363 articles from THURSDAY 4.2.2021

New combination therapy offers chance of healing hepatitis B

Around 260 million people, more than three percent of the global population, are chronically infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV); in the long term, this often leads to complications such as liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. A cure is not yet possible with the available medication. Scientists at the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) and the University Hospital Eppendorf (UKE) have...

New eco-friendly technique protects rice plants against devastating fungal infection

Researchers have developed a new technique to protect rice seeds against fungal infections that can ruin up to half of all rice crops in the world. The biocontrol method, which involves inoculation of flowers with a different fungus that doesn't cause disease and using seeds harvested from the flower to grow crops, is even better at protecting rice plants from diseases than existing fungicide...

New guidance on how cardiac patients with diabetes can exercise more safely

Cardiac patients who also have diabetes will be able to do their rehabilitation exercises more safely, thanks to the world's first guidance on the subject, which has been published by international experts including a Swansea University academic. The guidance will be a crucial resource for healthcare professionals, so they can help the growing number of cardiac rehabilitation patients who also...

New methods for exploring the 'dark matter' of biology

New tools and methods have been described by WEHI researchers to study an unusual protein modification and gain fresh insights into its roles in human health and disease.The study - about how certain sugars modify proteins - was published today in Nature Chemical Biology. Led by WEHI researcher Associate Professor Ethan Goddard-Borger, this work lays a foundation for better understanding diseases...

New study examines addiction medicine treatment in Vietnam

A study published in The Lancet HIV marks one of the first scientifically robust assessments of a new model of treating HIV in lower or middle income countries where injection drug use is a major cause of HIV infection. It also suggests the importance of building support for peer and community connections to tackle the opioid epidemic that continues to ravage the United States in the midst of the...

New study finds cage-free egg-laying hen mortality declines over time

New research published today in the journal Scientific Reports based on the largest-to-date analysis of commercial data on egg-laying hen mortality finds that survival rates in higher-welfare cage-free housing systems increase over time as managers gain experience and knowledge accrues. These findings will reframe the debate on the welfare of laying hens and on the evolution of the egg industry.

New technique rapidly quantifies immune response following vaccination

A global team of researchers has developed a new strategy for fast and reliable antibody tests, which can quantify the immune response induced by vaccination and reveal the timeline and stage of pathogen infection. The team's one-step quantitative antibody tests are conducted using (blood) serum and are on a par with the gold-standard, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique.

New test provides fast and accurate diagnosis of liposarcomas

Researchers have leveraged the latest advances in RNA technology and machine learning methods to develop a gene panel test that allows for highly accurate diagnosis of the most common types of liposarcoma. It quickly and reliably distinguishes benign lipomas from liposarcomas and can be performed in laboratories at a lower cost than current 'gold standard' tests. The new assay is described in The...

Nickel phosphide nanoparticle catalyst is the full package

Osaka University researchers prepared a nickel phosphide nanoparticle catalyst on a hydrotalcite support (nano-Ni2P/HT) that showed high activity and selectivity in the hydrogenation of D-glucose to D-sorbitol. The catalyst was air-stable, reusable, and effective in water and at 25°C or 1 bar hydrogen gas pressure. Its mild operating conditions will contribute to the low-cost, green, and...

Polymer-derived carbon as metal-free, "green" alternative to catalysts and nano carbons

Darmstadt, February 4, 2021. The research group of Professor Bastian Etzold at the Department of Chemistry at TU Darmstadt has succeeded in synthesizing macroscopic carbons that are similar in handling to common technical catalysts. The research team has now published its results in the renowned journal Angewandte Chemie and demonstrated that these carbons can achieve the high catalytic activity...

Probiotics or prebiotics? Exploring the complex world of 'gut' health

Elena Goun at the University of Missouri and an international team of scientists have developed a noninvasive diagnostic imaging tool to measure the levels of a naturally occurring enzyme -- bile salt hydrolase -- inside the body's entire gastrointestinal tract. This research could lead to better precision medicine treatments by providing a way for scientists to better understand how a person's...

Quasicrystal-clear: Material reveals unique shifting surface structure under microscope

Ever since their discovery, quasicrystals have garnered much attention due to their strange structure. Today, they remain far from being well-understood. In a new study, scientists reveal, for the first time, a unique shifting surface atomic structure in a material emulating quasicrystals, opening doors to the better understanding of magnetic and superconducting properties of quasicrystals, and...

Repeated testing for COVID-19 is vital, economic and public health analysis shows

Epidemiologists at The University of Texas at Austin and other institutions have a new analysis that shows the value of having all people in the U.S. tested on a regular, rotating basis to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus and the loss of life from COVID-19. In a paper in The Lancet Public Health, the paper is relevant as the U.S. weighs options to control the spread of COVID-19 through...

Role of cell cycle on analyzing telomerase activity with a fluorescence off-on system

Traditional detecting techniques for telomerase activity are mainly based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based classic telomeric repeat amplification protocols (TRAPs) and quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR). However, those methods were mainly relied on the analysis of asynchronous cells with different phases of cell cycle, the heterogeneous behavior of cell cycle were overlooked,...

SARS-CoV-2 under the helium ion microscope for the first time

Scientists at Bielefeld University's Faculty of Physics have succeeded for the first time in imaging the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus with a helium ion microscope. In contrast to the more conventional electron microscopy, the samples do not need a thin metal coating in helium ion microscopy. This allows interactions between the coronaviruses and their host cell to be observed particularly clearly. The...

School gardens linked with kids eating more vegetables

Getting children to eat their vegetables can seem like an insurmountable task, but nutrition researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have found one way: school gardens and lessons on using what's grown in them. Researchers worked with 16 elementary schools across Central Texas to install vegetable gardens and teach classes to students and parents about nutrition and cooking and published...

Scientists establish multiple primate models of SARS-CoV-2 airborne infection

Army scientists evaluated three nonhuman primate species as potential models of SARS-CoV-2 airborne infection, according to results published online this week in PLOS ONE. Their work demonstrates that any of these species may be useful for testing vaccines and therapies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in over 104 million cases and more than 2 million deaths worldwide in...