A research group at the State University of Campinas proposes treating the solid waste produced by breweries with ultrasound before submitting it to the process of digestion by microorganisms. The strategy obtains larger amounts of methane, which can be used by the brewery itself to generate electricity and heat. The final waste can be used as crop fertilizer.
Results of studies conducted at the Research Center for Greenhouse Gas Innovation (RCGI) have fed into a bill before the Senate to set up a legal framework on carbon capture and storage as an economic activity.
Several substances that killed antibiotic-resistant bacteria were found by Brazilian researchers in a marine sponge native to Fernando de Noronha, an archipelago off the coast of the Northeast.
Grasslands are endangered everywhere on Earth, warns a group of researchers from several countries in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment. The solution involves restoration and the pursuit of sustainable economic development alternatives.
In mice fed a high-fat diet, the molecule mitigated weight gain while reducing insulin resistance and liver fattiness. An article describing the results of the study by researchers at the University of São Paulo and collaborators is published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.
The latest in the FAPESP 60 Years lecture series featured an assessment of the current social and political conditions in Brazil by Maria Hermínia Tavares de Almeida, a professor at the University of São Paulo. The event focused on the erosion of liberal democracy. Oscar Vilhena, Dean of Getúlio Vargas Foundation’s São Paulo Law School, also took part.
Research that can increase Brazil’s access to CAR T-cell therapy, an increasingly important strategy for treating cancer, is under way at the University of São Paulo’s Center for Cell-Based Therapy (CTC) in Ribeirão Preto, and the Butantan Institute.
Researchers at the University of São Paulo analyzed 43 scientific articles with data for some 11,500 athletes. The findings point to the need for carefully personalized assessment of athletes and sports players before a resumption of training is allowed, they warn.
Advanced drug discovery methods have led to advances in the search for treatments for some neglected tropical diseases, including leishmaniasis and Chagas, but research on schistosomiasis and other diseases caused by worms remains at an early stage, according to an article in Drug Discovery Today by Brazilian researchers.
The São Paulo State Academy of Sciences presented the first chapter of a book on FAPESP’s 60 years of contributing to science for national development at the first in a series of online events that will continue until December and can be watched on Agência FAPESP’s YouTube channel.
Brazilian researchers surveyed 900 volunteers via an online platform for five months. Most reported feeling that time passed more slowly during home confinement in the early months of the pandemic, associating this perception with feelings of loneliness and a lack of positive experiences in the period.
A delegation from New Zealand led by Education Minister Chris Hipkins visited FAPESP to discuss new partnerships and areas of interest shared by the two countries.
Researchers used sophisticated quantum control methods to test the validity of the complementarity principle proposed by Niels Bohr in 1927. The results are reported in Communications Physics.
In the laboratory, tadpoles of the species B. ibitiguara kept in water 3 °C warmer than the highest temperature recorded in their habitat were unable to complete metamorphosis, indicating a threat to the species from climate change.
The female patient had a genetic disease that dysregulates the immune system, impairing its inflammatory response and antibody production. The virus was eliminated after week-long ingestion of breast milk donated by a woman who had been vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2. The case is reported in the journal Viruses by researchers at the University of Campinas in Brazil.
Preliminary results of trials conducted by Brazilian scientists show that the existing regulatory framework based on a protocol referenced to the Western honeybee, Apis mellifera, is too Eurocentric and may not be sufficient to guarantee the protection of native bees, which are important pollinators.
Brazilian researchers have designed a new low-cost anaerobic reactor that uses a bacterial biofilm on a sheet of polyurethane foam. The goal is to enable more wastewater treatment plants in Brazil to achieve nitrogen removal and reduce water body contamination.
The finding comes from a clinical trial by researchers at the University of São Paulo who recruited 32 male volunteers and have now published the results in Clinical and Experimental Hypertension.
A protocol developed by the Brazil-UK Center for Arbovirus Discovery, Diagnosis, Genomics and Epidemiology (CADDE) was used to analyze a sample from the first Brazilian patient with a confirmed diagnosis. The technology can also be used to detect unknown emerging viruses.
A bioink developed from mouse cells can be used in a 3D printer to create a model that more closely resembles the brain than conventional ones. Researchers at the Federal University of São Paulo also obtained an adapted version of SARS-CoV-2 capable of infecting neural cells from mice.
Researchers at the University of São Paulo analyzed data for a group of pregnant women in western Amazonia. The analysis pointed to a correlation between at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week and lower birth weight, with less risk of childhood obesity and diabetes.
