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UNC School of Medicine researchers led by mucin expert Mehmet Kesimer, PhD, had previously discovered that the total mucin concentrations in the lungs are associated with COPD disease progression and could be used as diagnostic markers of chronic bronchitis, a hallmark condition for patients with COPD. Kesimer and colleagues now report that one of these mucins, MUC5AC, is more closely and reliably associated with the development of COPD than is its brother, MUC5B.

A nasal therapy, built upon on the application of a new engineered IgM antibody therapy for COVID-19, was more effective than commonly used IgG antibodies at neutralizing the COVID-19 virus in animal models, according to research recently published by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB Health), the University of Houston, and IGM Biosciences, Inc.

Scientists from the Immuno-Pharmacology and Interactomics group at the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH), in collaboration with the Center for Drug Discovery at RTI International (RTI), have demonstrated that conolidine, a natural painkiller derived from the pinwheel flower and traditionally used in Chinese medicine, interacts with the newly identified opioid receptor ACKR3/CXCR7 that regulates opioid peptides naturally produced in the brain. The researchers also developed a synthetic analogue of conolidine, RTI-5152-12, which displays an even greater activity on the receptor.

High resolution climate models can improve predictions of extreme rainfall events. An international study involving CMCC scientists presents the first multi-model ensemble of high-resolution regional climate models and offers a promising prospect for studies on climate and climate change at local and regional scales.

There has been concern at how the pandemic has not only hit physical health and the economy but has also impacted our mental health with the possibility of increased rates of suicide.

Skoltech scientists have studied the hydroxyl defects in LiFePO4, a widely used cathode material in commercial lithium-ion batteries, contributing to the overall understanding of the chemistry of this material. This work will help improve the LiFePO4 manufacturing process to avoid formation of adverse intrinsic structural defects which deteriorate its performance.

Samara Polytech chemists have prepared a large review of methods for producing chromanes and chromenes, developed by both leading Russian scientists and world-class experts.

The Infectious Diseases group at the University of Cordoba's Department of Animal Health is conducting research into a cow's milk preparation that could be effective in controlling the coronavirus

Governments and international organizations are expanding targets to conserve marine spaces to stem the depletion of biodiversity and fish stocks around the globe. A new study demonstrates the wide range of unintended impacts that such conservation efforts have on affected communities.Published today in World Development, the research presents a ground-breaking case study of the Cambodian Koh Sdach Archipelago combined with a cross-country statistical analysis of the impacts of marine conservation across Southeast Asian communities.

In the Stone Age, some 8,000 years ago, people danced often and in a psychedelic way. This is a conclusion drawn from elk teeth discovered in the Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov burial site in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, whose wear marks and location in the graves indicate that the objects were used as rattlers.

RUDN University mathematician and his colleagues from France and Hungary developed an algorithm for parallel computing, which allows solving applied problems, such as electrodynamics or hydrodynamics. The gain in time is up to 50%.

Researchers at the University of Turku, Finland, showed that the antibody treatment reactivates the immune defense in patients with advanced-stage cancer. The treatment alters the function of the body's phagocytes and facilitates extensive activation of the immune system.

The so-called 'bullshit jobs theory' -- which argues that a large and rapidly increasing number of workers are undertaking jobs that they themselves recognize as being useless and of no social value -- contains several major flaws, argue researchers from the universities of Cambridge and Birmingham.

An international team of researchers, led by the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany, has now succeeded in reconstructing changes in rainfall in Central Asia over the past five million years. The information preserved within the sedimentary succession provides the missing link for understanding land-water feedbacks for global climate.

If insomnia keeps you awake at night, Flinders University researchers recommend a trip to the doctor - not for a sleeping pill prescription but for a short course of intensive behavioural therapy. Researchers have developed new clinical guidelines for Australian doctors to give family GPs insights into the most effective treatment for insomnia - Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for insomnia (or 'CBTi').

A biomarker in the blood of patients with bowel cancer may provide valuable insight into the risk of cancer relapse after surgery and the effectiveness of chemotherapy.Research published in PLOS found circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) measured before and after surgery provided a reliable marker for predicting whether the cancer would recur following chemotherapy treatment.

A group at HZB has worked out theoretically how the communication between two quantum dots can be influenced with light. The team led by Annika Bande also shows ways to control the transfer of information or energy from one quantum dot to another. To this end, the researchers calculated the electronic structure of two nanocrystals, which act as quantum dots. With the results, the movement of electrons in quantum dots can be simulated in real time.

Autism spectrum has a particular impact on social interaction. Bilingual families with an autistic child often tend to forego the use of one of the home languages, so as not to further complicate the development of their child's communicative skills. A team led by UNIGE has shown that bilingualism allows autistic children to partially compensate for deficits in theory of mind and executive functions, which are at the root of many of their challenges.

Regular strength and impact-type training may decrease or even prevent age-related bone deterioration in men, new research at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, shows.

Scientists at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC), have identified Meis transcription factors as essential biomolecules for the formation and antero-posterior patterning of the limbs during embryonic development.