A research group from the George Institute for Global Health in Australia found out that the estrogen levels can be an indicator of a woman's risk of developing dementia. The researchers suggest that some of the reproductive factors (early or late menstruation, early menopause) are a sign of a higher risk of certain neurological problems connected with cognitive and social skills. According to the PloS Medicine journal, pregnancy and abortion are connected with the lower risk of dementia and other neurological problems.

Makaronina.Ru has compiled a list of natural antidepressants, namely indoor plants that have the ability to positively affect a person's emotional state. One such plant is lavender, whose aroma can help alleviate headaches, anxiety, and stress. The plant's essential oils, which are actively released into the air, can also reduce high blood pressure and combat insomnia. Basil is another plant that can have a positive impact on both the cardiovascular system and emotional state, while lemon is effective in combating stress, anxiety, and tension.

Smoking vapes and electronic cigarettes may lead to the development of a new lung disease that was dubbed as EVALI (E-cigarette and Vaping use-Associated Lung Injury). Research works to study EVALI slowed down with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic due to the similarity of symptoms, whereas the detection rate stopped growing, the Russian Health Ministry said. Symptoms of EVALI similar to those of COVID-19 Symptoms of the new disease are in many ways similar to symptoms of COVID-19. They include:

Childhood trauma can increase a breast cancer survivor's chance of experiencing more severe and longer-lasting treatment-related anxiety, depression and fatigue, as well as reduced cognitive function, years after cancer treatment has ended, according to a preliminary study led by Jamie Myers, Ph.D., FAAN, research associate professor at the University of Kansas School of Nursing.

The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) announced that they have developed an advanced disease diagnosis and treatment system based on nanomaterials.

A research team has identified 2,586 orphan genes (OGs) in Rosa chinensis, offering new insights into the role of these unique genes in flower development, stress response, and environmental adaptation.

People with conditions or habits such as high blood pressure, an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation, or smoking, not only have a higher risk of stroke, they may also have more severe strokes than people without these risk factors, according to a study published in the November 13, 2024, online issue of Neurology(r), the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Childhood trauma can increase a breast cancer survivor's chance of experiencing more severe and longer-lasting treatment-related anxiety, depression and fatigue, as well as reduced cognitive function, years after cancer treatment has ended, according to a preliminary study led by Jamie Myers, Ph.D., FAAN, research associate professor at the University of Kansas School of Nursing.

A groundbreaking study released today reveals the alarming state of African elephant populations over the last 50 years. Both forest and savanna elephant species have experienced widespread declines due to overexploitation and habitat loss, mirroring the global trend affecting large-bodied animals.

The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) announced that they have developed an advanced disease diagnosis and treatment system based on nanomaterials.

A research team has identified 2,586 orphan genes (OGs) in Rosa chinensis, offering new insights into the role of these unique genes in flower development, stress response, and environmental adaptation.

People with conditions or habits such as high blood pressure, an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation, or smoking, not only have a higher risk of stroke, they may also have more severe strokes than people without these risk factors, according to a study published in the November 13, 2024, online issue of Neurology(r), the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

"Tell me the numbers, I'll take care of the politics." Shashi Nambisan, director of the Transportation Research Center (TRC) at UNLV, recalled a pivotal discussion in the early 1990s with then-County Commissioner Bruce L. Woodbury about the transportation needs of a region on the precipice of substantial growth.

[Domestic] :
Rescue workers on Saturday found the body of one of the 12 missing crew members of a fishing boat that sank off Jeju Island on Friday. According to the Jeju branch of the Korea Coast Guard, a body was retrieved in waters 24 kilometers northwest of Hallim Port at 11:18 p.m. Saturday and transported to Jeju ...

[more...]

[Politics] :
K-pop boy band SEVENTEEN has received a certificate of appreciation from Los Angeles for their contribution to music and youth empowerment.  Joshua, the LA-native of the 13-member group, accepted the honor on behalf of SEVENTEEN at the invitation of the LA City Council on Friday, local time. The ...

[more...]

[Inter-Korea] :
A new survey finds that three-quarters of South Koreans believe unification of the two Koreas is necessary.  According to the national unification survey for the third quarter released by the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council on Monday, 74-point-six percent of respondents answered in the ...

[more...]

[Sports] :
South Korea’s professional baseball league has passed the ten million mark in attendance for the first time ever.  According to the Korea Baseball Organization(KBO), cumulative attendance for the 2024 season came to ten million, 20-thousand-758 as of Sunday, with over 77-thousand tickets sold for four ...

