Lifeboat Foundation

The bones of the face and skull can be affected due to a wide range of conditions, including cleft palate defects, traumatic injuries, cancer, and bone loss from dentures. Although bone replacements are routinely used to regenerate the missing tissue, they are vulnerable to bacterial infection. In a new study, researchers investigated whether manuka honey, made from tea trees, can be used to resist bacterial infection and promote bone growth.

Bone implants account for 45% of all hospital-contracted infections, impeding healing. Typically, these implants are made from biomaterials that contain extracellular matrix components—molecules that provide structural support to cells. However, researchers commonly use metal implants or synthetic polymers to study bone defects and infections. Therefore, there is a gap in the understanding of how biomaterials behave in response to infection.

“Imagine a metal versus something soft and porous that is made up of extracellular matrix components. They have very different characteristics,” said Marley Dewey, a former graduate student in the Harley lab and the first author of the paper. “Using our scaffolds, this is the first paper to look at how these materials become infected.”

Enterprises looking to get ahead of data breaches and data leaks can benefit from using dark web monitoring tools and scan for personally identifiable information and even respond to attacks. Here is a list of 10 such tools.

A.I. systems like ChatGPT, Bing, and Bard are here to stay

Generative A.I., the kind of software that powers OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft’s (MSFT) Bing, and Google’s (GOOG, GOOGL) Bard, is all the rage. But the explosion in generative A.I., so named because it generates “new” content based on information it pulls from the web, is facing increasing scrutiny from consumers and experts.

Fears that the software could be used to help students cheat on tests and provide inaccurate, bizarre responses to users’ queries are drawing questions about the platforms’ accuracy and capabilities. And some are wondering if the products have been released too early for their own good.

Today’s news from the frontier of quantum computing includes Amazon Web Services’ release of cloud-based simulation software for modeling the electromagnetic properties of quantum hardware, Google’s latest technological advance aimed at lowering the error rate of quantum calculations, and new recommendations about the public sector’s role on the frontier.

Amazon opens a ‘Palace’ for designers

Continue reading “Quantum bits: AWS releases hardware design tool; Google reduces error rates” »

Previous studies recommended keeping electronics at a six-inch distance from implantable cardiac devices.

The presence of such massive galaxies lurking in the early Universe contradicts current cosmological models.

Apple Inc. has a moonshot-style project underway that dates back to the Steve Jobs era: noninvasive and continuous blood glucose monitoring.

Apple has reportedly secured all available orders for N3, TSMC’s first-generation 3-nanometer process that is likely to be used in the upcoming iPhone 15 Pro lineup as well as new MacBooks scheduled for launch in the second half of 2023.

According to a paywalled DigiTimes report, Apple has procured 100% of the initial N3 supply, which is said to have a high yield, despite the higher costs involved and the decline in the foundry’s utilization rate in the first half of 2023. Mass production of TSMC’s 3nm process began in late December, and the foundry has scaled up process capacity at a gradual pace with monthly output set to reach 45,000 wafers in March, according to the report’s sources.

ATP, the compound essential for the functioning of photosynthetic organisms such as plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, is produced by an enzyme called “chloroplast ATP synthase” (CF_oCF₁). To control ATP production under varying light conditions, the enzyme uses a redox regulatory mechanism that modifies the ATP synthesis activity in response to changes in the redox state of cysteine (Cys) residues, which exist as dithiols under reducing (light) conditions, but forms a disulfide bond under oxidizing (dark) conditions. However, this mechanism has not yet been fully understood.

Now, in a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of researchers from Japan led by Prof. Toru Hisabori from Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) has uncovered the role of the amino acid sequences present in CF_oCF₁, revealing how the enzyme regulates ATP production in photosynthetic organisms.

To understand how the conformation of the amino acids present in CF_oCF₁ contributes to the redox regulation mechanism, the researchers used the unicellular green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, to produce the enzyme. “By leveraging the powerful genetics of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as a model organism for photosynthesis, we conducted a comprehensive biochemical analysis of the CF_oCF₁ molecule,” explains Prof. Hisabori.