The first documented discovery of "extreme corals" in mangrove lagoons around Australia's Great Barrier Reef is yielding important information about how corals deal with environmental stress, scientists say. Thirty four species of coral were found to be regularly exposed to extreme low pH, low oxygen and highly variable temperature conditions making two mangrove lagoons on the Woody Isles and Howick Island potential "hot-spots" of coral resilience.
PHILADELPHIA - Blocking a kinase known as CDK7 sets off a chain reaction that results in the death of prostate cancer cells that have spread and are resistant to standard therapies, according to a new study from researchers in the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania. The team identified the role of CDK7 as the on/off switch that controls Med-1, a process that works in partnership with the androgen receptor to drive prostate cancer growth. Researchers show turning the switch off eventually leads to the death of cancer cells in mice.
Researchers have come one step closer to understanding how our immune system responds to acute dengue fever, a disease that has affected hundreds of thousands of people in Southeast Asia this summer alone. In a study published today in Nature Communications, researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Duke-NUS Medical School show that so-called natural killer cells were especially active shortly after an infection. The discovery could hopefully contribute to the development of new vaccines and improve care of patients with acute infections.
By combining two powerful technologies, scientists are taking diabetes research to a whole new level. In a study led by Harvard University's Kevin Kit Parker, microfluidics and human, insulin-producing beta cells have been integrated in an "Islet-on-a-Chip". The new device makes it easier for scientists to screen insulin-producing cells before transplanting them into a patient, test insulin-stimulating compounds, and study the fundamental biology of diabetes.
Photoconduction, where an insulating material exhibits a semiconducting property under photoirradiation, was found in 1873, and is now applied in various devices including optical sensors, CCD cameras, remote controllers and solar cells. This long-known important phenomenon has a weak point; it cannot produce high conduction metallic substances. Metallic conduction is more suitable or advantageous for application in electronic devices, because it consumes less energy than semiconductors.
DGIST announced that Professor Jong Kyong Kim's team in the Department of New Biology participated in a joint research by South Korea, Austria, and the United Kingdom and discovered the characteristics of gastric isthmus stem cells. The results are drawing huge attention for their applicability in identifying the causes of gastrointestinal disorders and cancer as well as in developing treatments.
Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in Germany, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg in South Africa and the University of Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania, succeeded in using cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) as a substitute for petroleum in organic synthesis. Their aim was the development of a sustainable synthesis of soluble organic UV filters.
Soft robots are a class of robotic systems made of compliant materials and capable of safely adapting to complex environments. They have seen rapid growth recently and come in a variety of designs spanning multiple length scales, from meters to submicrometers.
In particular, small soft robots at millimeter scale are of practical interest as they can be designed as a combination of miniature actuators simply driven by pneumatic pressure. They are also well suited for navigation in confined areas and manipulation of small objects.
The quantum internet promises absolutely tap-proof communication and powerful distributed sensor networks for new science and technology. However, because quantum information cannot be copied, it is not possible to send this information over a classical network. Quantum information must be transmitted by quantum particles, and special interfaces are required for this. The Innsbruck-based experimental physicist Ben Lanyon, who was awarded the Austrian START Prize in 2015 for his research, is researching these important intersections of a future quantum Internet.
On August 21, Korea Brain Research Institute (KBRI, President Pann-Ghill Suh) announced that a team led by principal researcher Lim Hyun-Ho discovered a new 3D structure and mechanism of membrane protein which causes epilepsy and muscle problems.
The study results were published in the August issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), an international journal with the paper name and authors as follows.