Culture
A recent study has identified four factors that predict user satisfaction with customer service chatbots. The study also found that a positive chatbot experience was associated with customer loyalty, highlighting the potential importance of the findings to corporate brands.
In order to adapt to the changing environment, bacteria must quickly transform extracellular information into appropriate intracellular reactions. Two component system (TCS) is the main signal transduction protein in prokaryotic cells to transform environmental stimuli into cellular responses.
An analysis of the first wave of the epidemic in Iran in 8902 people suggests the overall proportion of people with SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in their blood - known as seroprevalence - may be higher than rates based on clinical cases alone, at around 17.1% seropositivity vs 0.6% based on modelling from previous studies, by end of April 2020.
However, seroprevalence varies widely between cities - with the highest estimates found in Rasht (72.6%) and the lowest in Sanandaj (1.7%) although some cities had small samples sizes.
About two in 10 U.S. school districts have already adopted, plan to adopt or are considering adopting virtual schools after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
The survey of district leaders indicates that virtual schooling was the innovative practice that most district leaders anticipated would continue, citing both student and parent demand for continuing various forms of online instruction.
Researchers at the HSE Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience have shown experimentally that economic activity can actively change the brain. Signals that predict regular financial losses evoke plastic changes in the cortex. Therefore, these signals are processed by the brain more meticulously, which helps to identify such situations more accurately. The article was published in Scientific Reports.
Future novel hybrid energy systems could lead to paradigm shifts in clean energy production, according to a paper published last week in Joule.
Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) three applied energy laboratories--Idaho National Laboratory (INL), the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL)--co?authored the paper describing such integrated energy systems.
A drug that boosts the removal of cellular debris in immune cells may increase the protective effects of vaccines in older adults, a study published today in eLife shows.
The results may lead to new approaches to protect older individuals from viruses such as the one causing the current COVID-19 pandemic and influenza.
Philadelphia, December 15, 2020 - The study of human emotions can be used to gauge the sensory acceptance of dairy products. A possible route to increase worldwide consumption of sheep milk kefir may be to improve its sensory acceptance, which can be a determining factor for its inclusion in daily diets.
The supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies are the most massive objects in the universe. They range from about 1 million to upwards of 10 billion times the mass of the Sun. Some of these black holes also blast out gigantic, super-heated jets of plasma at nearly the speed of light. The primary way that the jets discharge this powerful motion energy is by converting it into extremely high-energy gamma rays. However, UMBC physics Ph.D. candidate Adam Leah Harvey says, "How exactly this radiation is created is an open question."
Scientists often look to nature for cues when designing robots - some robots mimic human hands while others simulate the actions of octopus arms or inchworms. Now, researchers in the University of Georgia College of Engineering have designed a new soft robotic gripper that draws inspiration from an unusual source: pole beans.
While pole beans and other twining plants use their touch-sensitive shoots to wrap themselves around supports like ropes and rods to grow upward, the UGA team's robot is designed to firmly but gently grasp objects as small as 1 millimeter in diameter.
WASHINGTON, December 15, 2020 -- A device developed by scientists at the CY Cergy Paris University and Paris Observatory promises insight into how the building blocks of life form in outer space.
In an article published in Review of Scientific Instruments, by AIP Publishing, the scientists detail how VENUS -- an acronym of the French phrase "Vers de Nouvelles Syntheses," which means "toward new syntheses" -- mimics how molecules come together in the freezing darkness of interstellar space.
The microscopic structure of bone appears to predict which patients will experience poor outcomes after spinal fusion, according to a new study by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York City.
HANOVER, N.H. - December 14, 2020 - Aggressive political messaging can work against candidates by radicalizing supporters and alienating moderates, according to a Dartmouth study.
The research, published in Physical Review X, shows how messages conveyed through political advertising and media appearances can move voters into extreme social networks, making them less influential with undecided voters and others in the middle of the political spectrum.
Declines in muscle mass and strength can begin in early adulthood, unnoticeable at first, and eventually progress until functionality, endurance, and general health may be compromised. Evidence-based and cost-effective lifestyle interventions, such as resistance training (RT) and ensuring optimal dietary protein intake, aim to increase muscle mass in older individuals, and support healthy aging and longevity.
DURHAM, N.C. -- The artificial intelligence behind self-driving cars, medical image analysis and other computer vision applications relies on what's called deep neural networks.