ScienceDaily: All - January 09, 2024
Today's top research news
Understanding the neuroendocrine basis for social anxiety-like behavior in male mice
Researchers have discovered that estrogen receptor (ER), expressed in the lateral septum of the limbic system, plays a crucial role in suppressing anxiety-like behavior exhibited by male mice in social situations. They also discovered that the distribution and expression region of ER differs from that of ER.
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Prostate cancer: Newly-developed inhibitor shows massive potential
More than 65,000 men fall ill with prostate cancer each year in Germany. Twelve thousand of them develop a treatment-resistant form which eventually ends in death. Now, a team of researchers has developed an active substance that might in future represent a new treatment option. This substance, known as KMI169, targets an enzyme that plays an important role in the development of prostate cancer.
Green ammonia could decarbonize 60% of global shipping when offered at just 10 regional fuel ports
A study has found that green ammonia could be used to fulfill the fuel demands of over 60% of global shipping by targeting just the top 10 regional fuel ports. Researchers looked at the production costs of ammonia which are similar to very low sulphur fuels, and concluded that the fuel could be a viable option to help decarbonize international shipping by 2050.
Chemists develop new approach to inserting single carbon atoms
Chemists have presented a new approach in which a single carbon atom is inserted into the carbon skeleton of cyclic compounds in order to adjust the ring size. The method could be relevant, for example, for the production of active ingredients in new pharmaceutical products.
What happens to our online activity over the switches to and from Daylight Saving Time?
Daylight Saving Time (DST) might be influencing our internet habits, according to new research.
How fruit bats got a sweet tooth without sour health
A high-sugar diet is bad news for humans, leading to diabetes, obesity and even cancer. Yet fruit bats survive and even thrive by eating up to twice their body weight in sugary fruit every day.
Smart skin bacteria are able to secrete and produce molecules to treat acne
An experimental study has shown that a type of skin bacterium can efficiently be engineered to produce a protein to regulate sebum production. This application could treat acne without compromising the homeostasis of the entire skin microbiome.
Stranger than friction: A force initiating life
As the potter works the spinning wheel, the friction between their hands and the soft clay helps them shape it into all kinds of forms and creations. In a fascinating parallel, sea squirt oocytes (immature egg cells) harness friction within various compartments in their interior to undergo developmental changes after conception.
Meteorite analysis shows Earth's building blocks contained water
Analysis of iron meteorites from the earliest years of the solar system indicate that the planetary 'seeds' that ultimately formed Earth contained water.
Main regulator for the body`s 'oven' discovered
Brown fat cells convert energy into heat -- a key to eliminating unwanted fat deposits. In addition, they also protect against cardiovascular diseases. Researchers have now identified the protein EPAC1 as a new pharmacological target to increase brown fat mass and activity. The long-term aim is to find medicines that support weight loss.
Leukemia: Artificial intelligence provides support in diagnostics
Decisions on treatment for leukemia patients are based, among other things, on a series of certain genetic features of the disease. IT specialists and physicians have now shown how a method based on artificial intelligence can be used to predict various genetic features on the basis of high-resolution microscopic images of bone marrow smears.
Epigenetic therapy shows promise for endocrine-resistant breast cancer
Researchers have revealed a reason why endocrine resistance develops in breast cancers and how to potentially treat it in patients.
Towards more accurate 3D object detection for robots and self-driving cars
Robots and autonomous vehicles can use 3D point clouds from LiDAR sensors and camera images to perform 3D object detection. However, current techniques that combine both types of data struggle to accurately detect small objects. Now, researchers have developed DPPFA Net, an innovative network that overcomes challenges related to occlusion and noise introduced by adverse weather. Their findings will pave the way for more perceptive and capable autonomous systems.
Felspar dust in the air can create clouds. The feldspar particles act as nucleation sites to which water molecules can attach extremely efficiently. Why this is the case has remained a mystery for a long time. Scientists have now studied feldspar using a special atoimic force microscope and managed to explain this remarkable property of feldspar on an atomic level. The atomic structure is just right to create a layer of OH-groups which in turn can connect to water molecules perfectly.
Scientists outline a bold solution to climate change, biodiversity loss, social injustice
An international team of scientists has used a novel 500-year dataset to frame a 'restorative' pathway through which humanity can avoid the worst ecological and social outcomes of climate change.
