Thursday 6 June 2019

Lab technology provides clarity amid Hawaiian water contamination concerns

One of the first things that comes to mind when you think of Hawaii are warm, tropical beaches with inviting, clear water. In fact, favorable beach water quality is the lifeblood for Hawaii's $18 billion annual tourist industry, the largest single contributor to the state's economy. So, it comes as no surprise that Hawaii water officials continuously monitor for sources of contamination that could threaten their main attraction.

* This article was originally published here

Cracking open the black box of automated machine learning

Researchers from MIT and elsewhere have developed an interactive tool that, for the first time, lets users see and control how automated machine-learning systems work. The aim is to build confidence in these systems and find ways to improve them.

* This article was originally published here

300-year-old piston design reinvented with soft flexible materials

Since their invention in the late 1700s when French-born British physicist Denis Papin, the inventor of the pressure cooker, proposed the piston principle, pistons have been used to harness the power of fluids to perform work in numerous machines and devices.

* This article was originally published here

Just a phage? How bacteria's predators can shape the gut microbiome

The gut microbiome is a complex, interconnected ecosystem of species. And, like any ecosystem, some organisms are predators and some are prey. A new study led by investigators at Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Wyss Institute investigates the impact of bacteriophage, viruses that infect and kill bacteria. They find that phage can have a profound impact on the dynamics of the gut microbiome, not only affecting certain species directly but also having a cascading effect on others. Phage may also be impacting their human host by modulating metabolites, including chemical substances found in the brain. The team, which includes first author Bryan Hsu, Ph.D., and co-corresponding senior author Pamela Silver, Ph.D., at the Wyss Institute, and Lynn Bry, MD, Ph.D., at the Brigham and director of the Massachusetts Host-Microbiome Center, has published its results in Cell Host & Microbe.

* This article was originally published here

Video: Cancer research using mini-organs from tumors and healthy tissue

Hans Clevers (Hubrecht Institute) and David Tuveson (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), experts in the field of stem cells and organoids, have written a review that summarizes the use of organoids in cancer research and shines a light on prospects for the future.

* This article was originally published here

New study identifies molecular aging 'midlife crisis'

Just as a computer requires code to work, our bodies are regulated by molecular "programs" that are written early in life and then have to do their job properly for a lifetime. But do they? It's a question that has intrigued researchers for years.

* This article was originally published here

Floating power plants

Paper, tin cans, glass—the world recycles as much as possible. So why not declare the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) a recycling product as well? Liquid fuels based on carbon will continue to play an important role in the future—despite international efforts to reduce them. So it seems sensible to recover the CO2 exhaust from the environment and use it again.

* This article was originally published here

Decoding Beethoven's music style using data science

EPFL researchers are investigating Beethoven's composition style using statistical techniques to quantify and explore the patterns that characterize musical structures in the Western classical tradition. They confirm what is expected against the backdrop of music theory for the classical music era, but go beyond a music theoretical approach by statistically characterizing the musical language of Beethoven for the first time. Their study is based on the set of compositions known as the Beethoven String Quartets, and the results are published in PLOS ONE.

* This article was originally published here

Using sensors to improve the interaction between humans and robots walking together

Researchers at the BioRobotics Institute of Scuola Superiore Sant"Anna, Co-Robotics srl and Sheffield Hallam University have recently proposed a new approach to improve interactions between humans and robots as they are walking together. Their paper, published in MDPI's Robotics journal, proposes the use of wearable sensors as a means to improve the collaboration between a human and a robot that are moving around in a shared environment.

* This article was originally published here

Alzheimer's disease protein links plaques to cell death in mice

A new protein involved in Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been identified by researchers at the RIKEN Center for Brain Science (CBS). CAPON may facilitate the connection between the two most well-known AD culprits, amyloid plaques and tau pathology, whose interactions cause brain cell death and symptoms of dementia. This latest finding from the Takaomi Saido group at RIKEN CBS uses a novel mouse model of AD. The study was published in Nature Communications on June 3.

* This article was originally published here

New computer attack mimics user's keystroke characteristics and evades detection

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) cyber security researchers have developed a new attack called Malboard. Malboard evades several detection products that are intended to continuously verify the user's identity based on personalized keystroke characteristics.

* This article was originally published here

What next after 100 Resilient Cities funding ends?

It was no April fool's joke when the Rockefeller Foundation announced it will phase out funding for the 100 Resilient Cities network. The foundation's message was a surprise for many participating cities, including Melbourne and Sydney, and for its partnering non-governmental organisations, businesses and academics.

* This article was originally published here

ACA's medicaid expansion may have lowered heart disease deaths

(HealthDay)—New research supports the notion that Obamacare has improved the health of Americans: State expansions in Medicaid appear to have cut the number of deaths from heart disease.

* This article was originally published here

'Herd' of dinosaurs found underground at Lightning Ridge

Scientists have revealed that fossils from an underground opal mine near Lightning Ridge, outback NSW, include remains from a herd of dinosaurs, among them a new dinosaur species and the world's most complete opalized dinosaur.

* This article was originally published here

First dead endangered right whale of 2019 spotted in Canada waters

The first dead critically endangered North Atlantic right whale of 2019 has been spotted in Canada's Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the fisheries and oceans department said Wednesday.

* This article was originally published here

Study suggests new computer analytics may solve the hospital readmission puzzle

A University of Maryland School of Medicine study suggests that a novel machine learning model developed at the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), called the Baltimore score (B score), may help hospitals better predict which discharged patients are likely to be readmitted.

* This article was originally published here

Study sheds light on how cells in the body can sense cancer

Fresh insights into how cells alert the body when they are in danger of becoming cancerous could open new doors in the search for therapies.

* This article was originally published here