Oldenburg chemical scientists publish results of three interconnected research projects. How do molecular catalysts – molecules which, like enzymes, can trigger or accelerate certain chemical reactions – function, and what effects do they have? A team of chemists at the University of Oldenburg has come closer to the answers using a model molecule that functions like a molecular nanobattery. It consists of several titanium centres linked to each other by a single layer of interconnected carbon and nitrogen atoms. The…

Leibniz Campus ComBioCat Creates the Basis for Green Chemistry. How can chemical processes for the production of commonplace chemicals be made more sustainable, environmentally friendly and economical than before? For example, without high temperatures and organic solvents? The Leibniz Institute for Catalysis in Rostock has found an answer for the industrially significant reaction of hydroformylation. The institute uses a structurally modified enzyme that catalytically controls the production of aldehydes, important basic chemicals, under mild reaction conditions. This basic research is…

Our bones have so-called mechanosensors that react to pressure and communicate with each other. “These sensors enable that bone is formed where it is mechanically necessary and broken down elsewhere,” says Richard Weinkamer from the Biomaterials Department. In their research they have come a decisive step closer to solving the mystery of where these mechanosensors are located: Hidden within a structure of canals inside the bone, a cell network “senses” external bone stress. This works by translating the mechanical loading…

Working committee particulate matter (AAF) recommends concrete countermeasures for indoor areas: masks, ventilation, air purification and overhead extraction. Aerosols and their spread play an essential role in the transmission of COVID-19. However, the risk of transmission could be significantly reduced if more could be done to reduce indoor airborne viruses. The Working committee particulate matter (AAF) has therefore issued an statement with concrete recommendations. These include window ventilation, exhaust ventilation, air purification systems and CO2 measuring devices for indoor areas…

Hope for people whose illness or injuries mean they can’t exercise. It sounds too good to be true – and it is. But Jose Bianco Moreira and the CERG research group at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) are convinced that some of the positive health effects of physical exercise can be achieved using gene therapy and medication. “We’re not talking about healthy people and everyone who can exercise. They still have to train, of course,” says Moreira….

A new machine learning approach offers important insights into catalysis, a fundamental process that makes it possible to reduce the emission of toxic exhaust gases or produce essential materials like fabric. In a report published in Nature Communications, Hongliang Xin, associate professor of chemical engineering at Virginia Tech, and his team of researchers developed a Bayesian learning model of chemisorption, or Bayeschem for short, aiming to use artificial intelligence to unlock the nature of chemical bonding at catalyst surfaces. “It…

A multi-channel recording device developed at TU Graz for pathological lung sounds and associated automatic lung sound analysis could support existing screening methods for early detection of, for example, Covid-19 infections. This now requires clinical data and interdisciplinary collaboration. They whistle, hiss and crackle. Our bodies constantly make sounds that (fortunately) are not always audible to the naked ear. The occurrence of certain noises or changes in normal sounds can be an indication of illness. Using the example of the…

Neurobiologists at the German Primate Center developed a model that for the first time can completely represent the neuronal processes from seeing to grasping an object Every day we effortlessly make countless grasping movements. We take a key in our hand, open the front door by operating the door handle, then pull it closed from the outside and lock it with the key. What is a natural matter for us is based on a complex interaction of our eyes, different…

The group of Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen has identified a gene that is partly responsible for the different patterns found in closely related Danio species, as they report in the journal Nature Communications today. The gene, Obelix, codes for a potassium channel, belonging to a class of proteins that control numerous cellular processes, which are disturbed in a number of human diseases. „[…] from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful…

That carbon nanotubes fluorescence is no longer a surprise. Finding a second level of fluorescence is surprising and potentially useful. How does it work? Wait for it. The Rice University lab of Bruce Weisman, a professor of chemistry who led the pioneering discovery of nanotube fluorescence in 2002, found that single-walled nanotubes emit a delayed secondary fluorescence when triggered by a multistep process in a solution with dye molecules and dissolved oxygen. The delay is only microseconds, but it’s enough…

How can you build neuronal networks that are more complex than anything known today? Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt, Germany, have mapped the development of inhibitory neuronal circuitry and report the discovery of distinct circuit formation principles. Their findings enable scientists to monitor the change of neuronal network structure with time, capturing moments when an individual grows and adapts to its environment. Researchers are starting to better understand the complexity of neuronal networks found…

Correctly Delivered and Integrated Heidelberg researchers determine the three-dimensional architecture of a molecular machine that inserts essential proteins into biomembranes Over a quarter of all proteins in a cell are found in the membrane, where they perform vital functions. To fulfil these roles, membrane proteins must be reliably transported from their site of production in the cell to their destination and correctly inserted into the target membrane. Researchers from the Heidelberg University Biochemistry Center (BZH) have succeeded in determining the…

The living cells of all organisms contain a cytoskeleton that stabilises their internal structure and external shape. This also applies to magnetotactic bacteria. They produce magnetic nanoparticles which are concatenated into intracellular chains and enable them to orient themselves to the Earth’s magnetic field. Microbiologists at the University of Bayreuth have now discovered a protein in the cytoskeleton of these bacteria which plays a central role in these structuring processes. The protein CcfM influences both the formation of the cellular…

Scientists discover a neuropeptide that reflects the current state of a fish’s social environment. Have you recently wondered how social-distancing and self-isolation may be affecting your brain? An international research team led by Erin Schuman from the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research discovered a brain molecule that functions as a “thermometer” for the presence of others in an animal’s environment. Zebrafish “feel” the presence of others via mechanosensation and water movements – which turns the brain hormone on. Varying…

Neurological diseases of the brain such as dementia, autism and schizophrenia are now a growing social problem. Nevertheless, studies on their definitive cause are still insufficient. Recently, a POSTECH research team has identified the mechanism in which such neurological diseases occur, thus solving the enigma to treating them. In the case of neurological diseases of the brain, problems arise when certain effects modify the synaptic plasticity and signal transmissions of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which has a profound effect…

New AI-based algorithm processes tissue oxygenation data faster and more accurately than conventional techniques. Tissue oxygenation is a measure of the oxygen level in biological tissue and is a useful clinical biomarker for tissue viability. Abnormal levels may indicate the presence of conditions such as sepsis, diabetes, viral infection, or pulmonary disease, and effective monitoring is important for surgical guidance as well as medical care. Several techniques exist for the measurement of tissue oxygenation, but they all have some limitations….