Culture
The outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus continues to cause human infection and mortality worldwide. Currently, there are no specific viral protein-targeted therapeutics available. Viral nucleocapsid protein is a potential antiviral drug target, serving multiple critical functions during the viral life cycle. However, the structural information of SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein remains unclear.
The study by the Department of Political Science at Aarhus BSS shows that the growing trust crisis observed in many Western democracies in recent decades cannot merely be attributed to news criteria from the media and prioritisation of personal-interest stories. Citizens play a significant role in the rapid spread of these types of articles at the expense of positive stories.
The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is known to infect cells via the receptor ACE2. An international research team under German-Finnish coordination has now identified neuropilin-1 as a factor that can facilitate SARS-CoV-2 entry into the cells' interior. Neuropilin-1 is localized in the respiratory and olfactory epithelia, which could be a strategically important localization to contribute to SARS-CoV-2 infectivity and spreading.
In a major breakthrough an international team of scientists, led by the University of Bristol, has potentially identified what makes SARS-CoV-2 highly infectious and able to spread rapidly in human cells. The findings, published in Science today [20 October] describe how the virus's ability to infect human cells can be reduced by inhibitors that block a newly discovered interaction between virus and host, demonstrating a potential anti-viral treatment.
Helping to explain what makes SARS-CoV-2 so capable of infecting human cells, researchers in two independent studies discovered that the virus's spike protein recognizes and binds a protein on the human cell surface called neuropilin-1. This facilitates its ability to enter and infect cells, they suggest. Demonstrating a potential anti-viral treatment, the findings of both studies also describe how the virus's ability to infect human cells through neuropilin-1 can be reduced by inhibitors.
During the first wave of COVID-19, which paralyzed the world in spring, it was initially thought that effective hand washing and 2-metre social distancing would help prevent the highly contagious virus. Scientists, however, have now come to the conclusion that proper indoor ventilation is even more effective. It was also found that SARS-CoV-2 is rather moderately infectious and a person would need to remain in a poorly ventilated room for a considerable amount of time to receive an infectious dose of SARS-CoV-2.
Cuscuta spp., also known as dodder, is a parasitic vine which grafts to the host plant using special suckers to obtain water, minerals and carbohydrates. The parasite also attacks and damages crops such as oilseed rape, sweetcorn, soy, flax or clover. Although the infection generally goes undetected by the host, some species of tomato actively defend themselves by forming wooden tissue which prevents the suckers from penetrating the plant.
If you think that the Sahara is covered only by golden dunes and scorched rocks, you aren't alone. Perhaps it's time to shelve that notion. In an area of West Africa 30 times larger than Denmark, an international team, led by University of Copenhagen and NASA researchers, has counted over 1.8 billion trees and shrubs. The 1.3 million km2 area covers the western-most portion of the Sahara Desert, the Sahel and what are known as sub-humid zones of West Africa.
Wear a mask, keep your distance, avoid crowds - these are the common recommendations to contain the COVID-19 epidemic. However, the scientific foundations on which these recommendations are based are decades old and no longer reflect the current state of knowledge. To change this, several research groups from the field of fluid dynamics have now joined forces and developed a new, improved model of the propagation of infectious droplets. It has been shown that it makes sense to wear masks and maintain distances, but that this should not lull you into a false sense of security.
"For 30 weeks already, our study has been documenting how people assess what is happening around the coronavirus," says BfR President Professor Dr. Dr. Andreas Hensel. "This enables us to observe how people react to changes in the pandemic."
https://www.bfr.bund.de/cm/349/201013-bfr-corona-monitor-en.pdf
Further trends in the overview:
Classification of possible sources of infection
Washington, October 20, 2020--A study of 33 public community college promise programs, or free-college programs, across the United States found that they are associated with large enrollment increases of first-time, full-time students--with the biggest boost in enrollment among Black, Hispanic, and female students.
In birds and other species alike, pairs can face considerable difficulties with reproduction. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen have now shown in an extensive analysis of 23,000 zebra finch eggs that infertility is mainly due to males, while high embryo mortality is more a problem of the females. Inbreeding, age of the parents and conditions experienced when growing up had surprisingly little influence on reproductive failures.
Lack of sleep significantly impairs our ability to stop unwanted and unpleasant thoughts from entering our mind, a new study reveals.
The authors of the study say the findings could have implications for people suffering from psychiatric conditions associated with unwanted thoughts - such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and schizophrenia.
NUST MISIS material scientists have presented antibacterial nano-coatings based on boron nitride, which are highly effective against microbial pathogens (up to 99.99%). They can become a safe alternative to the usual antibiotics in implantology since they do not have typical negative side effects. The results of the work are published in the international scientific journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
For the first time, scientists have introduced minuscule tracking devices directly into the interior of mammalian cells, giving an unprecedented peek into the processes that govern the beginning of development.
This work on one-cell embryos is set to shift our understanding of the mechanisms that underpin cellular behaviour in general, and may ultimately provide insights into what goes wrong in ageing and disease.