MHH research team uses telomerase for oxygen detoxification in heart muscle cells. According to an estimate by the Robert Koch Institute, around 510,000 people in Germany were newly diagnosed with cancer last year. Thanks to improved therapies, cancer diseases can be treated more and more successfully – but what causes lasting damage to the tumours often also has severe side effects. The highly effective therapeutics from the group of anthracyclines, for example, prevent cancer cells from dividing. At the same…
Researchers identify an essential factor involved in the ordered recycling of phycobilisome light-harvesting structures The biological process of photosynthesis is found at the beginning of nearly all food chains. It produces oxygen to breathe and provides the energetic foundation for using biotechnological processes to synthesize biofuels and chemical feedstock. Therefore, researchers are particularly interested in rapidly growing cyanobacteria. These organisms use light as an energy source and can carry out photosynthesis, similar to plants. However, the required photosynthetic protein complexes…
New or subsequently soaked concrete components, screeds and plasters may only be coated with other materials when they have dried sufficiently. Otherwise, there is a risk that the coatings may flake off. The duration of the drying process depends on the level of moisture and the temperature and humidity on site. Material moisture meters which measure with electrical methods make it possible to assess the progress of the drying process quickly and easily. In the event of moisture damage, such…
Lasing mechanism at the surface of water droplets can be used to record mechanical changes at biointerfaces. Tiny molecular forces at the surface of water droplets can play a big role in laser output emissions. As the most fundamental matrix of life, water drives numerous essential biological activities, through interactions with biomolecules and organisms. Studying the mechanical effects of water-involved interactions contributes to the understanding of biochemical processes. According to Yu-Cheng Chen, professor of electronic engineering at Nanyang Technological University…
The Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT’s globally successful EHLA extreme high-speed laser material deposition process is not only turning heads. In the collaborative project EVEREST, the institute – along with three industrial partners – has developed process and system technology to efficiently repair and coat components and tested it on rollers. Now after successfully completing the project, the Aachen researchers want to establish the newly developed process chain in the industry. The goal is to coat long and large…
In experiments at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, an international research collaboration has measured the radius of the atomic nucleus of helium five times more precisely than ever before. With the aid of the new value, fundamental physical theories can be tested and natural constants can be determined even more precisely. For their measurements, the researchers needed muons – these particles are similar to electrons but are around 200 times heavier. PSI is the only research site in the world…
A new method provides an ultra-fast plasma switch, which temporally cuts off parts of high-frequency light flashes. Carried trillions of times faster by light waves than by sound waves, these flashes sound like birdsong and cricket songs. This understanding opens up new possibilities for optimising state-of-the-art light sources and controlling elementary motions in molecules. [Nature Communications, 28 January 2021] Ultra-short intense light or laser pulses are an important tool in modern atomic and molecular physics. They allow not only a…
New techniques allow live-observation of forming cell walls The height growth of plants is made possible by a specialized vascular system, the so called xylem, also known as wood. This network of hollow cells is a network of hollow cells with extremely strong cell walls, that wind around the cell in filigree patterns. So far, it is only partly known, how these patterns are created. Dr. René Schneider from the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology, Dr. Kris van’t…
An upsurge of matter from deep beneath the Earth’s crust could be pushing the continents of North and South America further apart from Europe and Africa, new research has found. The plates attached to the Americas are moving apart from those attached to Europe and Africa by four centimetres per year. In between these continents lies the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a site where new plates are formed and a dividing line between plates moving to the west and those moving to…
Researchers have discovered a novel and druggable insulin inhibitory receptor, named inceptor. The latest study from Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen, the Technical University of Munich and the German Center for Diabetes Research is a significant milestone for diabetes research as the scientific community celebrates 100 years of insulin and 50 years of insulin receptor discovery. The blocking of inceptor function leads to an increased sensitisation of the insulin signaling pathway in pancreatic beta cells. This might allow protection and regeneration of…
To start the process of unpacking tightly bundled genetic material, plants depend on the LEAFY pioneer protein, according to work led by biologist Doris Wagner. Cells don’t express all the genes they contain all the time. The portion of our genome that encodes eye color, for example, doesn’t need to be turned on in liver cells. In plants, genes encoding the structure of a flower can be turned off in cells that will form a leaf. These unneeded genes are…
The hormone acts as a barrier against SARS-CoV-2, blocking the expression of genes that encode proteins in cells serving as viral entry points, according to a study by researchers at the University of São Paulo. By Elton Alisson | Agência FAPESP – Melatonin synthesized in the lungs acts as a barrier against SARS-CoV-2, preventing expression of genes that encode proteins in cells such as resident macrophages in the nose and pulmonary alveoli, and epithelial cells lining the alveoli, all of which…
Researchers develop a millimeter-size flat lens for VR and AR platforms. Despite all the advances in consumer technology over the past decades, one component has remained frustratingly stagnant: the optical lens. Unlike electronic devices, which have gotten smaller and more efficient over the years, the design and underlying physics of today’s optical lenses haven’t changed much in about 3,000 years. This challenge has caused a bottleneck in the development of next-generation optical systems such as wearable displays for virtual reality,…
The electronic structure of complex molecules and their chemical reactivity can be assessed by the method of resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) at BESSY II. However, the evaluation of RIXS data has so far required very long computing times. A team at BESSY II has now developed a new simulation method that greatly accelerates this evaluation. The results can even be calculated during the experiment. Guest users could use the procedure like a black box. Molecules consisting of many atoms…
Climate change may challenge organismal responses through not only extreme cues. An uncommon combination of benign cues – warm and short days – can also trigger reactions such as misregulations of leaves. Plants and other organisms can adapt their phenotypes to fluctuating environmental conditions within certain limits. The leaves of the dandelion, for example, are much more small in sunny locations than in shady places. In the sun, less leaf area is adequate to drive sufficient photosynthesis. This makes sense…
Beauty in imperfection Scientists clarify how crystal defects in Ni-based alloys give rise to high thermoelectric conversion efficiencies, advancing thermoelectric technology. If we are to prevent the impending environmental crisis, it is imperative that we find efficient and sustainable ways to avoid being wasteful. One area with much room for improvement is the recycling of waste heat from industrial processes and technological devices into electricity. Thermoelectric materials are at the core of research in this field because they allow for…
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