news 2018

Researchers at the University of Basel and the University Hospital Basel have discovered a factor that could support the early detection of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's. This cytokine is induced by cellular stress reactions after disturbances of the mitochondria, the 'cell's power plants,' as neuropathologists write in the journal Cell Reports.

Researchers from EPFL and the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris have found that the presence of pressurized fluid in surrounding rock can reduce the intensity of earthquakes triggered by underground human activities like geothermal energy production. Around 100,000 earthquakes are recorded worldwide every year, but not all are naturally occurring.

Lagoons are valuable natural habitats as well as being good for tourism. In the case of the "Mar Menor" in the Spanish province of Murcia, however, such large quantities of nutrients are entering the unique ecosystem via the groundwater that algal blooms are making swimming impossible. Working together with Eawag, Spanish researchers have been modelling the underground water flows in order to develop better cultivation and water management scenarios.

A Swiss TPH study analysing surveillance data from Switzerland over the last 30 years shows a strong decline from 628 hepatitis A cases in 1988 to 43 cases in 2016. The study was published yesterday in the peer-reviewed journal Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease. In most European countries, the prevalence of hepatitis A has been reduced substantially over the past decades.

Drawing on the fact that the snow in an avalanche can behave like both a solid and a fluid, a young researcher at EPFL and SLF has managed to simulate a snow slab avalanche with unrivaled precision. An avalanche is an extremely complex event, with countless parameters and physical variables coming into play from the time the avalanche is triggered until it ends.

Leaders are more willing to take responsibility for making decisions that affect the welfare of others. In a new study, researchers at the University of Zurich identified the cognitive and neurobiological processes that influence whether someone is more likely to take on leader-ship or to delegate decision-making.

Innovation in the field of biomedicine: Researchers at the University of Zurich have developed a novel method which increases more than tenfold the number of proteins that can be visualized per sample, making it possible to generate a comprehensive map of cellular organization across the various cellular states.

A group of researchers coordinated by Alex Tuck from Marc Bühler's lab wanted to learn more about the role of long non-protein-coding RNAs (lncRNAs); these eukaryotic RNAs lacking protein-coding potential were first described about 15 years ago, but still little is known about their biological significance.

Drinking excessive amounts of fluids can be a medically unremarkable habit, but it could also signify a rare hormone disorder. A new procedure now enables a fast and reliable diagnosis. Researchers from the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel reported these findings in the New England Journal of Medicine.

EPFL researchers have developed an optical fiber capable of detecting what sort of material or liquid they have come into contact with. Their research has been published. In recent years optical fibers have served as sensors to detect changes in temperature, like a thermometer, and pressure, like an artificial nerve.

Terpenes are natural products that are often very difficult to synthesize in the laboratory. Chemists from the University of Basel have now developed a synthesis method that mimics nature. The decisive step takes place inside a molecular capsule, which enables the reaction. The findings were recently published Catalysis.

An international research team under the co-direction of the University of Bern and the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) has discovered various mechanisms of resistance to cancer therapy. The findings help researchers to understand the self-repair of cancer cells after a therapy and thus help to fight resistant tumours more efficiently.

Researchers have discovered novel, antibiotically active chemical substances in a previously rarely explored site: the leaf of a common field weed. The findings show that this microcosm contains many still unknown natural products that could lead to new drugs. Many of the antibiotics used today were developed from natural products made by bacteria themselves in order to ward off other bacteria.

Thin mulch films made of polyethylene are used in agriculture in numerous countries, where they cause extensive soil contamination. Researchers at ETH Zurich and Eawag have now identified an alternative: films made of the polymer PBAT biodegrade in soils. Our world is drowning in a flood of plastic.

The role of the e-bike in promoting health and fitness is comparable to that of a conventional bicycle. This was reported by researchers of the University of Basel in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine. In particular, overweight and untrained individuals can benefit from riding an e-bike. The starting point for the pilot study was the Bike to Work campaign, which has been running in Switzerland for ten years now and invites commuters to switch to their bicycles or e-bikes every year for a month.

An origami-like drone developed at EPFL is flexible enough to absorb shocks without breaking before returning to its initial shape. This new type of drone, which was inspired by insect wings, draws on the advantages of both stiff and flexible structures. In recent years, robotics experts have taken a page from the traditional Japanese practice of origami and come up with light and flexible - and highly innovative - robots and drones.

EPFL researchers have developed a transistor based on excitons - a type of particle most people have not heard of - that is able to function at room temperature. This breakthrough could lead to a new breed of faster, more energy efficient and smaller electronics. Excitons could revolutionize the way engineers approach electronics.

Zika virus (ZIKV) may be sexually transmissible for a shorter period than previously estimated, according to a systematic review published this week in PLOS Medicine by Michel Counotte and Nicola Low of the Institute of Preventive Medicine (ISPM), and colleagues from the World Health Organization, US Centers for Disease Control and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.

Shortly after the Big Bang, radioactive atoms of the type beryllium-7, among others, came into being. Today, throughout the universe, they have long since decayed and do not occur naturally, in contrast to their decay product lithium. Now researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have helped to better understand the first minutes of the universe: They collected artificially produced beryllium-7 and made it into a sample that could be investigated.

Mark Schubert modifies wood properties with the aid of the enzyme laccase. However, the search for suitable ingredients is complex - a bit like trying to find the key to an unknown lock. Instead of long, expensive series of experiments, Schubert uses artificial intelligence as it gets him to the goal more quickly.