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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 11, 2021 at 10:43am

Researchers report new state of matter described as 'liquid glass'

Discovery of liquid glass sheds light on the old scientific problem of the glass transition: An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Konstanz has uncovered a new state of matter, liquid glass, with previously unknown structural elements—new insights into the nature of glass and its transitions.

 Using a model system involving suspensions of tailor-made ellipsoidal colloids, the researchers uncovered a new state of matter, liquid glass, where individual particles are able to move yet unable to rotate—complex behavior that has not previously been observed in bulk glasses. The results are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Jörg Roller et al. Observation of liquid glass in suspensions of ellipsoidal colloids, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2021). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2018072118

https://phys.org/news/2021-01-state-liquid-glass.html?utm_source=nw...

While glass is a truly ubiquitous material that we use on a daily basis, it also represents a major scientific conundrum. Contrary to what one might expect, the true nature of glass remains something of a mystery, with scientific inquiry into its chemical and physical properties still underway. In chemistry and physics, the term glass itself is a mutable concept: It includes the substance we know as window glass, but it may also refer to a range of other materials with properties that can be explained by reference to glass-like behavior, including, for instance, metals, plastics, proteins, and even biological cells.

While it may give the impression, glass is anything but conventionally solid. Typically, when a material transitions from a liquid to a solid state the molecules line up to form a crystal pattern. In glass, this does not happen. Instead, the molecules are effectively frozen in place before crystallization happens. This strange and disordered state is characteristic of glasses across different systems and scientists are still trying to understand how exactly this metastable state forms.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 11, 2021 at 9:46am

Where antibiotic resistance comes from

By comparing thousands of bacterial genomes, scientists in Gothenburg, Sweden have traced back the evolutionary history of antibiotic resistance genes. In almost all cases where an origin could be determined, the gene started to spread from bacteria that, themselves, can cause disease.

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Keeping sperm cells on track

An essential component of every eukaryotic cell is the cytoskeleton. Microtubules, tiny tubes consisting of a protein called tubulin, are part of this skeleton of cells. Cilia and flagella, which are antenna-like structures that protrude from most of the cells in our body, contain many microtubules. An example of flagell is the sperm tail, which is essential for male fertility and thus for sexual reproduction. The flagellum has to beat in a very precise and coordinated manner to allow progressive swimming of the sperm. Failure to do so can lead to male infertility.

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Researchers turn coal powder into graphite in microwave oven

Using copper foil, glass containers and a conventional household microwave oven, University of Wyoming researchers have demonstrated that pulverized coal powder can be converted into higher-value nano-graphite.

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Including unhealthy foods may diminish positive effects of an other...

Eating a healthy diet, such as the Mediterranean diet, has a positive impact on health, but little is known about the effects of including unhealthy foods in an otherwise healthy diet. Now researchers at Rush University Medical Center have reported diminished benefits of a Mediterranean diet among those with high frequency of eating unhealthy foods. The results of their study were published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association on Jan. 7.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 11, 2021 at 9:43am

Noncognitive or “soft skills” are related to motivation, integrity, and interpersonal interaction. They may also involve intellect, but more indirectly and less consciously than cognitive skills. Soft skills are associated with an individual's personality, temperament, and attitudes.

Cognitive and noncognitive skills - ACT

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 11, 2021 at 9:42am

Noncognitive skills—distinct from cognitive abilities—are important to success across the life

Noncognitive skills and cognitive abilities are both important contributors to educational attainment—the number of years of formal schooling that a person completes—and lead to success across the life course, according to a new study.

 The research provides evidence for the idea that inheriting genes that affect things other than cognitive ability are important for understanding differences in people's life outcomes. Until now there had been questions about what these noncognitive skills are and how much they really matter for life outcomes. The new findings are published in the journal Nature Genetics.

"Genetic studies of educational attainment were initiated with the goal of identifying genes that influenced cognitive abilities. They've had some success in doing that. But it turns out they've also identified genetics that influence a range of other skills and characteristics. What was most surprising about the results was that these noncognitive skills contributed just as much to the heritability of educational attainment as cognitive ability. Of the total genetic influence on educational attainment, referred to as the heritability, cognitive abilities accounted for 43 percent and noncognitive skills accounted for 57 percent.

Similar to the genetics of cognitive abilities, the genetics of noncognitive skills were related to achievements outside of schooling, including holding more prestigious jobs, earning higher incomes, and living longer. And, genes associated with noncognitive skills showed relationships with these other life outcomes that were as strong or stronger than the relationships seen with cognitive genetics. These results were important proof of concept. They showed us that noncognitive skills genetics have implications for economics and public health similar to the genetics of cognitive abilities.

