Posts

The new compounds work by inhibiting the function of a viral enzyme, called reverse transcriptase, which is essential for HIV replication. The researchers report in the online journal eLife that high resolution images of viral crystal structures reveal the new inhibitors bind to both the “wild-type” and the mutant forms of the reverse transcriptase. Examinations of the structures and results from biochemical assays show that the new reverse transcriptase inhibitors, “were better able to adopt their shapes’’ to bind to mutant HIV reverse transcriptase than existing agents, said Yang Yang, a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Yale professor and Nobel laureate Thomas A....

Yeast cells and human immune system cells use remarkably similar chemical reactions to choose when to grow. Researchers at the University of Arizona have discovered minute differences between the two cell types that may encourage the creation of antifungal drugs that may target disease-causing yeasts in the body while protecting the immune system. Their research, which was published in the journal eLife, not only has ramifications for drug development but also sheds light on how an ancient growth control pathway that is present in all multicellular organisms evolved through time....

“We show that mutual learning of both the user and the brain-machine interface algorithm are both important for users to successfully operate such wheelchairs,” says José del R. Millán, the study’s corresponding author at The University of Texas at Austin. “Our research highlights a potential pathway for improved clinical translation of non-invasive brain-machine interface technology.” Millán and his colleagues recruited three tetraplegic people for the longitudinal study. Each of the participants underwent training sessions three times per week for 2 to 5 months....

Researchers have discovered a novel biomarker to identify male COVID-19 patients most at risk for ICU admission. The findings presented today at EADV’s 2021 Spring Symposium, suggest that men with genetic characteristics (phenotypes) sensitive to the male sex hormone androgen, are more likely to experience severe COVID-19 disease. Researchers were driven to study the association between the androgen receptor (AR) gene and COVID-19, after observing the disproportionate number of men hospitalized with COVID-19 presenting with androgenetic alopecia (a common form of hair-loss) compared to the expected number in a similar age-matched population (79% vs....

One in seven cancer patients around the world have missed out on potentially life-saving operations during COVID-19 lockdowns, a new study reveals. Planned cancer surgery was affected by lockdowns regardless of the local COVID-19 rates at that time, with patients in lower-income countries at highest risk of missing their surgery. Whilst lockdowns have been essential in protecting the general public from spreading infection, they have had a collateral impact on care for other patients and health conditions....

The final results will be announced in March, but the preliminary findings are worrisome to scientists. The survey team spotted fewer than half of the N. p. asiaeorientalis that were seen during a similar fact-finding expedition in 2006 that found 1,225 living in the river¹. N. p. asiaeorientalis is doing much worse than previously thought. N. p. asiaeorientalis is one of the few extant freshwater cetaceans and it is only found in the Yangtze, as well as two adjoining lakes, the Poyang and the Dongting....

While the end-Cretaceous impact nearly 66 million years ago was catastrophic for terrestrial ecosystems worldwide, its long-term effects on tropical forests have remained a mystery. This is largely due to the lack of paleobotanical exploration in the region, which has only just begun to provide the data needed to evaluate these questions. Mónica Carvalho and colleagues used fossil pollen and leaves recovered from Colombia to characterize how the impact changed South American tropical forests, finding large-scale changes in species composition and forest structure....

The middle of the Earth’s oceans are filled with vast systems of rotating currents known as subtropical gyres. These regions occupy 40% of the Earth’s surface and have long been considered remarkably stable biological deserts, with little variation in chemical makeup or the nutrients needed to sustain life. However, there exists a strange anomaly in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre ecosystem that has puzzled scientists for years. In this region that occupies the Pacific Ocean between China and the United States, the chemistry changes periodically....

The fictitious impact scenario will occur during the 7th IAA Planetary Defense Conference, hosted by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs in cooperation with the European Space Agency, and will evolve over the five days of the conference, starting Monday, April 26. At several points in the conference program, leaders of the exercise will brief participants on the latest status of the fictitious scenario and solicit feedback for next steps based on the simulated data that is “discovered” each day....

Filters have long been used to remove particles, including viruses and bacteria, from the air we breathe. Particle filters are key components of building and aircraft ventilation systems. Unfortunately, viruses are much smaller than the smallest particles those filters typically capture reliably. One possibility for curbing the spread of airborne pathogens is a nonthermal plasma reactor. Plasma is the fourth state of matter, a gas composed of electrically charged ions and electrons rather than neutral atoms and molecules....

