An international consortium of scientists has refined the map of caesium and plutonium radionuclide concentrations in soils in Switzerland and several neighbouring countries. Using an archive of European soil samples, the team led by Katrin Meusburger from the University of Basel, now at the WSL research institute, was able to trace the sources of radioactive fallout between 1960 and 2009. This study was published in Scientific Reports.
No year since weather records began was as hot and dry as 2018. A first comprehensive analysis of the consequences of this drought and heat event shows that central European forests sustained long-term damage. Even tree species considered drought-resistant, such as beech, pine and silver fir, suffered. The international study was directed by the University of Basel, which is conducting a forest experiment unique in Europe.
Metal-based nanoparticles are a promising tool in medicine – as a contrast agent, transporter of active substances, or to thermally kill tumor cells. Up to now, it has been hardly possible to study their distribution inside an organism. Researchers at the University of Basel have used a three-dimensional imaging method to take high-resolution captures inside zebrafish embryos.
Lopinavir is a drug against HIV, hydroxychloroquine is used to treat malaria and rheumatism. Until recently, both drugs were regarded as potential agents in the fight against the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. A research group from the University of Basel and the University Hospital Basel has now discovered that the concentration of the two drugs in the lungs of Covid-19 patients is not sufficient to fight the virus.
A team of physicists and chemists has produced the first porous graphene ribbons in which specific carbon atoms in the crystal lattice are replaced with nitrogen atoms. These ribbons have semiconducting properties that make them attractive for applications in electronics and quantum computing, as reported by researchers from the Universities of Basel, Bern, Lancaster and Warwick in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Professor Fiona Doetsch from the Biozentrum of the University of Basel has been elected as a new member of the prestigious European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO).
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is still a relatively young approach from behavioral therapy, but has already proven itself in the treatment of a wide range of mental disorders. A study at the University of Basel and the University Psychiatric Clinics Basel will now examine the transdiagnostic effectiveness of ACT in greater depth. An avatar is also used to supplement the therapy. A conversation with study leader Professor Andrew Gloster.
There is less fear of coronavirus since the end of the lockdown, but 40% of the population still feels more stressed than before the pandemic began. These are the results from the analysis of the University of Basel’s Swiss Corona Stress Study. The prevalence of severe depressive symptoms remained relatively high, even after restrictions were lifted. Interestingly, older people appeared to be less susceptible to depressive symptoms during the coronavirus crisis.
Where various ethnic groups live together, cities grow at a slower rate. That is the conclusion reached by a researcher from the University of Basel and his colleagues based on worldwide data that shows how the diversity of language groups in 1975 has influenced urban growth 40 years later. The scientists have reported their findings in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
