADA
Thirty years after the passage of the ADA, planning for return to work is often a low priority during rehabilitation for spinal cord injury, The authors emphasize that vocational rehabilitation services, when delivered soon after injury and integrated into the medical rehabilitation plan, contribute to better employment outcomes. "Implementing evidence-based practices during rehabilitation is an...
Photoacoustic microscopy for identifying sentinel lymph nodes of breast cancer
Tumor metastatic sentinel lymph nodes is difficult to distinguish from normal or inflamed lymph nodes (Inf-LN). Researchers designed a dual-targeting nanoparticle 5K-HA-HPPS for fluorescent/photoacoustic imaging of sentinel LN. Photoacoustic imaging showed a distinct spatial distribution of 5K-HA-HPPS among different LN statuses, which the signals were mainly distributed at the centre of T-MLN but...
Playing video games as a child can improve working memory years later
UOC research reveals cognitive changes can be found even years after people stop playing
Reading in company boosts creativity
Language has evolved as a consequence of social interaction; however, most research is conducted with participants in isolation. What happens in our brain when we read in the company of others? Is it the same as reading alone? Researchers at the Complutense University of Madrid and the Carlos III Health Institute have found that company is conducive to a more creative and integrated understanding...
Remembrance of waves past: memory imprints motion on scattered waves
Now, it appears that between relativity and the classical (stationary) wave regime, there exists another regime of wave phenomena, where memory influences the scattering process.
Researchers find new way to protect plants from fungal infection
Widespread fungal disease in plants can be controlled with a commercially available chemical that has been primarily used in medicine until now. This discovery was made by scientists from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and the University of the State of Paraná in Brazil. In a comprehensive experiment the team has uncovered a new metabolic pathway that can be disrupted with this...
Scientists identify new species of crystal-encrusted truffle, thanks to bonobos
Mushroom-munching bonobos in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have introduced scientists to a new species of truffle.
Scientists predict potential spread, habitat of invasive Asian giant hornet
Researchers at Washington State University have predicted how and where the Asian giant hornet, an invasive newcomer to the Pacific Northwest, popularly dubbed the "murder hornet," could spread and find ideal habitat, both in the United States and globally.
Seismic data explains continental collision beneath Tibet
New imagery reveals the causes of seismic activity deep beneath the Himalaya region, contributing to an ongoing debate over the continental collision process when two tectonic plates crash into each other.
Self-harm content on Instagram: "self-harm or self-help?"
Instagram users who post self-harm content online are choosing ambiguous hashtags in an attempt to circumvent the social media platform's ban on harmful content, a researcher at the University of Otago, Wellington, has found.
Shared protein fingerprint could simplify treatment of common inherited heart disease
University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists discovered that many different genetic mutations result in surprisingly similar changes to heart muscle proteins in patients with the most severe manifestations of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Silk offers homemade solution for COVID-19 prevention
A University of Cincinnati biology study found that silk fabric performs similarly to surgical masks when used in conjunction with respirators but has the added advantages of being washable and repelling water, which would translate to helping to keep a person safer from the airborne virus.
Single photon emission from isolated monolayer islands of InGaN
Single photon emitters are essential devices for the realization of future optical quantum technologies including optical quantum computing and quantum key distribution. Towards this goal, Scientists in China and Japan identified and characterized a novel type of quantum emitter formed from spatially separated monolayer islands of InGaN sandwiched in a GaN matrix. This new structure could open new...
Small increase in risk of autism seen for pre- and post-term births
A study of more than 3.5 million Nordic children suggests that the risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may increase slightly for each week a child is born before or after 40 weeks of gestation. Martina Persson of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS Medicine.