domenii

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#A quantum lab for everyone Topical research experiments are often too expensive or too complex to be rebuilt

This challenge was tackled in the research group Quantum Nanophysics led by Markus Arndt at the University of Vienna.

photorealistic computer simulations allowing university and high-school students as well as the general public to virtually access unique instruments."

"One could describe it as a flight simulator of quantum physics, "says Mathias Tomandl who designed and implemented the essential elements of the simulation in the course of his Phd studies.

Discovering the quantum world--step by step A learning path guides the visitors of the virtual quantum lab through the world of delocalized complex molecules.

The engaging software was developed together with university and high-school students and was tuned fine by periodic didactic input.

The teaching concept and the accompanying studies have now been published in the scientific journal Scientific Reports.

Wave-particle dualism with large molecules The virtual laboratories provide an insight into the fundamental understanding and into the applications of quantum mechanics with macromolecules and nanoparticles.

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#Tiny silica particles could be used to repair damaged teeth, research shows Researchers at the University of Birmingham have shown how the development of coated silica nanoparticles could be used in restorative treatment of sensitive teeth

and preventing the onset of tooth decay. The study, published in the Journal of Dentistry, shows how sub-micron silica particles can be prepared to deliver important compounds into damaged teeth through tubules in the dentine.

The tiny particles can be bound to compounds ranging from calcium tooth building materials to antimicrobials that prevent infection.

Professor Damien Walmsley, from the School of dentistry at the University of Birmingham explained,"The dentine of our teeth have numerous microscopic holes,

which are the entrances to tubules that run through to the nerve. When your outer enamel is breached,

the exposure of these tubules is really noticeable. If you drink something cold, you can feel the sensitivity in your teeth

while protecting it against further infection that could penetrate the pulp and cause irreversible damage."

"The aim of restorative agents is to increase the mineral content of both the enamel and dentine,

Previous attempts have used compounds of calcium fluoride, combinations of carbonate-hydroxypatite nanocrystals and bioactive glass, but all have seen limited success as they are liable to aggregate on delivery to the tubules.

However, the Birmingham team turned to sub-micron silica particles that had been prepared with a surface coating to reduce the chance of aggregation.

Professor Zoe Pikramenou, from the School of Chemistry at the University of Birmingham, said, "These silica particles are available in a range of sizes, from nanometre to sub-micron,

without altering their porous nature. It is this that makes them an ideal container for calcium based compounds to restore the teeth,

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#Using ultrasound to clean medical instruments Researchers from the University of Southampton have demonstrated how a pioneering ultrasonic device can significantly improve the cleaning of medical instruments

and reduce contamination and risk of infection. Starstream, invented and patented by the University of Southampton and in commercial production by Ultrawave Ltd.

makes water more efficient for cleaning by creating tiny bubbles which automatically scrub surfaces. The device supplies a gentle stream of water through a nozzle that generates ultrasound and bubbles,

Starstream was able to remove biological contamination, including brain tissue from surgical steel. Cleaning instruments between patients is critical to avoid transmission of agents leading to conditions such as Creutzfeldt-jakob disease.

It was also able to remove bacterial biofilms that typically cause dental disease and was effective at removing soft tissue from bones,

which is required prior to transplants to prevent rejection of the transplanted material by the recipient's immune system.

Principal investigator Professor Tim Leighton, from the University's Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, said:"

"In the absence of sufficient cleaning of medical instruments, contamination and infection can result in serious consequences for the health sector and remains a significant challenge.

Our highly-effective cleaning device, achieved with cold water and without the need for chemical additives or the high power consumption associated with conventional strategies,

has the potential to meet this challenge and transform the sector.""The research, published in the journal Physical chemistry Chemical Physics, was funded by the Royal Society Brian Mercer Award for Innovation.

Professor Leighton added:""We are very grateful to the Royal Society Brian Mercer Fund (who granted their 2011 Award for Innovation jointly to myself

if we cannot build a business that can sell thousands of these to health providers at a price they find attractive,

"The other contributors to the multidisciplinary study were Dr Peter Birkin, Dr Doug Offin and Dr Chris Vian (Chemistry, Faculty of Natural and Environmental sciences), Dr Howlin and Dr Stoodley

(National Centre for Advanced Tribology, Faculty of engineering and the Environment), Dr Dawson and Professor Oreffo (Centre for Human Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration, Faculty of medicine) and Dr Secker, Dr

