Culture
Researchers have been able to identify and track the exchange of genes among bacteria that allow them to become resistant to drugs, according to a new study published today in eLife.
The findings add to our understanding of how this exchange of genetic material, also known as horizontal gene transfer, happens in bacteria that cause infections in hospitals. They also highlight that while this transfer is likely to happen frequently, it is a complex process and challenging to study with current methods.
The discovery that immune T cells have a spectrum of responsiveness could shed light on how our immune system responds to infections and cancer, and what goes wrong in immune diseases. Researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Open Targets, Biogen, GSK and their collaborators found that T cells responded very differently to immune signals the more 'training' they had been exposed to, rather than being a simple switch from naïve to experienced. This could help guide research into finding drug targets for immune diseases such as asthma and rheumatoid arthritis.
A new study in The Economic Journal finds that societies with a history of farming crops heavily reliant on labor effort prefer harder work and longer hours.
New Orleans, LA -- Research led by Si-Qiong June Liu, MD, PhD, Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, has shown how stress changes the structure of the brain and reveals a potential therapeutic target to the prevent or reverse it. The findings are published in JNeurosci, the Journal of Neuroscience, available here.
Tandem cells combine two different semiconductors that convert different parts of the light spectrum into electrical energy. Metal-halide perovskite compounds mainly use the visible parts of the spectrum, while CIGS semiconductors convert rather the infrared light. CIGS cells, which consist of copper, indium, gallium and selenium, can be deposited as thin-films with a total thickness of only 3 to 4 micrometers; the perovskite layers are even much thinner at 0.5 micrometers.
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. -- Researchers working on a U.S. Army project discovered a key insight for the development of quantum devices and quantum computers.
Scientists found that a class of particles known as bosons can behave as an opposite class of particles called fermions, when forced into a line.
BUFFALO, N.Y. - China and South Korea are surging in the international brain race for world-class universities, as schools in the East Asian nations are replacing institutions in the United States in international college rankings, according to new University at Buffalo-led research.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (April 14, 2020) -- Scientists may have solved one of the most puzzling and persistent mysteries in neuroscience: why some people are "right-brained" while others are "left-brained."
The answer lies in how certain genes on each side of the brain are switched "on" and "off" through a process called epigenetic regulation. The findings may explain why Parkinson's disease and other neurological disorders frequently affect one side of the body first, a revelation that has far-reaching implications for development of potential future treatments.
The increase in resource consumption and polluting emissions as a result of economic growth is not compatible with biodiversity conservation. However, most international policies on biodiversity and sustainability advocate economic growth. These are the main conclusions of the study 'Biodiversity policy beyond economic growth', published this week in the scientific journal Conservation Letters. This contradiction became clear after a review of international scientific and policy work on the subject.
CHICAGO (April 14, 2020): A team of investigators at the University of Chicago (Ill.), has devised a new scoring system that helps surgeons across surgical specialties decide when to proceed with medically necessary operations in the face of the resource constraints and increased risk posed by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Self-isolation in the face of a marauding pathogen may save lives but it comes at the expense of life-sustaining essentials such as transport, communication and connectivity.
This leaves decision makers with a dreadful dilemma as they judge when it's time to relax lockdown measures.
New research suggests plants must balance similar trade-offs as they respond to pathogens that could rip through their defence cell by cell.
Molecules in tarantula venom could be used as an alternative to opioid pain killers for people seeking chronic pain relief.
University of Queensland researchers have designed a novel tarantula venom mini-protein that can potentially relieve severe pain without addiction.
Dr Christina Schroeder from UQ's Institute for Molecular Bioscience said the current opioid crisis around the world meant urgent alternatives to morphine and morphine-like drugs, such as fentanyl and oxycodone, were desperately needed.
Quantitative biologists David McCandlish and Juannan Zhou at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have developed an algorithm with predictive power, giving scientists the ability to see how specific genetic mutations can combine to make critical proteins change over the course of a species's evolution.
Estuaries on the south-east coast of Australia are warming at twice the rate of oceans and the atmosphere, a new study has found.
Researchers say the apparent accelerated impact from climate change on estuaries could adversely affect economic activity and ecological biodiversity in rivers and lakes worldwide.
Elevated symptoms of PTSD and moral injury can lead to pregnancy complications, found a Veterans Affairs study of women military veterans.
Both PTSD and moral injury were predictors of adverse pregnancy outcomes such as preterm birth and gestational diabetes, while PTSD symptoms also predicted postpartum depression, anxiety, and a self-described difficult pregnancy.