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Gaming graphics card allows faster, more precise control of fusion energy experiments

Eurekalert - Jul 22 2021 - 00:07
University of Washington researchers have developed a method that uses a gaming graphics card to control plasma formation in their prototype fusion reactor.
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What makes a market transaction morally repugnant?

Eurekalert - Jul 22 2021 - 00:07
Many people find it morally impermissible to put kidneys, children, or doctorates on the free market. But what makes a market transaction morally repugnant in the eyes of the public? And which transactions trigger the strongest collective disapproval? Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and the Robert Koch Institute have addressed these questions. Their findings, published in Cognition, offer new entry points for policy interventions.
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Pathogens get comfy in designer goo

Eurekalert - Jul 22 2021 - 00:07
Hydrogels developed at Rice University mimic intestines when lined with epithelial cells. A study by Rice and Baylor College of Medicine proved hydrogels in various stiffnesses are valuable for learning the dynamics of pathogens that cause diarrhea and other intestinal diseases.
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Eco-friendly plastic from cellulose and water

Eurekalert - Jul 22 2021 - 00:07
Plastics offer many benefits to society and are widely used in our daily life: they are lightweight, cheap and adaptable. However, the production, processing and disposal of plastics pose a major global threat to the environment and human health. However, researchers at the University of Göttingen have now found a sustainable method - "hydrosetting", which uses water at normal conditions - to process and reshape a new type of hydroplastic polymer. The research was published in Nature Sustainability.
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Possible link between late-term births and better academic outcomes, study suggests

Eurekalert - Jul 22 2021 - 00:07
Even at term, gestational age may have an impact on children's academic performance, findings of a new study suggest. The research showed an association between gestational age at term and above-average rankings in a number of academic subjects.
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Study points to remotely supervised exercise classes as best option during lockdown

Eurekalert - Jul 22 2021 - 00:07
Based on data for 344 volunteers, Brazilian researchers compared the physical and mental health benefits of workouts led in person by a fitness instructor, unsupervised online sessions, and classes supervised remotely via video call. Gradually increasing intensity was associated with improvements in mental health.
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Smartphone screens effective sensors for soil or water contamination

Eurekalert - Jul 22 2021 - 00:07
The touchscreen technology used in billions of smartphones and tablets could also be used as a powerful sensor, without the need for any modifications.
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Silicon with a two-dimensional structure

Eurekalert - Jul 22 2021 - 00:07
Silicon, a semi-metal, bonds in its natural form with four other elements and its three-dimensional structure takes the form of a tetrahedron. For a long time, it seemed impossible to achieve the synthesis and characterisation of a two-dimensional equivalent - geometrically speaking, a square. Now scientists from the field of Inorganic Chemistry at Heidelberg University have succeeded in producing a crystalline complex with such a configuration.
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Excess coffee: A bitter brew for brain health

Eurekalert - Jul 22 2021 - 00:07
It's a favourite first-order for the day, but while a quick coffee may perk us up, new research from the University of South Australia shows that too much could be dragging us down, especially when it comes to brain health.
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Rensselaer-designed platform could enable personalized immunotherapy

Eurekalert - Jul 22 2021 - 00:07
An innovative testing platform that more closely mimics what cancer encounters in the body may allow for more precise, personalized therapies by enabling the rapid study of multiple therapeutic combinations against tumor cells. The platform, which uses a three-dimensional environment to more closely mirror a tumor microenvironment, is demonstrated in research published in Communications Biology.
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Characterized drugs show unexpected effects

Eurekalert - Jul 22 2021 - 00:07
Every drug starts with the search for an active substance targeting disease-related key players. However, there is no perfect drug that affects the one target: no effect without side effects. A group led by Prof. Herbert Waldmann and Dr. Slava Ziegler at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund has now identified an unexpected effect for a group of characterized active substances: they all modulate cholesterol metabolism, a home-made problem, as it seems.
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Interaction identified between SARS-CoV-2 and unusual RNA structures in human cells

Eurekalert - Jul 22 2021 - 00:07
Replication of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, depends on a series of interactions between viral proteins and different cellular partners such as nucleic acids (DNA or RNA). Characterizing these interactions is crucial to elucidate the process of viral replication and identify new drugs for treating COVID-19.
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Artificial intelligence models to analyze cancer images take shortcuts that introduce bias

Eurekalert - Jul 22 2021 - 00:07
A new study led by researchers from the University of Chicago shows that deep learning models trained on large sets of cancer genetic and tissue histology data can easily identify the institution that submitted the images.
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Parkinson's disease: How lysosomes become a hub for the propagation of the pathology

Eurekalert - Jul 22 2021 - 00:07
Over the last few decades, neurodegenerative diseases became one of the top 10 global causes of death. Researchers worldwide are making a strong effort to understand neurodegenerative diseases pathogenesis, which is essential to develop efficient treatments against these incurable diseases. A team of researchers found out the implication of lysosomes in the spread of Parkinson's disease.
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Antimatter from laser pincers

Eurekalert - Jul 22 2021 - 00:07
An international physics team with the participation of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) has proposed a new concept that may allow selected cosmic extreme processes to be studied in the laboratory in the future. A special setup of two high-intensity laser beams could create conditions similar to those found near neutron stars, for example. An antimatter jet is generated and accelerated very efficiently, as the experts report in the journal Communications Physics (DOI: 10.1038/s42005-021-00636-x).
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Scientists reverse age-related memory loss in mice

Eurekalert - Jul 22 2021 - 00:07
Scientists at Cambridge and Leeds have successfully reversed age-related memory loss in mice and say their discovery could lead to the development of treatments to prevent memory loss in people as they age.
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Surgeons endorse efforts to improve firearm safety and reduce firearm-related injuries

Eurekalert - Jul 22 2021 - 00:07
In what may be the largest survey of physician attitudes about firearms and how firearm-owning surgeons store guns in their homes, U.S. members of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) said they support the organization taking an active role in advocating for policies and programs designed to lower the risk of firearm-related injuries and deaths.
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Survival after cardiac arrest - Freiburg cardiovascular surgeons develop new technique

Eurekalert - Jul 22 2021 - 00:07
German researchers have developed a novel therapeutic approach for resuscitation after cardiac arrest that allows much higher success rates than before - often without neurological complications / Study in Nature Reviews Neuroscience summarizes decisive factors / New „heart-lung machine" makes clinical implementation possible.
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Unlocking genetic clues behind aortic aneurysm

Eurekalert - Jul 22 2021 - 00:07
After examining nearly the entire human genome for genetic changes that increase risk of aneurysm, researchers discovered a new change in the genetic code of a transcription factor.
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New insight on the reproductive evolution of land plants

Eurekalert - Jul 22 2021 - 00:07
International consortium, including then IGC, now current ITQB NOVA PI and GREEN-IT member Jörg Becker, offers novel insight into the reproductive evolution of land plants, in new study published in Nature Plants.
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