Feature Channels: All Journal News

• share
• favorite_border

Biological systems can harness their living cells for growth and regeneration, but engineering systems cannot. Until now.

• share
• favorite_border

Moralities of Intelligent Machines is a project that investigates people's attitudes towards moral choices made by artificial intelligence.

• share
• favorite_border

The course and severity of COVID-19 in individual patients is largely influenced by the interaction between the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and the human immune system.

• share
• favorite_border

When you slip into sleep, it's easy to imagine that your brain shuts down, but University of Michigan research suggests that groups of neurons activated during prior learning keep humming, tattooing memories into your brain.

• share
• favorite_border

Fool the novel coronavirus once and it can’t cause infection of cells, new research suggests. Scientists have developed protein fragments that bind to the Spike protein, effectively tricking the virus into “shaking hands” with a replica rather than the receptor that lets the virus into a cell.

• share
• favorite_border

In a study released Feb. 22 in JAMA Internal Medicine researchers found that six 20-minute telephone calls over eight weeks coaching participants on how to get better sleep improved their sleep, pain, and daytime function. The improvements in sleep and daytime function persisted 12 months after treatment. One of the lead investigators who has been researching age and sleeping for 40 years offers great tips on getting better sleep. Just because you are aging, does NOT mean your sleep needs to get worse.

• share
• favorite_border

A study, “Recurrent Evolution of Vertebrate Transcription Factors by Transposase Capture,” published Feb. 19 in Science, investigates how genetic elements called transposons, or “jumping genes,” are added into the mix during evolution to assemble new genes through exon shuffling.

• share
• favorite_border

The study in mice, “A Multifaceted Cellular Damage Repair and Prevention Pathway Promotes High Level Tolerance to Beta-lactam Antibiotics,” published Feb. 3 in the journal EMBO Reports, reveals how tolerance occurs, thanks to a system that mitigates iron toxicity in bacteria that have been exposed to penicillin.

• share
• favorite_border

Many chemical processes require liquids as solvents, but the liquids often vaporize and release hazardous emissions in the process. Ionic liquids offer a solution because they have low volatility but can have melting points too high for practical use. New research used molecular simulations and experiments to demonstrate how changing the structure of ionic liquids changes their melting point.

• share
• favorite_border

When their companies face crises like disruptive changes, the way chief executive officers (CEOs) perceive or interpret the crises matter for their companies’ adaptation to the changes, according to research by a University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) associate professor of marketing.

• share
• favorite_border

In a statewide study of adults over 60 with osteoarthritis, researchers found that effective treatment for insomnia can be delivered in a few short phone calls.

• share
• favorite_border

In a study published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases, researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) describe the array of rashes seen in MIS-C patients at their hospital through late July 2020, providing photos and information that could help doctors diagnose future cases.

• share
• favorite_border

New studies using the VLA and other telescopes have added to our knowledge of what happens when a black hole shreds a star, but also have raised new questions that astronomers must tackle.

• share
• favorite_border

A new study from UCLA and Stanford University researchers finds that three-dimensional human stem cell-derived brain organoids can mature in a manner that is strikingly similar to human brain development.

• share
• favorite_border

Using laws governing human rights may be the best way of harnessing international legislation and tribunals to protect the Amazon, a new study shows.

• share
• favorite_border

Research has shown that the topology of the electronic states in a Weyl semimetal can leave fingerprints on their phonon properties. This happens because of a type of electron-phonon interaction called the Kohn anomaly that impacts how electrons screen phonons through a material. This instability can lead to new electronic properties in materials.

• share
• favorite_border

The cell membrane is the wall-like outer layer consisting primarily of lipids and proteins that separates the inside of a cell from its surrounding environment. Scientists have now used X-ray and neutron scattering techniques to develop a disc-shaped artificial membrane that shows how proteins can exhibit different properties when embedded in membranes with different lipid compositions.

• share
• favorite_border

The aim of the current study is to examine whether communities reporting an increased risk for developing mental health issues showed differential patterns of legal cannabis use as the pandemic began. A secondary goal is to examine the feasibility of using anonymized location data to uncover community consumption patterns of potential concern.

• share
• favorite_border

In an age of Zoom fatigue, it may be tempting to ditch those silly team-building activities that elicit eye-rolls and groans at many a staff meeting.

• share
• favorite_border

There are millions of unplugged oil wells in the United States, which pose a serious threat to the environment. Using drones, researchers from Binghamton University, State University of New York have developed a new method to locate these hard-to-locate and dangerous wells.

• share
• favorite_border

A recent study from Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey tested this possibility by analyzing tumor formation and p53 mutations in mice from different genetic backgrounds. Observations from this work may further elucidate the diversity of cancers in different Li-Fraumeni patients.

• share
• favorite_border

ROCKVILLE, MD – Coronaviruses exploit our cells so they can make copies of themselves inside us.

• share
• favorite_border

New findings, reported in Nature Communications, describe the discovery of a unique dependence of cancer cells on a particular protein, which could lead to desperately needed treatment for hard-to-treat cancers.

• share
• favorite_border

Automotive recalls are occurring at record levels, but seem to be announced after inexplicable delays. A research study of 48 years of auto recalls announced in the United States finds carmakers frequently wait to make their announcements until after a competitor issues a recall – even if it is unrelated to similar defects.

• share
• favorite_border

When it comes to the best leaders, a slice of humble pie might be just what the CEO ordered, as research from the University of South Australia shows that humility is a critical leadership trait for cultivating cohesive, high performing teams.

• share
• favorite_border

Home gardens are by far the biggest source of food for pollinating insects, including bees and wasps, in cities and towns, according to new research.

