Culture
Mitochondria are present in all eukaryotic cells: in our cells, in mammalian cells, in the cells of plants and even of fungi. Mitochondria produce energy for cells to function as multicellular organisms, and are known as the "powerhouses" of the cell. Inside mitochondria lie the genetic information for making this energy.
Some birds can achieve extraordinary cognitive performance - but their brains were considered to be rather disorganized compared to those of mammals. Scientists from Bochum (RUB), Düsseldorf (HHU), Jülich (FZJ), and Aachen (RWTH), now for the first time, show striking similarities between the neocortex of mammals and sensory brain areas of birds: Both are wired in horizontal layers and vertical columns. The finding refutes 150-year-old assumptions. Decisive insights were provided by a method developed by Jülich and Düsseldorf brain researchers.
The bone marrow is the soft tissue inside our bones. Its main role is to produce stem cells that will go on to become various cells of the blood, including white blood cells that fight infections, red blood cells that carry oxygen throughout the body, and platelets that control bleeding.
Droughts are, after floods and storms, the costliest natural hazard. The expected increa,se in the frequency and intensity of drought events due to climate change reinforces the necessity to improve the quality and reliability of information about the economic impacts of droughts and the need for more accurate cost analyses to embed these estimates into the assessment of the costs of climate change.
Forecasting the spreading of a pandemic is paramount in helping governments to enforce a number of social and economic measures, apt at curbing the pandemic and dealing with its aftermath.
Now researchers present an efficient model to study and forecast the spreading dynamics and containment across different regions of the world.
Researchers from the Llobet group have developed a new molecular material made out of oligomers and used it as a catalyst in water oxidation, achieving unprecedented current densities for molecular catalysts. The paper "Water oxidation electrocatalysis using ruthenium coordination oligomers adsorbed on multiwalled carbon nanotubes" has been published in Nature Chemistry.
Many cells in our bodies are on the move and somehow seem to "know" where to go. But how do they learn the location of their destination? This question is key to understanding phenomena such as the renewal of cells in our body, the migration of cancer cells, and especially how wounds heal.
Evolution leaves its traces in particular in genomes. Pinpointing its influence is a laborious process - but one in which Dr. Jürgen Schmitz and his team at the University of Münster are at home. Five years ago, the team made public a web app which can compare the genomes of humans and animals and thus help to provide an understanding of evolutionary developments.
A team of researchers from Cologne and Helsinki has discovered a mechanism that prevents hair loss: hair follicle stem cells, essential for hair to regrow, can prolong their life by switching their metabolic state in response to low oxygen concentration in the tissue.
RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- A top goal in cosmology is to precisely measure the total amount of matter in the universe, a daunting exercise for even the most mathematically proficient. A team led by scientists at the University of California, Riverside, has now done just that.
Reporting in the Astrophysical Journal, the team determined that matter makes up 31% of the total amount of matter and energy in the universe, with the remainder consisting of dark energy.
Unconventional T cells called mucosa-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are recruited to the airways and strongly activated in some patients with severe COVID-19, a new study has found, suggesting the cells' possible involvement in the development of disease. These findings corroborate other recent studies that highlight potential associations between strong MAIT cell activation and severe COVID-19 outcomes. MAIT cells, representing 1% to 10% of T cells in the blood, can readily home into specific tissues and are particularly abundant in the liver and lungs.
A new study conducted by SISSA and the University of Trieste shows the efficacy of carbon nanotube implants to restore motor functions and paves the way for a new therapeutic approach for spinal cord injuries.
Organisms, ranging from bacteria to humans, run on an interconnected series of metabolic pathways--with glycolysis being the essential process that generates energy from sugars (glucose) in food. Pyruvate is the final product of glycolysis: it is an important molecule that acts as a node between different pathways (Figure 1).
While debate over COVID-19 guidelines and vaccine development has raised skeptics' eyebrows and undermined confidence, a West Virginia University associate professor says that communication is essential for the science community to gain the American public's trust. According to Geah Pressgrove, scientists and communications professionals need to rethink how they communicate through four distinct dimensions of trust: competence, integrity, benevolence and openness.
(Boston)--High blood pressure (hypertension) affects one in two U.S. adults and can cause hardening and thickening of the arteries (atherosclerosis), which can lead to heart attacks, strokes or other complications including chronic kidney disease. Dietary salt intake can evoke salt-sensitive hypertension, which exists in approximately half of hypertensive patients.