Culture
URBANA, Ill. - Fast and reliable internet access is fundamental for research and development activity around the world. Seamless connectivity is a privilege we often take for granted. But in developing nations, technological limitations can become stumbling blocks to efficient communication and cause significant disadvantages.
MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. (October 16, 2020)-- Researchers at Tufts University have found that those distinctly funky smells from cheese are one way that fungi communicate with bacteria, and what they are saying has a lot to do with the delicious variety of flavors that cheese has to offer. The research team found that common bacteria essential to ripening cheese can sense and respond to compounds produced by fungi in the rind and released into the air, enhancing the growth of some species of bacteria over others.
(BOSTON) -- According to current estimates, the amount of data produced by humans and machines is rising at an exponential rate, with the digital universe doubling in size every two years. Very likely, the magnetic and optical data-storage systems at our disposal won't be able to archive this fast-growing volume of digital 1s and 0s anymore at some point. Plus, they cannot safely store data for more than a century without degrading.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Thin tissue grafts and flexible electronics have a host of applications for wound healing, regenerative medicine and biosensing. A new device inspired by an octopus's sucker rapidly transfers delicate tissue or electronic sheets to the patient, overcoming a key barrier to clinical application, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and collaborators.
SAN ANTONIO, Texas, USA - American and Polish scientists, reporting Oct. 16 in the journal Science Advances, laid out a novel rationale for COVID-19 drug design - blocking a molecular "scissor" that the virus uses for virus production and to disable human proteins crucial to the immune response.
NEW YORK, NY (Oct. 16)--Adults and children born with heart defects had a lower-than-expected risk of developing moderate or severe COVID-19 symptoms, finds a study of more than 7,000 patients from the congenital heart disease center at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.
NEW YORK - October 16, 2020 - Results from the randomized controlled TARGET FFR trial show that while a physiology-guided percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) optimization strategy did not achieve a significant increase in the proportion of patients with final FFR ?0.90, it reduced the proportion of patients with a residual FFR ?0.80 following PCI.
Tokyo, Japan - Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University studied the biodiversity of wetland plants over time in rice paddies in the Tone River basin, Japan. They found that paddies which were more likely to have been wetland before agricultural use retained more wetland plant species. On the other hand, land consolidation and agricultural abandonment were both found to negatively impact biodiversity. Their findings may one day inform conservation efforts and promote sustainable agriculture.
The most important components for the functioning of a biological cell are its proteins. As a result, protein production is arguably the most important process for cell growth. The faster the bacterial growth rate, the faster protein synthesis needs to take place. Because protein synthesis is the most expensive cellular process in terms of cellular resources usage, it appears reasonable to assume that the cell to increases production capacities by hosting more copies of the complicated machinery in proportion to its growth rate.
Bottom Line:
Baseline levels of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) predicted responses to first-line, but not second-line, immune checkpoint inhibition in patients with melanoma.
Journal in Which the Study was Published:
Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research
Author:
Elin Gray, PhD, an associate professor at Edith Cowan University in Australia and senior author on the study
Background:
The National Institutes of Health has launched an adaptive Phase 3 clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of three immune modulator drugs in hospitalized adults with COVID-19. Some COVID-19 patients experience an immune response in which the immune system unleashes excessive amounts of proteins that trigger inflammation -- called a "cytokine storm" -- that can lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome, multiple organ failure and other life-threatening complications.
Animal cooperation typically involves sharing crucial resources -- and the rules of sharing get complicated, especially when males are involved.
Natural selection theory dictates that males generally compete with each other for food and mates. Thus male cooperation in the animal world is an enigma, especially among unrelated animals.
Washington, DC - October 16, 2020 - In the absence of approved, effective treatments for COVID-19, some hospitals have been treating patients with severe COVID symptoms with blood plasma from recovering patients. The blood of recovered patients contains antibodies that act against the coronavirus. While plasma hasn't yet shown a benefit in randomized trials, some small retrospective studies suggest it may reduce illness severity and reduce hospitalization time.
"Essential services" is a phrase that has become commonplace in the era of COVID-19. In a new commentary piece, scholars from Lehigh University and Ohio State University argue that LGBTQ+ college and university campus resource centers are essential to the health, well-being and academic achievement of LGBTQ+ students. These centers, they write, are uniquely positioned to meet the needs of these students during COVID-19 and, as such, must continue to receive support and funding.
A new Alzheimer's study found that impaired blood flow in the brain is correlated with the buildup of tau tangles, a hallmark indicator of cognitive decline.
The work, published this week in the Journal of Neuroscience, suggests that treatments targeting vascular health in the brain -- as well as amyloid plaques and tau tangles -- may be more effective in preserving memory and cognitive function than single-target therapies.