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Toxicity of protein involved in Alzheimer's triggered by a chemical 'switch'
Tokyo, Japan - Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have discovered that a specific chemical feature of a key protein known as tau may cause it to accumulate in the brain and trigger illnesses like Alzheimer's. They found that disulfide bonds on certain amino acids act to stabilize tau and cause it to accumulate, an effect that got worse with increased oxidative stress. The identification of chemical targets triggering tau accumulation may lead to breakthrough treatments.
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Study shows links between youth distress and stigma around sexual orientation
A new study from American University reveals just how pervasive emotional distress is related to stigma around sexual orientation.
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Market exit: Divestment or redeployment?
A new study published in the Strategic Management Journal (SMJ) examines how the relatedness of businesses and market efficiency might inspire exit through resource redeployment versus divestment.
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Impact of cocoa agroforestry on bird diversity
An estimated 2-3 million hectares of tropical forest were converted to cocoa from 1988-2008 with severe consequences for biodiversity. Unsustainable cocoa monocultures (agricultural systems growing a single crop type) eventually collapse from disease, pests and soil degradation, hurting local communities as well as bird populations. Eliminating monoculture cocoa from supply chains and converting to sustainable agroforestry systems can help maintain productive farms while protecting habitats and biodiversity.
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Elephants solve problems with personality
This study makes connections between two sources of individual variation, personality and cognition, in threatened species.
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Edible Cholera vaccine made of powdered rice proves safe in phase 1 human trials
Vaccine manufacturing made enormous strides in 2020, but the complexity of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines has highlighted the value of inoculations that can be made cheaply and transported and stored without refrigeration. A new needle-free cholera vaccine has been made by grinding up genetically modified grains of rice and can be stored long-term at room temperature. This made-in-Japan innovation has shown no obvious side effects and a good immune response in its Phase 1 clinical trial.
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Differences in human, mouse brain cells have important implications for disease research
A UCLA-led study comparing brain cells known as astrocytes in humans and mice found that mouse astrocytes are more resilient to oxidative stress, a damaging imbalance that is a mechanism behind many neurological disorders.
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Unbroken: New soft electronics don't break, even when punctured
A team of Virginia Tech researchers from the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Macromolecules Innovation Institute has created a new type of soft electronics, paving the way for devices that are self-healing, reconfigurable, and recyclable. These skin-like circuits are soft and stretchy, sustain numerous damage events under load without losing electrical conductivity, and can be recycled to generate new circuits at the end of a product's life.
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Optical tweezer technology tweaked to overcome dangers of heat
Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have created a new version of optical tweezer technology that fixes a heating problem, a development that could open the already highly regarded tools to new types of research and simplify processes for using them today.
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Backscatter breakthrough runs near-zero-power IoT communicators at 5G speeds everywhere
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Nokia Bell Labs, and Heriot-Watt University have found a low-cost way for backscatter radios to support high-throughput communication and 5G-speed Gb/sec data transfer using only a single transistor when previously it required expensive and multiple stacked transistors.
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Mayo Clinic researchers study potential new CAR-T cell therapy for multiple myeloma
Researchers at Mayo Clinic Cancer Center are studying a potential new chimeric antigen receptor-T cell therapy (CAR-T cell therapy) treatment for multiple myeloma. Their findings were published on Friday, June 24, in The Lancet.
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Muscle's smallest building blocks disappear after stroke
Researchers have discovered that, in an attempt to adapt to impairments from stroke, muscles lose sarcomeres -- their smallest, most basic building blocks. The team hopes this discovery can help improve rehabilitation techniques to rebuild sarcomeres, ultimately helping to ease muscle tightening and shortening.
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Loss of circadian regulation allows for increase in glucose production during lung cancer
New research from the University of California, Irvine reveals how the circadian regulation of glucose production in the liver is lost during lung cancer progression, and how the resulting increase in glucose production may fuel cancer cell growth.
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Sleeper cells: Newly discovered stem cell resting phase could put brain tumors to sleep
Arizona State University biomedical engineering researchers developed a new cell classifier tool that takes a higher-resolution look at the life cycle of neuroepithelial stem cells, which led to the discovery and exploration of a new resting phase called Neural G0. This knowledge could help scientists to better understand glioma brain tumors and develop new methods of treatment.
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Hydrofracking environmental problems not that different from conventional drilling
A study led by Syracuse University professor Tao Wen is one of the first to use machine learning techniques to holistically assess general water quality data.
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More intense predation in the tropics can limit marine invasions
Smithsonian marine biologists and colleagues at Temple University tested predictions about biological invasions, first in Panama and then in an experiment of unprecedented geographic scale. Their results are published in companion papers in the journal Ecology.
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NUST MISIS scientists create unique alloy for air, rail transports
Scientists from the National University of Science and Technology "MISiS" (NUST MISIS) in cooperation with their colleagues from the Siberian Federal University and the Research and Production Centre of Magnetic Hydrodynamics (Krasnoyarsk) have developed a technology for producing a unique heat-resistant aluminium alloy with improved durability.According to the researchers, this new alloy could replace more expensive and heavier copper conductors in aircraft and high-speed rail transport. The study results were published in an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal, the Materials Letters.
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Further hope for BCG vaccine in stemming type 1 diabetes
At the recent 2021 Annual Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) presented positive updates on their trials of the bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine to safely and significantly lower blood sugars.
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Texan voters unsure if state can tackle power grid issues
Texan voters prioritize weatherization and winterization of the electric grid in the latest survey from the UH Hobby School of Public Affairs. However, voters doubt the Texas Legislature and Governor can effectively execute policy supporting this.
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Structural biology reveals new opportunities to combat tuberculosis
EMBL Hamburg's Wilmanns and Kosinski groups have determined the detailed structure of a bacterial protein complex critical for tuberculosis infection.
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