A study that identifies how a coronavirus protein called Nsp1 blocks the activity of genes that promote viral replication provides hope for new COVID-19 treatments.
Key protein in cholera-causing bacteria enables them to adapt to temperature changes
Scientists have discovered an essential protein in cholera-causing bacteria that allows them to adapt to changes in temperature, according to a study published today in eLife.
The protein, BipA, is conserved across bacterial species, which suggests it could hold the key to how other types of bacteria change their biology and growth to survive at suboptimal temperatures.
Vibrio cholerae (V. cholerae) is the bacteria responsible for the severe diarrhoeal disease cholera. As with other species, V. cholerae forms biofilms - communities of bacteria enclosed in a structure made up of sugars and proteins - to protect against predators and stress conditions. V. cholerae forms these biofilms both in their aquatic environment and in the human intestine. There is evidence to suggest that biofilm formation is crucial to V. cholerae s ability to colonise in the intestine and might enhance its infectivity.
Written by AZoBuildFeb 17 2021
Engineers from Rice University have proposed a colorful solution to futuristic energy collection adding luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) to windows in buildings.
Rice University engineers designed and built windowpanes that redirect sunlight or illumination from indoors to edge-band solar cells. The central layer is a conjugated polymer that serves as a waveguide. Image Credit: Yilin Li.
The team of researchers headed by Rafael Verduzco and postdoctoral researcher and lead author Yilin Li from Rice’s Brown School of Engineering engineered and developed foot square windows in which a conjugated polymer is interspersed between two clear acrylic panels.
Lesbian and gay young people are almost twice as likely to engage in volunteer work as heterosexual teens, new research by NUI Galway academics has revealed.
Bisexual youth were more likely than the other groups to be discriminated based on their age and gender, the report also found.
Of the 3,354 young people who participated in the study, 3% reported being attracted to the same sex, while 6.3% said that they are attracted to both boys and girls.
The report on the study entitled Connected, Respected, And Contributing To Their World: The Case Of Sexual Minority And Non-Minority Young People In Ireland also found that bisexual youth were less likely than their heterosexual peers to report high family support or having a caring adult whom they can trust and that they were half as likely to feel that they are valued and respected.