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Brazilian researchers observed that in uninfected adipocytes, the hormone irisin altered the expression of genes that regulate ACE-2, which encodes a protein to which the virus binds in order to invade human cells.

Researchers isolated eight novel polyphenols from the rarest type of propolis. Two of them were found to inhibit tumor cell proliferation in laboratory assays.

The conventional process requires costly large-scale equipment. The novel method can be executed in a single step by a device no larger than a microwave oven.

Governments should assure continuity of policies that promote bioenergy, biofuels and bioproducts, say the speakers in a webinar held by the Brazilian Bioenergy Science and Technology Conference, which is supported by BIOEN-FAPESP.

The study by more than 30 Brazilian scientists investigated tens of thousands of genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic variables, discovering several alterations caused by the virus.

A literature review by researchers affiliated with universities in Brazil and the United States produces the first ever nationwide survey of land use impacts on water quality, showing how a lack of planning may affect the availability of a natural resource that is already becoming scarce.

Researchers at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) isolated molecules present in the larvae of a blue light-emitting fungus gnat that inhabits the Appalachians. The study will help elucidate human diseases and could lead to novel biotech applications.

A study conducted at the FAPESP-funded Center for Research on Inflammatory Diseases (CRID) will identify key processes triggered by SARS-CoV-2 in human cells.

In a project supported by FAPESP, researchers at São Paulo State University (UNESP) will assess the potential of peptides and other bioactive molecules to inhibit the infection of cultured cells.

In an online seminar held by FAPESP, researchers from France, the US and Brazil discussed how data repositories can be made secure and easily accessible to accelerate the development of responses to the pandemic.

An electrical impedance tomography system was developed by a São Paulo-based startup to monitor the lungs of patients on mechanical ventilation uninterruptedly and noninvasively.

The process occurs in active galactic nuclei. A molecular gas cloud that accumulates in the central region is blown away by radiation from the black hole’s accretion disk, forming a huge expanding hot bubble, whose radius can reach 300 light years.

Frieseomelitta varia is a docile species of economic interest as a pollinator. Its workers are sterile, and some of its genetic sequences are identical to those found in other eusocial bees, pointing to the conservation of ancestral traits.

The automated system developed by Brazilian researchers is based on an analysis of patterns of molecules in patient blood plasma.

Benefits were observed in a clinical trial involving 38 volunteers treated at the teaching hospital of the University of São Paulo’s Ribeirão Preto Medical School. The drug is cheap and can shorten ICU stays but should not be used outside hospitals, the researchers warn.

Specialists discussed the situation in a webinar held by Agência FAPESP and Canal Butantan. However, they stressed that achieving herd immunity should not be public policy, as clearly shown by the tragic death toll suffered in Manaus, the state capital of Amazonas.

A study is being conducted by a research center supported by FAPESP to determine whether people who develop severe forms of the disease have risk genes and whether asymptomatic people or patients with only mild symptoms have protective genes.

Participants are members of the São Paulo arm of a study conducted in six Brazilian states beginning in 2008. The goal is to compare mental health before the pandemic to that during the pandemic in both healthy individuals and subjects suffering from anxiety and depression.

Webinar discussed prospects for future research on biodiversity. Synthesis centers designed to systematize knowledge in the field and scenario modeling studies are expected to gain importance in the years ahead.

The lens can be used to produce high-resolution images with a wide field of view. It can serve as a camera lens in smartphones and can be used in other devices that depend on sensors.

The method identifies and distinguishes between flaviviruses that cause many diseases in humans and animals in Brazil.

Scientific Director Luiz Eugênio Mello is taking part in a group charged with providing scientific support to the United Nations Research Roadmap for the COVID-19 Recovery.

A study of São Paulo city shows that neighborhoods with more hospitalizations and deaths from coronavirus coincide with areas whose inhabitants have been unable to shelter at home.

Through a project supported by FAPESP, the São Paulo-based firm is developing an RT-qPCR diagnostic kit in which all reactions take place in a single tube.

Applied to skin as a piece of sticking plaster, the device developed by Brazilian researchers can be used to monitor human metabolism and administer drugs.