[more...]

[Science] :
This summer the country notched its highest temperatures to date. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration(KMA) on Thursday, the seasonal average temperature nationwide was 25-point-six degrees Celsius, one-point-nine degrees higher than the past yearly average for the season, and the highest ...

[more...]

[Science] :
The Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency says it has developed, for the first time in the world, a differential diagnosis technology for lumpy skin disease(LSD), a viral disease that affects cattle. With the technology, jointly developed with Median Diagnostics, it can be determined within eight hours if a ...

[more...]

[Science] :
The Korea AeroSpace Administration and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute are set to proceed with the development of a lunar module after signing an agreement on the second phase of the nation’s moon exploration project. According to the state agency on Monday, some 530 billion won, or around 386 ...

[more...]

[International] :
The operator of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant said it retrieved a small amount of melted fuel from one of the reactors for the first time since a major earthquake and tsunami crippled the nuclear facility in 2011. According to Japanese media outlets on Thursday, the Tokyo Electric Power ...

[more...]

You don't have to be a prime minister, civil war general, Nobel Peace Prize laureate or founding father to learn the strengths of famous leaders and better your own life. You can learn a lot from the greatest leaders in history — including what to do and what not to do — and prepare for your time to lead others.

[Culture] :
The 31 Korean Cultural Centers in 28 countries around the world will hold various events promoting the value and beauty of Hangeul as South Korea will mark the 578th Hangeul Day on Wednesday.  The center in France will provide the first performance of a song created by South Korean composer Kim Dae-seong ...

[more...]

[Culture] :
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said the nation has a duty to further develop the Korean alphabet, hangeul, which has gained worldwide recognition as a unique writing system. At a government ceremony marking the 578th Hangeul Day on Wednesday, Han raised concerns about “indifference to the Korean language” ...

[more...]

You're not alone if you've ever found yourself wondering, "What is boba?" This food trend has taken the drink market by storm, enchanting tea enthusiasts and curious foodies alike.

Seventeen has become the 1st K-pop group to be appointed UNESCO's Goodwill Ambassador for Youth. It is also the first time UNESCO has designated a youth ambassador. Seventeen has been supporting the...

[more...]

On the morning of October 18, at Yeoido KBS HallKBS WORLD Radio filmed K-pop stars making their way to attend rehearsals for Music Bank.

[more...]

Discover the meaning of the Ace of Swords reversed in tarot. Explore its insights on clarity, communication, and inner conflicts in love, career, and personal growth.

Explore reversed Pisces and Cancer compatibility! Learn how these water signs bond emotionally, support each other deeply, and thrive together in relationships.

Is Ace of Cups Reversed" reveals insights into blocked emotions and self-reflection in tarot readings, offering guidance on relationships and personal growth.

Product development: properties and resources  British Geological Survey

First national-scale groundwater model in Great Britain developed  British Geological Survey

International geoscience research and development  British Geological Survey

Local MP checks in on development of new geothermal 'living laboratory' in Nottinghamshire  British Geological Survey

The results of the seventh blind test of crystal structure prediction are presented, focusing on structure generation methods.

The results of the seventh blind test of crystal structure prediction are presented, focusing on structure ranking methods.

Accurate modeling of conformational energies is key to the crystal structure prediction of conformational polymorphs. Focusing on molecules XXXI and XXXII from the seventh blind test of crystal structure prediction, this study employs various electronic structure methods up to the level of domain-local pair natural orbital coupled cluster singles and doubles with perturbative triples [DLPNO-CCSD(T1)] to benchmark the conformational energies and to assess their impact on the crystal energy landscapes. Molecule XXXI proves to be a relatively straightforward case, with the conformational energies from generalized gradient approximation (GGA) functional B86bPBE-XDM changing only modestly when using more advanced density functionals such as PBE0-D4, ωB97M-V, and revDSD-PBEP86-D4, dispersion-corrected second-order Møller–Plesset perturbation theory (SCS-MP2D), or DLPNO-CCSD(T1). In contrast, the conformational energies of molecule XXXII prove difficult to determine reliably, and variations in the computed conformational energies appreciably impact the crystal energy landscape. Even high-level methods such as revDSD-PBEP86-D4 and SCS-MP2D exhibit significant disagreements with the DLPNO-CCSD(T1) benchmarks for molecule XXXII, highlighting the difficulty of predicting conformational energies for complex, drug-like molecules. The best-converged predicted crystal energy landscape obtained here for molecule XXXII disagrees significantly with what has been inferred about the solid-form landscape experimentally. The identified limitations of the calculations are probably insufficient to account for the discrepancies between theory and experiment on molecule XXXII, and further investigation of the experimental solid-form landscape would be valuable. Finally, assessment of several semi-empirical methods finds r2SCAN-3c to be the most promising, with conformational energy accuracy intermediate between the GGA and hybrid functionals and a low computational cost.

