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Researchers on quest to understand how different sexes first evolved.

For 30 years, University of Tokyo Associate Professor Hisayoshi Nozaki has traveled an hour west of Tokyo to visit the Sagami River and collect algal samples to understand how living things evolved different sexes. Through new analysis of samples collected in 2007 and 2013 from dam lakes along the river, Lake Sagami and Lake Tsukui, researchers identified a species of freshwater algae that evolved three different sexes, all of which can breed in pairs with each other.

This phenomenon of three sexes is slightly different from hermaphroditism. In species that normally have two sexes, a hermaphroditic individual who can produce both the male and female sex cells usually exists due to unusual gene expression. Many plants and some invertebrate species have three sexes due to normal gene expression, but this is the first time a species of algae or fungi has been identified with three sexes.

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Forward-looking: A team of researchers have devised a new method for protecting SSDs from ransomware attacks. It can detect ransomware, stop it in its tracks, and even recover stolen data in a matter of seconds. The cost should only be a minor increase in the SSD’s latency.

The Register spoke with the researchers, who come from Inha University, the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & Technology (DGIST), the University of Central Florida (UCF), and the Cyber Security Department at Ewha Womans University (EWU). The system, called SSD-Insider, is supposedly almost 100 percent accurate and has been tested on real-world ransomware.

SSD-Insider works by recognizing certain patters in SSD activity that are known to indicate ransomware. “To recognize ransomware activity by viewing only the distribution of IO request headers, we have paid attention to a ransomware’s very unique behavior, overwriting,” reads the team’s research paper proposing SSD-Insider. It specifically points out the behavior of ransomware like WannaCry, Mole, and CryptoShield.

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When a cloudy plume of ice and water vapor billows up above the top of a severe thunderstorm, there’s a good chance a violent tornado, high winds or hailstones bigger than golf balls will soon pelt the Earth below.

A new Stanford University-led study, published Sept. 10 in Science, reveals the physical mechanism for these plumes, which form above most of the world’s most damaging tornadoes.

Previous research has shown they’re easy to spot in satellite imagery, often 30 minutes or more before severe weather reaches the ground. “The question is, why is this plume associated with the worst conditions, and how does it exist in the first place? That’s the gap that we are starting to fill,” said atmospheric scientist Morgan O’Neill, lead author of the new study.

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What might happen after the Cybernetic Singularity? Can we refine our theological philosophies in light of new evidence? Are we alone in the Universe? Can you achieve Cybernetic Immortality? When and how can we transcend the human condition? These are some of the questions addressed in my new book THEOGENESIS: Transdimensional Propagation & Universal Expansion. This awe-inspiring volume is to be released on October 1 2021 as part of The Cybernetic Theory of Mind series and is available now to pre-order on Amazon. #THEOGENESIS #TransdimensionalPropagation #UniversalExpansion #CyberneticTheoryofMind #cybernetics #theology #futurism #posthumanism

Ecstadelic Media Group announces the release of the next book in The Cybernetic Theory of Mind series by Alex M. Vikoulov ― THEOGENESIS: Transdimensional Propagation & Universal Expansion ― available as a Kindle eBook on Amazon.

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The keyhole imaging technique, developed by researchers at Stanford University’s Computational Imaging Lab, is so named because all that’s needed to see what’s inside a closed room is a tiny hole (such as a keyhole or a peephole) large enough to shine a laser beam through, creating a single dot of light on a wall inside.

If you’re worried about privacy, it might be time to cover up your front door’s peephole.

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Hwang and colleagues lay out their platform, which could one day be integrated not only into dental implants but other technologies, such as joint replacements, as well.

More than 3 million people in America have dental implants, used to replace a tooth lost to decay, gum disease, or injury. Implants represent a leap of progress over dentures or bridges, fitting much more securely and designed to last 20 years or more.

But often implants fall short of that expectation, instead needing replacement in five to 10 years due to local inflammation or gum disease, necessitating a repeat of a costly and invasive procedure for patients.

“We wanted to address this issue, and so we came up with an innovative new ,” says Geelsu Hwang, an assistant professor in the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, who has a background in engineering that he brings to his research on oral health issues.

Continue reading “Researchers developing smart dental implants that resist bacterial growth, generate their own electricity” | >

What’s exciting about our findings is that we have identified a molecular pathway that is activated in normal acute wounds in humans, and altered in diabetic wounds in mice,” said Ghaidaa Kashgari, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher in the UCI School of Medicine Department of Medicine. “This finding strongly indicates clinical relevance and may improve our understanding of wound healing biology and could lead to new therapies.

A University of California, Irvine-led study identifies a new molecular pathway that promotes the healing of wounds in the skin. Titled “GRHL3 activates FSCN1 to relax cell-cell adhesions between migrating keratinocytes during wound reepithelialization,” the study was published today in JCI Insight.

The molecular pathway identified is controlled by an evolutionary conserved gene called a Grainyhead like 3 (GRHL3), which is a gene required for mammalian development. Without this gene, several abnormalities may occur, including spina bifida, defective epidermal barrier, defective eyelid closure and soft-tissue syndactyly, a condition in which children are born with fused or webbed fingers.

The study reveals how during wound healing, GRHL3 works to activate a protein coding gene called Fascin Actin-Bundling Protein 1 (Fscn1) to loosen the adhesion between wounded skin cells so they can migrate efficiently to close the wound. Researchers also found that alterations in this process may result in chronic, non-healing wounds, such as diabetic ulcers that affect millions of patients every year.

Continue reading “Research uncovers new mechanism that promotes wound healing in skin” | >