Earth
Research led by Queen Mary University of London has revealed novel insights into the mechanisms employed by melanoma cells to form tumours at secondary sites around the body. The findings from the study may help to identify new targets to inhibit melanoma spread and guide treatment decisions in the clinic.
Over the past three decades, the depths of the Antarctic Weddell Sea have warmed five times faster than the rest of the ocean at depths exceeding 2,000 metres. This was the main finding of an article just published by oceanographers from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI). In the article, they analyse an unprecedented oceanographic time series from the Weddell Sea and show that the warming of the polar depths is chiefly due to changed winds and currents above and in the Southern Ocean.
The Journal of the Institute of Materia Medica, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association, Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B (APSB) is a monthly journal, in English, which publishes significant original research articles, rapid communications and high quality reviews of recent advances in all areas of pharmaceutical sciences -- including pharmacology, pharmaceutics, medicinal chemistry, natural products, pharmacognosy, pharmaceutical analysis and pharmacokinetics.
Featured papers in this issue are:
SAN ANTONIO -- Oct. 20, 2020 -- Southwest Research Institute developed an integrated hydrologic computer model to evaluate the impact of different types of wastewater disposal facilities on the Edwards Aquifer, the primary water source for San Antonio and its surrounding communities. The research results will guide authorities on what actions to take to protect the quality and quantity of water entering the aquifer.
A team of researchers at Osaka University, in collaboration with the University of Bordeaux and the Bergonié Institute in France, has succeeded in terahertz imaging of early-stage breast cancer less than 0.5 mm without staining, which is difficult to identify even by pathological diagnosis. Their work provides a breakthrough towards rapid and precise on-site diagnosis of various types of cancer and accelerates the development of innovative terahertz diagnostic devices.
In modern optics, a variety of nanoscale materials and their localisation have been examined, as they lead to novel optical effects. Viewing direction sensitive information display utilising optical Janus effect has attracted great attention owing to its dynamic operation scheme which delivers discriminative information delivery. However, the integration of nano-materials within multiple layer limit their application in dynamic and real-time colour tuning.
Every biological system is naturally equipped with a defense mechanism to protect against abnormal changes caused by either local, environmental, or biochemical alteration. White blood cells (WBC) play the role of such a 'soldier' in our immune response. One type of WBC, known as macrophages, is the most efficient and specialized fighter since it is simultaneously equipped with the power of selective identification and elimination of foreign invaders, as well as the potency to repair wounds. Depending on their work distribution, macrophages are mainly comprised of two types, M1 and M2.
DALLAS (SMU) - You've heard that they can sag with age, perpetuate the name of a regrettable ex, or reveal an embarrassing inability to spell. But tattoos may also impair the way we sweat, potentially causing the body to overheat if the tattoos cover a large area of the body.
The existence of a tectonic plate called Resurrection has long been a topic of debate among geologists, with some arguing it was never real. Others say it subducted - moved sideways and downward - into the earth's mantle somewhere in the Pacific Margin between 40 and 60 million years ago.
Chemists at the University of Bayreuth have developed a material that could well make an important contribution to climate protection and sustainable industrial production. With this material, the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) can be specifically separated from industrial waste gases, natural gas, or biogas, and thereby made available for recycling. The separation process is both energy efficient and cost-effective. In the journal Cell Reports Physical Science the researchers present the structure and function of the material.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a debilitating disorder that causes rapid degeneration of the brain as well as progressing dementia. It is a fatal disorder, often leading to death within just several years of the onset. CJD is the most common form of a human disorder caused by "prions," pathogenic agents that induce abnormal folding of specific cellular proteins in the brain called "prion proteins." The major type of CJD, accounting for 85% of the cases, is called sporadic CJD (sCJD).
Optical fiber data transmission can be significantly improved by producing the fibers, made of silica glass, under high pressure, researchers from Japan and the US report in the journal npj Computational Materials.
Using computer simulations, researchers at Hokkaido University, The Pennsylvania State University and their industry collaborators theoretically show that signal loss from silica glass fibers can be reduced by more than 50 percent, which could dramatically extend the distance data can be transmitted without the need for amplification.
(Vienna, 19 October 2020) Good news for the human immune system: researchers from MedUni Vienna's Departments of Dermatology and Surgery have managed to ascribe an immunological memory function to a subset of cytotoxic NK cells, which have hitherto been regarded as antigen-non-specific.
Organic molecules formed the basis for the evolution of life. But how could inorganic precursors have given rise to them? Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich chemist Oliver Trapp now reports a reaction pathway in which minerals catalyze the formation of sugars in the absence of water.
Earth's history knows catastrophes which are unimaginable for humans. For example, around 66 million years ago an asteroid impact marked the end of the dinosaur era. Long before however, 252 million years ago at the boundary between the Permian and Triassic epochs, Earth witnessed a far more extreme mass extinction event that extinguished about three-quarters of all species on land and some 95 percent of all species in the ocean.