Earth
Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy using the antibody that combats the programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) shows great potential and is causing a revolution in clinical cancer management. Unfortunately, only a subset of treated patients responds to current ICB therapies, likely due to the immunological tolerance of tumors. Therefore, developing a practical strategy to combat this immunological tolerance and amplify ICB therapies has become a priority.
Gaku Kudo of Hokkaido University and Elisabeth J. Cooper of the Arctic University of Norway have demonstrated that early snowmelt results in the spring ephemeral Corydalis ambigua flowering ahead of the emergence of its pollinator, the bumblebee.
Singapore, 7 July 2019 - Functional regions within the brain become less distinct and inter-connected in the elderly over time, especially in those networks related to attention span and cognition. The finding, published by researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School in The Journal of Neuroscience, adds to current understanding of longitudinal decline in brain network integrity associated with ageing.
Two proteins that activate the fastest molecule in our nerve cells identified by researchers at University of Warwick
Mechanism is responsible for transport through our nervous system
Faults in cargo transporters can lead to hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) and other neurodegenerative disorders
Could lead to therapeutic treatment for people with HSP and neurological disorders
Scientists at the University of Warwick have discovered a new process that sets the fastest molecular motor on its marathon-like runs through our neurons.
HERSHEY, Pa. -- Preventing a protein from doing its job may keep a certain type of ovarian cancer cell from growing and dividing uncontrollably in the lab, according to a new study from Penn State College of Medicine.
In a study with cell cultures, the researchers identified the protein as a potential therapeutic target for high-grade serous ovarian cancer cells. Approximately 70% of patients with this type of ovarian cancer relapse with chemo-resistant disease, increasing the need for new approaches to treatment.
Many burn victims suffer acute kidney injury (AKI), but early recognition of AKI remains challenging. Now an Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning (AI/ML) model developed at UC Davis Health and reported in a new study can predict acute kidney injury quicker and more accurately than ever.
A promising new way to treat some types of cancer is to program the patient's own T cells to destroy the cancerous cells. This approach, termed CAR-T cell therapy, is now used to combat some types of leukemia, but so far it has not worked well against solid tumors such as lung or breast tumors.
New research by neuroscientists at the University of Chicago shows that the posterior parietal cortex (PPC), an area of the brain often associated with planning movements and spatial awareness, also plays a crucial role in making decisions about images in the field of view.
Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is DNA found in trace amounts in blood, which has escaped degradation by enzymes. Scientists from Tokyo University of Science, led by Prof Ryushin Mizuta, have now discovered exactly how cfDNA is generated. They also talk about the applications of DNase1L3--the enzyme mainly responsible for generating cfDNA--as a novel molecule to prevent the spread of tumors.
An international team of researchers has succeeded in measuring the current system responsible for Jupiter's aurora. Using data transmitted to Earth by NASA's Juno spacecraft, they showed that the direct currents were much weaker than expected and that alternating currents must therefore play a special role. On Earth, on the other hand, a direct current system creates its aurora. Jupiter's electric current system is kept going in particular by large centrifugal forces, which hurl ionized sulfur dioxide gas from the gas giant's moon Io through the magnetosphere.
Last week's massive southern California earthquakes shut down Ridgecrest Regional Hospital throughout the July 4 holiday weekend while the tiny town of Ridgecrest assessed the damages. A new optical sensor developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) could speed up the time it takes to evaluate whether critical buildings like these are safe to occupy shortly after a major earthquake.
To date, 17 Chinese self-developed FengYun (FY) meteorological satellites have been launched, which are widely applied in weather analysis, numerical weather forecasting and climate prediction, as well as environment and disaster monitoring. Currently, seven satellites are in operation.
Plants with green leaves and stems are a common sight and are one of the most natural things on earth. But when considering that this colouring is achieved by small chlorophyll-filled organelles called chloroplasts, distributed within plant cells, where they utilise their green pigmentation to convert solar energy into chemical energy, this green colouration no longer seems to be such a trivial thing. Because of their fundamental role in plant biology, chloroplasts and their ability to colour plants have been since long in the focus of intense research.
Some people tend to postpone actions. In women, this trait is associated with a genetic predisposition towards a higher level of dopamine in the brain. This is what researchers from Ruhr-Universität Bochum and the Technical University of Dresden discovered using genetic analyses and questionnaires. They were unable to identify this correlation in men. "The neurotransmitter dopamine has repeatedly been associated with increased cognitive flexibility in the past," says Dr. Erhan Genç from the Bochum Department of Biopsychology.
The Asian tropopause aerosol layer (ATAL) is located at twelve to 18 kilometers height above the Middle East and Asia. This accumulation of aerosols in the Asian monsoon was discovered first in 2011. Its composition and effect, however, have been unknown so far. A European consortium of scientists has now found at this layer consists of crystalline ammonium nitrate. In the AIDA cloud chamber, climate researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) demonstrated how this substance is formed in the upper troposphere. The results are reported in Nature Geoscience.