The seventh blind test of crystal structure prediction (CSP) methods substantially increased the level of complexity of the target compounds relative to the previous tests organized by the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre. In this work, the performance of density-functional methods is assessed using numerical atomic orbitals and the exchange-hole dipole moment dispersion correction (XDM) for the energy-ranking phase of the seventh blind test. Overall, excellent performance was seen for the two rigid molecules (XXVII, XXVIII) and for the organic salt (XXXIII). However, for the agrochemical (XXXI) and pharmaceutical (XXXII) targets, the experimental polymorphs were ranked fairly high in energy amongst the provided candidate structures and inclusion of thermal free-energy corrections from the lattice vibrations was found to be essential for compound XXXI. Based on these results, it is proposed that the importance of vibrational free-energy corrections increases with the number of rotatable bonds.

A seventh blind test of crystal structure prediction has been organized by the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre. The results are presented in two parts, with this second part focusing on methods for ranking crystal structures in order of stability. The exercise involved standardized sets of structures seeded from a range of structure generation methods. Participants from 22 groups applied several periodic DFT-D methods, machine learned potentials, force fields derived from empirical data or quantum chemical calculations, and various combinations of the above. In addition, one non-energy-based scoring function was used. Results showed that periodic DFT-D methods overall agreed with experimental data within expected error margins, while one machine learned model, applying system-specific AIMnet potentials, agreed with experiment in many cases demonstrating promise as an efficient alternative to DFT-based methods. For target XXXII, a consensus was reached across periodic DFT methods, with consistently high predicted energies of experimental forms relative to the global minimum (above 4 kJ mol−1 at both low and ambient temperatures) suggesting a more stable polymorph is likely not yet observed. The calculation of free energies at ambient temperatures offered improvement of predictions only in some cases (for targets XXVII and XXXI). Several avenues for future research have been suggested, highlighting the need for greater efficiency considering the vast amounts of resources utilized in many cases.

A seventh blind test of crystal structure prediction was organized by the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre featuring seven target systems of varying complexity: a silicon and iodine-containing molecule, a copper coordination complex, a near-rigid molecule, a cocrystal, a polymorphic small agrochemical, a highly flexible polymorphic drug candidate, and a polymorphic morpholine salt. In this first of two parts focusing on structure generation methods, many crystal structure prediction (CSP) methods performed well for the small but flexible agrochemical compound, successfully reproducing the experimentally observed crystal structures, while few groups were successful for the systems of higher complexity. A powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) assisted exercise demonstrated the use of CSP in successfully determining a crystal structure from a low-quality PXRD pattern. The use of CSP in the prediction of likely cocrystal stoichiometry was also explored, demonstrating multiple possible approaches. Crystallographic disorder emerged as an important theme throughout the test as both a challenge for analysis and a major achievement where two groups blindly predicted the existence of disorder for the first time. Additionally, large-scale comparisons of the sets of predicted crystal structures also showed that some methods yield sets that largely contain the same crystal structures.

Brucella ovis is an etiologic agent of ovine epididymitis and brucellosis that causes global devastation in sheep, rams, goats, small ruminants and deer. There are no cost-effective methods for the worldwide eradication of ovine brucellosis. B. ovis and other protein targets from various Brucella species are currently in the pipeline for high-throughput structural analysis at the Seattle Structural Genomics Center for Infectious Disease (SSGCID), with the aim of identifying new therapeutic targets. Furthermore, the wealth of structures generated are effective tools for teaching scientific communication, structural science and biochemistry. One of these structures, B. ovis leucine-, isoleucine-, valine-, threonine- and alanine-binding protein (BoLBP), is a putative periplasmic amino acid-binding protein. BoLBP shares less than 29% sequence identity with any other structure in the Protein Data Bank. The production, crystallization and high-resolution structures of BoLBP are reported. BoLBP is a prototypical bacterial periplasmic amino acid-binding protein with the characteristic Venus flytrap topology of two globular domains encapsulating a large central cavity containing the peptide-binding region. The central cavity contains small molecules usurped from the crystallization milieu. The reported structures reveal the conformational flexibility of the central cavity in the absence of bound peptides. The structural similarity to other LBPs can be exploited to accelerate drug repurposing.

