Culture
Ion channels are pores in the membrane of cells or cell organelles. They allow positively or negatively charged particles, so-called ions, to be transported across the membrane. Biochemists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have now succeeded in imaging an important regulatory region of the human TRPML2 calcium ion channel at high resolution, an area of the channel shaped like a large ring on one side of the membrane. This ring acts like a doorman, deciding whether ions can move through the channel.
The identification of specific neural signatures can help develop specific biomarkers and personalized treatments for Huntington's disease.
Research results underscore the value of multimodal approaches in the characterization of heterogeneous patterns of neurodegeneration
Kefir is a fermented dairy product that is gradually becoming more and more common to see on the shelves of Spanish shops and supermarkets. Since it is a milk-based product, made from lactic acid and alcoholic fermentation, it is assumed to have several health-enhancing functions resulting from its protein and peptide content with biological activity (molecules made up of amino acids, smaller than proteins, that are beneficial for one's health).
Researchers have shown for the first time that these insects use different directional sensors to achieve the highest possible navigational precision in different conditions.
The discovery of the dung beetles' wind compass and how it complements the sun compass was made by an international research team comprising biologists from Sweden and the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits University) in South Africa.
Plants use light energy from the sun for photosynthesis to turn carbon dioxide (CO2) into biomass. Animals can't do that. Therefore, some of them have teamed up with bacteria that carry out a process called chemosynthesis. It works almost like photosynthesis, only that it uses chemical energy instead of light energy. Many animals rely on chemosynthetic bacteria to supply them with food. The symbionts turn CO2 into biomass and are subsequently digested by their host. Kentron, a bacterium nourishing the ciliate Kentrophoros, was thought to be 'just another' chemosynthetic symbiont.
Researchers have shown for the first time that an animal uses different directional sensors to achieve the highest possible navigational precision in different conditions. When the sun is high, dung beetles navigate using the wind.
The discovery of the dung beetles' wind compass and how it complements the sun compass was made by an international research team comprising biologists from Sweden and South Africa.
Researchers from Lund University, together with the Roche pharmaceutical company, have used a method to develop a new blood marker capable of detecting whether or not a person has Alzheimer's disease. If the method is approved for clinical use, the researchers hope eventually to see it used as a diagnostic tool in primary healthcare. This autumn, they will start a trial in primary healthcare to test the technique.
Sclerostin is a protein produced by osteocytes in the bone that inhibits bone formation. A recent analysis of results from a clinical trial reveals the beneficial effects of romosozumab, an antibody therapy that targets sclerostin, on bone tissue in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. The findings are published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.
The findings of a research expedition to coastal Greenland which examined, for the first time, how melting ice is affecting supplies of nutrients to the oceans has been published in the journal Progress in Oceanography.
The European Research Council-funded expedition on board the RSS Discovery took place during the summer of 2017. It was led by Dr Kate Hendry a geochemist from the University of Bristol's School of Earth Sciences.
The Levänluhta water burial site, dating back to the Iron Age (300-800 CE), is one of Finland's most famous archaeological sites. Nearly one hundred individuals, mainly women or children, were buried in a lake located at Isokyrö in SW Finland, during the Iron Age. Some of the deceased were accompanied by arm rings and necklaces made out of copper alloy, bronze or brass.
Style of jewellery domestic but material from abroad
SAN ANTONIO -- June 25, 2019 -- Inspired by movie streaming services such as Netflix or Hulu, a Southwest Research Institute scientist developed a technique to look for stars likely to host giant, Jupiter-sized planets outside of our solar system. She developed an algorithm to identify stars likely to host giant exoplanets, based on the composition of stars known to have planets.
Main Findings:
Universal college admission testing in the state of Virginia could increase the number of high school graduates with test scores competitive for admission at universities in the state by as much as 40 percent--and at the most selective institutions, nearly 20 percent--with larger increases for low-income students.
Altered blood flow resulting from heart injury switches on a communication cascade that reprograms heart cells and leads to heart regeneration in zebrafish, says a new study in eLife.
The findings reveal signalling pathways important for heart regeneration in zebrafish that are also present in mammals, providing insights that could help scientists find new ways to repair the organ after a heart attack in future.
Around half of patients admitted to hospital in Vietnam are carriers of multiresistant intestinal bacteria, which are resistant to carbapenems, a group of broad-spectrum antibiotics. This is the conclusion of a study by Swedish and Vietnamese scientists led by Linköping University, published in the Journal of Infection.
Tuesday, June 25, 2019, Cleveland: Implemented back in 2005, the lung allocation score is used to prioritize patients awaiting lung transplants in the United States. Sicker transplant candidates have a higher calculated score and are placed at the top of the list. But a recent study led by Maryam Valapour, M.D., MPP, director of Lung Transplant Outcomes in Cleveland Clinic's Respiratory Institute, found including new clinical variables helped to better identify the sickest cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients awaiting transplants.