Researchers at the University of Bonn show how machine learning improves the evaluation of blood analysis data. The presence of cancer of the lymphatic system is often determined by analyzing samples from the blood or bone marrow. A team led by Prof. Dr. Peter Krawitz from the University of Bonn had already shown in 2020 that artificial intelligence can help with the diagnosis of such lymphomas and leukemias. The technology fully utilizes the potential of all measurement values and increases…
Lab tests show promise for reducing jet noise in commercial and military aviation. Aerospace engineers at the University of Cincinnati have come up with a new nozzle design for F-18 fighter planes to dampen the deafening roar of the engines without hindering performance. Distinguished professor Ephraim Gutmark, an Ohio Eminent Scholar, and his students in UC’s College of Engineering and Applied Science designed and tested the new nozzles on 1/28th-scale jet engines in his aeroacoustics lab. The interior of the…
Cells are characterized to be stable yet highly flexible. They constantly modify their shape and even move through tissue. These vital properties are based on a dynamically organized network of branched actin filaments, which generates pushing forces to move the cell membrane. An interdisciplinary team lead by Peter Bieling and Stefan Raunser from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology (MPI) in Dortmund has now revealed a previously unknown mechanism, explaining how stopping the growth of older actin filaments within…
In order to counter the increasing threat posed by multi-drug resistant germs, we need to understand how their resistance mechanisms work. Transport proteins have an important role to play in this process. In an article published in the journal Nature Communications, a German/UK research team led by Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) has now described the three-dimensional structure of transport protein Pdr5, found also in a similar form in pathogenic fungi. The results could help develop mechanisms to combat dangerous…
Using radicalized NOX derivatives supported on metal oxides. NOX is fused with oxygen on a metal oxide surface and forms supported NO3- acting as a decomposer (NO3 radical) of an aqueous pollutant upon radicalization. NOX (X=1 or 2) emitted from stationery/mobile sources are conventionally deemed as notorious, anthropogenic precursors of ultrafine particulate matters (PM2.5) because NOX can undergo a series of SO2-assisted photochemical transformative stages to finally evolve PM2.5 functioning as an air pollutant. Recently, a research group in South…
… Twisting to the light of nanoparticles. Physicists at the University of Bath iin the UK observe a new physical effect in chiral (twisted) nanoparticles. Physics researchers at the University of Bath in the UK discover a new physical effect relating to the interactions between light and twisted materials – an effect that is likely to have implications for emerging new nanotechnologies in communications, nanorobotics and ultra-thin optical components. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Italian master craftsman Antonio…
Scientists take a closer look inside the perfect fluid. Berkeley Lab research brings us closer to understanding how our universe began. Scientists have reported new clues to solving a cosmic conundrum: How the quark-gluon plasma – nature’s perfect fluid – evolved into matter. A few millionths of a second after the Big Bang, the early universe took on a strange new state: a subatomic soup called the quark-gluon plasma. And just 15 years ago, an international team including researchers from…
Researchers have developed a new method to measure force and atomic bonds at the nanoscale that reveals that the speed of sound depends on the structure it is travelling through. Scientists from the University of Nottingham and Loughborough University used a measurement method called picosecond ultrasonics, similar to medical ultrasound, to measure the strength of atom bonding within material. Their research has been published in Advanced Functional Materials. Force is fundamental to everything in daily life. From as large-scale as gravitational…
A UCLA-led team of engineers and chemists has taken a major step forward in the development of microbial fuel cells — a technology that utilizes natural bacteria to extract electrons from organic matter in wastewater to generate electrical currents. A study detailing the breakthrough was recently published in Science. “Living energy-recovery systems utilizing bacteria found in wastewater offer a one-two punch for environmental sustainability efforts,” said co-corresponding author Yu Huang, a professor and chair of the Materials Science and Engineering Department at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering. “The natural populations of bacteria can…
When it comes to cancer, clarity is key. The ability to visualize cancerous tumors and metastatic tissue three dimensionally (3D) can help clinicians diagnose the precise type and stage of cancer, while also informing the best treatment methods. To obtain an even clearer tissue for imaging, a research team based in Japan has tested the effectiveness of specialized hydrogels. Acting as a 3D molecular network, these hydrogels can rapidly remove fats from tissues, which are a factor in tissue opacification,…
Assessing potential coronavirus drug targets in organoids. Researchers from the group of Hans Clevers in collaboration with the group of Bart Haagmans (Erasmus MC) established an organoid biobank to search for the genes that are essential for the spreading of a SARS-CoV2 infection. Their study was published in Nature Communications on 17 September and highlights the usefulness of organoids for basic research into coronaviruses, as well as highlighting potential drug targets. Organoids are tiny 3D structures grown from stem cells…
Quickly and precisely determining the flavor profile of cocoa samples. Because a plethora of flavor compounds contribute to the distinctive taste of cocoa, its composition is difficult to analyze. Now, scientists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Leibniz Institute of Food Systems Biology (LSB) have developed a new methodology that quickly, easily, and precisely quantifies the flavor profile of cocoa samples. The new method is already suitable for practical use in companies and can be applied at…
– new particles of negative mass discovered. Physicists from the University of Regensburg publish results in the internationally renowned journal “Nature Communications” A large international research collaboration led by Dr Kai-Qiang Lin and Professor John Lupton from the Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics at the University of Regensburg has been able to measure the effect of electrons with negative mass in novel semiconductor nanostructures. The international team includes scientists from Berkeley and Yale (USA), Cambridge (England) and Tsukuba (Japan)….
Mushballs – giant, slushy hailstones made from a mixture of ammonia and water – may be responsible for an atmospheric anomaly at Neptune and Uranus that has been puzzling scientists. A study presented by Tristan Guillot at the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 2021 shows that mushballs could be highly effective at carrying ammonia deep into the ice giants’ atmospheres, hiding the gas from detection beneath opaque clouds. Recently, remote observations at infrared and radio wavelengths have shown that Uranus and…
A research group led by Prof. XIAO Jianping from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and their collaborators synthesized a single-atom Pb-alloyed Cu catalyst (Pb1Cu), which showed high activity for the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) with a selectivity of 96% to formate and stability of up to 180 h at 100 mA cm-2. This study was published in Nature Nanotechnology on Sept. 16. The researchers reported multi-path for CO2 reduction to formate, namely…
Inspired by a kind of tree leaf, scientists at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) discovered that the spreading direction of different liquids deposited on the same surface can be steered, solving a challenge that has remained for over two centuries. This breakthrough could ignite a new wave of using 3D surface structures for intelligent liquid manipulation with profound implications for various scientific and industrial applications, such as fluidics design and heat transfer enhancement. Led by Professor Wang Zuankai, Chair…