Curated News: PNAS

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NIBIB-funded researchers have used fast fMR Ito image rapidly fluctuating brain activity during human thought. fMRI measures changes in blood oxygenation, which were previously thought to be too slow to detect the subtle neuronal activity associated with higher order brain functions. The new discovery is a significant step towards realizing a central goal of neuroscience research: mapping the brain networks responsible for human cognitive functions such as perception, attention, and awareness.

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In research conducted in Michigan Tech’s cloud chamber, Physics Professors Raymond Shaw, Will Cantrell and colleagues found that cleaner clouds also have a much wider variability in droplet size. And the way those droplets form could have serious implications for weather and climate change.

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An Iowa State University veterinary research team has discovered the specific genetic mutations that make Campylobacter jejuni such a virulent strain of bacteria in ruminant animals such as sheep and cattle. The research could lead to a vaccine or new ways to control the bacteria.

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In the largest study of its kind, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers and colleagues in Europe identified a gene variant that suppresses the desire to drink alcohol.

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Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis isolated an enzyme that controls the levels of two plant hormones simultaneously, linking the molecular pathways for growth and defense. Similar to animals, plants have evolved small molecules called hormones to control key events such as growth, reproduction and responses to infections.

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If you could watch a molecule of medicine attaching to a cell receptor in extreme slow motion, they would look something like a space ship docking with a space station -- some twists, turns, sputters then locking together tight. With a new improvement to atomic force microscopy by Georgia Tech engineers, seeing this kind of detail is more likely to become possible.

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A new study explains brain mechanisms associated to the lack of sensitivity to music.

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It has long been known to science that women find it easier than men to multitask and switch between tasks. But identifying exactly which areas of male and female brains respond differently and why has so far been unclear.

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The research team around Anton Zeilinger has succeeded in breaking two novel records while experimenting with so-called twisted particles of light. In one experiment, the scientists could show that the twist of light itself, i.e. the screw-like structure, is maintained over a free-space propagation of 143 kilometers, which could revolutionize future data transmission.

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Microorganisms like bacteria and archaea play an indispensable ecological role in the global geochemical cycles. A research team led by ERC prizewinner Christa Schleper from the Department of Ecogenomics and Systems Biology at the University of Vienna succeeded in isolating the first ammonia-oxidizing archaeon from soil: "Nitrososphaera viennensis" - the "spherical ammonia oxidizer from Vienna". In the current issue of the renowned journal PNAS, the scientists present new results: They were able to detect all proteins that are active during ammonia oxidation – another important piece of the puzzle for the elucidation of the energy metabolism of Archaea.

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Outbreaks of the mosquito-borne disease chikungunya appear to be driven by infections centered in and around the home, with women significantly more likely to become ill, suggests new research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Institut Pasteur in Paris and the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b).

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For the first time, scientists have prevented urinary tract infections in mice by vaccinating them with tiny molecules that UTI bacteria usually use to grab iron from their host and fuel the growth of bacteria in the bladder.

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A computer scientist at Washington University in St. Louis has developed a way to coax cells to do natural things under unnatural circumstances, which could be useful for stem cell research, gene therapy and biofuel production.Michael Brent, the Henry Edwin Sever Professor of Engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science, has designed an algorithm, called NetSurgeon, that recommends genes to surgically remove from a cell’s genome to force it to perform a normal activity in a different environment or circumstance.

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Scientists at the University of Chicago, New York University and Leiden University could eventually help create materials that resist breaking or crack in a predictable fashion. The findings, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Sept. 27, were the result of experiments and computer simulations in which researchers examined the effects of varying the rigidity of a material. Using both a simulation and artificial structures called metamaterials, they found material failure can be continuously tuned through changes in its underlying rigidity.

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A research team led by University of Washington biology professor Tom Daniel has teased out how hawkmoths integrate signals from two sensory systems: vision and touch.

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Two widely prescribed antibiotics — chloramphenicol and linezolid — may fight bacteria in a different way from what scientists and doctors thought for years, University of Illinois at Chicago researchers have found. Instead of indiscriminately stopping protein synthesis, the drugs put the brakes on the protein synthesis machinery only at specific locations in the gene.

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Studying hurricane and tropical storm development from three million years ago might give today’s forecasters a good blueprint for 21st century storms, says a team of international researchers that includes a Texas A&M University atmospheric sciences professor.

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Researchers using a mouse model of Rett Syndrome find that cortical pyramidal neurons have faults in excitatory and inhibitory signaling; and demonstrate why recombinant human Insulin Like Growth Factor 1 has had therapeutic effects for RTT patients in clinical trials.

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The indirect effects of rising CO2 levels, such as changes in soil moisture and plant structure, can have a bigger impact on ecosystems than previously thought. Understanding their importance, in comparison to the direct effects, will improve our understanding of how ecosystems respond to climate change.

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Oceanographers used tools developed for semiconductor research to get a detailed picture of a marine shell's early formation, to understand how organisms turn seawater into solid mineral.

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family of small RNA molecules affects the development of cells that give rise to the placenta – an organ that transfers oxygen and nutrients from mother to fetus – in ways that could contribute to a serious pregnancy complication, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report.

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Freshwater fish play a surprisingly crucial role in feeding some of the world’s most vulnerable people, according to a study published Monday (Oct. 24) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Researchers from the Mechanobiology Institute at the National University of Singapore have revealed the molecular events leading to the regulation of cell growth and proliferation in response to stiffness of the extracellular matrix that surrounds them.

