Earth
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.--CAR-T cell therapy, which attacks cancer cells using a person's reprogrammed immune cells, has been used to treat Hodgkin lymphoma with remarkable success for the first time, according to the results of an early phase clinical trial led by researchers at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
The spatial consistency of summer rainfall variability between the Mongolian Plateau and North China
The Mongolian Plateau (MP) is located in the eastern part of arid Central Asia (ACA). Climatically, much of the MP is dominated by the westerly circulation and has an arid and semi-arid climate; however, the eastern part of the MP is also influenced by the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) and has a humid and semi-humid climate. Recently, several studies have shown that precipitation variability in the MP differs from that in western ACA but is consistent with that in the EASM region.
Climate change is already affecting the world on an unprecedented scale. However, there is a lack of complete basic theoretical system for climate prediction for a long time, which limits the accuracy of climate prediction fundamentally. A recent research development, the theory of three-pattern decomposition of global atmospheric circulation, introduces the pioneering research results in the basic theory of climate prediction.
Western Connecticut is known for rolling hills, rich history, and industry, such as hat making. Once called the "Hat City of the World," Danbury thrived. Anyone familiar with Lewis Carroll's Mad Hatter may also be aware of the dangers of hat making, due to the industry's use of the potent toxin mercury. Starting in the late 1700s, Danbury hat factories were a point source of pollution, dumping large quantities of mercury into the nearby Still River.
Some of the most promising advances in cancer treatment have centered on immunotherapies that rev up a patient's immune system to attack cancer. But immunotherapies don't work in all patients, and researchers have been searching for ways to increase their effectiveness.
AMHERST, Mass. - In a new study out this week, a team including forest ecologist Malcolm Itter at the University of Massachusetts Amherst reports finding "clear evidence of a contraction of the breeding period" among boreal birds in Finland over a 43-year span for which good quality data were available.
DALLAS - July 23, 2020 - Deleting a key gene in mice in just their fat made tissues throughout these animals insulin resistant, in addition to other effects, a new study by UT Southwestern researchers shows. The findings, reported in a recent issue of PNAS, could shed light on Type 2 diabetes and other insulin resistance disorders, which remain poorly understood despite decades of study.
Rising ocean temperatures have devastated coral reefs all over the world, but a recent study in Global Change Biology has found that reefs in the Eastern Tropical Pacific region may prove to be an exception. The findings, which suggest that reefs in this area may have adapted to heat stress, could provide insights about the potential for survival of reefs in other parts of the world. The study was published in print in July.
Throughout the world's oceans in global nutrient cycles, food chains, and climate, as well as increasingly in human-made industrial processes, a diverse set of planktonic microbes, such as algae, play an integral role. For nearly all of these planktonic microbes, however, little is known about them genetically beyond a few marker sequences, while their morphology, biological interactions, metabolism, and ecological significance remain a mystery.
Cancer's knack for developing resistance to chemotherapy has long been a major obstacle to achieving lasting remissions or cures. While tumors may shrink soon after chemotherapy, many times they eventually grow back.
Scientists once thought that unique genetic mutations in tumors underlay this drug resistance. But more and more, they are casting their eyes on other, nongenetic changes in cancer cells to explain their adaptability.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- Scientists have described a new native Hawaiian land snail species, sounding a rare, hopeful note in a story rife with extinction.
Pacific island land snails are among the world's most imperiled wildlife, with more recorded extinctions since 1600 than any other group of animals. Hawaii's once-teeming land snail scene of more than 750 species has shrunk by more than half, ravaged by habitat loss and invasive species such as rats, Jackson's chameleons and the carnivorous rosy wolf snail.
ITHACA, N.Y. - Small farms in Zambia that use the latest hybrid seed for maize, along with improving health on neutral soils, help reduce deforestation and tackle climate change, Cornell University researchers report this month in Global Environmental Change.
"Scientists around the world are trying to reduce rapid deforestation and food insecurity, especially in the tropics," said Johanne Pelletier, a postdoctoral researcher in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management and the paper's lead author.
DURHAM , N.C. -- Strategic networking is key to career success, and not just for humans. A new study of wild bottlenose dolphins reveals that in early life, dolphins devote more time to building connections that could give them an edge later on.
Researchers at Georgetown University and Duke University report that dolphins under age 10 seek out peers and activities that could help them forge bonds and build skills they'll need in adulthood.
The results were published July 14 in the journal Behavioral Ecology.
The most advanced and comprehensive analysis of climate sensitivity yet undertaken has revealed with more confidence than ever before how sensitive the Earth's climate is to carbon dioxide.
For more than 40 years, the estimated likely range of the eventual global temperature response to a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide compared to preindustrial levels has stubbornly remained at 1.5°C - 4.5°C.
New research into graphene flakes has discovered that the material can act as a surfactant, for the first time demonstrating how it can be a versatile 2D stabiliser ideal for many industrial applications from oil extraction to paper processing.
Pristine graphene is completely water repellent, but the researchers found that at a particular size (below 1-micron lateral size), amphiphilic behaviour is possible. This graphene flake attracts water at its edges but repels it on its surface, making it a new generation of surfactant that can stabilise oil and water mixtures.