Hervé and Professor Keevil (Centre for Biological sciences, Faculty of Natural and Environmental sciences. The team that conducted the study now forms the basis of the University's Network for Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Prevention (NAMRIP) Strategic Research Group,

which hosts over 100 members under the chairmanship of Professor Leighton. Starstream's effectiveness was demonstrated further with the publication of two additional papers--further results on its effectiveness against dental biofilms were published in the Journal of Dental Research,

while the device's ability to clean skin models was published in Physical chemistry Chemical Physics c

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#Coordinating traffic down the neuronal highway An international team of researchers, led by scientists at the National University of Singapore (NUS),

has identified a protein that regulates the growth of neurons by transporting key metabolic enzymes to the tips of neural cells.

a leading journal in the field of developmental biology, open up new avenues for design of drugs for ataxia, a motor coordination disorder.

the NUS team, led by Associate professor Boon Chuan Low and his postdoctoral fellow Dr Jichao Sun,

from the Department of Biological sciences and Mechanobiology Institute at NUS, collaborated with researchers from the Yong Loo Lin School of medicine at NUS

and the University of Michigan (U-M). They identified and characterised a protein that transports the enzyme ACL to the tips of neurons,

called BNIP-H, was linked first to Cayman ataxia, a rare genetic disorder affecting a region of the brain involved in motor control and

which leads to difficulty in coordinating complex movements, by Professor Margit Burmeister of U-M. The research team looked at the biological roles of BNIP

-H in cell lines, primary neuron cultures and zebrafish using molecular genetics, protein biochemistry and high speed imaging.

They found that BNIP-H acts as a tag, marking ACL for transport by the enzyme kinesin-1 to the neuron terminals.

Once there BNIP-H and ACL synergistically recruit Chat, triggering the targeted release of acetylcholine.

The study also provides the first experimental data solidifying the link between dysfunctional cholinergic (acetylcholine) secretion and Cayman ataxia.

The researchers showed that a BNIP-H mutant associated with Cayman ataxia caused defects in the transport of the ACL enzyme.

Furthermore, they could also reproduce motor dysfunctions of Cayman ataxia in zebrafish by knocking down BNIP-H, ACL or Chat enzymes.

suggesting that the loss of acetylcholine secretion resulting from BNIP-H mutation could explain some of the symptoms of Cayman ataxia.

"We established the first ACL-based ataxia model in the zebrafish that recapitulates the ataxic phenotype seen in human patients.

cellular and organism levels on how defects in ACL trafficking impairs cholinergic signalling that leads to the development of ataxia."

Their work also serves as a foundation for further studies into acetylcholine-related diseases, and may lead to new treatments that involve BNIP-H."Our findings could provide new direction to better understand causes of cholinergic-related diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Down's syndrome, ataxia and schizophrenia.

Changing the activity of BNIP-H or/and its downstream effectors might be used to treat those diseases caused by dysregulation of cholinergic neurotransmission,

"said Assoc Prof Low w

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#Novel role of mitochondria identified in immune function Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have discovered a new role for an enzyme involved in cell death.

relays signals between the cell's mitochondria"powerhouses"and the immune system. The new study shows that this crosstalk is important not only for launching immune responses against tumors,

but also for regulating the inflammatory responses that may result in autoimmune diseases.""This finding could be helpful for developing strategies to target cancer

and inflammatory diseases,"said TSRI Assistant professor of Immunology Young Jun Kang, who collaborated on the study with the lab of TSRI Institute Professor Richard A. Lerner,

who is also Lita Annenberg Hazen Professor of Immunochemistry. The study was published September 18, 2015 in the journal Nature Communications.

Talking to the Immune system Previous studies have shown RIPK3 controls the induction of a type of programmed cell death, called necroptosis,

which protects the body from harmful mutations and infections. However, scientists had understood not fully RIPK3's role in the immune system.

For the new study the scientists investigated the role of RIPK3 by studying RIPK3-deficient mice.

Their research suggests that RIPK3 regulates the activation of natural killer T cells (NKTS), the immune cells that play dual roles in the development of autoimmune diseases and the destruction of cancers.

RIPK3 doesn't directly cause necroptosis; instead, it regulates the activity of a mitochondrial enzyme (PGAM5) to trigger the expression of inflammatory cytokines in NKTS.

scientists may be able to develop ways to better control NKTS to attack tumors. The new study also suggests there may be a way to intervene in the pathway to block inflammation.

implying a role for RIPK3 in autoimmune diseases. Kang said future studies will focus on understanding the details of this new signaling pathway,

possibly paving the way for new therapies that can either hone the pathway's cancer-killing role or reduce its role in inflammation.

