Culture
WASHINGTON, May 5, 2020 -- Electrochemical reactions that occur in processes like ethanolic fermentation include the transformation of sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Similar processes occur when the human body breaks down food, drugs or other compounds.
Monitoring these metabolic processes helps in testing, studying and combating disease, but due to the small quantities of liquids involved, they are difficult to study with normal equipment.
It's said that maple syrup is Quebec's liquid gold. Now scientists at Université de Montréal have found a way to use real gold -- in the form of nanoparticles -- to quickly find out how the syrup tastes.
The new method -- a kind of artificial tongue -- is validated in a study published today in Analytical Methods, the journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry, in the United Kingdom.
What The Study Did: This observational study assessed the association between the use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers with the likelihood of testing positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Authors: Ankur Kalra, M.D., of the Cleveland Clinic in Akron, Ohio, is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamacardio.2020.1855)
By manipulating the expression of one gene, geneticists can induce a form of "stress memory" in plants that is inherited by some progeny, giving them the potential for more vigorous, hardy and productive growth, according to Penn State researchers, who suggest the discovery has significant implications for plant breeding.
A new survey of app-based ride-hailing and food and grocery-delivery workers in San Francisco underscores the financial vulnerability of workers in the gig economy--and the coronavirus has made their plight much worse, according to findings released today (Tuesday, May 5) by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Debates around the Green New Deal have largely centered around climate change concerns on land. But a group of scientists are calling on policymakers to include oceans in the deal.
The Green New Deal is a legislative proposal to tackle climate change and boost the economy, while also supporting equity and social justice.
A team of scientists has taken steps to create a new form of digital data storage, a "Racetrack Memory," which opens the possibility to both bolster computer power and lead to the creation of smaller, faster, and more energy efficient computer memory technologies.
Scientists have discovered a potential new treatment for a disease that causes severe dry eyes and dry mouth.
The study, led by researchers at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, is published in the current edition of Scientific Reports. The work was carried out in collaboration with the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital and the Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre.
Artificial intelligence (AI) may be an aid to interpreting ECG results, helping healthcare staff to diagnose diseases that affect the heart. Researchers at Uppsala University and heart specialists in Brazil have developed an AI that automatically diagnoses atrial fibrillation and five other common ECG abnormalities just as well as a cardiologist. The study has been published in Nature Communications.
A consortium of scientists with expertise in big data research and epidemiology recently developed a COVID Symptom Tracker app aimed at rapidly collecting information to aid in the response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As reported in the journal Science, early use of the app by more than 2.5 million people in the U.S. and the U.K has generated valuable data about COVID-19 for physicians, scientists, and public officials to better fight the viral outbreak.
Individuals with an underactive bladder, for example following a spinal cord injury, often cannot sense bladder fullness or are unable to empty the bladder completely. This distressing symptom can seriously affect one's quality of life. A dysfunctional bladder may also lead to medical complications such as urinary tract infection, as well as physical discomfort and potential for personal embarrassment.
Expansions by groups of humans were common during prehistoric times, after the adoption of agriculture. Among other factors, this is due to population growth of farmers which was greater than of that hunter-gatherers. We can find one example of this during the Neolithic period, when farming was introduced to Europe by migrations from the Middle East.
Senior Research Associate Margarita Sharina (Special Astrophysical Observatory) and Associate Professor Vladislav Shimansky (Kazan Federal University) studied the globular cluster NGC 6652.4.05957 and found out that its age is close to 13.6 billion years, which makes it one of the oldest objects in the Milky Way.
Certain bacteria, including the dangerous nosocomial pathogen MRSA, can protect themselves from acidic conditions in our body and thus ensure their survival. Researchers at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel have now elucidated an important mechanism in this process. A transport protein involved in cell wall biosynthesis plays a key role, they report in the journal "Nature Structural & Molecular Biology".
Scientists have identified an unexpected player in the immune reaction gone awry that causes vision loss in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to a new study published today in eLife.
The findings suggest that an immune-stimulating protein called interleukin-4 (IL-4) and its receptor may be promising targets for new drugs to treat AMD, a common form of age-related vision loss.