A research team led by the University of Basel and the Université de Montréal examined how the ongoing climate warming affects the “behavior” of lakes. The researchers found out why, in near-bottom waters, lakes may even cool down despite warming at the surface, and what the consequences are for the production and emission of greenhouse gases. The results of the study were published in the most recent edition of the journal Limnology and Oceanography Letters.
In power electronics, semiconductors are based on the element silicon – but the energy efficiency of silicon carbide would be much higher. Physicists of the University of Basel, the Paul Scherrer Institute and ABB explain what exactly is preventing the use of this combination of silicon and carbon in the scientific journal Applied Physics Letters.
In May this year, Prof. Flavio Donato started his own research group at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel. For his pioneering research project on infant memory, the neurobiologist has now been awarded a Starting Grant by the European Research Council, endowed with 1.5 million euros over five years.
Protein variations that result from the process of alternative splicing control the identity and function of nerve cells in the brain. This allows organisms to build a highly complex neuronal network with only a limited number of genes. The study describing a detailed map of neuronal splicing conducted by a research team at the Biozentrum, University of Basel, has now been published in "Nature Neuroscience".
Scientists from Basel have investigated the activity of stem cells in the brain of mice and discovered a key mechanism that controls cell proliferation. According to the researchers, the gene regulator Id4 controls whether stem cells remain in a state of rest or enter cell division. The results were published in "Cell Reports" and may be relevant for treating neurodegenerative disease in human brains.
The summer of 2015—the second hottest summer in Switzerland since 2003—caused more than 2,700 additional emergency admissions to Swiss hospitals. The most frequent causes were infectious diseases and diseases of the genitourinary system, as well as influenza and pneumonia.
Stargardt disease is a hereditary eye disease that leads to visual defects and the loss of sight. A study has now shown that autofluorescence imaging might offer a way to assess whether novel treatments are effective at slowing down vision loss.
Research groups at the University of Basel and the University Hospital Basel have uncovered how cancer cells in brain tumors promote their own growth. In order to achieve this, the cancer cells inhibit growth receptor degradation in the brain’s cells and intensify receptor signal transmission.
The neurotransmitter brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) acts in the muscle, so that during strength training endurance muscle fiber number is decreased. Researchers at the University of Basel’s Biozentrum have more closely investigated this factor. Their results also provide new insights into age-related muscle atrophy.