Eurekalert

Alzheimer's disease is characterized by the abnormal accumulation and spread of the tau protein in the brain. An international study can now show how tau spreads according to four distinct patterns that lead to different symptoms with different prognoses of the affected individuals. The study was published in Nature Medicine.

Today, the G10K sponsored Vertebrate Genomes Project (VGP) announces their flagship study and associated publications focused on genome assembly quality and standardization for the field of genomics. This study includes 16 diploid high-quality, near error-free, and near complete vertebrate reference genome assemblies for species across all taxa with backbones (i.e., mammals, amphibians, birds, reptiles, and fishes) from five years of piloting the first phase of the VGP project.

A new study published in Nature Communications documents an inexpensive, spark-free, optical-based hydrogen sensor that is more sensitive -- and faster -- than previous models.

Though legislative reform is necessary to combat the growing burden of student loan debt in the U.S. on a grand scale, individual borrowers can take steps to repay their loans with as low long-term costs as possible. A new mathematical model develops a strategy for minimizing the overall cost of repaying student loans.

UC San Diego School of Medicine researchers discovered one way in which SARS-CoV-2 hijacks human cell machinery to blunt the immune response, allowing it to establish infection, replicate and cause disease.

Exploring extreme environments can put significant operational challenges on the engineering systems we depend upon to safely explore and at times operate within.

Researchers in the lab of Neville Sanjana, PhD, at the New York Genome Center (NYGC) and New York University (NYU) have developed CRISPR-sciATAC, a novel integrative genetic screening platform that jointly captures CRISPR gene perturbations and single-cell chromatin accessibility genome-wide. The new method harnesses the programmability of the gene editing system CRISPR to knock-out nearly all chromatin-related genes in parallel, offering researchers deeper insights into the role of DNA accessibility in cancer and in rare diseases involving chromatin.

To facilitate the implementation of Industry 4.0 in SMEs belonging to traditional manufacturing sectors, where limited resources and the high degree of complexity involved makes them reluctant to embark on such a process, the UPV/EHU's BDI research group has presented a novel approach focused on the customer life cycle. The proposed methodology provides a detailed description of activities relating to different phases in the customer life cycle.

A feedback methodology can test individuals with a high probability of being infected and identify them before symptoms appear. This probability acts as an input to selecting additional individuals for testing. By reducing the lapse in time between contact with an infected person and a COVID-19 test, it has been demonstrated that, when combined with contact tracing, this method may reduce the rate of isolation and mortality by up to 50% compared to existing measures.

For the first time researchers demonstrate that intermittent fasting can reduce hypertension by reshaping the gut microbiota in an animal model.

Microalgae of the dinoflagellate group have engaged in intracellular symbioses with corals since primeval times. Researchers from the Centre for Organismal Studies of Heidelberg University recently discovered that such symbioses depend on the ability of the algae to suppress the immune system of their host cell and thereby avoid being "spit out" again. The researchers also found indications that this cellular immune response is an evolutionarily ancient mechanism that is more widespread than previously assumed.

During the first wave of the corona pandemic, 36 per cent fewer men were diagnosed with prostate cancer in Sweden than in previous years. On the other hand, the number of patients receiving curative treatment for prostate cancer was unaffected. This is shown by a new register study led by Uppsala University researchers, whose results are published in the Scandinavian Journal of Urology.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the Public Health Agency of Sweden have studied newborn babies whose mothers tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy or childbirth. The results show that although babies born of test-positive mothers are more likely to be born early, extremely few were infected with COVID-19. The study, which is published in the esteemed journal JAMA, supports the Swedish recommendation not to separate mother and baby after delivery.

With threats of water scarcity complicating the need to feed a growing global population, it is more important than ever to get crop irrigation right. Overwatering can deplete local water supplies and lead to polluted runoff, while underwatering can lead to sub-optimal crop performance. Yet few farmers use science-based tools to help them decide when and how much to water their crops.

A survey of over 32,000 caregivers of youth in Chicago Public Schools found that around a quarter of children and adolescents were described as stressed, anxious, angry or agitated after pandemic-related school closures and the switch to remote learning. Around a third of youth were described by caregivers as lonely and only one-third were described as having positive social and peer relationships.

Particularly sensitive to chemical modifications, mRNAs are molecules responsible for transmitting the information encoded in our genome, allowing for the synthesis of proteins. Two teams (UNIGE) have focused on a specific type of chemical modification - called methylation - of mRNA molecules in the small worm Caenorhabditis elegans. They found that methylation on a particular sequence of an mRNA leads to its degradation and that this control mechanism depends on the worm's diet.

Researchers in Japan have compiled a first-of-its-kind genetic database for autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases. This resource will allow experts to more deeply understand how immune disorders develop and plan future drug discovery projects. Scientists also hope this atlas of immune-related genome data may eventually be applied to investigations of infectious diseases like COVID-19.

An experimental treatment produced improvements in cognitive function and language in patients with fragile X syndrome, according to study results published on April 29 in Nature Medicine.

What The Study Did: The association between exposure to antibiotics before birth and during the first year of life and the development of eczema during childhood was evaluated among children in Sweden.

What The Study Did: Researchers investigated whether spending  a year aboard the International Space Station was associated with worsening of spaceflight-associated structural changes to the eye.