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Small shrimps of the genus Hippolyte have the ability to change color to camouflage themselves in the algae where they live and escape predators. Depending on the algae they are in, they can turn red, green, brown or transparent. A study published in the Journal of Animal Ecology shows for the first time how these crustaceans interact with invasive algae. The results also show that they can camouflage themselves in algae from other oceans with which they did not evolve together. The [...]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, health worker Maria Tereza Malheiros Sapienza's curiosity was aroused by her immunity to SARS-CoV-2: her husband, Marcelo Sapienza, a physician, was infected twice (in April 2020 and January 2022), but she remained perfectly well and asymptomatic even though she was in direct contact with him prior to both infections. This curiosity led the Sapienzas to join a study on serodiscordant couples conducted by the Human Genome and Stem Cell Research Center [...]

Studies conducted in mice have shown that the COVID-19 vaccine being developed by researchers at the University of São Paulo's Medical School (FM-USP) in Brazil is safe and efficacious. The vaccine triggered a satisfactory immune response against the pathogen in the mice and protected them from infection. An article describing the results is published in the journal Scientific Reports. "Most vaccines are based on attenuated or inactivated viruses, but our next-generation [...]

Glutamatergic medications showed promise in treating obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (OCRDs), especially obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a systematic review and meta-analysis showed. Across 27 trials, glutamatergic medications as monotherapy or added to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) showed a large effect size in improving OCRD symptoms (Cohen d -0.80, 95% CI -1.13 to -0.47) when the intervention group was compared with the control group, with low [...]

In Brazil, researchers have identified substances with analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-hyperalgesic (against persistent pain) and anti-arthritic activity in the leaves of Annona squamosa, a tree popularly known in the country as fruta-do-conde or pinha. The findings are published in the journal Pharmaceuticals. The work involved scientists from the Federal University of Grande Dourados (UFGD), the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) [...]

A group of Brazilian researchers has presented an innovative proposal to resolve a decades-old debate among theoretical physicists: How many fundamental constants are needed to describe the observable universe? Here, the term "fundamental constants" refers to the basic standards needed to measure everything. The study is published in the journal Scientific Reports. The group argues that the number of fundamental constants depends on the type of space-time in [...]

The risk of fires in the Amazon is greater in regions where groundwater storage is compromised, especially when El Niño exacerbates the drought. Using satellite images and data from fires, researchers have been able to demonstrate the relationship between the climatic phenomenon and the propensity for fires, creating a tool that could help with future prevention efforts. The results of the study, based on information from 2004 to 2016, show a decrease in moisture conditions at three [...]

An article published in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases reports the findings of a study that shows El Niño to be linked to an increase in infestations of Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that transmits dengue, chikungunya and zika. The authors analyzed data from 645 municipalities in São Paulo state (Brazil) for the period 2008–18, concluding that larval infestations in open-air disused containers increased in response to the effects of the weather phenomenon, [...]

Researchers at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in São Paulo state, Brazil, have developed a sourdough bread formulation enriched with jabuticaba peel that could be an alternative for people with diabetes and others who need to control blood sugar. An article describing their research and test results is published in the journal Foods. As noted in the article, the high carbohydrate content of bread can sharply raise blood sugar levels, risking hyperglycemia. Given the high [...]