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Massive heavy-lift crane vessels, capable of hauling thousands of tons, navigate the rough waves and strong winds offshore to construct wind turbines and oil fields in the ocean. An international team of researchers has developed a new modeling system to help improve the control, and ultimately the safety, of such vessels.

Results of the first trial of its kind presented at EULAR 2021 -- Targeting dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiota by faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has been proposed as a novel therapeutic option for people with extra-intestinal inflammatory diseases - although the link is yet to be established. In this first interventional randomized controlled trial of FMT in immune-mediated arthritis, transplantation was inferior to sham in treating active peripheral psoriatic arthritis.

Climate warming plays a larger role than plant genes in influencing the number and identity of fungal species on oak leaves, especially in autumn. Recently published in the journal New Phytologist, this research by ecologists sheds light on how warming and tree genes affect the dynamics of fungal communities across the season.

Results from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance and the French RMD cohort -- COVID-19 is the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection. It has been suggested that biologic or targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (b/tsDMARDs) may dampen the inflammatory response in COVID-19, perhaps leading to a less severe clinical course of the infection. However, the way some antirheumatic drugs work might impair the body's natural immune defence against viruses. Two abstracts presented at EULAR 2021 show people taking rituximab or a class of drugs called janus kinase inhibitors (JAKi) have worse COVID-19 severity compared to people taking tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi). These data from two large registry initiatives highlight the urgent need for strategies to manage the risk in people taking antirheumatic drugs, such as identifying optimal timing for vaccination.

Researchers from the Medical University of Vienna and the University of Vienna have now shown that, in most cases, IBS is associated with bacterial biofilms in the gut that are visible under endoscopic examination.

Biologists have identified a family of algae as a living missing link in the microscopic domain.

Footprints from at least six different species of dinosaur -- the very last dinosaurs to walk on UK soil 110 million years ago -- have been found in Kent, a new report has announced.

Academics from the London Centre for Nanotechnology at UCL (University College London) and AHRI used deep learning (artificial intelligence/AI) algorithms to improve health workers' ability to diagnose HIV using lateral flow tests in rural South Africa.

New study by the ICTA-UAB shows that residents and visitors highlight the natural and biodiversity values of the Llobregat Delta, in Barcelona.

A population biobank study of 250,000 individuals in Finland -- Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory autoimmune disease that causes pain, swelling and stiffness in the joints. It can also cause fatigue, and the underlying inflammation may affect other body systems. Up to 10% of people with RA are affected by interstitial lung disease (ILD) during their lifetime, and ILD is one of the leading causes of death in patients with RA. Data presented at the 2021 EULAR congress report findings from a longitudinal study showing that people with MUC5B gene variant have a considerable lifetime risk of ILD, and that this gene variant contributes to increased morbidity. These findings have clinical implications for improving identification of people with RA who are at high risk for developing ILD.

Properties of materials are often defined by imperfections in their atomic structure, especially when the material itself is just one atom thick, such as graphene. Researchers at the University of Vienna have now developed a method for controlled creation of such imperfections into graphene at length scales approaching the macroscopic world. These results, confirmed by atomically resolved microscope images and published in the journal Nano Letters, serve as an essential starting point both for tailoring graphene for applications and for the development of new materials.

Smartphone apps have proved invaluable for helping people manage chronic pain during the COVID-19 pandemic, but researchers warn that the need for information sharing and education in this area is being neglected.

The results of a research collaboration between Tamagawa University and Kobe University indicate that people who are physically active during childhood have higher cognitive functions in later life. Participants who exercised when they were children did better on cognitive tests regardless of their current age. However, no such relationship was found between task performance and post-childhood exercise- suggesting that exercise during childhood is particularly important for brain development and long-term cognitive health.

A new scientific study published in Nature Catalysis shows that baker's yeast can be designed and optimised to produce polyamines and polyamine analogues for tackling grand challenges in both the health and agricultural sector.

Over the past 35 years, there have been large shifts in the distributions of many dragonfly species in Germany. Those of standing water habitats have declined, probably due to loss of habitat. Running-water species and warm-adapted species have benefited from improved water quality and warmer temperatures. This was found by a team of researchers led by the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv). The study highlights the importance of citizen science and natural history societies for long-term data collection.

Researchers from The University of Tokyo Institute of Industrial Science have revealed that a newly developed forecasting system can accurately predict flood locations 32 hours in advance. Extreme rainfall events are occurring increasingly frequently; such accurate and timely flood warnings will help to minimize their impact by providing time for measures to protect people and property.

According to a recent Finnish study, higher levels of moderate and vigorous physical activity can curb arterial stiffening already in childhood. However, sedentary time or aerobic fitness were not linked to arterial health.

Biologists from the Plant Physiology Laboratory at the University of Guam and neuroscientists from the Experimental Medicine Program at The University of British Columbia have published an update on the reputed environmental toxins that have been suspected of being involved in mammal neurodegeneration.

COVID-19 has changed the world in unimaginable ways. Some have even been positive, with new vaccines developed in record time.

Researchers from Kanazawa University have found that gasdermin D, a protein known to be involved in cell death, is crucial for maturation and release of interleukin-1α, an important inflammatory mediator. When the inflammasome is activated, caspase-1 cleaves gasdermin D into two parts: one of these parts travels to the membrane, where it forms a pore that allows calcium influx and activation of calpains, promoting interleukin-1α activation and exit from cells.