Singapore, 6 February 2020 - Cancer is the leading cause of death in Singapore and the second leading cause of death around the world, implicated in about one in six deaths globally. An international consortium of scientists has now identified 81 mutational 'signatures' that could help reveal the origins and development of various types of cancer, and inform new strategies to prevent, diagnose and treat the disease.
With the quick development of industrial technology, the energy crisis caused by the shortage of fossil energy has been a growing headache. The renewable and green energy source systems such as fuel cell and metal-air batteries are regarded as the reliable alternatives to fossil fuels. Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are paramount semi-reactions in these applications. The noble metal catalysts are widely used for both ORR and OER. However, their scarcity, high cost, and poor durability strongly impede the large-scale application.
The University of Rochester research lab that recently used lasers to create unsinkable metallic structures has now demonstrated how the same technology could be used to create highly efficient solar power generators.
In a paper in Light: Science & Applications, the lab of Chunlei Guo, professor of optics also affiliated with Physics and the Material Sciences Program, describes using powerful femto-second laser pulses to etch metal surfaces with nanoscale structures that selectively absorb light only at the solar wavelengths, but not elsewhere.
Pathogens such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and recently the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China (2019-nCoV) have been a global threat. Lymph nodes (LNs) fight against infectious diseases by providing a shelter for immune cells to grow and launch an attack against pathogens. However, LNs' particular inner workings are poorly understood.
EUGENE, Ore. - Feb. 6, 2020 - The prehistoric collapse of Easter Island's monument-building society did not occur as long thought, according to a fresh look at evidence by researchers at four institutions.
"The general thinking has been that the society that Europeans saw when they first showed up was one that had collapsed," said Robert J. DiNapoli, a doctoral candidate in the University of Oregon's Department of Anthropology who led the analysis. "Our conclusion is that monument-building and investment were still important parts of their lives when these visitors arrived."
A nanoscale gold butterfly provides a more precise route for growing/synthesizing nanosized semiconductors that can be used in nano-lasers and other applications.
Hokkaido University researchers have devised a unique approach for making nanosized semiconductors on a metal surface. The details of the method were reported in the journal Nano Letters and could further research into the fabrication of nanosized light and energy emitters.
One of the consequences of globalization is the inadvertent human-mediated spread of invasive species. The presence of a new invader, named Obama nungara, is reported in France by an international team led by Jean-Lou Justine of ISYEB (Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France). This is the first study of this invasion, reported in an article published in the open-access journal PeerJ.
PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA [February 6, 2020] -- Survival outcomes for HPV-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) have made significant gains in recent years, but new research in the February 2020 issue of JNCCN--Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network finds some groups are being left behind.
A Rutgers-led team has developed a tool to monitor influenza A virus mutations in real time, which could help virologists learn how to stop viruses from replicating.
The gold nanoparticle-based probe measures viral RNA in live influenza A cells, according to a study in The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. It is the first time in virology that experts have used imaging tools with gold nanoparticles to monitor mutations in influenza, with unparalleled sensitivity.
It's a pain. About 80 percent of adults in the United States will experience lower back pain at some point. Treating back pain typically involves medication, including opioids, surgery, therapy and self-care options. Efforts to reduce opioid use and increase physically based therapies to reduce pain and increase physical function and safety are crucial.