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Results 101 - 120 of 507.


Environment - 30.09.2024
Cities influence precipitation and experience more intense thunderstorms than other regions.
Cities influence precipitation and experience more intense thunderstorms than other regions.
A new study from the University of Lausanne reveals how cities influence precipitation and storms, and are prone in summer to more severe and localized rainfall events than surrounding areas. This phenomenon could lead to an increased risk of flooding in the future, as urban areas expand in line with global warming.

Life Sciences - Health - 27.09.2024
How a protein keeps gene clusters quiet in the cell nucleolus
In a discovery that sheds light on the complex mechanisms of gene regulation, scientists at EPFL have uncovered a critical role for the protein ZNF274 in keeping certain gene clusters turned off by anchoring them to the cell nucleolus. Our DNA is not just a string of genes; it's a complex and dynamic structure where the spatial organization within the nucleus plays a crucial role in regulating which genes are turned on or off.

Pharmacology - 26.09.2024
Kidney stones are often excreted without pain
A research team led by Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, and the University of Bern has shown that a high percentage of kidney stones are excreted without symptoms. This finding should be incorporated into the future treatment of patients with recurrent kidney stones. Kidney stones are caused by the deposition of minerals and salts in the kidneys and can lead to severe pain when passing through the urinary tract.

Health - Pharmacology - 26.09.2024
Unexpected immune response may hold key to long-term cancer remission
Unexpected immune response may hold key to long-term cancer remission
Results from a preclinical study in mice, led by EPFL, and a collaborative clinical study in patients show that the type 2 immune response - associated with parasitic infection and thought to play a negative role in cancer immunity - is positively correlated with long-term cancer remission. In 2012, 7-year-old Emily Whitehead became the first pediatric patient to receive pioneering chimeric antigen receptor (CAR-T) therapy to fight the recurrence of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Health - Life Sciences - 26.09.2024
Programming cells to target brain tumours
Programming cells to target brain tumours
Scientists from the University of Geneva and HUG have developed CAR-T cells capable of targeting malignant gliomas while preserving healthy tissue. Glioblastoma is the most common and most aggressive primary brain tumour, with an average survival after diagnosis of less than two years, and against which current treatments remain ineffective.

Health - 26.09.2024
Signs of developing asthma are evident in the first year of life
Signs of developing asthma are evident in the first year of life
What factors lead to chronic respiratory disease? Researchers investigated this question using health data from about 780 infants. Their analysis shows that children's risk of developing asthma later in life can be more reliably predicted by observing the dynamic development of symptoms during the first year of life.

Agronomy / Food Science - Astronomy / Space - 26.09.2024
Crop forecasting from space
Crop forecasting from space
ETH spin-off Terensis is able to forecast the harvest yield and climate risks such as droughts and frost with the help of satellites.

Physics - 25.09.2024
NA62 experiment at CERN observes ultra-rare particle decay
Geneva, 25 September 2024. At a seminar held at CERN this week, the NA62 collaboration reported the unequivocal confirmation of the ultra-rare decay of a positively charged kaon into a positively charged pion and a neutrino-antineutrino pair. Experiments including NA62 have previously measured and seen evidence of this process, but this is the first time it has been measured with a statistical significance of five standard deviations , crossing the threshold traditionally required to claim a discovery in particle physics.

Social Sciences - Psychology - 25.09.2024
Self-Esteem Boosts Sexual Well-Being - and Vice Versa
Self-Esteem Boosts Sexual Well-Being - and Vice Versa
A long-term study by the Universities of Zurich and Utrecht has confirmed a dynamic correlation between self-esteem and sexual satisfaction. The results provide valuable insights about longstanding questions about whether better sex makes you feel better, feeling better makes you have better sex, or both.

Life Sciences - 25.09.2024
How a butterfly invasion minimizes genetic diversity
How a butterfly invasion minimizes genetic diversity
Until a few years ago, the butterfly known as the southern small white could barely be found north of the Alps. That was before a Europe-wide invasion that brought a huge increase in the insect's distribution - at the same time as a rapid decrease in genetic diversity within the species. It took a while for zoologist Daniel Berner to notice that a butterfly species that wasn't local to his area had become established in his garden.

