Tech

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- In pharmacology, not all molecular structures are created equal. Some frameworks are overrepresented in nature, making them especially attractive to scientists on the hunt for more effective drugs.

One such structure, known to scientists as the carbocyclic 5-8-5 fused ring system, is notoriously difficult to produce using conventional laboratory methods, and researchers have therefore been largely unable to tap into its potentially broad therapeutic potential.

Analysing nearly four decades of archive footage from the Tour of Flanders, researchers from Ghent University have been able to detect climate change impacts on trees. Their findings were published today in the journal Methods in Ecology and Evolution.

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), known as chytrid fungus, has long been known to cause the decline and extinction of numerous species of frogs, toads, salamanders and other amphibians on several continents.

Chytrid is found around the world, but until recently it has been unclear where the pathogen originated. New research has now traced its source to East Asia.

Barcelona, 3 July 2018: An add-on treatment commonly offered to female IVF patients to improve their chance of success has been shown in a large randomised trial to be of no value. "Endometrial scratch", a technique whereby a small scratch or tissue biopsy is made to the lining of the uterus prior to IVF, was associated with no improvements in pregnancy or live birth rates, and should, say an international team of investigators, be abandoned as a procedure by fertility clinics.

A biological switch that reliably turns protein expression on at will has been invented by University of Bath and Cardiff University scientists. The switch enables control of genome editing tools that might one day regulate cascades of desired genetic changes through entire populations.

This new switching method should work for any protein in any species and uses a cheap, non-toxic amino acid as the control switch - the 'on' mode requires the presence of an amino acid called BOC.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - One in 10 youth experience dating violence. They've been purposely hit, slapped or hurt while in a relationship -- actions that can impart long-lasting effects on the victim.

But just one session of a behavioral intervention held in the emergency department to reduce underage drinking also significantly reduced dating violence perpetration and depression symptoms.

As a physical system undergoes a phase transition, it typically becomes more --- or, less --- ordered. For instance, when a piece of iron is heated to above the Curie temperature, the strong ferromagnetic alignment of the elementary magnetic dipole moments gives way to much weaker paramagnetic alignment. Such changes are well described in the general framework of order parameters, provided by the Landau theory of phase transitions. However, many materials of current fundamental and technological interest are characterised by more than one order parameter.

Most of the human brain's estimated 86 billion nerve cells, or neurons, can ultimately engage in a two-way dialogue with any other neuron. To shed more light on how neurons in this labyrinthine network integrate information - that is, precisely how multiple neurons send and combine their messages to a target neuron - a team of researchers at BIDMC and Boston Children's Hospital (BCH) focused on a rare case in which information only travels in one direction: from the retina to the brain.

While current training for food safety and sanitation usually incorporates high-technology presentations, such as videos and slide shows, there is still a need for low-tech approaches, according to Penn State researchers.

For unique audiences, such as employees of small-scale dairies that produce artisan cheeses, old-school teaching strategies that do not require electricity may work best. Workers in this sector need to be better trained because of the inherent food-safety risks associated with producing specialty cheeses -- mostly from raw milk.

Chemical engineers at Rice University and Pennsylvania State University have shown that combining machine learning and quantum chemistry can save time and expense in designing new catalysts.

The next time you see your favorite collegiate athlete on the field or court, think again about their road to getting there.

That is something Clio Andris, assistant professor of geography at Penn State, has spent the past several years piecing together. Her findings were published in The Professional Geographer.

Infrared NASA satellite imagery provided cloud top temperatures of thunderstorms that make up Tropical Storm Emilia. Comparing those NASA temperature readings with another satellite's data obtained the following day, forecasters determined that Emilia had strengthened.

When the Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite passed over the Northwestern Pacific Ocean, it saw very heavy rainfall occurring in one part of Tropical Storm Prapiroon.

Tropical Depression 09W was located east of the Philippines when it was upgraded early today, June 29, to Tropical Storm Prapiroon. The tropical storm is in a favorable environment for intensification. Vertical wind shear is low above the tropical cyclone and sea surface temperatures are warm below.

(SACRAMENTO) -- Using catheter-based ablation instead of medications alone reduces the risks of death and stroke in patients with the common form of heart arrhythmia known as atrial fibrillation, or AFib, new research from UC Davis physicians shows.

Ablation is currently only recommended when AFib medications don't work or aren't well tolerated.