news 2023

Researchers have identified a mechanism that promotes the breakdown of harmful protein deposits. If it malfunctions, it can lead to Parkinson's disease. NEMO, a protein that is primarily associated with signaling processes in the immune system, prevents the deposition of protein aggregates that occur in Parkinson's disease.

Geologists from Heidelberg and Frankfurt simulate thermo-mechanical behaviour of a white schist from the Alps Movements of rocks from deep in the Earth to the surface could occur under different circumstances than previously thought, challenging our current understanding of plate tectonics and mountain-building.

In a study comparing human brain communication networks with those of macaques and mice, researchers found that only the human brains transmitted information via multiple parallel pathways, yielding new insights into mammalian evolution. When describing brain communication networks, EPFL senior postdoctoral researcher Alessandra Griffa likes to use travel metaphors.

A clinical trial carried out by Hospital del Mar, Pompeu Fabra University, the Health Research Institute of Santiago de Compostela and the Pere Virgili Health Park investigated the efficacy and safety of a medicine for outpatients with COVID-19. The treatment acts on the replication mechanism of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the disease, and reduces the severity and duration of some of the symptoms.

A team from the University of Geneva shows that the human brain is capable of identifying the vocalisations of certain primate species, if they are close to us and if the frequencies used are also close to our own. Are we able to differentiate between the vocal emissions of certain primates? A team from the University of Geneva asked volunteers to categorise the vocalisations of three species of great apes ( Hominidae ) and humans.

Toxic chemicals produced from oil emissions and wildfire smoke have been found in muscle and liver samples from Southern Resident killer whales and Bigg's killer whales. A study published today in Scientific Reports is the first to find polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in orcas off the coast of B.C., as well as in utero transfer of the chemicals from mother to fetus.

Researchers show that it's hard for young men who have been in prison to give up crime The younger an offender is when released from prison, the greater the likelihood that he or she will return to prison, according to a recent study. The criminal justice system treats everyone equally from the age of 18, yet "age matters" in the process of social reintegration, show researchers from Laval University and the International Centre for Comparative Criminology.

More than a decade of research at TU/e, led by Fons van der Sommen, has culminated in a scientific publication in The Lancet Digital Health this December. The study focuses on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to detect incipient esophageal cancer in people with Barrett's esophagus. It is 2011.

Review of opioid medicines for cancer pain challenges our understanding of their role The world's largest review on opioid medicines for cancer pain has found it is unclear whether some commonly used opioid medicines are better than a placebo and suggests that non-opioid medicines, including aspirin, may be as effective as opioids.

Inserm's Centre d'épidémiologie des causes médicales de décès (CépiDc-Inserm), the Direction de la recherche, des études et de l'évaluation des statistiques (DREES) and Santé Publique France are analyzing the medical causes of death of people living and dying in France in 2021. Two complementary studies, which present these results, are published jointly in études et Résultats (DREES) and in the Bulletin épidémiologique hebdomadaire (Santé publique France).

Scientists have discovered how to make thermosets like gels, rubbers and elastomers so they can be degraded and be re-formed without loss of function. Published on Tuesday 19 December 2023 Last updated on Thursday 21 December 2023 A team of UK scientists has got a step closer to making several different types of plastic much easier to recycle, using a method that could be applied to a whole range of difficult-to-recycle polymers, including rubbers, gels and adhesives.

Humans have wiped out around 1,400 bird species - twice as many as previously thought - with major implications for the ongoing biodiversity crisis, a new study involving UCL researchers has found. Many of the world's islands were previously untouched paradises, but the arrival of people to places like Hawaii, Tonga and the Azores led to far-reaching impacts including deforestation, overhunting and the introduction of invasive species.

As climate change warms the planet, weather patterns are likely to shift. Even the consistency of snow - how fluffy it is, for example - could change. Laura Prugh , a wildlife ecologist and University of Washington associate professor in the School of Environmental & Forest Sciences, wants to know how these changing conditions will affect how predators hunt prey.

As industrial computing needs grow, the size and energy consumption of the relevant hardware must keep up with those demands. A solution to this dilemma could lie in superconducting materials, which reduce that energy consumption exponentially. Imagine cooling a giant data center - full of constantly running servers - down to nearly absolute zero, enabling large-scale computation with incredible energy efficiency.

Exercise intolerance is one symptom associated with long COVID. A new study helps explain its cause. Exercise intolerance, or the inability to perform physical activity at the expected or desired level, is one of the many symptoms associated with long COVID. In a study, Yale researchers help explain what specifically is driving this symptom, offering much needed information for patients and generating new directions for future research.

By reevaluating existing data, researchers find the procedure is even more valuable than consensus had indicated. Screening for colon cancer reduces cancer rates by substantially more than previous analyses of randomized trials suggest, according to a study co-authored by an MIT economist that takes a new look at data from five trials.

After two years of research, researchers from Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management, Daniëlle Cattel, Frank Eijkenaar, and Celine Hendriks, release the BUNDLE final report 'Developing and implementing alternative payment models: doing, learning, and evaluating.' The report was conducted as part of the ZonMw program 'Outcome-Based Organizing and Payment,' which falls within the broader program 'Outcome-Based Health Care 2018-2022' of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport.

An intervention developed at Laval University makes it possible to offer the right type of delivery, to the right patient, at the right time. Women who have already had a caesarean section can now benefit from an intervention that makes it easier to decide whether to have a vaginal birth or a caesarean section in a subsequent pregnancy.

The world's largest review on opioid medicines for cancer pain has found it is unclear whether some commonly used opioid medicines are better than a placebo and suggests that non-opioid medicines, including aspirin, may be as effective as opioids. Researchers examining the data on opioids for pain caused by cancer have found surprisingly large gaps in evidence regarding the true benefits of these medicines for cancer pain.

Studying strange forms of RNA associated with the formation of aggregates in the brains of ALS patients could lead to new avenues for treatments. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive motor neuron disease, which causes degeneration of nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain. Neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS, dementia, and Alzheimer's, are the leading cause of death in the UK, and there are no known cures.