News

Researchers at the University of São Paulo and collaborators showed that the aquatic plant can scavenge up to 34 times more manganese from contaminated soil than other plants found in similar environments.

An international group of scientists presents this conclusion in an article in Nature Microbiology, warning that novel antifungal medications are urgently.

The topic was discussed by French historian Serge Gruzinski in a lecture delivered at the FAPESP 60 Years School in Humanities, Social Sciences and Arts.

Genetic analysis of Aquarana catesbeiana, a species that originally came from North America and is now found in nine Brazilian states, shows that the lineage introduced in 1935 prevails in both captive and feral bullfrogs. Law enforcement to maintain sanitary standards is difficult. The invaders prey on native amphibians and transmit diseases to them.

The results of a study conducted by Brazilian researchers will be useful both for epidemiological surveillance and to improve the treatment available to patients. An article on the study is published in PLOS ONE.

A startup supported by FAPESP has developed software to process legal cases, winning an important order from Brazil’s federal court of auditors.

The topic was discussed on August 9 by Barry O’Keefe of the US National Cancer Institute during the FAPESP 60 Years School on Exact, Natural and Life Sciences. The other speakers on the second day of the event were José Nelson Onuchic of Rice University and Virgilio Almeida of the Federal University of Minas Gerais.

The system is being developed by a Brazilian startup supported by FAPESP and can be used by biologists in scientific research, by NGOs to track endangered species, and by environmental consultants.

The type of ependymoma studied mainly affects children, has a low survival rate and has no specific chemotherapeutic treatment. A combination of two experimental drugs inhibited tumor growth in vitro.

This and related issues were discussed by Martin Ravallion from Georgetown University and Marcelo Medeiros from Columbia University (USA) during the 13th FAPESP 60 Years Conference.

Researchers in Brazil have developed a selection method performed directly with coffee beans in real time. It does not require roasting, does not destroy the samples and can be included as a step in the production process.

The combination is particularly dangerous for women, according to a study by researchers in Brazil and the UK who analyzed data for 5,310 people aged 50+ followed in a ten-year health survey.

While some patients die with a high viral load and little inflammation, others succumb to inflammatory complications that arise after the virus is eliminated from the organism. According to scientists at the University of São Paulo, lasting inflammasome activation is key in such cases. The findings can be used to develop personalized therapeutic approaches.

A study using satellite imagery and machine learning techniques shows that many deforestation hotspots lie outside the 11 municipalities currently monitored by the Brazilian federal government under its Amazon Plan 2021/2022.

The need to adapt was emphasized by Guy Brasseur, director of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Nobel Peace Laureate in 2007, and keynote speaker on the last day of the FAPESP 60 Years School.

Researchers at the University of São Paulo in Brazil fed data for different coronaviruses into a machine learning model. The results reinforced the role of flying mammals as the first reservoirs of the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic. The tool can be used in future emergencies.

Astronomers from Brazil, Italy and South Africa have begun installing the first of nine telescopes sensitive to gamma rays on Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands.

Research conducted by Brazilian scientists has demonstrated that chlorophyll fluorescence is a reliable predictor of seed maturity. The greener the seed, the lower the quality. Manual separation is the rule in Brazil.

Researchers at the University of São Paulo in Brazil followed up hundreds of COVID patients after discharge from hospital in São Paulo City. Tests conducted six months later showed that those with the most severe sensory disorders also performed worse in tests of cognitive functions, especially memorization.

A study published in Lancet Regional Health – Americas will help improve actions to combat this public health problem in the North of Brazil.

Spherules were discovered in the sediments present at depths of 180-224 m inside the crater located in São Paulo, Brazil. Their shape suggests local rock was pulverized, nebulized, and expelled upward by the collision.

Conducted by Brazilian researchers, the study focused on the fused deposition modeling technique and was featured on the cover of Analytical Chemistry, a journal of the American Chemical Society.

Funding from six institutions, including the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), will be used to accelerate completion of the GMT’s seven primary mirrors and scientific instrumentation.

In a webinar held to present the third chapter of the book published by the São Paulo State Academy of Sciences to commemorate FAPESP’s sixtieth anniversary, specialists showed that protection of terrestrial and marine environments contributes to food production and job creation, among other benefits.

A study conducted at the University of São Paulo highlights the importance of riparian forests in the process.

