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Quantum machine learning, an emerging field that combines machine learning and quantum physics, is the focus of research to discover possible treatments for COVID-19, according to Penn State researchers led by Swaroop Ghosh, the Joseph R. and Janice M. Monkowski Career Development Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Engineering. The researchers believe that this method could be faster and more economical than the current methods used for drug discovery.

Seed funding from the Penn State Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, as part of their rapid-response seed funding for research across the University to address COVID-19, is supporting this work.

“Discovering any new drug that can cure a disease is like finding a needle in a haystack,” Ghosh said.

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Developing an ideal wound dressing that meets the multiple demands of safe and practical, good biocompatibility, superior mechanical property and excellent antibacterial activity is highly desirable for wound healing. Bacterial cellulose (BC) is one of such promising class of biopolymers since it can control wound exudates and can provide moist environment to a wound resulting in better wound healing. However, the lack of antibacterial activity has limited its application.

We prepared a flexible dressing based on a bacterial cellulose membrane and then modified it by chemical crosslinking to prepare in situ synthesis of nZnO/BCM via a facile and eco-friendly approach. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results indicated that nZnO/BCM membranes were characterized by an ideal porous structure (pore size: 30~ 90 μm), forming a unique string-beaded morphology. The average water vapor transmission of nZnO/BCM was 2856.60 g/m2/day, which improved the moist environment of nZnO/BCM. ATR-FITR further confirmed the stepwise deposition of nano-zinc oxide. Tensile testing indicated that our nanocomposites were flexible, comfortable and resilient. Bacterial suspension assay and plate counting methods demonstrated that 5wt. % nZnO/BCM possessed excellent antibacterial activity against S.aureus and E. coli, while MTT assay demonstrated that they had no measurable cytotoxicity toward mammalian cells.

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Physicists at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria) have invented a new radar prototype that uses quantum entanglement as a method of object detection. This successful integration of quantum mechanics into devices could significantly impact the biomedical and security industries. The research is published in the journal Science Advances.

Quantum entanglement is a physical phenomenon whereby two particles remain interconnected, sharing physical traits regardless of how far apart they are from one another. Now, scientists from the research group of Professor Johannes Fink at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria) along with collaborators Stefano Pirandola from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of York, UK, and David Vitali from the University of Camerino, Italy—have demonstrated a new type of detection technology called microwave quantum illumination that utilizes entangled as a method of detection. The prototype, which is also known as a quantum , is able to detect objects in noisy thermal environments where classical radar systems often fail. The technology has potential applications for ultra-low power biomedical imaging and security scanners.

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A large crowd of monkeys has been filmed brawling over a pot of yoghurt in a street in Thailand. A fall in tourist numbers amid the Covid-19 outbreak has resulted in far fewer people offering them food. The video was filmed in Lopburi, a city north-east of Bangkok that is famed for its monkey population

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Doctors at the Casey Eye Institute at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland have announced the first-ever use of the revolutionary gene editing tool, CRISPR, inside of a person’s body. The tool was used to modify the genes responsible for a particular form of inherited blindness, and those responsible for the pioneering effort say there is real potential here to not only restore the patient’s vision, but open up a new line of medicines specifically used to target and alter DNA.

In an Associated Press report, which comes via NBC, the companies that make the treatment used in the procedure, including Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Editas Medicine and Dublin-based Allergan, highlighted the possibilities moving forward if the trial proves to be successful. Charles Albright, chief scientific officer at Editas, said that “We literally have the potential to take people who are essentially blind and make them see.”

Scientists at the OHSU @CaseyEye Institute have injected a harmless virus containing #CRISPR gene-editing instructions inside the retinal cells of a patient with a rare form of genetic blindness. @NPR @RobSteinNews https://n.pr/3ar3l3M— OHSU News (@OHSUNews) March 6, 2020

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EVANSVILLE, Ind., April 17 (UPI) — As produce sales at grocery stores surge during the coronavirus pandemic, one item is selling particularly well — mushrooms.

During the last week of March, fresh mushroom sales were up 18 percent over the same time last year, compared to an 8 percent rise in overall fresh produce sales, according to the Chicago-based data and analytics firm IRI.

“We take heart in those numbers,” said Eric Davis, a spokesman for the Mushroom Council, an industry group based in Redwood Shores, Calif. “We take heart that we’re in that group of staple items. You look for bright spots during this time, and that is one for us.”

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