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A study published in the journal PLOS ONE could one day help health workers determine whether bacteria of the species Streptococcus pneumoniae, which cause meningitis – an inflammation of the membranes that envelop the brain and spinal cord – are resistant to antibiotics. This type of analysis is no easy task when the conventional method is used. The bacteria must be isolated from a patient sample and analyzed while still alive, which is difficult because the microorganisms are [...]

Melanopsin (OPN4) is a light-sensing protein found in skin and retina cells. A new study conducted at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil suggests that OPN4 can also participate in the development and progression of melanoma, the most aggressive type of skin cancer. In experiments with animals and genetically modified cells at the Comparative Physiology of Pigmentation Laboratory belonging to the Institute of Biosciences (IB-USP), the researchers showed that the disease [...]

Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil analyzed data from 43 scientific articles describing the effects of COVID-19 on athletes and concluded that while the disease was asymptomatic or mild in the vast majority of cases (94%), about 8 % of the subjects concerned had persistent symptoms affecting their performance and potentially preventing a return to training and competing. The data they analyzed referred to some 11,500 athletes, including amateurs and [...]

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way people perceive the passage of time, according to an article published in the journal Science Advances. At the end of the first month of social distancing, in May 2020, most participants in the study (65%) reported feeling time was passing more slowly. The researchers classified this perception as “time expansion” and found it to be associated with feelings of loneliness and a lack of positive experiences in the period. An even [...]

A drug carrier able to reach the brain, bind to an aggressive type of tumor called glioblastoma multiforme, and release a chemotherapeutic agent has been tested for the first time by Brazilian researchers. According to an article published in the International Journal of Pharmaceutics, the potential treatment was shown to be effective in isolated cells and animal models thanks to a combination of nanotechnology, chemotherapy and a monoclonal antibody. Glioblastoma multiforme accounts for [...]

Having shown that diet can influence gene expression, science is starting to find out more about how this happens. According to an article recently published in Food and Chemical Toxicology, a diet supplemented with or deficient in methionine, an essential amino acid abundant in eggs, meat and seafood, affects the expression of genes associated with liver cell fat metabolism and genes that modify chromatin, the coiled fibers made up of DNA and proteins that form chromosomes in cells. The [...]

Brazilian researchers have developed a computer program that locates swimming pools and rooftop water tanks in aerial photographs with the aid of artificial intelligence to help identify areas vulnerable to infestation by Aedes aegypti the mosquito that transmits dengue, zika, chikungunya and yellow fever. The innovation, which can also be used as a public policy tool for dynamic socio-economic mapping of urban areas, resulted from research and development work by professionals at the [...]