Researchers at the University of São Paulo showed, through experiments on animals and genetically modified cells, that this type of cancer advances more slowly when the light-sensitive molecule known as melanopsin is deactivated. The discovery could point to novel therapeutic strategies.

Discovery by Brazilian researchers featured on cover of the journal Nanoscale is noteworthy because of possible applications in next-generation electronic devices.

Researchers at the University of São Paulo measured the speed with which volunteers recognized expressions of happiness, sadness, anger, disgust or fear. The participants were unknowingly exposed to different smells during the test. The findings are reported in PLOS ONE.

Researchers at the University of São Paulo tested a therapeutic intervention that proved capable of reducing the mortality rate from MA-ARDS in experiments on mice. The findings point to an avenue for the development of novel treatments for human patients.

A startup supported by FAPESP developed the technology, which is being tested by pulp and paper manufacturer Klabin.

In a longitudinal survey of children born in 2015 and 2016 in a city in Acre State, North Brazil, over half of the participants reported experiencing hunger in the previous month. The occurrence of symptoms also correlated with social vulnerability, and with the mother’s schooling and skin color.

The strategy was tested at the Federal University of São Carlos. The conversion took place under ambient temperature and pressure conditions, which could enable methane, a potent greenhouse gas, to be used to produce fuel. The process currently used by the chemical industry consumes large amounts of energy.

In an article published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, the group warns that inequality must be reduced and working conditions improved for the people who collect forest data on the ground.

Quantum materials were the focus for the 12th FAPESP 60 Years Conference, which featured leading experts in the field.

Double-strand DNA breaks cause cell damage in several organisms, but apparently play a key role in the lifecycles of species that cause Chagas disease, sleeping sickness and leishmaniasis. The results of the study pave the way to the development of more effective treatment.

The world’s largest tropical forest has already lost 30% of its carbon storage capacity owing to human activity. This and other topics were discussed at a webinar held to honor FAPESP’s 60th anniversary by the São Paulo State Academy of Sciences.

Brazilian researchers have developed an algorithm to identify the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi in photographs of blood samples taken with a mobile phone camera. The low-cost method is described in the journal PeerJ and can be reproduced.

Researchers at the University of São Paulo analyzed the expression of long non-coding RNAs, the type that does not give rise to proteins, in samples from patients and tumor cell lines, identifying a group of genes with augmented expression in pancreatic cancer.

A project supported by environmental agencies, local government and private enterprise, as well as FAPESP, compared the use of a wooden pole bridge and a rope ladder bridge between tree canopies over a local road for three years in a municipality with an Atlantic Rainforest conservation unit. Monitoring focused on the Black lion tamarin, an environmental heritage species symbolizing wildlife conservation in the state of São Paulo.

Results published in Physical Review Letters by scientists at the University of São Paulo and Rice University can be used to improve thermoelectric devices.

Researchers at the State University of Campinas and the University of California San Diego have discovered the mechanism that causes this rare but severe autism spectrum disorder. They reversed progression of the syndrome in laboratory models, opening up new possibilities for treatment using drugs and gene therapy.

A study conducted at the University of São Paulo showed that management of irrigation with the aid of the algorithm, adjusted on the basis of field data, reduced water and power consumption by 31%. The researchers are now pursuing market validation of the technology.

A clinical trial involving women aged 55-70 suggests that supplementing diet with this nutrient can reinforce the organism’s antioxidant defenses and possibly reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. Studies with more volunteers are needed to confirm the effect.

The atoms appear locally to be isolated from one another, but because of non-local quantum correlations the structure remains molecular. The result was obtained in a theoretical study conducted at São Paulo State University.

The finding comes from a study reported by scientists from Brazil, China, Australia and Germany in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. The group used a novel methodology focusing on low rainfall and severe drought.

The agreement was signed between the University of São Paulo, the state government and Pasteur Institute at an event held to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Louis Pasteur’s birth and FAPESP’s 60th anniversary. FAPESP renewed and expanded its support for the Scientific Platform Pasteur-USP, which will host the new research unit.

Brazilian researchers have discovered that PCNA, a protein present in the nuclei of human cells, interacts with the SARS-CoV-2 membrane matrix protein M. In laboratory tests, inhibition of this mechanism using a drug reduced viral replication by 15%-20%.

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.