The workshop was a side event to the Annual Meeting of the Global Research Council. The need to dialogue with and learn from traditional communities, especially Indigenous peoples, was emphasized in the discussions.
The approach combined nanotechnology, chemotherapy and monoclonal antibodies. It produced promising in vitro and in vivo results against glioblastoma multiforme.
Analysis of blood samples showed that sharks living near urban areas have a lower-quality diet than those living in wilderness areas. Dietary imbalances can impair important physiological processes, such as cardiovascular tone, inflammatory response and reproduction.
The GRC is an association of more than 60 public research funding agencies on all continents. Its annual meeting took place in Panama on May 31-June 03, 2022.
Universities, research institutions and agencies of the São Paulo State Government will join forces in 15 new centers announced during a ceremony held to celebrate FAPESP’s 60th anniversary. The centers will address problems in areas ranging from human and animal health to the energy transition and climate change.
Monitoring since 2011 shows that emission levels vary significantly from one part of the complex to another, making the standards used in environmental impact assessments and the carbon credit market unreliable.
The results of a clinical trial are reported by Brazilian researchers in Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine. According to the authors, if corroborated by more robust research, the findings indicate that the method can be used in emergency treatment of hypertensive crisis patients.
Formed in high-energy collisions such as those produced by the LHC at CERN, quark-gluon plasma lasts only a fraction of a second. Its decay gives rise to a cascade of particles displaying self-similarity over many scales that is typical of fractals.
The material, created by startup Protech, can be used in face masks and surgical gowns. Other applications identified by the firm’s founder during the training course offered by the FAPESP Innovative Research in Small Business Program (PIPE) include air conditioning filters, diapers and tampons.
Mathematic simulations showed that well-executed non-pharmacological measures reduce the spread of COVID-19 even in places with low vaccination coverage. According to the authors, however, up to 80% of the population could catch the disease if preventive protocols are abandoned.
The open-access platform developed by researchers at the University of São Paulo offers access to strategic information on microorganisms classified by WHO as a “critical priority”. The aim is to contribute to the monitoring and control of bacteria that pose a great threat to human and animal health.
Officially launched on May 18, BIOTA Synthesis is one of FAPESP’s new Science for Development Centers. In the next five years it will develop solutions to challenges relating to sustainable agriculture, water security and control of zoonotic diseases.
School will take place in September at the University of São Paulo in Ribeirão Preto focusing on leishmaniasis and Chagas disease. Graduate students and postdocs may apply until June 26.
A startup supported by FAPESP has developed a face cream and body lotion based on cocoa juice, which is usually thrown away. The entrepreneur has been selected for the 2022 Leaders in Innovation Fellowships training program in the UK.
Experiments involving isolated and cultured cells as well as animals and babies suggest that short-chain fatty acid acetate produced in the gut can minimize the effects of infection by respiratory syncytial virus.
In tests conducted at the University of São Paulo, microparticles produced from the unripe fruit performed similarly to TBHQ, a synthetic compound present in processed foods and in cosmetics. The findings are reported in Future Foods.
The new species of beetle in the family Buprestidae was found in the state of Bahia and described by researchers at the University of São Paulo and collaborators. The group discovered how the insect contributes to production of red propolis by honey bees.
With aging, mutant genetic material tends to build up in the organelles responsible for producing energy, and this can lead to disease. Brazilian researchers have discovered that a cell cleansing mechanism known as autophagy can modulate this phenomenon.
Brazilian researchers demonstrated this finding in experiments with broiler chicks. Regulated hypothermia, a strategy of the immune system also observed in mammals, is a way to avoid the high energy expenditure entailed by maintaining a fever under unfavorable conditions.
Three new Engineering Research Centers, 15 new Science for Development Centers, and calls for proposals to fund research infrastructure, among others, will entail investment of BRL 990 million.
Devices that combine laser irradiation, ultrasound and suction help regenerate tissue and treat muscle, joint, skin, neurological and lung damage. Protocols created via business-university partnerships are being tested and can be applied by treatment centers across Brazil.
An article in Scientific Reports shows that experimental treatment with a protein-derived molecule reduced tumor growth and metastasis, increasing the survival of mice by 25%.
El Niño-driven extreme drought and forest fires in 2015-16 caused the loss of 3 billion trees and emissions of 495 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in the ensuing three years, destroying more than deforestation throughout the Brazilian Amazon.