Is natural spa water a fossil of water? Uncover the real ultra-deep water cycles
Researchers have made a groundbreaking discovery regarding the origins of non-meteoric water in natural spa waters located in central Japan. Based on numerical modeling, their results suggest that this water has been confined within the lithosphere for an extensive period of 1.5-5 million years. They identified three primary sources for this ancient water: the Philippine Sea Plate, the Pacific Plate, and ancient seafloor sediments, particularly in the Niigata and southwest Gunma regions.
War on superbugs can't be won, researchers declare
From a wartime spread of antimicrobial resistant disease in Ukraine, to superbugs in China causing 'white lung' pneumonia in children, 2023 brought no shortage of new evidence that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) continues to be a pressing problem globally, and this pattern shows no sign of abating in 2024 unless a radical shift occurs. To truly tackle the issue of AMR, researchers with the Global Strategy Lab (GSL) argue it needs to be understood as a socio-ecological challenge that accepts AMR as a phenomenon stemming from natural evolutionary processes. In other words, the war on bugs can't be won; what's needed is a major change in how people live with it.
Arsenic may raise diabetes risk for males
Chronic exposure to arsenic, often through contaminated groundwater, has been associated with Type 2 diabetes in humans, and there are new clues that males may be more susceptible to the disease when exposed.
Rallying for a better badminton birdie
Shuttlecocks, also known as birdies or birds, are traditionally made from duck feathers, but nylon shuttlecocks have become more widely used because of their superior durability. Their flight behavior, however, is far different from that of traditional feather birdies. Scientists have now explored the aerodynamic performance of nylon shuttlecocks at various flight speeds. Through computational analyses based on two-way fluid-structure interactions, the team coupled equations governing air flow with equations determining skirt deformation of a shuttlecock in flight.
The hidden identity of leukemia
Researchers used various sequencing technologies to explore the molecular characteristics of myeloid/natural killer cell precursor acute leukemia (MNKPL). They observed activation of the NOTCH1 and RUNX3 genes, with lower expression of the BCL11B gene. MNKPL cells were also highly sensitive to a drug called L-asparaginase. Collectively, these qualities make MNKPL distinct from other leukemia types. These insights will assist with more accurate clinical diagnoses and therapeutic development for MNKPL.
Light measurement enables estimation of the chemical attributes of spice extracts
Researchers have developed a nondestructive method utilizing light to estimate the total amount of polyphenols and flavonoids in spice extracts, along with their antioxidant and reducing capacities. By comprehensively capturing the autofluorescence emitted by components, such as polyphenols and flavonoids, they have demonstrated the precise evaluation of chemical constituents using the application of machine learning methods.
Love scrambles the brain and scientists can now tell us why
Love is blind, the saying goes, and thanks to a new study we are now a step closer to understanding why. Researchers have measured how a part of the brain is responsible for putting our loved one on a pedestal in that first flush of romance.
Spanish butterflies better at regulating their body temperature than their British cousins
Butterfly populations in Catalonia in northern Spain are better than their UK counterparts at regulating their body temperature by basking in the sunshine, but rising global temperatures due to climate change may put Spanish butterflies at greater risk of extinction.
Coastal populations set to age sharply in the face of climate migration
As climate change fuels sea level rise, younger people will migrate inland, leaving aging coastal populations -- and a host of consequences -- in their wake, a study finds. While destination cities will work to sustainably accommodate swelling populations, aging coastal communities will confront stark new challenges, including an outflow of vital human infrastructure such as health care workers.
Measuring grass pollen allergens instead of grass pollen count will help hay fever sufferers
Measuring airborne grass allergen levels instead of pollen counts will be more beneficial for hay fever sufferers as new research shows grass allergen levels are more consistently associated with hay fever symptoms than grass pollen counts.
Clear link between autoimmune disease and perinatal depression
Women with autoimmune disease are more likely to suffer from depression during pregnancy and after childbirth; conversely, women with a history of perinatal depression are at higher risk of developing autoimmune disease, a new study reports.
Scientists give new insight into a molecular target of alcohol
By investigating a molecule in the brain tied to cellular communication, scientists uncover important information about the proteins that do -- and do not -- influence alcohol drinking behavior.
In a real-world setting, analysis showed that risk of infection and severe illness was significantly lower for those who were vaccinated against COVID-19, and cardiac conditions did not increase.
In the culmination of a decade's worth of effort, scientists analyzed an unprecedented sample of more than 1,500 supernovae classified using machine learning. They placed the strongest constraints on the expansion of the universe ever obtained with the DES supernova survey. While consistent with the current standard cosmological model, the results do not rule out a more complex theory that the density of dark energy in the universe could have varied over time.