Tech
A soil scientist from RUDN University studied the effect of forest conversion on the properties of the soil: its acidity, carbon and nitrogen resources, bacterial composition, and the activity of microorganisms. The study can help improve the methods of soil cultivation after deforestation, namely, select the best fertilizers, prevent erosion, slow down nutrient depletion, and balance the composition of the bacterial community. The results of the study were published in the Forest Ecology and Management journal.
(Boston)-- A substantial minority of participants from the Framingham Heart Study, (nearly nine percent), had potentially clinically significant liver fibrosis (scarring). This the first study of this size and scale done in the United States.
"Before this study, we did not know how common asymptomatic liver fibrosis (scarring) was among adults living in the community," said corresponding author Michelle T. Long, MD, Msc, assistant professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM).
Oceanic lithosphere descends into Earth's mantle as subducting slabs. Boundaries between the subducting slab and the surrounding mantle are defined as slab interfaces, whose seismic imaging is the key to understanding slab dynamics in the mantle. However, the existence of slab interfaces below 200 km remains elusive.
Prof. CHEN Qifu's group from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGGCAS) and their collaborators observed two distinct seismic discontinuities within the mantle transition zone (~410 km to 660 km) beneath the western Pacific.
The properties of synthesised magnets can be changed and controlled by charge currents as suggested by a study and simulations conducted by physicists at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and Central South University in China. In the journal "Nature Communications", the team reports on how magnets and magnetic signals can be coupled more effectively and steered by electric fields. This could result in new, environmentally friendly concepts for efficient communication and data processing.
The treatment of seawater, including its large-scale desalination, is a major challenge for our society. Reverse osmosis[1] is one of the most widely used techniques for the desalination of water. Some of the membranes currently used are artificial channels of water[2] inserted into lipid layers. But their large-scale performance is not satisfactory under real osmotic pressure and salinity conditions.
Bacteria are single-celled organisms that are essential to human health, both in our environment and inside our own bodies. However, certain bacterial species can make us sick.
As agriculture in the United States evolves, it's becoming more intensive and less complex. That means larger fields, more cropland and less crop diversity with fewer crops in rotation.
Ecological theory generally holds that diversity promotes stability in biological systems. Ashley Larsen, an assistant professor at UC Santa Barbara's Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, was curious how these tenets translate to agricultural landscapes, particularly with respect to crop pests.
Lessons on healthy feeding practices delivered to young mothers through a brief home-visiting intervention put Native American infants on a healthier growth trajectory, lowering their risks for obesity, according to a study from researchers at the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health at the Bloomberg School of Public Health.
A genetic disposition that plays a role in the development of the heart in the embryo also appears to play a key role in the human immune system. This is shown by a recent study led by the University of Bonn (Germany). When the gene is not active enough, the immune defense system undergoes characteristic changes, causing it to lose its effectiveness. Doctors speak of an aging immune system, as a similar effect can often be observed in older people. In the medium term, the results may contribute to reduce these age-related losses.
Female banded mongooses lead their groups into fights then try to mate with enemy males in the chaos of battle, new research shows.
Mongooses rarely leave the group into which they are born, meaning members are usually genetically related - and the new study reveals how females get round the problem of inbreeding.
The research team - led by the University of Exeter and the University of Cambridge - say females start fights for the genetic benefits of finding unrelated males.
Meanwhile, males bear the costs of these fights, in which injuries and deaths are common.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Sensors that monitor a patient's condition during and after medical procedures can be expensive, uncomfortable and even dangerous. Now, an international team of researchers has designed a highly sensitive flexible gas sensor that can be implanted in the body -- and, after it's no longer needed, safely biodegrade into materials that are absorbed by the body.
Abu Dhabi - One critical barrier in efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic has been the relatively high false-negative rate of the most commonly-used Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) testing methods.
Rochester Institute of Technology scientists have developed new simulations of black holes with widely varying masses merging that could help power the next generation of gravitational wave detectors. RIT Professor Carlos Lousto and Research Associate James Healy from RIT's School of Mathematical Sciences outline these record-breaking simulations in a new Physical Review Letters paper.
CLEMSON, South Carolina - Groundbreaking science is often the result of true collaboration, with researchers in a variety of fields, viewpoints and experiences coming together in a unique way. One such effort by Clemson University researchers has led to a discovery that could change the way the science of thermoelectrics moves forward.
DALLAS, Nov. 9, 2020 -- The more secondhand tobacco smoke children breathe at home while growing up, the higher chance they have of developing markers of decreased heart function as adults, according to preliminary research to be presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2020. The meeting will be held virtually, Friday, November 13 - Tuesday, November 17, 2020, and is a premier global exchange of the latest scientific advancements, research and evidence-based clinical practice updates in cardiovascular science for health care worldwide.