Brazilian researchers used genetic engineering to develop a low-cost platform for the production of enzymes that break down sugarcane trash and bagasse for conversion into biofuel. The novel molecules have many potential industrial applications.

A study involving 13 patients requiring intubation for mechanical ventilation reinforces the theory that coagulation disorders resulting from an exacerbated inflammatory response to SARS-CoV-2 may explain some of the most severe symptoms of the disease.

Researchers from Portugal, the UK and Brazil produced the estimate using a mathematical model that takes into account variations in the risk of catching the disease within different population groups. Despite being good news, the finding does not diminish the importance of non-pharmaceutical interventions to contain transmission, the authors stress.

Ten units of the device developed at the university’s Engineering School (POLI-USP) began operating at Hospital das Clínicas in July.

In a laboratory experiment with rats, Brazilian researchers succeeded in reversing natural processes associated with aging that lead to loss of bone density and strength.

Tested in mice with genetically induced arthritis, the substance decreased the area affected, reduced local swelling, and assuaged the pain associated with the inflammatory process.

Possible applications range from sensors to fuel cells. The researchers are affiliated with the University of Campinas, and their work is featured on the cover of the current issue of ChemElectroChem.

A study showing how pollen tubes grow into flowers to reach the ovule paves the way for the improvement of food crop varieties as well as a deeper understanding of the growth of fungi and neurons.

Study determined how the disease was transmitted using genomic data for SARS-CoV-2 obtained by sequencing almost 500 viral isolates from Brazilian patients and cross-referencing this with air travel data and deaths from the disease in the period.

Researchers at the Optics and Photonics Research Center, supported by FAPESP, advocate the technique as an additional treatment for patients with the disease.

Researchers from Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria and the US took part in a webinar organized by FAPESP to discuss privacy and data security and how people’s behavior shapes the pandemic

Researchers have correlated information on drugs, genes and diseases to identify potential candidates for psychiatric and neurological treatment. The methodology they developed will be used to search for drugs against COVID-19.

A many-body interaction between the spins in a system imposes order. One of the consequences is that ideal Bose-Einstein condensates cannot be achieved.

The largest database of plant viruses in Brazil serves as a tool for researchers, growers and policymakers.

Autopsies performed on COVID-19 patients treated at the largest hospital complex in Latin America show that some died mainly as a result of cardiovascular alterations.

The contagion curve in Brazil appears to have plateaued and is set to remain at the current level until at least the end of 2020. Investing in the identification and isolation of infected people and their close contacts, keeping schools closed and improving the quality of the information offered to the public are measures governments should take to make sure the situation does not become even worse.

A study showed that the novel coronavirus can infect human adipocytes and that the viral load is three times higher in aged adipose cells. The results may help us understand why people with obesity and those who are older are more at risk of developing the severe form of COVID-19.

Online survey with 11,863 respondents also shows that feeling sad or depressed became routine for 39%, while overall health worsened for 26%.

Novel forms of societal behavior and political priorities during the coronavirus crisis may become permanent, creating even more favorable conditions for increased use of renewables, as discussed in a webinar hosted by the FAPESP Bioenergy Research Program.

The animal was approximately 10 cm long and lived more than 130 million years ago in what is now the state of Minas Gerais. Its morphology differs from that of all other known lizard species.

Present in the human digestive tract, species of Candida can cause bloodstream infections in patients treated in intensive care units. An international study involving 16 hospitals found isolates with high levels of virulence.

The compound inhibited the action of a protein activated by the virus to suppress the host’s immune response. The therapy also proved effective against dengue virus and will be tested at the University of São Paulo against coronavirus.

The reduction resulting from implementation of these measures in São Paulo has been calculated for the period between mid-March and early May using a mathematical model developed by a FAPESP-funded research center. The scientists also estimated that these two public health measures reduced the peak of transmission by 25% in Brasília.

Researchers used statistical techniques to analyze data of 126 countries. The variables that intensified contagion at the start of the outbreak included low temperature, a large proportion of older people, foreign tourist arrivals, and greeting habits involving physical contact.

Brazilian researchers showed that the degree of suffering caused by the pandemic and social isolation can be measured by interpreting dream narratives with the aid of speech analysis tools.