Eurekalert

Eliminating plastic pollution has become a priority for many nations, yet today's biodegradable plastics, like PLA, do not completely degrade during typical composting processes, and much of the biodegradable plastic ends up in landfills. UC Berkeley scientists show that enzymes can be embedded in polyester plastic if protected by nanoscale polymers, and then unleased by heat and moisture to degrade the plastic to simple molecules. Plastics made with this process compost within weeks.

Using a novel molecular-data-storage technique, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have encoded a quote from Jane Austen's classic novel Mansfield Park in a series of oligomers, which a third party could read back without prior knowledge of the structures that encoded the passage. The findings appear April 21st in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science.

Ever wondered why your virtual home assistant doesn't understand your questions? Or why your navigation app took you on the side street instead of the highway? In a study published April 21st in the journal iScience, Italian researchers designed a robot that "thinks out loud" so that users can hear its thought process and better understand the robot's motivations and decisions.

The COVID-19 pandemic heavily influenced spending on prescription drugs in the U.S. in 2020, according to the ASHP's (American Society of Health-System Pharmacists) National Trends in Prescription Drug Expenditures and Projections for 2021. Shifts in care related to the pandemic will continue to be a significant driver of drug expenditures in 2021, along with uptake in the use of biosimilars, a large pipeline of new cancer drugs, and increased approvals of specialty medications.

A portion of people with the scleroderma develop pulmonary arterial hypertension, which can cause the heart to weaken and fail. Current screening methods may miss one in three patients with this sometimes fatal complication. But one computer algorithm, according to this study, will significantly improve the accuracy and help physicians treat it earlier.

Drivers of freshwater salt pollution such as de-icers on roads and parking lots, water softeners, and wastewater and industrial discharges further threaten freshwater ecosystem health and human water security.

Careful criminals usually clean a scene, wiping away visible blood and fingerprints. However, prints made with trace amounts of blood, invisible to the naked eye, could remain. Dyes can detect these hidden prints, but the dyes don't work well on certain surfaces. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have developed a fluorescent polymer that binds to blood in a fingerprint -- without damaging any DNA also on the surface -- to create high-contrast images.

A major obstacle in understanding and treating posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is its clinical and neurobiological heterogeneity. In order to better treat the condition and address this barrier, the field has become increasingly interested in identifying subtypes of PTSD based on dysfunction in neural networks alongside cognitive impairments that may underlie the development and maintenance of symptoms. VA and BU researchers have now found a marker of PTSD in brain regions associated with emotional regulation.

After pouring beer into a glass, streams of little bubbles appear and start to rise, forming a foamy head. As the bubbles burst, the released carbon dioxide gas imparts the beverage's desirable tang. But just how many bubbles are in that drink? By examining various factors, researchers reporting in ACS Omega estimate between 200,000 and nearly 2 million of these tiny spheres can form in a gently poured lager.

A study published in the Journal of Public Health Dentistry by a collaborative team at the Medical University of South Carolina and University of South Carolina provides evidence of critical oral health disparities among rural children in the U.S.

For more sustainability on a global level, EU legislation should be changed to allow the use of gene editing in organic farming. This is what an international research team involving the Universities of Bayreuth and Göttingen demands in a paper published in the journal "Trends in Plant Science".

Researchers have found a specific mechanism that enables SARS viruses to replicate efficiently in infected cells.

The lifestyle and eating habits of human groups that have lived for thousands of years can be examined by tooth. An international research group analyzed the prehistoric findings of the Neolithic Age. In addition to providing knowledge about the lifestyles of people who lived in prehistoric times, a novel study of tooth remains paved the way for other methods previously not used.

The number of solar panels within shortest distance from a house is the most important factor in determining the likelihood of that house having a solar panel, when compared with a host of socio-economic and demographic variables. This is shown in a new study by scientists using satellite and census data of the city of Fresno in the US, and employing machine learning.

A new approach to gene editing using the CRISPR/Cas9 system bypasses disease-causing mutations in a gene, enabling treatment of genetic diseases linked to a single gene, such as cystic fibrosis, certain types of sickle cell anemia, and other rare diseases. The method involves inserting a new, fully functional copy of the gene that displaces the mutated gene.

A new study suggests the white shark population for the eastern north Pacific, especially those listed in the Gulf of California, might be underestimated. Researchers found that the mortality rates for these white sharks might be underestimated as well, as an illicit fishery for the species was uncovered in the Gulf of California, suggesting that fishers were killing many more white sharks than has been previously understood.

Food banks should be used more consistently rather than only during emergencies to better address food insecurity and related health issues, a joint study by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center and economists at the University of Dallas shows.

The age at menopause is known to vary significantly between individuals and it has been associated with postmenopausal health. In a recent study, the researchers developed two models for predicting the age at natural menopause. The results of the study indicated that sex hormone levels, irregular menstrual cycles, menopausal symptoms, and life habits can be used for predicting the age at menopause.

How these guest atoms are absorbed into or released from the pores is crucial to understanding the porous materials' functionality. However, usually these processes can only be observed indirectly. A team from the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin (HZB) has employed two experimental approaches using the ASAXS instrument at the PTB X-ray beamline of the HZB BESSY II synchrotron to directly observe the adsorption process of atoms in a mesoporous model system. The work lays the foundations for new insights into these kinds of energy materials.

The study on the remains of animals found at the site of the Chaves cave in Huesca, led by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, obtains new data on the control of breeding and feeding of the first domesticated sheep heards found in the western Mediterranean region during the Neolithic. The modification of their natural birthing cycles affected their physiology and resulted in prolonged periods of fertility.