Thursday 13 June 2019

Novel denoising method generates sharper photorealistic images faster

Monte Carlo computational methods are behind many of the realistic images in games and movies. They automate the complexities in simulating the physics of lights and cameras to generate high-quality renderings from samples of diverse image features and scenes. But the process of Monte Carlo rendering is slow and can take hours—or even days—to produce a single image, and oftentimes the results are still pixelated, or "noisy."

* This article was originally published here

Congo pastor likely sparked Ebola outbreak spread to Uganda

The Congolese pastor who is thought to have caused the Ebola outbreak's spread into Uganda was unknown to health officials before he died of the disease, the World Health Organization's emergencies chief said Thursday. That underlines the problems in tracking the virus as a WHO expert panel on Friday discusses whether to declare a global health emergency.

* This article was originally published here

Gut microbes eat our medication

The first time Vayu Maini Rekdal manipulated microbes, he made a decent sourdough bread. At the time, young Maini Rekdal, and most people who head to the kitchen to whip up a salad dressing, pop popcorn, ferment vegetables, or caramelize onions, did not consider the crucial chemical reactions behind these concoctions.

* This article was originally published here

Trial reaffirms carboplatin and paclitaxel chemotherapy alone should remain standard treatment for endometrial cancer

The New England Journal of Medicine recently published the primary endpoint of the NRG Oncology clinical trial NRG-GOG 0258, which showed that carboplatin and paclitaxel chemotherapy preceded by radiotherapy with concurrent cisplatin, or combined modality therapy, did not significantly increase recurrence-free survival for women with stage 3-4A endometrial cancer when compared to chemotherapy with carboplatin and paclitaxel alone. These results were also presented in abstract form at the 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.

* This article was originally published here

How NASA's Spitzer has stayed alive for so long

After nearly 16 years of exploring the cosmos in infrared light, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope will be switched off permanently on Jan. 30, 2020. By then, the spacecraft will have operated for more than 11 years beyond its prime mission, thanks to the Spitzer engineering team's ability to address unique challenges as the telescope slips farther and farther from Earth.

* This article was originally published here

Research shows temperature, glyphosate increase probability for dicamba volatility

Higher temperatures and mixing glyphosate with dicamba lead to increased atmospheric concentrations of dicamba, according to scientists with the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture.

* This article was originally published here

Aging delayed in older mice given blood component from young mice

New research has identified a novel approach to staving off the detrimental effects of aging, according to a study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

* This article was originally published here

Scientists reveal DNA packaging mechanism of HSV-1, the virus that causes cold sores

A new technique developed by researchers from the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA has allowed them to become the first scientists to clearly see the intricate machinery responsible for compressing DNA into the small interior shell, or capsid, of herpes simplex virus type 1, or HSV-1, the virus responsible for causing cold sores.

* This article was originally published here

Breathing new life into dye-sensitized solar cells

Researchers at the Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences at Kyoto University have made a popular type of dye-sensitized solar cell more efficient by adjusting and updating its structure. Published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), the team report a series of adaptations with a power conversion efficiency of 10.7 percent, the highest yet for this kind of dye-sensitized solar cell, the most efficient solar technology available at present.

* This article was originally published here

Facebook invests in renewables with Texas solar project

Facebook is building a massive solar farm in West Texas that's believed to be one of the largest solar projects in the nation and the social media giant's first direct investment in renewable energy.

* This article was originally published here

Sickle cell disease needs more attention

The promise of new treatments for sickle cell disease, a group of inherited red blood cell disorders, has never been so great, but it will only be realized if there is constant investment in health policies such as programs for screening newborns, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where most cases occur.

* This article was originally published here

Telegram hit by cyber-attack, CEO points to HK protests, China

Encrypted messaging service Telegram suffered a major cyber-attack that appeared to originate from China, the company's CEO said Thursday, linking it to the ongoing political unrest in Hong Kong.

* This article was originally published here