Latest News Releases 15 September

Hot-band absorption based anti-Stokes fluorescence (ASF) of Indocyanine Green (ICG), much brighter than luminescence from rare-earth ion doped nanoparticles, was observed and studied by scientists in China and U.S. recently. They found that the ASF of ICG can be used for tomography and blood flow velocity measurement of cerebral vessels, reflecting the change of temperature, and achieving multi-organ simultaneous imaging, and has considerable application prospects in biological imaging, sensing and even clinical translation.

A 900-year-old cosmic mystery surrounding the origins of a famous supernova first spotted over China in 1181AD has finally been solved, according to an international team of astronomers. New research published today (September 15, 2021) says that a faint, fast expanding cloud (or nebula), called Pa30, surrounding one of the hottest stars in the Milky Way, known as Parker’s Star, fits the profile, location and age of the historic supernova.

Researchers from Osaka University, in collaboration with Nippo Precision Co., Ltd., developed a high-precision terahertz (THz) time-domain ellipsometry system that is effective in the noninvasive characterization of high carrier concentrations up to about 10²⁰–10²¹ cm^-3 useful in the evaluation of GaN and other semiconductors such as SiC and Ga₂O₃

New research at the University of Alaska Fairbanks shows that the fluctuations of major wind and ocean circulation systems can temporarily accelerate or reverse the rate of ocean acidification in the Gulf of Alaska.

The most comprehensive and exact dating to date of the Cova del Gegant (Sitges, Barcelona) has been published. This is the site with most Neanderthal remains in Catalonia and a unique place to study the Middle-to-Upper Palaeolithic transition, when the first populations of anatomically modern humans appeared and the Neanderthals disappeared. The new study states that the Neanderthals occupied the Cova del Gegant, and the Catalan littoral, during a period of time which goes beyond what was though so far: researchers believed Neanderthals had lived there 50,000 years ago, but now the period goes up from 94,000 to 59,000 years ago. The study, published in Quaternary Science Reviews, explains the role of the cave within the route of the Mediterranean littoral, which during the coldest periods of the Palaeolithic became a natural corridor for animals and human beings to avoid the mountains of the Pyrenees.

Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9), which is expressed by the body’s immune cells, “senses” foreign unmethylated CpG-rich DNA (CpG DNA) to trigger innate immune responses that are the first line of defense against pathogens including inflammation and cytokine release. For CpG DNA to be detected in this way, it must first be internalized by the cell; this is because TLR9 resides within intracellular compartments called endosomes and lysosomes. However, the internalization processes remain obscure.

A study published in the journal Cell Reports describes a new pathway related to the activity of receptors that are associated with several metabolic or cardiovascular diseases such as diabetes, obesity and hypertension. According to the conclusions, many antidiabetic effects of the activators of the PPARβ/δ receptors ─potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of type 2 diabetes─ are regulated by cytokine GDF15, a protein expressed under conditions of physiological stress.

Roads have a negative impact on chimpanzee populations that can extend for more than 17 km, new research shows .