In addition to Kang and Lerner, authors of the study,"Regulation of NKT cell-mediated immune responses to tumours and liver inflammation by mitochondrial PGAM5-Drp1 signaling,"were Bo-Ram Bang, Kyung Ho Han

, Lixin Hong, Eun-Jin Shim and Jianhui Ma of TSRI; and Motoyuki Otsuka of the University of Tokyo o

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#New light shed on infertility puzzle, could improve in vitro fertilization We don't know if a sperm actually experiences joy

when it finally finds the egg, but it does wiggle excitedly. Patricia A. Martin-Deleon, a reproductive biologist at the University of Delaware, has witnessed this behavior many times in her studies of fertility in mice, the closest genetic model to humans (and with a much faster reproductive cycle.

It's what happens next in the fertilization process that Deleon and her team have revealed for the first time,

who Is distinguished the Trustees Professor of Biological sciences at UD. The research, supported by the National institutes of health-National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Delaware INBRE program, is published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

It is one of the top most viewed articles published online this summer under the Membrane Biology affinity group, according to the editorial offices of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular biology.

Understanding what happens in the fertilization process takes a little walk down biological memory lane

a reminder of nature's course that led to most of us. Once the egg is released from an ovary

and enters the Fallopian tube, the hairlike cilia that line this tiny tube sweep the egg toward the uterus.

which must happen within a 12-to 24-hour window of time, or fertilization will not occur

which are only 100 nanometers in diameter, or about 10 millionths of an inch wide.

The oviductosomes from a female mouse were labeled pre with a fluorescent dye and incubated together with the sperm.

"Discovery of these oviductosomes provides us with a window into the cargo being delivered by the female to the sperm,

Even when the process works, a high sperm-to-egg ratio is required, the opposite of what occurs in the body."

"That gives us hope they can be used as vehicles for improving fertility and the chances of producing healthy embryos and offspring."

As for the calcium clearance pump, the sperm needs to use it to reduce toxic calcium levels quickly.

"Our work may lead to the discovery of genes and gene products that cause infertility,

It's really another step in the direction of personalized medicine, since individuals carrying mutations of one of a variety of genes account for the largest group of infertile couples."

"Deleon has been making major contributions to reproductive science since she published her first scientific article--"Cannabis

and Chromosomes,"examining the impact of marijuana on embryonic cells--in The Lancet in 1969, as a master's student at the University of the West indies in her native Jamaica.

The response to that paper was so dramatic, with requests for copies from scientists around the world,

that Deleon set her sights on a career in research and teaching and never looked back,

continuing on for her doctorate at the University of Western Ontario. She joined the UD faculty in 1976 6

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#3-D printed guide helps regrow complex nerves after injury A national team of researchers has developed a first-of-its-kind,

3d printed guide that helps regrow both the sensory and motor functions of complex nerves after injury.

The groundbreaking research has the potential to help more than 200,000 people annually who experience nerve injuries or disease.

Collaborators on the project are from the University of Minnesota, Virginia Tech, University of Maryland, Princeton university, and Johns hopkins university.

Nerve regeneration is a complex process. Because of this complexity, regrowth of nerves after injury or disease is very rare

according to the Mayo Clinic. Nerve damage is often permanent. Advanced 3d printing methods may now be the solution.

In a new study, published today in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, researchers used a combination of 3d imaging

and 3d printing techniques to create a custom silicone guide implanted with biochemical cues to help nerve regeneration.

"This represents an important proof of concept of the 3d printing of custom nerve guides for the regeneration of complex nerve injuries,

"said University of Minnesota mechanical engineering professor Michael Mcalpine, the study's lead researcher.""Someday we hope that we could have a 3d scanner

and printer right at the hospital to create custom nerve guides right on site to restore nerve function."

or cadavers that hospitals could use to create closely matched 3d printed guides for patients. In addition to Mcalpine, major contributors to the research team include Blake N. Johnson, Virginia Tech;

Xiaofeng Jia, University of Maryland and Johns hopkins university; and Karen Z. Lancaster, Esteban Engel, and Lynn W. Enquist, Princeton university.

To read more about the study entitled"3d printed Anatomical Nerve Regeneration Pathways,"visit the Advanced Functional Materials website e

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#Coordinating traffic down the neuronal highway An international team of researchers, led by scientists at the National University of Singapore (NUS),

a journal in the field of developmental biology, open up new avenues for design of drugs for ataxia, a motor coordination disorder.