For the first time, physicists at the University of Basel have succeeded in measuring the magnetic properties of atomically thin van der Waals materials on the nanoscale. They used diamond quantum sensors to determine the strength of the magnetization of individual atomic layers of the material chromium triiodide. In addition, they found a long-sought explanation for the unusual magnetic properties of the material.
Animal-assisted therapy can foster social competence in patients with brain injuries and increase their emotional involvement during therapy. These were the findings of a clinical trial conducted by psychologists from the University of Basel and published in the journal Scientific Reports.
More than 30 ancient graves have been uncovered by archaeologists and students from the University of Basel as part of an educational excavation in southern Italy. The graves date from a time when the first Greeks and Orientals arrived in the region about 3,000 years ago, and document the cultural exchange with the local population. The results and methods of the research project will now be presented in an exhibition at the University Library of Basel, which opens on April 12, 2019.
The research group led by Prof. Alex Schier, Director of the University of Basel’s Biozentrum, has identified 30 genes associated with schizophrenia. The team was able to show which pathological changes in the brain and behavioral abnormalities are triggered by these genes.
All organisms can be injured. But what happens when a plant is injured? How can it heal itself and avoid infections? An international research team from the University of Basel and Ghent University has reported on wound reaction mechanisms in plants in the journal Science. Their insights into plant immune systems could be used for new approaches to sustainable crop production.
It has long been thought that stress contributes to cancer progression. Scientists from the University of Basel and the University Hospital of Basel have deciphered the molecular mechanisms linking breast cancer metastasis with increased stress hormones. In addition, they found that synthetic derivatives of stress hormones, which are frequently used as anti-inflammatory in cancer therapy, decrease the efficacy of chemotherapy. These results come from patient-derived models of breast cancer in mice and may have implications for the treatment of patients with breast cancer, as the researchers report in the scientific journal “Nature”.
Combining an atomically thin graphene and a boron nitride layer at a slightly rotated angle changes their electrical properties. Physicists at the University of Basel have now shown for the first time the combination with a third layer can result in new material properties also in a three-layer sandwich of carbon and boron nitride. This significantly increases the number of potential synthetic materials, report the researchers in the scientific journal Nano Letters.
The international doctoral program “QUSTEC” will be established at the European Campus.
Using notes made by the attending healthcare professionals about psychiatric patients enables impending coercive measures to be predicted in advance – potentially even through automated text analysis.
