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March eNews

As we step into March, we're excited to bring you the highlights from February 2023 in this edition of our eNews. From top-read articles to our Editor's choice and the image of the month, there's plenty to explore.

Top 5 Most Read Articles: Curious to know what captivated our readers' attention the most last month? Dive into our selection of the top 5 most read articles, covering a wide range of topics and interests.

Editor's Choice: Our editorial team handpicked a standout piece from February. Discover why this article caught our attention and why we believe it's a must-read.

Image of the Month: Our team has selected an image that serves as a visual gateway to a new theory surrounding gravastars.

A friendly reminder: Daylight saving time is approaching! Starting from March 10th, the US will enter Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). Keep this in mind when setting embargoes or scheduling events.

If you have any questions, feedback, or simply want to connect, don't hesitate to reach out to the News Team at news@alphagalileo.org. We're here to assist you!

We hope you enjoy this month's edition of our eNews.

Best regards,

News Team

Top 5 February 2024

1. NUS researchers develop AI-powered ‘eye’ for visually impaired people to ‘see’ objects, published by the National University of Singapore on 5/02/24

Shopping for groceries is a common activity for many of us, but for visually impaired people, identifying grocery items can be daunting. A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore’s School of Computing introduced AiSee, an affordable wearable assistive device that helps people with visual impairment ‘see’ objects around them with the help of artificial intelligence.

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2. Kafka’s Antizionism through a Comparative Analysis of ‘Jackals and Arabs’ with Judeo-Christian Texts, the Alexander Romance, and the Qur’an, published by Gulf University for Science and Technology on 28/02/24

This study explores many elements that Franz Kafka’s short story ‘Jackals and Arabs’ share with the Judeo-Christian tradition of Gog and Magog, the Alexander Romance, and the Qur’anic story of Dhu’l-Qarnayn. A comparative analysis of these works reveals Kafka’s criticism of the Zionist movement.

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3. A rare recent case of retrovirus integration: An infectious gibbon ape leukaemia virus is colonising a rodent’s genome in New Guinea, published by Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. (FVB) on 4/02/24

Retroviruses are viruses that multiply by incorporating their genes into the genome of a host cell. If the infected cell is a germ cell, the retrovirus can then be passed on to the next generation as an “endogenous” retrovirus (ERV) and spread as part of the host genome in that host species. In vertebrates, ERVs are ubiquitous and sometimes make up 10 per cent of the host genome. However, most retrovirus integrations are very old, already degraded and therefore inactive – their initial impact on host health has been minimised by millions of years of evolution. A research team led by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) has now discovered a recent case of retrovirus colonisation in a rodent from New Guinea, the white-bellied mosaic-tailed rat. In a paper in the scientific journal "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences", they describe this new model of virus integration. The observations on this process will help to improve our understanding how retroviruses rewrite host genomes.

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4. A report analyses the Spanish films and series available on the main US video services, published by Universidad Carlos III de Madrid - Oficina de Información on 1/02/24

The US video-on-demand company with the largest number of Spanish films and series in its catalogue is Prime Video (751 titles), followed by Netflix (575), HBO Max (196), Disney+ (116) and Apple TV+ (3). This data comes from a report carried out by researchers at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) that analyses the availability and prominence of Spanish audiovisual works, in 2023, in these five US subscription video on demand (SVOD) services operating in Spain.

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5. NTU Singapore launches new multi-domain academic offerings to prepare graduates for the workplace of tomorrow, published by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore on 13/02/24

To better prepare graduates for jobs of the future, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) is launching a series of new academic offerings that cross multiple domains this year. These include the Accountancy for Future Leaders – Bachelor of Accountancy (Sustainability Management and Analytics) and Bachelor of Social Sciences in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. Other new courses available to incoming undergraduates are the Bachelor of Science in AI and Society, the Bachelor of Applied Computing in Finance, and the Bachelor of Chinese Medicine. NTU’s newest academic offerings aim to provide undergraduates with essential interdisciplinary and multi-domain knowledge. NTU undergraduates can also widen their perspective through a range of overseas opportunities, gaining valuable global experience through overseas attachment, study missions and exchange programmes.

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Editor's pick

Artificial skin developed at UGR proven to be effective after implantation in patients with severe burns published by University of Granada on 23/02/2024

UGR scientists have demonstrated the efficacy and viability of the artificial skin UGRSKIN, an advanced therapy medicinal product (ATMP) they developed in 2012, which has proven to be highly beneficial in the treatment of patients with major burns. Moreover, it does not cause any side effects or significant complications.

Read more here: https://www.alphagalileo.org/en-gb/Item-Display/ItemId/243060

Image Caption: At a press conference held at the UGR's Faculty of Medicine, where the artificial skin was designed, the research team presented their follow-up and histological analysis of the first 12 patients treated with UGRSKIN.

Image of the month

A star like a Matryoshka doll: New theory for gravastars, published by Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main on 15/02/2024

The interior of black holes remains a conundrum for science. In 1916, German physicist Karl Schwarzschild outlined a solution to Albert Einstein's equations of general relativity, according to which the center of a black hole consists of a so-called singularity, a point at which space and time no longer exist. Here, the theory goes, all physical laws, including Einstein's general theory of relativity, no longer apply; the principle of causality is suspended. This constitutes a great nuisance for science: after all, it means that no information can escape from a black hole beyond the so-called event horizon. This could be a reason why Schwarzschild's solution did not attract much attention outside the theoretical realm for a long time – that is, until the first candidate for a black hole was discovered in 1971, followed by the discovery of the black hole in the center of our Milky Way in the 2000s, and finally the first image of a black hole, captured by the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration in 2019.

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Image caption: According to findings by physicists at Goethe University Frankfurt, a gravastar could look like a matryoshka doll. Image: Daniel Jampolski and Luciano Rezzolla, Goethe University Frankfurt

Latest image of the month

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