Humans in the 21st century spend most of their time indoors, but the air we breathe inside buildings is not regulated to the same degree as the food we eat and the water we drink. A group of 39 researchers from 14 countries, including two from the University of Colorado Boulder, say that needs to change to reduce disease transmission and prevent the next pandemic. In a Perspectives piece published in Science on May 14, 2021, they call for a “paradigm shift” in combating airborne pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, demanding universal recognition that respiratory infections can be prevented by improving indoor ventilation systems....

Being previously infected with coronaviruses that cause the “common cold” may decrease the severity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infections, according to the results of a new study. Led by researchers at Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine, the study also demonstrates that the immunity built up from previous non-SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infections does not prevent individuals from getting COVID-19. Published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the findings provide important insight into the immune response against SARS-CoV-2, which could have significant implications on COVID-19 vaccine development....

But a new study published today (January 10, 2020) in Scientific Reports, suggests Columbus may have been telling the truth. Using the equivalent of facial recognition technology, researchers analyzed the skulls of early Caribbean inhabitants, uncovering relationships between people groups and upending longstanding hypotheses about how the islands were first colonized. One surprising finding was that the Caribs, marauders from South America and rumored cannibals, invaded Jamaica, Hispaniola and the Bahamas, overturning half a century of assumptions that they never made it farther north than Guadeloupe....

Proba-2 is the second spacecraft of a series, building on nearly eight years of successful Proba-1 experience. Proba stands for PRoject for OnBoard Autonomy. The Proba satellites are among the smallest ever to be flown by the European Space Agency (ESA), but they are making a big impact in space technology. A solar eclipse is caused by the movement of the Moon around Earth. Despite their much different sizes, due to their separation, the Moon appears to be about the same size as the significantly larger Sun in the sky....

No vaccines exist that protect people against infections by coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, or the ones that cause SARS and MERS. As COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc, many labs around the world have developed a laser-like focus on understanding the virus and finding the best strategy for stopping it. This week in mBio, a journal of the American Society of Microbiology, a team of interdisciplinary researchers describes a promising vaccine candidate against the MERS virus....

As today’s technologies become more and more integrated in our daily lives, the need for more computational power is ever increasing. Because of this increase, the energy use of that increasing computational power is growing immensely. For example, so much energy is used by modern day data centers that some are built near rivers so that the flowing water can be used to cool the machinery. “The digital communications infrastructure that supports the Information Age that we live in today currently uses approximately 10% of the global electricity....

Extensive research has linked regular physical exercise to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and early mortality. Adults should engage in at least 150–300 minutes of moderate physical activity or 75–150 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week, or an equivalent combination of both intensities, according to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans published by the US Department of Health and Human Services in 2018. Currently, the American Heart Association recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise, or a mix of the two, every week....

Queensland University of Technology (QUT) researchers have come up with a new, safe way to clean up oil spills using compounds equally useful as common household cleaning products. Oil spills pollute oceans, rivers, and coastlines around the globeCleaning up oil spills quickly is vital to saving the environment and ecosystems they occur inA new foam invented by QUT could be the answer to suck up the oil at speedThe key ingredient may also be added into paper towels for better household cleaning...

Reported in the Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, the production of pure polymeric nitrogen — polynitrogen — is possible by zapping a compound called sodium azide with a jet of plasma in the middle of a super-cooling cloud of liquid nitrogen. The result is six nitrogen atoms bonded together — a compound called ionic, or neutral, nitrogen-six — that is predicted to be an extremely energy-dense material. “Polynitrogen is being explored for use as a ‘green’ fuel source, for energy storage, or as an explosive,” said Danil Dobrynin, Ph....

In a study that required more than 400 computer simulations of platelet-matrix composite materials like mother-of-pearl, Rice materials scientist Rouzbeh Shahsavari and visiting scholar Shafee Farzanian developed a design map to help with the synthesis of staggered composites for applications at any scale, from microelectronics to cars to spacecraft, where lightweight, multifunctional structural composites are key. The model integrates the geometries and properties of various platelet and matrix components to compute the composite’s strength, toughness, stiffness and fracture strain....