Tech
Dr. Mihue Jang and her group at the Center for Theragnosis of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST, President Byung-gwon Lee) announced that they have developed a new gene editing system that could be used for anticancer immunotherapy through the simultaneous suppression of proteins that interfere with the immune system expressed on the surface of lymphoma cells* and activation of cytotoxic T lymphocyte**, based on the results of joint research conducted with Prof. Seokmann Hong and his group at Sejong University (President, Deg-hyo Bae).
Agriculture, forestry, and other types of land use account for 23% of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, yet at the same time natural land processes absorb the equivalent of almost a third of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels and industry, according to the International Panel on Climate Change, which issued the first-ever comprehensive report on land and climate interactions earlier this month. How long will the Amazon rainforest continue to act as an effective carbon sink?
To investigate the vastly unexplored oceans covering most our planet, researchers aim to build a submerged network of interconnected sensors that send data to the surface -- an underwater "internet of things." But how to supply constant power to scores of sensors designed to stay for long durations in the ocean's deep?
Different types of cognitive abilities can lead to a variety of knowledge that can help an animal to find, access, and guard food and mates. One approach to gain insight into the evolution of such cognitive abilities is by inferring cognitive performances from observed behaviours across closely related species and to compare them. By linking differences in cognitive performances with differences in current socio-ecological circumstances, hypotheses about the evolutionary pressures that contributed to the selection of these abilities can be tested.
Key research achievements
The research group in this study developed the world’s thinnest and lightest signal amplifier for bioinstrumentation and demonstrated high-precision monitoring of electrocardiac signals with reduced noise levels.
A thin and flexible organic differential amplifier that can precisely monitor weak biosignals without the user feeling any discomfort caused by the device attached to the bodies was realized.
Cutting off and then restoring blood supply to a limb following a stroke reduces tissue damage and swelling and improves functional recovery, according to a new study in mice published in JNeurosci. The simple, noninvasive technique could be developed into a treatment for stroke patients of varying severity.
The most engaging educational videos are correlated with similar brain activity across learners, according to research in young adults recently published in eNeuro.
Yi Hu and colleagues at East China Normal University showed university students two-minute introduction clips for 15 online classes and monitored their brain activity via electroencephalogram. The students ranked the clips based on their desire to learn the material and then rated how interesting and valuable the class seemed.
Since the first Homo sapiens emerged in Africa roughly 300,000 years ago, grasslands have sustained humanity and thousands of other species. But today, those grasslands are shifting beneath our feet. Global change--which includes climate change, pollution and other widespread environmental alterations--is transforming the plant species growing in them, and not always in the ways scientists expected, a new study published Monday revealed.
Too busy or lazy to read Melville's Moby Dick or Tolstoy's Anna Karenina? That's OK. Whether you read the classics, or listen to them instead, the same cognitive and emotional parts of the brain are likely to be stimulated. And now, there's a map to prove it.
Neuroscientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have created interactive maps that can predict where different categories of words activate the brain. Their latest map is focused on what happens in the brain when you read stories.
Using a cellphone to take a break during mentally challenging tasks does not allow the brain to recharge effectively and may result in poorer performance, Rutgers researchers found.
The experiment, published in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions, assigned college undergraduates to solve challenging sets of word puzzles. Halfway through, some were allowed to take breaks using their cellphones. Others took breaks using paper or a computer while some took no break at all.
MADISON, Wis. -- Just as a packaging breakdown can hamstring delivery of cables, switches and connectors to a house under construction, removing a protein from neurons can block the "shipment" of proteins to developing axons.
Axons are the telephone wires of the nervous system. They convey information to dendrites on other nerve cells, in a processing network of phenomenal complexity that is the backbone of the entire nervous system.
In 2017 there were nearly 350,000 incidents of workers taking sick leave due to injuries affecting muscles, nerves, ligaments or tendons -- like carpal tunnel syndrome -- according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Among the workers with the highest number of incidents: people who work in factories and warehouses.
Musculoskeletal disorders happen at work when people use awkward postures or perform repeated tasks. These behaviors generate strain on the body over time. So it's important to point out and minimize risky behaviors to keep workers healthy on the job.
A tiny bristle worm, wriggling around the ocean, can extend its jaw outside its mouth to ensnare its prey. The worm's shape-shifting jaw, stiff at the base and flexible at the end, is made of one singular material containing the mineral zinc and the amino acid histidine, which together govern the joint's mechanical behavior through what is known as a metal coordination chemistry.
Scientists from EPFL in Switzerland and Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Italy are developing technology for the blind that bypasses the eyeball entirely and sends messages to the brain. They do this by stimulating the optic nerve with a new type of intraneural electrode called OpticSELINE. Successfully tested in rabbits, they report their results in Nature Biomedical Engineering.
Increasing medications for blood pressure when discharging older patients from the hospital may pose a greater risk of falls, fainting and acute kidney injury that outweighs the potential benefits, according to a study by researchers at UC San Francisco and the affiliated San Francisco VA Health Care System.