Civil Engineering - 25.09.2024
AI helps detect and monitor infrastructure defects
Thanks to recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI), civil engineers can inspect large-scale infrastructure more efficiently and cost-effectively, while also monitoring the progression of damage severity over time. A team of researchers has demonstrated the feasibility of an AI-driven method for crack detection, growth and monitoring, and will soon test it on the railway section between Zermatt and Brig in Valais Canton.

Health - Pharmacology - 24.09.2024
Medicine and equal opportunities, an increasingly topical duo
Antonio Landi, PhD assistant at the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences and winner of USI Equal Opportunities Award 2024 for scientific contributions on topics of equality and diversity , presented his research to us, providing a comprehensive examination of gender medicine. Antonio Landi, could you please explain the research you conducted and the results it led to? "The study, published in JAMA Cardiology, aimed to analyse the impact of gender on optimal drug therapy in patients with coronary atherosclerotic disease undergoing angioplasty with coronary stent placement.

Life Sciences - 24.09.2024
Yeast chit-chat: How microorganisms talk food shortages
Yeast chit-chat: How microorganisms talk food shortages
To grow and survive, tiny organisms such as yeast must sometimes adapt their nutrient sources in response to changes in the environment. FMI researchers have now found that yeast cells communicate with each other to use less favorable nutrients if they foresee a shortage of their favorite food. This communication is facilitated by secreted molecules that interact with a protein in mitochondria, the cells' energy factories.

Life Sciences - Health - 23.09.2024
Compact ’Gene Scissor’ Enables Effective Genome Editing
CRISPR-Cas is used broadly in research and medicine to edit, insert, delete or regulate genes in organisms. TnpB is an ancestor of this well-known "gene scissor" but is much smaller and thus easier to transport into cells. Using protein engineering and AI algorithms, researchers have now enhanced TnpB capabilities to make DNA editing more efficient and versatile, paving the way for treating a genetic defect for high cholesterol in the future.

Life Sciences - Campus - 23.09.2024
Complex genetic programmes at the root of our movements
Complex genetic programmes at the root of our movements
A team from the University of Geneva has discovered the genetic programmes that allow motor neurons to retract from the spinal cord. This discovery opens up prospects for combating neurodegeneration. The motor cortex is made up of neurons responsible for muscle contraction. These neurons have cellular extensions called axons, which project from the cortex into the spinal cord.

Pharmacology - Health - 20.09.2024
Antidepressant shows promise for treating brain tumours
Antidepressant shows promise for treating brain tumours
Researchers at ETH Zurich have used a drug screening platform they developed to show that an antidepressant, currently on the market, kills tumour cells in the dreaded glioblastoma - at least in the cell-culture dish. Glioblastoma is a particularly aggressive brain tumour that at present is incurable.

Life Sciences - Health - 20.09.2024
Breathing and heartbeat influence perception
Study reveals new links between body and brain. The findings, conducted at the University of Fribourg, show how our body cycles modify our visual perception. Taking a deep breath to see more clearly may be more concrete than we thought. Breathing has a physiological impact on the perception of visual stimuli.

Health - Pharmacology - 20.09.2024
Prostate cancer: new discovery at IOR on resistance to hormonal therapies
The Molecular Oncology research group, led by Prof. Andrea Alimonti at the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR, affiliated to USI and member of Bios+) has recently discovered that a factor involved in blood coagulation, Factor X, directly promotes resistance to hormonal therapies in preclinical models and is associated with poor survival in  metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients.

Economics - 19.09.2024
Aversion to Inequality Drives Support for Redistribution
As income inequality widens, debates around redistribution policies are heating up. New research from the Universities of Zurich, Lille and Copenhagen reveals that support for these policies stems not only from individuals' financial situations but also from an inherent aversion to inequality. These findings offer valuable insights into predicting public support for future redistribution policies.

Health - 19.09.2024
Why do we sleep badly in strange places?
Why do we sleep badly in strange places?
Why is it that we often find it difficult to sleep well on the first night in an unfamiliar place? The phenomenon of suffering from insomnia on the first night in unfamiliar surroundings is known as the first-night effect. We usually sleep better on the second night. It is unclear whether this improvement also occurs if there are several days between sleepless nights in unfamiliar surroundings.