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Xatkit, a new UOC spin-off, offers pre-trained bots that automatically recognize a shop's product catalogue.

The mitochondrion has garnered quite the reputation for its role as the "powerhouse of the cell." These tiny, but mighty organelles play various life-sustaining roles, from powering our own cells and organs to fueling chemical and biological processes. But when they aren't working properly, a number of rare diseases can occur.

RUDN University chemists obtained a metal-containing complex with an unusual planar architecture. The unexpected structure was formed due to the spontaneous fixation of carbon dioxide from the air during the reaction. This compound exhibits unusual magnetic properties (spin glass behaviour). This can be useful for creating memory storage devices.

A new study finds resilience is a dynamic process, rather than a fixed trait - and suggests this may have significant ramifications for the business world.

To date, there are no effective antidotes against most virus infections. An interdisciplinary research team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has now developed a new approach: they engulf and neutralize viruses with nano-capsules tailored from genetic material using the DNA origami method. The strategy has already been tested against hepatitis and adeno-associated viruses in cell cultures. It may also prove successful against corona viruses.

Silicon is a microelement that in low doses is vital for the normal development and functioning of connective tissue. Experiments showed that after only a few months of consuming water with added silicon animals developed a condition similar to silicosis (or miners lung disease).

A study from Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University School of Medicine research scientists is one of the first to describe and identify patterns in the course of COVID-19 in the typically frail individuals who reside in nursing homes. Previously, little was known about how the disease has clinically affected individuals residing in nursing homes.

Access to high-quality public transportation can make communities more equitable by increasing access to critical opportunities such as employment, health care and healthy food, particularly for low-income individuals and people of color. A new paper published today in the Transportation Research Record identifies six broad categories of equity-advancing practices that reach beyond existing guidelines and could be widely employed by public transit agencies nationwide.

Single-cell RNA sequencing has revealed a subset of cells that could provide protection from a rare, but severely debilitating and fatal, lung disease. The findings were published by Nagoya University researchers and colleagues in the European Respiratory Journal. Further research could lead to new therapeutic strategies for the disease, called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

Scientists have developed a rapid, highly accurate test to detect antibodies against the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 in human serum, opening a new avenue for understanding the full extent of the pandemic and evaluating the effectiveness of vaccines.

The new research will help doctors identify, treat and prevent dangerous atrial fibrillation in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a common heart condition.

For the first time, researchers have measured the flux variations of greenhouse gases (CO2 and CH4) in typical glacial basins in High Mountain Asia. They have discovered that rapid cryospheric retreat has made the basins strong sources of carbon with positive methane and CO2 fluxes. While this is partially offset by proglacial river runoff, the findings suggest that these variations should be considered in regional CH4 and CO2 climate change budgets.

How neuronal circuits remodel themselves over time, especially during early development, is a major question in neurobiology. Using mice, researchers from Kyushu University have uncovered a biomolecular mechanism behind the strengthening of connections from neurons called mitral cells. The team found that the protein BMPR-2 is a key regulator of selective stabilization of neuron branching and that strengthening of a branch happens only when neural signals are transmitted.

Repairing complex electrical appliances is time consuming and rarely cost-effective. The working group led by Prof. Dr. Karl Mandel, Professorship of Inorganic Chemistry at FAU, has now developed a smart microparticle that enables defective components in these appliances to be identified more quickly and easily by using light signals. In the long-term, this could make repairs easier and extend the operating life of devices. The results have been published in the journal 'Advanced Functional Materials'.

Shining a beam of light into potentially contaminated water samples may hold the key to real-time detection of hydrocarbons and pesticides in water. UBC Okanagan researchers are testing the use of fluorescence to monitor water quality. The results, they say, show great promise.

Adolescent girls and young women can and will use HIV prevention products with consistency, according to interim results of a study being conducted in Africa of two different methods: daily use of the antiretroviral (ARV) tablet Truvada® as oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and the monthly dapivirine vaginal ring, a new HIV prevention product currently under regulatory review in several countries. This was not been the case in previous trials of either approach.

Combined perceptions of the risk and availability of cannabis influence the risk of cannabis use more than perceived risk and perceived availability alone, according to a new Columbia study. Researchers observed that those who perceived cannabis as low-risk and available were more likely to report using the drug in the past year and almost daily compared to those individuals who perceived cannabis as high-risk and unavailable. This is the first study to consider the joint effects of perceived risk and perceived availability.

A small regulatory RNA found in many problematic bacteria, including Escherichia coli, appears to be responsible for managing the response of these bacteria to environmental stresses. Professor Charles Dozois from Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) and doctoral student Hicham Bessaiah see a promising avenue for more effective treatment of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Their results have been published in the journal PLOS Pathogens.

A new study, published by the North American Menopause Society in the journal Menopause, found a plant-based diet rich in soy reduces moderate-to-severe hot flashes by 84%, from nearly five per day to fewer than one per day. During the 12-week study, nearly 60% of women became totally free of moderate-to-severe hot flashes. Overall hot flashes (including mild ones) decreased by 79%.

If you didn't have a brain, could you still navigate your surroundings? Thanks to new research on slime molds at the Wyss and Tufts University, the answer may be "yes." Scientists discovered that the brainless Physarum polycephalum uses its body to sense mechanical cues in its environment, and decides where to grow based on that information. This finding provides a model for understanding different types of cognition, including our own.