Earth
ARLINGTON, Va., October 26, 2020 -- Adding the advanced PET radiotracer fluciclovine to conventional imaging to help guide radiation treatments for recurrent prostate cancer can improve disease-free survival rates, a new study finds. Among patients whose prostate cancer had returned after surgical removal of their prostate, 75.5% whose treatment integrated the PET molecular imaging were disease-free after three years, compared to 63% for whom only conventional imaging techniques were used to plan treatment. The increased survival rate persisted for up to four years.
During the last 2.6 million years of Earth's climate has altered between glacial and interglacial states. As such, there have been times in which the transition between the two climate states appeared with either regular or irregular periodicity. AWI researcher Peter Köhler has now discovered that the irregular appearance of interglacials has been more frequent than previously thought. His study makes a significant contribution to our understanding of Earth's fundamental climate changes.
Ecosystem services are crucial for human well-being and they depend on a well-functioning ecosystem and complex interactions among many organisms. However, human activities are resulting in biodiversity loss and changes to ecosystems, which threatens the supply of key services. An international team of 32 scientists, from 22 institutions, led by Dr Maria Felipe-Lucia (UFZ, iDiv) and Prof Eric Allan (University of Bern) now present the very first assessment of the simultaneous effects of land-use intensity on biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and services.
The Himalaya are among the youngest and highest mountains in the world, but the exact timing of their uplift and origins of their biodiversity are still in debate. Generally, there are two hypotheses about the uplift process of the Himalaya. The "Stepwise Hypothesis" states that the Himalaya rose slowly from 1000-2500 m during 56-23 million years ago (Ma), before an additional rapid uplift to 4000 m during 23-19 Ma, and a final rise to the current average elevations (~5000 m) at around 15 Ma.
The muscles and joints are not the only parts of the body to be worn down by physical work. The brain and heart suffer too. A new study from the University of Copenhagen shows that people doing hard physical work have a 55-per cent higher risk of developing dementia than those doing sedentary work. The figures have been adjusted for lifestyle factors and lifetime, among other things.
Gold nanotubes - tiny hollow cylinders one thousandth the width of a human hair - could be used to treat mesothelioma, a type of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos, according to a team of researchers at the Universities of Cambridge and Leeds.
In a study published today in journal Small, the researchers demonstrate that once inside the cancer cells, the nanotubes absorb light, causing them to heat up, thereby killing the cells.
Former rebel groups who transform into political parties have adopted a moderate stance after gaining power in more democratic political systems, a study shows.
In contrast, the tactics and policies of the former rebel groups remained unchanged if the issue which attracted supporters to them continued to remain. This is exacerbated in nations where there is a tradition of solving conflict outside of formal politics, often in a violent manner, according to the research.
ORLANDO, Oct. 26, 2020 - A University of Central Florida researcher is working to make portable devices and electric vehicles stay charged longer by extending the life of the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries powering them.
Assistant Professor Yang Yang is doing this by making the batteries more efficient, with some of his latest work focusing on keeping an internal metal structure, the anode, from falling apart over time by applying a thin, film-like coating of copper and tin. The new technique is detailed in a recent study in the journal Advanced Materials.
Macrophages, cells that help engulf and destroy harmful organisms in the body, tend to be characterized as the Jekyll and Hyde of the immune system.
Macrophages are essential first responders in fighting off infections and marshalling other immune cells to the scene. But they also play a major role in contributing to the growth and metastasis of many cancers, especially breast and pancreatic cancer.
University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science researcher Shane Elipot proposes a new approach to monitoring global sea-level rise. Using the existing NOAA Global Drifter Program array of roughly 1,200 buoys that drift freely with ocean currents, Elipot suggests adding additional instruments to record their height, or the "level of the sea" they ride on, to collect long-term data on the average sea levels across the world's oceans.
Immune response is a balancing act: Too much can lead to inflammatory or autoimmune disease; too little could lead to a serious infection. Regulatory T cells, or Tregs, are important players in striking this balance, acting as "brakes" on the immune response so it doesn't go overboard.
An international multi-institution team of scientists has synthesized graphene nanoribbons - ultrathin strips of carbon atoms - on a titanium dioxide surface using an atomically precise method that removes a barrier for custom-designed carbon nanostructures required for quantum information sciences.
To see wildlife in the Triangle, sometimes you need go no further than your own backyard. A new study helps explain why some animals are sometimes more often found in suburban areas than wild ones: because people are feeding them - sometimes accidentally - and to a lesser degree, providing them with shelter.
In recent years, improvements in cancer therapy have led to a significant increase in cancer survivorship. Experts estimate that by 2022, the United States will have 18 million cancer survivors, but a subset of those survivors will have long-term health problems to be addressed.
(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — Although the link may not be obvious, healthcare and climate change — two issues that pose major challenges around the world — are in fact more connected than society may realize. So say researchers, who are increasingly proving this to be true.