New software capabilities in RMCProfile allow researchers to study the structure of materials by combining machine learning interatomic potentials and reverse Monte Carlo.

The position- and time-resolved monitoring of a mechanochemical reaction using synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction revealed a position-independent increase rate of product in the jar of a shaker mill.

We investigated the position and time dependence of a mechanochemical reaction induced by ball milling using in situ synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction with changing X-ray irradiation position. The mechanochemical reduction of AgCl with Cu was monitored in situ with the X-rays incident at two different vertical positions on the jar. Our previously developed multi-distance Rietveld method was applied to analyze the in situ diffraction data with a 1 min resolution. Both the vertical and the horizontal sample positions were determined using the sample-to-detector distances from the in situ data. Position dependence was found in the powder spreading and induction time. We reveal that the increase rate of the product is independent of the sample position when measured with a 1 min time resolution, confirming the validity of in situ monitoring of part of the space in a milling jar for a gradual mechanochemical reaction.

Structure refinement with reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) is a powerful tool for interpreting experimental diffraction data. To ensure that the under-constrained RMC algorithm yields reasonable results, the hybrid RMC approach applies interatomic potentials to obtain solutions that are both physically sensible and in agreement with experiment. To expand the range of materials that can be studied with hybrid RMC, we have implemented a new interatomic potential constraint in RMCProfile that grants flexibility to apply potentials supported by the Large-scale Atomic/Molecular Massively Parallel Simulator (LAMMPS) molecular dynamics code. This includes machine learning interatomic potentials, which provide a pathway to applying hybrid RMC to materials without currently available interatomic potentials. To this end, we present a methodology to use RMC to train machine learning interatomic potentials for hybrid RMC applications.

X-ray diffraction imaging (XDI) is utilized for visualizing the structures of non-crystalline particles in material sciences and biology. In the structural analysis, phase-retrieval (PR) algorithms are applied to the diffraction amplitude data alone to reconstruct the electron density map of a specimen particle projected along the direction of the incident X-rays. However, PR calculations may not lead to good convergence because of a lack of diffraction patterns in small-angle regions and Poisson noise in X-ray detection. Therefore, the PR calculation is still a bottleneck for the efficient application of XDI in the structural analyses of non-crystalline particles. For screening maps from hundreds of trial PR calculations, we have been using a score and measuring the similarity between a pair of retrieved maps. Empirically, probable maps approximating the particle structures gave a score smaller than a threshold value, but the reasons for the effectiveness of the score are still unclear. In this study, the score is characterized in terms of the phase differences between the structure factors of the retrieved maps, the usefulness of the score in screening the maps retrieved from experimental diffraction patterns is demonstrated, and the effective resolution of similarity-score-selected maps is discussed.

As a representative of the fourth-generation light sources, the High Energy Photon Source (HEPS) in Beijing, China, utilizes a multi-bend achromat lattice to obtain an approximately 100 times emittance reduction compared with third-generation light sources. New technologies bring new challenges to operate the storage ring. In order to meet the beam commissioning requirements of HEPS, a new framework for the development of high-level applications (HLAs) has been created. The key part of the new framework is a dual-layer physical module to facilitate the seamless fusion of physical simulation models with the real machine, allowing for fast switching between different simulation models to accommodate the various simulation scenarios. As a framework designed for development of physical applications, all variables are based on physical quantities. This allows physicists to analytically assess measurement parameters and optimize machine parameters in a more intuitive manner. To enhance both extensibility and adaptability, a modular design strategy is utilized, partitioning the entire framework into discrete modules in alignment with the requirements of HLA development. This strategy not only facilitates the independent development of each module but also minimizes inter-module coupling, thereby simplifying the maintenance and expansion of the entire framework. To simplify the development complexity, the design of the new framework is implemented using Python and is called Python-based Accelerator Physics Application Set (Pyapas). Taking advantage of Python's flexibility and robust library support, we are able to develop and iterate quickly, while also allowing for seamless integration with other scientific computing applications. HLAs for both the HEPS linac and booster have been successfully developed. During the beam commissioning process at the linac, Pyapas's ease of use and reliability have significantly reduced the time required for the beam commissioning operators. As a development framework for HLA designed for the new-generation light sources, Pyapas has the versatility to be employed with HEPS, as well as with other comparable light sources, due to its adaptability.