• share
• favorite_border

The Netherlands, United States, Australia and New Zealand are consuming the highest amounts of designer ‘party’ drugs, according to wastewater samples taken from eight countries over the New Year period.

• share
• favorite_border

Mount Sinai researchers have identified a neural pathway through which the brain detects errors and guides subsequent behavioral improvement.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers at Notre Dame found that elevated concentrations of proteins within the droplets triggered a folding event, increasing the potential for protein aggregation — or misfolding — which has been linked to neurological diseases including Alzheimer’s disease and ALS.

• share
• favorite_border

A new study looking at how COVID-19 affects people with asthma provides reassurance that having the condition doesn't increase the risk of severe illness or death from the virus.

• share
• favorite_border

The first global-scale assessment of the role ecosystems play in providing sanitation finds that nature provides at least 18% of sanitation services in 48 cities worldwide, according to researchers in the United Kingdom and India.

• share
• favorite_border

Recreational hunting -- especially hunting of charismatic species for their trophies --raises ethical and moral concerns. Yet recreational hunting is frequently suggested as a way to conserve nature and support local people's livelihoods.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers from California Polytechnic State University and University of Oregon published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that examines the potential benefits for firms and consumers of pick-your-price (PYP) over pay-what-you-want (PWYW) and fixed pricing strategies.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers at Mayo Clinic have combined results from a functional test measuring the effect of inherited variants in the BRCA2 breast and ovarian cancer gene with clinical information from women who received genetic testing to determine the clinical importance of many BRCA2 variants of uncertain significance (VUS). The findings were published today in a study in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

• share
• favorite_border

China is just one of many countries in the Northern Hemisphere having what researchers are calling an "extremely cold winter," due in part to both the tropical Pacific and the Arctic, according to an analysis of temperatures from Dec. 1, 2020, to mid-January of 2021.

• share
• favorite_border

The last complete reversal of the Earth's magnetic field, the so-called Laschamps event, took place 42,000 years ago.

• share
• favorite_border

Before life emerged on Earth, many physicochemical processes on our planet were highly chaotic.

• share
• favorite_border

Epileptic activity originating from one or more diseased brain regions in the temporal lobe is difficult to contain.

• share
• favorite_border

A research team including the geobiologist Dr. Helge Missbach from the University of Cologne has detected organic molecules and gases trapped in 3.5 billion-year-old rocks.

• share
• favorite_border

In 2019, the U.S. rolled out a new initiative aimed at ending the HIV epidemic by the year 2030. In a new analysis published in The Lancet, Carlos Rodriguez-Diaz, an Associate Professor at the George Washington University, suggests that initiative will fail unless the U.S. addresses the rising rates of HIV infection in Latinx sexual and gender minority populations.

• share
• favorite_border

In their paper “Ethics of Research at the Intersection of COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter: A Call to Action,” UIC faculty authors highlight the historical issues that impact research involving Black populations. They also provide recommendations for researchers to ethically engage Black populations in research. The article is published online in the Journal of Medical Ethics.

• share
• favorite_border

Creating “super soldiers” of specific white blood cells to boost an anti-tumour response has been shown in a series of elegant experiments by Princess Margaret researchers.

• share
• favorite_border

Parent education programs and interventions that begin shortly after the birth of a child have shown to significantly impact parenting behaviors that support social and academic engagement for children growing up in poverty.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers have identified a causal link between binge drinking and circadian clock genes in a brain region previously implicated in hazardous alcohol use. Binge drinking is a common and harmful pattern of alcohol use, responsible for more than half of alcohol-related deaths. There is already robust evidence that genes involved in controlling circadian rhythm — the body’s natural processes that follow a 24 hour light/dark cycle — are associated with hazardous drinking and alcohol abuse. However, it is not known which areas of the brain mediate the clock genes’ effects on drinking. A brain region known as the nucleus accumbens shell (NAcSh) is already noted for its role in risky drinking; the region forms part of the brain’s ‘reward system’, reinforcing the use of alcohol and other addictive substances by release of dopamine. In the new study, reported in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, scientists investigated whether clock genes in the NAcSh are involved in regulating

• share
• favorite_border

Sbarro Health Research Organization (SHRO) Founder and Director, Antonio Giordano, M.D., Ph.D., has recently published a landmark paper in collaboration with another 28 co-authors hailing from 14 different countries, as part of the GYNOCARE COST Action (CA18117).

• share
• favorite_border

Berkeley Lab researchers participated in a study that used machine learning to scan for new particles in three years of particle-collision data from CERN’s ATLAS detector.

• share
• favorite_border

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists are studying how airborne particles like COVID-19 move through the air and to identify effective countermeasures that reduce particulate exposures.

• share
• favorite_border

Experimental microbially assisted chemolithotrophy provides an opportunity to trace the putative bioalteration processes of the Martian crust. A study on the Noachian Martian breccia Northwest Africa (NWA) 7034 composed of ancient (ca. 4.5 Gyr old) crustal materials from Mars, led by ERC grantee Tetyana Milojevic from the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Vienna, now delivered a unique prototype of microbial life experimentally designed on a real Martian material. As the researchers show in the current issue of "Nature Communications Earth and Environment", this life of a pure Martian design is a rich source of Martian-relevant biosignatures.

• share
• favorite_border

A team used two DOE supercomputers to complete simulations of the full-power ITER fusion device and found that the component that removes exhaust heat from ITER may be more likely to maintain its integrity than was predicted by the current trend of fusion devices.

• share
• favorite_border

• Veterans who receive all of their post–kidney transplant care within the Veterans Health Administration (VA) have a lower risk of death than those who receive care outside the VA through Medicare coverage, according to a recent study.