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Wind turbine noise has small but significant effect on dream sleep, shows study

Wind turbine noise (WTN) influences people's perception of the restorative effects of sleep, and also has a small but significant effect on dream sleep, otherwise known as REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, a study at the University of Gothenburg shows. A night of WTN resulted in delayed and shortened REM sleep.

20 Apr 2020

New neuromorphic memristor mimics the human brain in efficient learning

Only 10 years ago, scientists working on what they hoped would open a new frontier of neuromorphic computing could only dream of a device using miniature tools called memristors that would function/operate like real brain synapses.

20 Apr 2020

Study adds increasing evidence that autoimmunity plays a role in Parkinson's disease

A new study co-led by scientists at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology adds increasing evidence that Parkinson's disease is partly an autoimmune disease. In fact, the researchers report that signs of autoimmunity can appear in Parkinson's disease patients years before their official diagnosis.

20 Apr 2020

Researchers identify a promising model for testing COVID-19 therapeutics

After comparing how infections from SARS-CoV-2 (which causes COVID-19) and two other human coronaviruses develop in cynomolgus macaques, researchers report that SARS-CoV-2 gives the animals a mild COVID-19-like disease.

18 Apr 2020

Polycistronic delivery of IL-10 and NT-3 to enhance spinal cord injury repair

Spinal cord injury creates a complex microenvironment that is not conducive to repair; growth factors are in short supply, whereas factors that inhibit regeneration are plentiful.

18 Apr 2020

UC San Diego Health launches serological tests to detect past exposure to novel coronavirus

Clinical laboratory physicians and scientists at UC San Diego Health have launched a pair of serological tests that will look for novel coronavirus antibodies -- evidence in persons tested that they have previously been infected by SARS-CoV-2, the viral cause of COVID-19, even if they never experienced tell-tale symptoms.

18 Apr 2020

MIT researchers devise new way to remotely control hormone release

Abnormal levels of stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol are linked to a variety of mental health disorders, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

18 Apr 2020

Researchers find a key brain region for controlling binge drinking

A team of National Institutes of Health-funded researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina has found that deactivating a stress-signaling system in a brain area known for motivation and emotion-related behaviors decreases binge drinking.

17 Apr 2020

New study raises red flags about strategy to block cancer drug resistance

Sooner or later, most cancer patients develop resistance to the very chemotherapy drugs designed to kill their cancer, forcing oncologists to seek alternatives.

17 Apr 2020

Study shows huge effect of obesity on pancreatic cancer development

Pancreatic cancer is expected to become the second-deadliest cancer in the United States by 2030, driven in part by rising obesity rates.

17 Apr 2020

Study clears potential barrier to controlling mosquito-borne diseases

New research from entomologists at UC Davis clears a potential obstacle to using CRISPR-Cas9 "gene drive" technology to control mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever and Zika.

17 Apr 2020

Nasal smear as screening test for allergic rhinitis

Stuffy noses, itching and fits of sneezing - 130 million people in Europe suffer from hay fever and other forms of allergic rhinitis. Until now, these conditions have typically been diagnosed using blood samples or skin prick tests.

17 Apr 2020

A new approach to predict risk of radiation-induced cancer in astronauts

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, aims to send human missions to Mars in the 2030s. But scientists are still trying to learn more about the potential cancer risks for astronauts due to radiation exposure.

17 Apr 2020

New cyclic peptide enhances blood-brain barrier penetration

A Japanese research team has developed a cyclic peptide (a chain of amino acids bonded circularly) that enhances blood-brain barrier penetration.

17 Apr 2020

New computational model shows how psilocybin affects brain activity

Interest in research into the effects of psilocybin, a psychedelic drug, has increased significantly in recent years due to its promising therapeutic effects in neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety and addiction.

17 Apr 2020

Six novel coronaviruses found in bats

While the world grapples with the pandemic, which has spread to 185 countries and territories, infecting more than 2.15 million people and killing more than 143,000 people, a team of researchers at the Smithsonian's Global Health Program has found six novel coronaviruses in bats in Myanmar.

16 Apr 2020

Scripps Research establishes collaborative global effort to rapidly find drugs against COVID-19

With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to spread across the globe, Scripps Research has quickly established an international network of collaborating scientific laboratories to leverage ReFRAME, the world's leading drug repurposing collection, to find antiviral compounds against the novel coronavirus.

16 Apr 2020