Forum for Science, Industry and Business

Team joins national network focused on neurodegenerative disorders

A new computational model developed by researchers from The City College of New York and Yale gives a clearer picture of the structure and mechanics of soft, shape-changing cells that could provide a better understanding of cancerous tumor growth, wound healing, and embryonic development.

Pain is a negative feeling that we want to get rid of as soon as possible. In order to protect our bodies, we react for example by withdrawing the hand. This action is usually understood as the consequence of the perception of pain. A team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has now shown that perception, the impulse to act and provision of energy to do so take place in the brain simultaneously and not, as was expected, one after the other.

Cell biologists at the University of Münster have developed a new method for measuring how mechanical forces in cells are processed. The results have been published in the journal “Nature Communications”.

Chemists at Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany) synthesise molecule as possible component for quantum computers

Traumatic experiences can become deeply entrenched in a person's memory. How can fears following a traumatic event be reduced in the long term and prevented from becoming a permanent stress-related disorder? Researchers at the Mainz University Medical Center have recently shed new light on these questions. The key to their approach lies in firmly anchoring new, positive experiences in the person's memory. As in classical treatment, traumatized patients would first have to be exposed to their fear-inducing stimuli to learn that these stimuli are often harmless. This experience would then be made durable using a safe and simple drug treatment.

New study by the University of Konstanz: Animals are much better at smelling a complex “soup” of odorants rather than a single pure ingredient

Retrofitting with modern emitters simplifies polymer coating

A research team from the University of Zurich has developed a new drone that can retract its propeller arms in flight and make itself small to fit through narrow gaps and holes. This is particularly useful when searching for victims of natural disasters.

University of Konstanz chemist Professor Stefan Mecking publishes a new catalysis concept for obtaining polyester from castor oil

It is a general consensus that understanding of the normal state is a pre-requisite for understanding the superconductivity mechanism.

Key advance for future topological transistors

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a method for evaluating and selecting optimal antenna designs for future fifth-generation (5G) cellphones, other wireless devices and base stations.

Immunotherapy has proved effective in treating a number of cancers, but brain tumors have remained stubbornly resistant. Now, a new study suggests that a slow-growing brain tumor arising in patients affected by neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) may be vulnerable to immunotherapy, which gives the immune system a boost in fighting cancer.

Understanding structure of human TIM-3 provides new insights for cancer and autoimmune drug development

A team of researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, and Aarhus University in Denmark has developed an algorithm for predicting the effect of an external electromagnetic field on the state of complex molecules. The algorithm, which is based on a theory developed earlier by the same team, predicts tunneling ionization rates of molecules. This refers to the probability that an electron will bypass the potential barrier and escape from its parent molecule. The new algorithm, presented in a paper in the Journal of Chemical Physics, enables researchers to look inside large polyatomic molecules, observe and potentially control electron motion therein.

Observations made by the spacecraft during its approach of Bennu reveal that that the asteroid interacted with water in its early history and is an excellent specimen for the mission, which is slated to return a sample of surface material to Earth in 2023

Nature is one of the beneficiaries of climate protection measures, among which bioenergy has long been touted as a potential savior. However, to reach the 1.5 degree goal, bioenergy crops will have to be cultivated on a large scale. New models show that this will lead to the destruction of more habitats of vertebrate species than would benefit from lessened climate change effects. The study by researchers from the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, the Technical University Munich and the Durham University is published this week in “PNAS.” The presumed advantages of such climate protection measures would thus be of no benefit to biodiversity.

Two types of cells are active in the brain: nerve cells and glial cells. The latter have long been regarded primarily as supportive cells, but it is increasingly recognized that they play an active role in the communication between neurons in the brain. What is more, according to current research, glial cells are also involved in the development of neurodegenerative diseases. A research team led by Prof. Benedikt Berninger of the Institute of Physiological Chemistry at the Mainz University Medical Center has now produced new findings that may also help identifying what goes awry with glia in neurodegeneration. They studied how glial cells develop in the brain from neural precursor cells.

The ammonia oxidizing archaea, or Thaumarchaeota, are amongst the most abundant marine microorganisms. Yet, we are still discovering which factors allow them to thrive in the ocean. A research team from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen and the University of Vienna was now able to show that marine Thaumarchaeota have a broader metabolism than previously thought. The results are published in the journal Nature Microbiology.

Mirrored slides now allow significantly sharper images / 20x better resolution than an ordinary light microscope - Scientists at the University of Würzburg have been able to boost current super-resolution microscopy by a novel tweak. They coated the glass cover slip as part of the sample carrier with tailor-made biocompatible nanosheets that create a "mirror effect". This method shows that localizing single emitters in front of a metal-dielectric coating leads to higher precision, brightness and contrast in Single Molecule Localization Microscopy (SMLM). The study was published in the Nature journal "Light: Science and Applications".

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have used nuclear resonance vibrational spectroscopy to probe the hydrogen bonds that modulate the chemical reactivity of enzymes, catalysts and biomimetic complexes. The technique could lead to the development of better catalysts for use in a wide range of fields. The findings were published as a "Very Important Paper" in the Dec. 3 issue of Angewandte Chemie and featured on the journal's back cover.

ETRI successfully exchanged quantum information on daylight in a free-space quantum key distribution