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Some species of seabirds plunge-dive at speeds greater than 50 miles per hour to surprise their prey. In the first study on the biomechanics of this diving behavior, researchers show how the birds pull of this feat safely.

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Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a novel toolkit based on modified yeast cells to tease out how plant genes and proteins respond to auxin, the most ubiquitous plant hormone. Their system allowed them to decode auxin's basic effects on a diverse family of plant genes.

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Combining targeted radiation therapy with a neutrophil stimulant enhances anti-tumor immunity, according to new research into cancer immunology at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

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In a Perspective piece published this week in PNAS, cancer researchers from across the country, including faculty at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center, write that a greater emphasis on immune-based prevention should be central to new efforts like the federal Cancer Moonshot program, headed by Vice President Joe Biden.

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Researchers with the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center successfully developed a synthetic polymer that can transport a drug into lung cancer cells without going inside of normal lung cells.

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Using an experimental co-culture approach in which two different types of neurons from a mouse model of Huntington’s disease (HD) are grown side-by-side, connecting to form critically impacted circuits, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have identified a subunit of a protein that, when expressed, reverse the mutated gene effects responsible for HD.

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Scientists reveal conductive edges and thread-like flaws during the normal operation of molybdenum disulfide transistors using a specialized imaging technique of interest for next-generation electronics.

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A new study led by the University of Minnesota shows that monkeys in captivity lose much of their native gut bacteria diversity and their gut bacteria ends up resembling those of humans. The results suggest that switching to a low-fiber, Western diet may have the power to deplete most normal primate gut microbes in favor of a less diverse set of bacteria.

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Many popular long-term drought estimates ignore the fact that plants will be less thirsty as carbon dioxide goes up. Plants’ lower water use could roughly halve some current estimates for the extent of future drought, especially in central Africa and temperate Asia.

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Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a mysterious and maddening condition, with no cure or known cause. But researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, using a variety of techniques to identify and assess targeted metabolites in blood plasma, have identified a characteristic chemical signature for the debilitating ailment and an unexpected underlying biology: It is similar to the state of dauer, and other hypometabolic syndromes like caloric restriction, diapause and hibernation.

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A simple adjustment to patients’ therapeutic regimen may improve the effectiveness of the standard epigenetic treatment for myeloid dysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

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The goal of a polymer dielectric material with high energy density, high power density and excellent charge-discharge efficiency for electric and hybrid vehicle use has been achieved by a team of Penn State materials scientists.

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Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have created a ribozyme that can basically serve both to amplify genetic information and generate functional molecules, a big step toward the laboratory re-creation of the “RNA world,” generally believed to have preceded modern life forms based on DNA and proteins.

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New study has determined that the total number of neurons, not an enlarged prefrontal region, differentiates the human brain from those of other primates.

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Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in the U.S. With one in every four deaths occurring each year, the five-year survival rate after a heart attack is worse than most cancers. A big part of the problem is the inability of the human heart to effectively repair itself after injury. A team of University of Houston researchers is trying to change that.

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Patients with sickle cell anemia (SCA) develop heart complications and nearly a quarter die a sudden death. Now, researchers have linked malfunctioning molecular pathways to specific heart anomalies in SCA that result from progressive fibrosis and result in sudden death. A study published online this week by PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) reports the findings open a path to earlier non-invasive diagnosis and development of new targeted therapies to help SCA patients live longer with better quality of life.

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A new family of nature-inspired materials that, when placed in water, spontaneously assemble into nanotubes is the latest in the effort to use synthetic polymers to precisely build durable nanotubes that approach the complexity and function of nature’s proteins.

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Watching a video of a harmful or violent act being committed can provide useful evidence of the circumstances surrounding the action. But new research shows that watching that same video in slow motion can often cause viewers to see something that may not be there: intentionality.

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Cancer cells need oxygen to survive, as do most other life forms, but scientists had never tracked their search for oxygen in their early growth stages until now -- a step toward a deeper understanding of one way cancer spreads that could help treat the disease.

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Cancer cells need oxygen to survive, as do most other life forms, but scientists had never tracked their search for oxygen in their early growth stages until now -- a step toward a deeper understanding of one way cancer spreads that could help treat the disease.

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Researchers discovered a way to significantly improve graphene's performance in detecting noxious gases. They peppered high-quality sheets with boron impurities.

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Researchers discovered a way to significantly improve graphene's performance in detecting noxious gases. They peppered high-quality sheets with boron impurities.

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Childhood illness not linked to higher adult mortality

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Polar oceans pump organic carbon down to the deep sea about five times as efficiently as subtropical waters, because they can support larger, heavier organisms. The finding helps explain how the oceans may function under climate change.

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Two UCLA studies reveal that menopause--and the insomnia that often accompanies it --make women age faster.

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Why do we feel good about giving to charity when there is no direct benefit to ourselves, and feel bad about cheating the system? Mathematicians may have found an answer to the longstanding puzzle as to why we have evolved to cooperate.

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A study of nearly 22,000 fossils finds that ancient plankton communities began changing in important ways as much as 400,000 years before massive die-offs ensued during one of Earth’s great mass extinctions. This turmoil, in a time of ancient climate change, could hold lessons for the modern world.