ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• Free-flight training applied to parrot conservation
• New AI algorithm to improve brain stimulation devices to treat disease
• Imaging single spine structural plasticity at the nanoscale level
• Gut bacteria influence brain development
• Severe infections during pregnancy associated with complications around childbirth
• Linking humans with blue carbon ecosystems
• Global warming threatens the existence of an Arctic oasis
• Identification of plant-parasitic nematode attractant
• Predicting possible Alzheimer’s with nearly 100 percent accuracy
• Researchers find a way to check that quantum computers return accurate answers
• Statistical model defines ketamine anesthesia’s effects on the brain
• Tiger sharks have social preferences for one another
• Subscription-based payment models may improve access to hepatitis C medications
• New model for solving novel problems uses mental map
• Researchers identify the biosynthesis of carthamin, the historic red colorant in safflowers
• The first cells might have used temperature to divide
• Engineered ‘mini’ CRISPR genome editing system developed
• Secret garden: Drug-resistant pathogen strains meet and evolve on plant bulbs
• Wired for efficiency: How methanogenic microbes manage electrons
• Drug cocktail reduces aging-associated disc degeneration
• New research advances clean energy solutions
• Exploring the role of gender in scholarly authorship disputes
• Engineering CAR T cells to deliver endogenous RNA wakes solid tumors to respond to therapy
• Why are only some cells ‘competent’ to form cancer?
• Wing shape determines how far birds disperse
• Rapid and sensitive on-site measurement of antibodies against the COVID-19 virus

Free-flight training applied to parrot conservation Posted: 03 Sep 2021 07:01 PM PDT A training technique that has been practiced by parrot owners for decades is now being applied to establishing new bird flocks in the wild. While many parrot owners clip their birds' wings to reduce their flight abilities, free-flight involves training an intact parrot to come when called, follow basic commands, recognize natural dangers, and otherwise safely fly in open areas.

New AI algorithm to improve brain stimulation devices to treat disease Posted: 03 Sep 2021 07:01 PM PDT For millions of people with epilepsy and movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease, electrical stimulation of the brain already is widening treatment possibilities. In the future, electrical stimulation may help people with psychiatric illness and direct brain injuries, such as stroke.

Imaging single spine structural plasticity at the nanoscale level Posted: 03 Sep 2021 12:11 PM PDT Researchers have developed a new imaging technique capable of visualizing the dynamically changing structure of dendritic spines with unprecedented resolution. By combining two cutting-edge types of microscopies, scientists now have the tools necessary to unravel the ultrastructural complexities of spines during the process of synaptic plasticity.

Gut bacteria influence brain development Posted: 03 Sep 2021 10:26 AM PDT Extremely premature infants are at a high risk for brain damage. Researchers have now found possible targets for the early treatment of such damage outside the brain: Bacteria in the gut of premature infants may play a key role. The research team found that the overgrowth of the gastrointestinal tract with the bacterium Klebsiella is associated with an increased presence of certain immune cells and the development of neurological damage in premature babies.

Severe infections during pregnancy associated with complications around childbirth Posted: 03 Sep 2021 10:26 AM PDT Individuals who are hospitalized during pregnancy due to sepsis have higher odds of complications surrounding childbirth, according to a new study. The study found that pregnancies complicated by sepsis were associated with an increased risk of cesarean delivery, postpartum hemorrhage and preterm delivery, highlighting the risk of any severe infection during pregnancy.

Linking humans with blue carbon ecosystems Posted: 03 Sep 2021 10:26 AM PDT Social vulnerabilities of coastal communities and their reliance on blue carbon ecosystem services may be improved by addressing three major factors, according to a new study.

Global warming threatens the existence of an Arctic oasis Posted: 03 Sep 2021 10:26 AM PDT The most significant Arctic oasis is susceptible to climate change -- researchers say that global warming is threatening the region's ecosystem, and predict that the oasis will cease to exist.

Identification of plant-parasitic nematode attractant Posted: 03 Sep 2021 10:26 AM PDT Scientists have purified and identified an attractant for crop-infecting root-knot nematodes from flaxseeds. Their experiments revealed that rhamnogalacturonan-I (RG-I), a flaxseed cell wall component, can attract root-knot nematodes. The linkages between rhamnose and L-galactose are essential for the attraction.

Predicting possible Alzheimer’s with nearly 100 percent accuracy Posted: 03 Sep 2021 10:26 AM PDT Researchers have developed a deep learning-based method that can predict the possible onset of Alzheimer's disease from brain images with an accuracy of over 99 percent. The method was developed while analyzing functional MRI images obtained from 138 subjects and performed better in terms of accuracy, sensitivity and specificity than previously developed methods.

Researchers find a way to check that quantum computers return accurate answers Posted: 03 Sep 2021 10:26 AM PDT Quantum computers become ever more powerful, but how can we be sure that the answers they return are accurate? A team of physicists solves this problem by letting quantum computers check each other's work.

Statistical model defines ketamine anesthesia’s effects on the brain Posted: 03 Sep 2021 10:26 AM PDT Neuroscientists have developed a statistical framework that rigorously describes the brain state changes that patients experience under ketamine-induced anesthesia.

