Latest News Releases 25 November

The mechanisms governing the light-sensitive activities of phytochrome, a bacterial protein, have been clarified at atomic scale resolution, opening the door to understanding black rot disease, as well as to regulating other bacterial pathogenicities.

Researchers have identified a small RNA molecule called microRNA-21 as a potential avenue for treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). They believe development of new drugs that inhibit microRNA-21 may yield an entirely new therapeutic approach when it comes to COPD. Their findings may address the limited effectiveness of current therapies in controlling COPD or halting its progression.

Referred to as "China's Venice of the Stone Age", the Liangzhu excavation site in eastern China is considered one of the most significant testimonies of early Chinese advanced civilisation. More than 5000 years ago, the city already had an elaborate water management system. Until now, it has been controversial what led to the sudden collapse. Massive flooding triggered by anomalously intense monsoon rains caused the collapse, as an international team with Innsbruck geologist and climate researcher Christoph Spötl has now shown in the journal Science Advances.

Play is important for the development of complex social, emotional, physical, and cognitive skills. Play provides young individuals with a safe space to practice new behaviors without grave repercussions. While most animals engage in play, only humans engage in rule-based games. Which kinds of games people play – competitive or cooperative – may depend on their cultural background. In a new study, researchers from Germany and Australia screened historical data to answer the question whether cultures play games that correspond to how cooperative they are.

The Arctic Ocean has been getting warmer since the beginning of the 20th century – decades earlier than records suggest – due to warmer water flowing into the delicate polar ecosystem from the Atlantic Ocean.

An experimental compound reduced complications of type 1 and type 2 diabetes in mice – not by lowering blood sugar – but by countering its consequences, a new study finds.

In sub-Saharan Africa, 7 million people with HIV live more than 10 minutes from health care services and 1.5 million people with HIV live more than 60 minutes from a healthcare facility, according to a new study published this week in the open-access journal PLOS Global Public Health by Diego Cuadros of the University of Cincinnati, and colleagues.

A new statistical analysis supports beliefs that COVID-19 became more lethal in the U.K. in late 2020, while also suggesting that multiple factors—not just the alpha variant of the virus that causes COVID-19—were to blame. Patrick Pietzonka of the University of Cambridge, UK, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on November 24, 2021.

Almost all asylum-seeking children and parents who had been forced to separate at the US-Mexico border were subsequently diagnosed with PTSD, depressive and/or anxiety disorders, even after reunification