Peptidomics employs techniques of genomics, modern proteomics, state-of-the-art analytical chemistry and computational biology. In this Primer, Hellinger et al. describe the techniques and workflows required for peptide discovery and characterization and give an overview of biological and clinical applications of peptidomics.
The more vividly a person imagines something, the more likely it is that they believe it’s real, finds a new study by University College London researchers.
The research, published in Nature Communications, involved more than 600 participants who took part in an online experiment, where they were asked to imagine images of alternating black and white lines while looking at a computer screen.
After they imagined a stimulus, participants then had to report how vividly they were able to visualize it.
The function of the human brain is exceptional, driving all aspects of our thoughts and creativity. Yet the part of the human brain—the neocortex—responsible for such cognitive functions has a similar overall structure to other mammals.
Through close collaboration between The University of Queensland (UQ), The Mater Hospital and the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, researchers have discovered the human brain’s enhanced processing power may stem from differences in the structure and function of our neurons.
The results of this study have been published in Cell Reports as “High-fidelity dendritic sodium spike generation in human layer 2/3 neocortical pyramidal neurons.”
There are high expectations that quantum computers may deliver revolutionary new possibilities for simulating chemical processes. This could have a major impact on everything from the development of new pharmaceuticals to new materials. Researchers at Chalmers University have now, for the first time in Sweden, used a quantum computer to undertake calculations within a real-life case in chemistry.
“Quantum computers could in theory be used to handle cases where electrons and atomic nuclei move in more complicated ways. If we can learn to utilize their full potential, we should be able to advance the boundaries of what is possible to calculate and understand,” says Martin Rahm, Associate Professor in Theoretical Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, who has led the study.
Within the field of quantum chemistry, the laws of quantum mechanics are used to understand which chemical reactions are possible, which structures and materials can be developed, and what characteristics they have. Such studies are normally undertaken with the help of super computers, built with conventional logical circuits. There is however a limit for which calculations conventional computers can handle. Because the laws of quantum mechanics describe the behavior of nature on a subatomic level, many researchers believe that a quantum computer should be better equipped to perform molecular calculations than a conventional computer.
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an experimental treatment strategy which uses an implanted device to help patients with severe depression who have reached a point where no other treatment works.
But despite her involvement in the DBS collaboration, which involves neuroscientists, neurosurgeons, electrophysiologists, engineers and computer scientists, neurologist Helen Mayberg does not see it as a long-term solution.
“I hope I live long enough to see that people won’t require a hole in their brain and a device implanted in this way,” she says. “I often have a nightmare with my tombstone that kind of reads like, what did she think she was doing?”
Providing increased resistance to outside interference, topological qubits create a more stable foundation than conventional qubits. This increased stability allows the quantum computer to perform computations that can uncover solutions to some of the world’s toughest problems.
While qubits can be developed in a variety of ways, the topological qubit will be the first of its kind, requiring innovative approaches from design through development. Materials containing the properties needed for this new technology cannot be found in nature—they must be created. Microsoft brought together experts from condensed matter physics, mathematics, and materials science to develop a unique approach producing specialized crystals with the properties needed to make the topological qubit a reality.
Among the biggest environmental problems of our time, micro-and nanoplastic particles (MNPs) can enter the body in various ways, including through food. And now for the first time, research conducted at MedUni Vienna has shown how these minute particles manage to breach the blood-brain barrier and as a consequence penetrate the brain. The newly discovered mechanism provides the basis for further research to protect humans and the environment.
Published in the journal Nanomaterials, the study was carried out in an animal model with oral administration of MNPs, in this case polystyrene, a widely-used plastic which is also found in food packaging. Led by Lukas Kenner (Department of Pathology at MedUni Vienna and Department of Laboratory Animal Pathology at Vetmeduni) and Oldamur Hollóczki (Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Debrecen, Hungary) the research team was able to determine that tiny polystyrene particles could be detected in the brain just two hours after ingestion.
The mechanism that enabled them to breach the blood-brain barrier was previously unknown to medical science. “With the help of computer models, we discovered that a certain surface structure (biomolecular corona) was crucial in enabling plastic particles to pass into the brain,” Oldamur Hollóczki explained.
A giant orbital magnetic moment exists in graphene quantum dots, according to new work by physicists at the University of California Santa Cruz in the US. As well as being of fundamental interest for studying systems with relativistic electrons – that is those travelling at near-light speeds – the work could be important for quantum information science since these moments could encode information.
Graphene, a sheet of carbon just one atom thick, has a number of unique electronic properties, many of which arise from the fact that it is a semiconductor with a zero-energy gap between its valence and conduction bands. Near where the two bands meet, the relationship between the energy and momentum of charge carriers (electrons and holes) in the material is described by the Dirac equation and resembles that of a photon, which is massless.
These bands, called Dirac cones, enable the charge carriers to travel through graphene at extremely high, “ultra-relativistic” speeds approaching that of light. This extremely high mobility means that graphene-based electronic devices such as transistors could be faster than any that exist today.
