Friday 21 June 2019

Dental microwear provides clues to dietary habits of lepidosauria

High-resolution microscopic images of the surface of dental enamel of lepidosauria, which is a subclass of reptile including monitor lizards, iguanas, lizards and tuatara, allow scientists to determine their dietary habits. The enamel wear patterns reveal significant differences between carnivores and herbivores, but also allow finer distinctions, such as between algae-, fruit-, and mollusk-eating species. These findings are the result of research by a team led by scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). They point out that it has hitherto been difficult to make such fine distinctions between dietary behavior on the basis of dental or skeletal remains alone, particularly in the case of extinct species, because in many reptiles the teeth are of similar shape.

* This article was originally published here

From one brain scan, more information for medical artificial intelligence

MIT researchers have devised a novel method to glean more information from images used to train machine-learning models, including those that can analyze medical scans to help diagnose and treat brain conditions.

* This article was originally published here

Automated cryptocode generator is helping secure the web

Nearly every time you open up a secure Google Chrome browser, a new MIT-developed cryptographic system is helping better protect your data.

* This article was originally published here

Major HIV drug requires vigilance, study says

A study lead by researchers at the Institute of HIV Research, Medical Faculty of UDE and University Hospital Essen reports a potential toxicity of integrase inhibitors. Integrase inhibitors (INSTI) are a preferred drug for inclusion in anti-retroviral therapy regimens given its tolerability, efficacy and high resistance barrier. INSTI have been found to improve and prolong lives of millions of people living with HIV who suffer side-effects and resistance to treatment. However, recent laboratory data suggest that INSTI may not be as safe as suggested.

* This article was originally published here

Copernicus Sentinel-1 images the largest delta in the Arctic

The Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission takes us over the Lena River Delta, the largest delta in the Arctic.

* This article was originally published here

Waymo teams up with Renault, Nissan on robotaxis outside US

Self-driving car pioneer Waymo is teaming up with automakers Renault and Nissan to make its first journey outside the U.S. with a ride-hailing service that will dispatch a fleet of robotaxis in France and Japan.

* This article was originally published here

Kelly Latimer flies at the cutting edge of aviation—and soon, space

Kelly Latimer, 54, is a test pilot for Virgin Galactic and Virgin Orbit—two commercial space companies owned by British billionaire Richard Branson. For space tourism company Virgin Galactic, Latimer flies the giant, twin-fuselage aircraft known as WhiteKnightTwo, which carries a smaller spaceship at its belly to an altitude of up to 50,000 feet before the spaceship detaches and blasts off toward suborbital space. Latimer is also chief test pilot for Virgin Orbit, where she flies a modified 747 plane called Cosmic Girl. The plane carries a rocket under its left wing up to about 35,000 feet in the air, after which the rocket is released and falls for about four or five seconds before igniting and launching toward its intended orbit. Latimer is the only female test pilot out of a total of seven between the two companies.

* This article was originally published here

Researchers discover traditional fluid flow observations may miss the big picture

Before and after comparisons don't tell the full story of chemical reactions in flowing fluids, such as those in a chemical reactor, according to a new study from a collaboration based in Japan.

* This article was originally published here

Mystery of immunosuppressive drug's biosynthesis finally unlocked

Mycophenolic acid (MPA), discovered in 1893, was the first natural antibiotic to be isolated and crystallized in human history. Today, this fungal metabolite has been developed into multiple first-line immunosuppressive drugs to control immunologic rejection during organ transplantation and treat various autoimmune diseases.

* This article was originally published here

A clear vision for cancer diagnosis

While reading an article about Sen. John McCain's glioblastoma diagnosis, Kavya Kopparapu was shocked to learn that the prognosis for this aggressive brain cancer has not improved over the past 30 years. With standard treatment, glioblastoma patients typically survive for only about 11 months after diagnosis, according to the American Brain Tumor Association.

* This article was originally published here

SPFCNN-Miner: A new classifier to tackle class-unbalanced data

Researchers at Chongqing University in China have recently developed a cost-sensitive meta-learning classifier that can be used when the training data available is high-dimensional or limited. Their classifier, called SPFCNN-Miner, was presented in a paper published in Elsevier's Future Generation Computer Systems.

* This article was originally published here

Hospital insects harbour drug-resistant bacteria

More than 50 percent of bacteria recovered from flying insects in a group of English hospitals were resistant to one or more antibiotics, posing a potential infection risk to patients, according to a new study.

* This article was originally published here

Not always reaching your potential is okay, but overthinking it is a problem

Having aspirations helps us navigate life in a meaningful and fulfilling way, but it can also cause psychological distress when hopes are left unfulfilled.

* This article was originally published here

Burnout: Sleepless firefighters at risk of exhaustion and mental health conditions

Sleep disturbances and mental health challenges are putting close to half of America's firefighters at high risk of emotional fatigue and exhaustion, new research shows.

* This article was originally published here

Protesters urge ASEAN leaders to ban trash imports

Protestors in Bangkok on Thursday dumped plastic waste in front of a government building and called on Southeast Asian leaders to ban imports of trash from developed countries.

* This article was originally published here