Tiger sharks have social preferences for one another Posted: 03 Sep 2021 10:26 AM PDT Scientists have found that tiger sharks, often considered a solitary nomadic species, are social creatures, having preferences for one another.

Subscription-based payment models may improve access to hepatitis C medications Posted: 03 Sep 2021 10:26 AM PDT Subscription-based payment models (SBPM), a novel approach in which states contract exclusively with a single manufacturer to supply prescriptions at a reduced price, could increase access to these life-saving treatments, according to a new study. In a SBPM, states pay reduced per prescription prices for medications until a certain utilization threshold. After this threshold, the cost of additional prescriptions is essentially zero.

New model for solving novel problems uses mental map Posted: 03 Sep 2021 10:26 AM PDT How do we make decisions about a situation we have not encountered before? New work shows that we can solve abstract problems in the same way that we can find a novel route between two known locations -- by using an internal cognitive map.

Researchers identify the biosynthesis of carthamin, the historic red colorant in safflowers Posted: 03 Sep 2021 10:26 AM PDT Carthamin's usage as dye dates back to ancient Egypt. But scientists only discovered its chemical structure in 2019. Now, a group of researchers has identified the genes required for the biosynthesis of carthamin.

The first cells might have used temperature to divide Posted: 03 Sep 2021 10:25 AM PDT A simple mechanism could underlie the growth and self-replication of protocells -- putative ancestors of modern living cells -- suggests a new study. Protocells are vesicles bounded by a membrane bilayer and are potentially similar to the first unicellular common ancestor (FUCA). On the basis of relatively simple mathematical principles, the proposed model suggests that the main force driving protocell growth and reproduction is the temperature difference that occurs between the inside and outside of the cylindrical protocell as a result of inner chemical activity.

Engineered ‘mini’ CRISPR genome editing system developed Posted: 03 Sep 2021 10:25 AM PDT Bioengineers have repurposed a 'non-working' CRISPR system to make a smaller version of the genome engineering tool. Its diminutive size should make it easier to deliver into human cells, tissues and the body for gene therapy.

Secret garden: Drug-resistant pathogen strains meet and evolve on plant bulbs Posted: 03 Sep 2021 06:53 AM PDT Researchers have found that drug-resistant strains of a potentially deadly fungus isolated from a tulip bulb showed evidence of genetic recombination and fungicide resistance. The team revealed that plant bulbs provide a place for strains of the human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus, which can cause highly lethal fungal infections, to evolve drug resistance.

Wired for efficiency: How methanogenic microbes manage electrons Posted: 03 Sep 2021 06:53 AM PDT A specialized enzyme machinery enables methanogenic microorganisms to thrive under extreme energy limitation.

Drug cocktail reduces aging-associated disc degeneration Posted: 03 Sep 2021 05:59 AM PDT Therapies that target aging cells early pave the way to easing back pain.

New research advances clean energy solutions Posted: 02 Sep 2021 02:47 PM PDT Researchers describe the use of ring-shaped molecules known as porphyrins. Such molecules, among the most abundant pigments in nature, are noted for their ability to speed up or catalyze chemical reactions, including important reactions occurring in living systems.

Exploring the role of gender in scholarly authorship disputes Posted: 02 Sep 2021 02:47 PM PDT A new paper found that women -- as compared to their male counterparts -- receive less credit for the work they put into academic publications, more frequently experience disagreements over authorship, and often end up losing out on opportunities for future collaboration as a result.

Engineering CAR T cells to deliver endogenous RNA wakes solid tumors to respond to therapy Posted: 02 Sep 2021 02:47 PM PDT A new study shows CAR T cells expressing RN7SL1 can activate the body's natural immune cells against difficult-to-treat cancers.

Why are only some cells ‘competent’ to form cancer? Posted: 02 Sep 2021 02:47 PM PDT Medical researchers report that melanoma formation depends on something called 'oncogenic competence,' which is the result of a collaboration between the DNA mutations in a cell and the particular set of genes that are turned on in that cell. Cells that are competent to form melanoma are able to access a set of genes that normally are closed off to mature melanocytes (the cells that make melanin and give skin its color). In order to access these locked-up genes, the cells require specific proteins that act as keys. Without them, the cells do not form melanoma, even when they have cancer-associated DNA mutations.

Wing shape determines how far birds disperse Posted: 02 Sep 2021 02:46 PM PDT Bird dispersal movements are thought to depend on complex demographic and genetic factors. Researchers show that there may be a simpler explanation: bird dispersal distances depend on the morphology and flight efficiency of the wings. Bird populations and the capacity of species to move across the landscape can determine which species will thrive and which may become endangered.

Rapid and sensitive on-site measurement of antibodies against the COVID-19 virus Posted: 02 Sep 2021 09:50 AM PDT Researchers have developed a diagnostic system that can rapidly and sensitively measure the amount of antibodies in the blood that can protect us from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. This achievement is expected to enable efficient and precise testing of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine efficacy at medical facilities.

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