Culture
For the first time, labs around the world can 3D print their own precision microscopes to analyse samples and detect diseases , thanks to an open-source design created at the University of Bath.
The SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infects lung cells and is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The viral spike protein mediates entry of the virus into host cells and harbors an unusual activation sequence. The Infection Biology Unit of the German Primate Center (DPZ) - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research has now shown that this sequence is cleaved by the cellular enzyme furin and that the cleavage is important for the infection of lung cells. These results define new starting points for therapy and vaccine research.
Researchers from DTU Biosustain and DTU Bioengineering have elucidated the activity of the enzyme N-acetylgalactosaminidase (GH109) whose mechanism of activity has until now been a mystery. This enzyme can convert a group of low cost, abundant so-called beta-sugars into high-value, hard-to-produce alpha-sugars with interesting therapeutic properties.
This novel work on the chemistry and catalytic activity of this enzyme opens opportunities to a wide range of applications and has now been published in the well-renowned journal ACS Catalysis.
Nowadays many work duties can be dealt with by means of mobile devices at home, a situation which blurs the boundary between work and other daily life. This blurring of boundaries between work and non-work domains may both be challenging and beneficial to employees and their organizations.
A study at the University of Jyväskylä reveals that the mixing of work and other daily life may have more benefits than previously assumed, and points to the importance of boundary-spanning communication.
When an emergency dispatcher calls for a helicopter or plane to fly a critically ill patient to a hospital, they don't have time to check whether they take the patient's insurance.
Every minute matters for someone badly injured in a car crash, suffering a heart attack or stroke, or needing critical care for serious birth defects, organ transplants or COVID-19.
What effect does extinction of species have on the evolution of surviving species? Evolutionary biologists have investigated this question by conducting a field experiment with a leaf galling fly and its predatory enemies. They found that losing its natural enemies could make it more difficult for the prey to adapt to future environments.
Building on an extensive body of research on the efficacy of BioCell Collagen®, a new published laboratory study finds that daily supplementation with the branded matrix reduced common signs of UVB-induced photoaging compared to the group that did not receive the supplement. The study found that oral supplementation with BioCell Collagen, with controlled UVB exposure, resulted in reduced signs of photoaging, including significant decreases in wrinkles and transepidermal water loss, and significant increases in skin elasticity and hyaluronic acid (HA) content.
People with low or no visual imagery are more likely to work in scientific and mathematical industries than creative sectors, according to new research.
Aphantasia, the term describing a person's inability to visualise in the mind, has been shown to be more common in scientific and technical industries. The opposite phenomenon of particularly vivid mental imagery, known as hyperphantasia, has also been shown to be more common in creative professions.
What price are you willing to pay for food? As humans, we face this challenge each time we shop, but for some seals and dolphins this may be a life or death decision.
Modern medical scanning reveals the steep price some marine mammals are willing to pay for food, after a stranded fur seal was discovered with more than a dozen facial wounds inflicted by its seafood prey.
A new test can detect glaucoma progression 18 months earlier than the current gold standard method, according to results from a UCL-sponsored clinical trial.
The technology, supported by an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm, could help accelerate clinical trials, and eventually may be used in detection and diagnostics, according to the Wellcome-funded study published today in Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics.
Researchers at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and colleagues have found that adding a drug once commonly used to treat schizophrenia to traditional radiation therapy helped improve overall survival in mice with glioblastoma, one of the deadliest and most difficult-to-treat brain tumors.
Despite concerns expressed by some experts, common high blood pressure drugs did not increase the risk of contracting COVID-19 - or of developing severe disease - in a study of 12,594 patients.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Many have claimed the Justinianic Plague (c. 541-750 CE) killed half of the population of Roman Empire. Now, historical research and mathematical modeling challenge the death rate and severity of this first plague pandemic.
Researchers from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics and the University of Arizona published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that examines brand name strategies when cultural products are marketed in foreign countries.
The study forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing titled "Branding Cultural Products in International Markets: A Study of Hollywood Movies in China" is authored by Weihe Gao, Li Ji, Yong Liu, and Qi Sun.
PITTSBURGH, May 1, 2020 - Through serendipity, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health considerably reduced the toxicity of a potential antibiotic against the most feared drug-resistant bacteria, while also improving its stability in fighting infections.