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For researchers looking to understand and someday treat certain neuropsychological ailments, one place to start is a molecule known as GABA, which binds to receptor molecules in neurons and helps regulate neuron firing rates in the brain. Now, researchers have produced a detailed map of one such GABA receptor, revealing not just the receptor's structure but new details of how it moves from its inactive to active state, a team writes June 17 in Nature.
The giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) has developed effective strategies to protect itself against external influences in its natural environment in the Sierra Nevada. Its bark ensures that the tree survives wild fires and rock fall almost unscathed. Prof. Dr. Thomas Speck from the Cluster of Excellence Living, Adaptive and Energy-autonomous Materials Systems (livMatS), working with Dr. Georg Bold and Max Langer of the Institute of Biology, have examined the structural properties of its bark in detail for the first time.
Scientists have discovered that the summer sea ice in the Weddell Sea sector of Antarctica has decreased by one million square kilometres - an area twice the size of Spain - in the last five years, with implications for the marine ecosystem. The findings are published this month (June 2020) in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
Sea ice surrounding Antarctica provides an important habitat for many species including penguins and seals, which rely on it to access food and to breed.
The particular kind of waves that the brain produces during sleep, which repeatedly sweep the surface of the cerebral cortex, travel through the anatomical "highways" that connect distant areas of the cortical mantle, a new study in The Journal of Neuroscience shows.
Each year, the U.S. Coast Guard performs thousands of search and rescue missions at sea. In situations where every minute matters, it is critical to have the most efficient ocean modeling data and algorithms at hand.
June 17, 2020 - Older adults who suffer a hip fracture requiring surgery are at a higher risk of suicide, suggests a study in the June 17, 2020 issue of The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio in partnership with Wolters Kluwer.
Although global climate models vary in many ways, they agree on this: The Mediterranean region will be significantly drier in coming decades, potentially seeing 40 percent less precipitation during the winter rainy season.
Physicochemical cargo-switching nanoparticles (CSNP) designed by KAIST can help significantly reduce cholesterol and macrophage foam cells in arteries, which are the two main triggers for atherosclerotic plaque and inflammation.
Nestled in the constellation Taurus, a spectacle of swirling cosmic gases measuring half a dozen lightyears across glows in shades of emerald and auburn. The Crab Nebula was born of a supernova, the explosion of a giant star, and now, a lab machine the size of a double door replicates how the immense blasts paint the astronomical swirls into existence.
"It's six feet tall and looks like a big slice of pizza that's about four feet wide at the top," said Ben Musci of the supernova machine he built for a study at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
A new film made of gold nanoparticles changes color in response to any type of movement. Its unprecedented qualities could allow robots to mimic chameleons and octopi -- among other futuristic applications.
Unlike other materials that try to emulate nature's color changers, this one can respond to any type of movement, like bending or twisting. Robots coated in it could enter spaces that might be dangerous or impossible for humans, and offer information just based on the way they look.
A COVID-19 outbreak in a refugee settlement will likely overwhelm the available healthcare capacity and infrastructure and spread through nearly the entire settlement population if left unchecked, according to a new study published June 16 in PLOS Medicine by Paul Spiegel of Johns Hopkins University, United States, and colleagues.
As cancer survivor rates increase with modern treatments, cardiovascular disease (CVD) rates are rising in cancer patients and survivors and CVD has emerged as a leading cause of long-term preventable death in this population. Even though cardioprotective medications--including statins, ACE inhibitors and antiplatelet therapies--are frontline primary and secondary CVD prevention, patients with a prior or current history of cancer had lower rates of utilization compared to those without cancer, according to a research letter published in JACC: CardioOncology.
While many people put off their regular trips to the dentist, recent research has shown that the consequences of doing so may go beyond cavities and root canals. From heart disease to diabetes, poor oral health is often a reflection of a person's overall health and may even be the cause of systemic disease.
Kansas City, MO--Scientists at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research have shown that a dysfunctional placenta can play a previously unrecognized role during the earliest stages of development in mouse models of Cornelia de Lange syndrome. People with this rare genetic disorder often harbor mutations in cohesins, ring-like proteins that help DNA organize and repair itself.
A new method of screening thousands of drugs in freshly collected human tumor cells can help identify which of the drugs are most likely to be effective against those cancers, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers report today in a study published in Science Signaling.