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Low levels of a simple sugar -- A new biomarker for severe MS?
Researchers from the ECRC in Berlin, together with scientists from the United States and Canada, have discovered a sugar molecule whose levels are reduced in the blood of patients with particularly severe multiple sclerosis. Their discovery could pave the way for a new therapeutic approach, the team reports in medical journal JAMA Neurology.
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Scientists design new drug compound to stop malaria in its tracks
Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute and the Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis have designed a drug-like compound which effectively blocks a critical step in the malaria parasite life cycle and are working to develop this compound into a potential first of its kind malaria treatment.
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NUS scientists create a new type of intelligent material
Researchers from the National University of Singapore have created a new class of intelligent materials. It has the structure of a two-dimensional (2D) material, but behaves like an electrolyte - and could be a new way to deliver drugs within the body.
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A new bridge between the geometry of fractals and the dynamics of partial synchronization
In mathematics, simple equations can generate a complex evolution in time and intriguing patterns in space. One famous example of this is the Mandelbrot set, named after the French-American mathematician of Polish origin, Benoit B. Mandelbrot (1924-2010), the most studied fractal. This set is based on a single quadratic equation with only one parameter and one variable. The fascinating fractal patterns of the Mandelbrot set have attracted attention far beyond mathematics.
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Eco-friendly device developed at UL, Ireland detects real-time pipe damage
Eco-friendly device developed at University of Limerick in Ireland detects real-time pipe damage and could help to save water.
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Young adults vastly more affected by COVID pandemic in Ireland than older adults
A new study from Trinity College Dublin investigating the impact of the COVID pandemic on young adults finds that they are vastly more affected than older people, and the reverberations of the disruption to some will last decades.
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New method for producing synthetic DNA
Chemically synthesized short DNA sequences are extremely important ingredients with countless uses in research laboratories, hospitals and in industry, like in detecting COVID-19. Phosporamidites are necessary building blocks in the production of DNA sequences, but break quickly. Researchers from Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO) and Department of Chemistry at Aarhus University have developed a new patented way to efficiently manufacture the unstable building blocks immediately before they are to be used and thus streamline DNA production
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Excitation spectral microscopy integrates multi-target imaging and quantitative biosensing
The multiplexing capability of fluorescence microscopy provides valuable means for interrogating complex intracellular dynamics. Scientists from UC-Berkeley demonstrated that excitation spectral microscopy can integrate multi-target imaging of up to 6 subcellular structures with quantitative imaging of fluorescent biosensors in live cells. Among other results, they elucidated the evolution of the mitochondrial matrix pH in the complex, Parkin-mediated mitophagy pathway. This new spectral imaging scheme provides exceptional opportunities for highly multiplexed, quantitative fluorescence microscopy.
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Researchers develop methods to understand how tb consumes its favourite foods
Tuberculosis is a deadly yet curable infectious disease caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis which remains the second leading cause of infectious death globally. According to the World Health Organization, a total of 1.4 million people died from tuberculosis in 2019.
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10 years after obesity surgery: How did life turn out?
In a new study from Lund University and the University of Gothenburg, patients were interviewed about their experiences ten years after undergoing obesity surgery. The results show that the effect on eating and weight regulation persisted, whereas other problems, such as feelings of guilt about still not being healthy enough, remained.
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A hairpin to fight cancer
The inhibition of pathological protein-protein interactions is a promising approach for treating a large number of diseases, including many forms of cancer. A team of researchers has now developed a bicyclic peptide that binds to beta-catenin--a protein associated with certain types of tumor. The secret of their success is the cyclic nature and the hairpin shape of the peptide, which mimics a natural protein structure, they report in the journal Angewandte Chemie.
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Computer designs magnonic devices
Magnonic devices have the potential to revolutionize the electronics industry. Qi Wang, Andrii Chumak from University of Vienna and Philipp Pirro from TU Kaiserslautern have largely accelerated the design of more versatile magnonic devices via a feedback-based computational algorithm. Their "inverse-design" of magnonic devices has now been published in Nature Communications.
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On the road to smart cities: Where smart vehicles stand and where they're going
With rapid advancements in network connectivity technology, such as 5G and 6G, intelligent vehicles with AI-enabled technology and an internet-of-vehicles could soon replace ad-hoc smart vehicular networks. However, the successful integration of smart vehicles with society requires adequate computing frameworks. Now, a global team of computer scientists takes stock of computing paradigms for vehicular environments, highlighting strengths, challenges, and future directions for research in this field.
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Rapid COVID-19 diagnostic test delivers results within 4 minutes with 90 percent accuracy
A low-cost, rapid diagnostic test for COVID-19 developed by Penn Medicine provides COVID-19 results within four minutes with 90 percent accuracy. A paper published this week in Matter details the fast and inexpensive diagnostic test, called RAPID 1.0. Compared to existing methods for COVID-19 detection, RAPID is inexpensive and highly scalable, allowing the production of millions of units per week.
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Untangling the brain: new research offers hope for Alzheimer's disease
In a new study, researchers with the ASU-Banner Neurodegenerative Disease Center at the Biodesign Institute and their colleagues investigate tangles in the brain -- pathologies not only characteristic of Alzheimer's but other neurodegenerative conditions as well.The research homes in on a particular protein known as Rbbp7, whose dysregulation appears linked to the eventual formation of tau protein tangles and the rampant cell death associated with Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.
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Salmonella contamination via strawberry roots not a dietary risk factor
A research group at the University of Cordoba completed a study on the internalization of the Salmonella Thompson bacterium in strawberry plants of the 'San Andreas' variety
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Advances in medical imaging enable visualization of white matter tracts in fetuses
Researchers from the £12 million Developing Human Connectome Project have used the dramatic advances in medical imaging the project has provided to visualise and study white matter pathways, the wiring that connects developing brain networks, in the human brain as it develops in the womb.
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Scaling down Ionic Transistors to the ultimate limit
Researchers led by Professor Xiang Zhang of the University of Hong Kong have developed an atomic-scale ion transistor based on electrically gated graphene channels of around 3 angstrom width which demonstrated highly selective ion transport. They also found that ions move a hundred times faster in such a tiny channel than they do in bulk water. This breakthrough leads to highly switchable ultrafast ion transport that can find important applications in electrochemical and biomedical applications.
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Engineered bacteria show promise for sustainable biofuel industry, researchers say
Acetone, a volatile solvent used for everything from removing nail polish and cleaning textiles to manufacturing plastics, could get a sustainability boost from a new strain of bacteria engineered by a research team based in Japan.
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Researchers discovered a gut microbiota profile that can predict mortality
Researchers discovered that a large amount of enterobacteria in the gut microbiota is related to long-term mortality risk in Finnish adult population.
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