Irvine, CA - April 22, 2020 - A new study explains how cocaine modifies functions in the brain revealing a potential target for therapies aimed at treating cocaine addiction. The study was published this week in Cell Reports.
University of Illinois at Chicago researchers report that in depressed individuals there are increased amounts of an unmodified structural protein, called tubulin, in lipid rafts -- fatty sections of a cell membrane -- compared with non-depressed individuals.
Their findings are published in the Journal of Neuroscience.
Tubulin is part of a protein complex that provides structure to cells. This complex also is involved in binding a specific protein called Gs alpha, or Gsa, which is a signaling molecule that conveys the action of neurotransmitters like serotonin.
Solid electrolyte materials consist of hundreds of thousands of small crystalline regions, called grains, with various orientations. The materials, used in fuel cells and batteries, transport ions, or charged atoms, from one electrode to the other electrode. Boundaries between the grains in the materials are known to impede the flow of ions through the electrolyte, but the exact properties that cause this resistance have remained elusive.
Carbon dioxide is the most important greenhouse gas in the atmosphere and its vertical concentration gradient is important for an accurate understanding and interpretation of global warming, the inversion of carbon sources and sinks, the calibration and validation of atmospheric transport models, and remote sensing measurements.
Bats play a huge but poorly understood role in humans' lives--they pollinate our crops, eat disease-carrying mosquitos, and carry diseases themselves. But we know next to nothing about most of these animals. There are more than 1,400 species of bats, and 25% of them have only been recognized by scientists in the last 15 years. For most bats, we don't really know how they evolved, where they live, and how they interact with the world around them.
Using electronic devices for too long can cause them to overheat, which might slow them down, damage their components or even make them explode or catch fire. Now, researchers reporting in ACS' Nano Letters have developed a hydrogel that can both cool down electronics, such as cell phone batteries, and convert their waste heat into electricity.
NEWPORT, Ore. - Feeding at the ocean's surface appears to play an important role in New Zealand blue whales' foraging strategy, allowing them to optimize their energy use, Oregon State University researchers suggest in a new study.
Mobility is a key parameter for semiconductor performance and relates to how quickly and easily electrons can move inside a substance. Researchers have achieved the highest mobility among thin films of tin dioxide ever reported. This high mobility could allow engineers to create thin and even transparent tin dioxide semiconductors for use in next-generation LED lights, photovoltaic solar panels or touch-sensitive display technologies.
A pencil shaped semiconductor, measuring only a few hundred nanometers in diameter, is what researches from the Center for Quantum Devices, Niels Bohr Institute, at University of Copenhagen, in collaboration with Microsoft Quantum researchers, have used to uncover a new route to topological superconductivity and Majorana zero modes in a study recently published in Science.
Straw incorporation--shredding and burying straws--has been widely promoted as an environmentally friendly method to increase soil organic carbon stocks and improve soil fertility. Scientists have also found crop straw incorporation could help reduce ammonia volatilization from fertilized fields, which contributes to the formation of fine particles thereby resulting in serious air pollution. Still, scientists are not clear about the long-term effects, e.g.