Overall, the genetics of noncognitive skills were associated with higher tolerance of risks, greater willingness to forego immediate gratification, less health-risk behavior, and delayed fertility. Researchers also observed that noncognitive skill genetics were associated with a constellation of personality traits linked with success in relationships and at work, such as being curious and eager to learn, being more emotionally stable, and being more industrious and orderly.

Nature Genetics (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41588-020-00754-2

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-01-noncognitive-skillsdistinct-...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 11, 2021 at 8:46am

Biotin, mitochondria, and dementia: Research reveals a connection

By any measure, carbon-based life originates from carboxylation. That is to say, the coupling of atmospheric carbon dioxide to sugar. Carboxylation is also critical for mitochondria to function. There are five carboxylation enzymes in mitochondria, and they share one thing in common—they are all operated by a covalently linked biotin cofactor.

Biotin is also known as vitamin H, named for the German words "Haar" and "Haut," which mean hair and skin. This was due to the fact that even slight deficiencies cause hair thinning, skin rash or brittle fingernails. New research, just published in PNAS, now shows that some forms of severe neurodegeneration, like the frontotemporal dementia seen in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, can directly result from lack of sufficient biotin.

Biotin comes to us in the form of biocytin, which is simply a biotin linked to a lysine. Btnd cleaves off the biotin from biocytin, or from its attachment to lysine in carboxylases. When Btnd was also crippled in the flies, their dementia got worse. Furthermore, their mitochondria also became deformed and elongated. The researchers were able to remedy all of these effects by simply giving supplementary biotin, suggesting that some humans with dementia could similarly benefit. They were also able to piece together a mechanism that functionally links tau and Btnd.

 Kelly M. Lohr et al. Biotin rescues mitochondrial dysfunction and neurotoxicity in a tauopathy model, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2020). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1922392117

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-01-biotin-mitochondria-dementia...

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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 11, 2021 at 7:50am

Quantum Locking Will Blow Your Mind—How Does it Work?

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 11, 2021 at 7:45am

How To Levitate with the help of science

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 10, 2021 at 10:52am

Invisible Polar Bears and Other Arctic Adaptations

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 10, 2021 at 10:49am

RNA molecules are masters of their own destiny

At any given moment in the human body, in about 30 trillion cells, DNA is being “read” into molecules of messenger RNA, the intermediary step between DNA and proteins, in a process called transcription. Scientists have a pretty good idea of how transcription gets started: Proteins called RNA polymerases are recruited to specific regions of the DNA molecules and begin skimming their way down the strand, synthesizing mRNA molecules as they go. But part of this process is less-well understood: How does the cell know when to stop transcribing? Now, new work from the labs of Richard Young, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research member and MIT professor of biology, and Arup K. Chakraborty, professor of chemical engineering, physics, and chemistry at MIT, suggests that RNA molecules themselves are responsible for regulating their formation through a feedback loop.

https://researchnews.cc/news/4493/RNA-molecules-are-masters-of-thei...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 10, 2021 at 10:40am

Rare quadruple-helix DNA found in living human cells with glowing probes

New probes allow scientists to see four-stranded DNA interacting with molecules inside living human cells, unraveling its role in cellular processes.

DNA usually forms the classic double helix shape of two strands wound around each other. While DNA can form some more exotic shapes in test tubes, few are seen in real living cells.

However, four-stranded DNA, known as G-quadruplex, has recently been seen forming naturally in human cells. Now, in new research published today in Nature Communications, a team led by Imperial College London scientists have created new probes that can see how G-quadruplexes are interacting with other molecules inside living cells.

G-quadruplexes are found in higher concentrations in cancer cells, so are thought to play a role in the disease. The probes reveal how G-quadruplexes are 'unwound' by certain proteins, and can also help identify molecules that bind to G-quadruplexes, leading to potential new drug targets that can disrupt their activity.

A different DNA shape will have an enormous impact on all processes involving it—such as reading, copying, or expressing genetic information.

"Evidence has been mounting that G-quadruplexes play an important role in a wide variety of processes vital for life, and in a range of diseases, but the missing link has been imaging this structure directly in living cells.

They used a chemical probe called DAOTA-M2, which fluoresces (lights up) in the presence of G-quadruplexes, but instead of monitoring the brightness of fluorescence, they monitored how long this fluorescence lasts. This signal does not depend on the concentration of the probe or of G-quadruplexes, meaning it can be used to unequivocally visualize these rare molecules.

Peter A. Summers et al. Visualizing G-quadruplex DNA dynamics in live cells by fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy, Nature Communications (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-20414-7

https://phys.org/news/2021-01-rare-quadruple-helix-dna-human-cells....

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