Culture
New international research published in Anaesthesia (a journal of the Association of Anaesthetists) concludes that surgery should be delayed for seven weeks after a patient tests positive for SARS-CoV-2, since the data show that surgery that takes place between 0 and 6 weeks after diagnosis is associated with increased mortality.
Scientists have pinpointed the location of an essential enzyme in plant cells involved in photosynthesis, according to a study published today in eLife.
The findings overturn conventional thinking about where the enzyme resides in plant cells and suggest a probable role in regulating energy processes as plants adapt from dark to light conditions.
During photosynthesis, plants convert carbon into energy stores through 'electron transport', involving an enzyme called ferredoxin:NADP(H) oxidoreductase, or FNR.
The annually occurring algal spring blooms play an important role for our climate, as they remove large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. However, they are an ephemeral phenomenon. Most of the carbon is released into the water once the algae die. There, bacteria are already waiting to finish them off and consume the algal remains.
According to an international study published in Frontiers in Psychology, people around the world have reported changes in their physical activity levels, wellbeing, and eating habits during the first stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. A decrease in physical activity during the pandemic was associated with poorer perceived physical and mental health. Reduced exercise was also associated with perceptions of weight gain and decreased sleep.
A RAND Corporation report funded by The Rockefeller Foundation shows that COVID-19 testing can be effectively integrated into K-12 schools' pandemic response plans, helping families and staff feel more comfortable with in-person instruction.
According to the current BfR-Corona-Monitor of the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), 43 percent of the respondents have already had themselves tested for the virus. The survey, which has been conducted regularly for almost a year now, documents how the population is dealing with the situation, what they are doing to protect themselves and how they are informing themselves about the current events. "For 50 weeks now, our survey has provided insights into the current situation and its development," says BfR-President Professor Dr. Dr. Andreas Hensel.
Researchers at Uppsala University have developed a digital self-test that trains users to assess news items, images and videos presented on social media. The self-test has also been evaluated in a scientific study, which confirmed the researchers' hypothesis that the tool genuinely improved the students' ability to apply critical thinking to digital sources.
Philadelphia, March 9, 2021--Combining computational mining of big data with experimental testing in the lab, researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have identified RNA editing events that influence gene expression and, in turn, the phenotypic manifestation of that expression. In analyzing so-called A-to-I RNA editing, in which the adenosine of an RNA molecule is chemically modified into an inosine, the researchers describe how a single nucleotide change by RNA editing can have large downstream effects. The findings were published today in Genome Biology.
Flash sintering is a ceramic processing technique which uses electric current to intensively heat the ceramic sample internally rather than using only external furnace heating. The process can lower ceramic processing temperatures and durations significantly, enabling ceramics to be co-processed with metals or other materials, and reducing energy use.
However, the process can result in low quality ceramics due to weaknesses caused by inhomogeneities in the microstructure.
As the fight against COVID-19 continues, scientists have turned to an unlikely source for a potentially effective treatment: tiny antibodies naturally generated by llamas.
While the world has welcomed the news of multiple vaccines against COVID-19, the search for effective treatments for those who contract the virus is ongoing. Now scientists are looking to what might seem to be an unlikely source: the South American llama.
Study Reveals New Hope for Men With Common Urinary Issues
Since 1983, the bacteria Pantoea ananatis has been known to infect several important crops including onions, rice, and corn. It was unclear, however, what molecules were involved. A new study, published in mBio, has identified one of the culprits: pantaphos. Intriguingly, the researchers have discovered that pantaphos can also act as an herbicide and it is toxic to glioblastoma cells, making it an exciting candidate for agricultural and biomedical applications.
CHAPEL HILL, NC -- A comprehensive review by University of North Carolina researchers and colleagues of hundreds of publications, incorporating more than two dozen articles on prevention screening for lung cancer with low-dose spiral computed tomography (LDCT), shows there are both benefits and harms from screening. The review is published in JAMA on March 9, 2021.
Researchers have come up with a better way to test which fabrics work best for masks that are meant to slow the spread of COVID-19. By testing those fabrics under conditions that mimic the humidity of a person's breath, the researchers have obtained measurements that more accurately reflect how the fabrics perform when worn by a living, breathing person.
Astronomers have discovered evidence for an extraordinarily long jet of particles coming from a supermassive black hole in the early universe, using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory.
If confirmed, it would be the most distant supermassive black hole with a jet detected in X-rays. Coming from a galaxy about 12.7 billion light-years from Earth, the jet may help explain how the biggest black holes formed at a very early time in the universe's history.