Culture

Social clusters including mothers' groups play an important role in the life of southern Australian bottlenose dolphins, a new study shows.

Like giraffes, lions, hyenas and grey kangaroos, bottlenose dolphins appear to form social bonds with kin and other females in similar reproductive condition, while maintaining moderate and loose social bonds with some same-sex individuals.

As a result of global warming, the world's oceans have risen by an average of around 3 mm a year since the early 1990s. But how much they have risen year on year has been a matter of some debate among experts, for instance in the UN's climate panel IPCC. Is the rise constant, or is it accelerating every year?

Now, in a new study, a Danish student has shown that the rise is accelerating. In other words, the oceans are rising faster every year. The new research supports previous studies, and has been published in the scientific journal Advances in Space Research.

By detecting the spin of the metal contrast agent with electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR, in short), they could draw conclusions on the state of the protein. The team led by Professor Enrica Bordignon and Dr. Laura Galazzo from the cluster of excellence Ruhr Explores Solvation Resolv in collaboration with Professor Markus Seeger's group from the University of Zurich reports on the method in the journal PNAS on 4 February 2020.

Finding and binding nanobodies to the protein

Quantum process tomography is often used to completely characterize an unknown quantum process. However, it may lead to an unphysical process matrix, which will cause the loss of information with respect to the tomography result. Professor Xian-Min Jin and his group from Center for Quantum Information Technologies in Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) reported a new quantum process tomography method which is based on convex optimization.

- Alongside genotype, prenatal factors such as vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy, can influence the development of ADHD, says MD Minna Sucksdorff from the University of Turku, Finland.

The study is the first population-level research to demonstrate an association between low maternal vitamin D level in early to mid-pregnancy and an elevated risk for diagnosed attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder ADHD in the offspring.

Patients who take statins in order to lower their blood cholesterol levels often complain about muscle problems, typically muscle pain. But why this occurs is still largely unresolved. In a recent study, the pharmaceutical scientists Professor Alexandra K. Kiemer und Jessica Hoppstädter from Saarland University have identified a potential causal relationship. According to the results of their work, statins cause enhanced production of a protein called 'GILZ' that impairs muscle cell function.

Chromosomal breaks are the most harmful damage for cells. If they are not repaired, they block the duplication and segregation of chromosomes, stop the growth cycle and cause cell death. These breaks appear frequently in tumour cells and are produced spontaneously during the replication of genetic material. To be able to repair this damage in the genetic material, the cell transfers the information from the intact daughter copy to the broken copy, which is known as recombination of sister chromatids.

A study undertaken by an international team led by Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich molecular biologist Axel Imhof sheds new light on the mechanisms that control the establishment of epigenetic modifications on newly synthesized histones following cell division.

WASHINGTON (Feb. 10, 2020) - The human protein apolipoprotein A-I binding protein (AIBP) inhibits HIV replication by targeting lipid rafts and reducing virus-cell fusion, according to a new study published in the premier American Society for Microbiology journal mBio by researchers from the George Washington University. These results provide the first evidence suggesting that AIBP is an innate immunity factor that restricts HIV replication by modifying lipid rafts on cells targeted by HIV.

Researchers at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel have discovered a "clockwork" mechanism that controls cell division in bacteria. In two publications, in "Nature Communications" und "PNAS", they report how a small signaling molecule starts the "clock", which informs the cell about the right time to reproduce.

Radiation from dying stars is luminous enough to easily spin up orbiting asteroids to break-up speed

New study led by University of Warwick astronomer computes the cascade of destruction down to boulder-size fragments

Break-ups form a vast asteroid debris field much like the classic arcade game, including fragments which revolve around each other as "double asteroids"

Scientists predict that the Solar System's asteroid belt will be pulverised by the Sun's light in 6 billion years

A recent study finds that corporate financial managers do a great job of detecting signs of potential fraud, but are less likely to voice these concerns externally when their company is under pressure to meet a financial target.

Researchers have developed a model that could boost investment in farm-based sustainable energy projects by allowing investors to more accurately predict whether a project will turn a profit. The model improves on earlier efforts by using advanced computational techniques to address uncertainty.

A place-based payroll tax incentive can be effective in stimulating employment in remote and underdeveloped regions, helping to address regional inequalities, according to a new UCL and University of Oslo study.

The way research in bioprinting will be taken forward has been laid out in a roadmap for the field.
Published today in IOP Publishing's Biofabrication, leading researchers define the status, challenges and opportunities in the field, and forecast the required advances in science & technology to overcome the challenges to a range of bioprinting techniques and applications.

In the roadmap: