ReportWire

Tag: University of Vienna

  • Nature is particularly beneficial for people on lower income

    Nature is particularly beneficial for people on lower income

    [ad_1]

    Newswise — Data from a representative sample of the Austrian population suggests that the relationship between nature contact and well-being is consistently stronger for people on lower than higher incomes. However, this pattern was only found when people actively visited nature and not when they merely lived near greenspaces. Findings suggest the availability, accessibility and use of green and blue spaces can play an important role in reducing income-related health inequalities. The study was led by researchers of the University of Vienna in collaboration with the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna and was recently published in the journal Health & Place.

    People on low incomes are at a particularly high risk of suffering from mental health problems such as depression or anxiety. One way to promote good mental and physical health is through nature contact. Time spent in nature is associated with reduced stress levels, better immune functioning, improved cognitive functioning, better sleep and greater life satisfaction. However, these associations do not seem to be the same for everyone.

    As part of a study funded by Austrian and European funding agencies, researchers surveyed 2.300 individuals across Austria representative on age, gender and region. The findings suggest that while people with higher incomes generally reported higher well-being, regardless of how often they visited nature, well-being among the poorest in society was much higher among those who visited nature often. In fact, poorer individuals who visited several times a week had well-being levels nearly as high as the richest respondents. This pattern was clearly shown for both Austria as a whole and for those living in urban Vienna.

    “What the results show is that the well-being benefits from visiting nature at least once a week across the whole year are similar to those from an increase in 1.000 Euros of income per year,” summarises doctoral student and lead author Leonie Fian from the University of Vienna.

    What you do is more important than where you live

    Interestingly, these associations were only found for actively visiting nature, but not for the amount of greenness around people’s homes. In other words, what people did, appeared more important than where they lived. From a public health perspective, it is therefore important to both create greener neighbourhoods and natural recreation areas, and to ensure that they are accessible and used, especially by socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

    “Especially for people on lower incomes, information about attractive natural recreation areas nearby and their accessibility by public transport plays an important role. They should therefore also be easily accessible by public transport at weekends,” says Arne Arnberger from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna.



    [ad_2]

    University of Vienna

    Source link

  • When baby stars fledge

    When baby stars fledge

    [ad_1]

    Newswise — A team of astrophysicists led by Núria Miret-Roig from the University of Vienna found that two methods for determining the age of stars measure different things: Isochronous measurement thereby determines the birth date of stars, while dynamical tracking provides information on when stars “leave their nest”, about 5.5 million years later in the star clusters studied. The study, which makes it possible to determine the earliest stages of a star’s life, is currently published in the scientific journal “Nature Astronomy”.

    The age of stars is a fundamental parameter in astrophysics, but it is still relatively difficult to measure. The best approximations to date have been for so-called star clusters, i.e. groups of stars of the same age with a common origin. The age of six relatively close and young star clusters has now been analysed as part of a study at the Institute of Astrophysics at the University of Vienna. It was found that two of the most reliable methods for determining the age of stars – isochronous measurement and dynamic tracing – were systematically and consistently different: The stars were each around 5.5 million years younger according to the dynamic tracing method than with the isochronous measurement.

    When the clock starts ticking

    “This indicates that the two measurement methods measure different things,” explains astrophysicist Núria Miret-Roig from the University of Vienna, first author of the study. According to the new study, the isochronous “clock” starts ticking from the time of star formation, but the “clock” of dynamic backtracking only starts ticking when a star cluster begins to expand after leaving its parent cloud. “This finding has significant implications for our understanding of star formation and stellar evolution, including planet formation and the formation of galaxies, and opens up a new perspective on the chronology of star formation. For example, the length of the so-called “embedded phase”, during which baby stars remain within the parental gas cloud, can be estimated,” explains João Alves, co-author and professor at the University of Vienna.

    Measuring how long baby stars stay in the nest

    “This age difference between the two methods represents a new and much-needed tool to quantify the earliest stages in a star’s life,” says Alves. “Specifically, we can use it to measure how long the baby stars take before they leave their nest.” The measurements were made possible by the high-resolution data from the Gaia special mission in conjunction with ground-based radial velocities (e.g. from the APOGEE catalogue). “This combination allows us to trace the positions of stars back to their birthplace with the accuracy of 3D velocities,” explains Miret-Roig. New and upcoming spectroscopic surveys such as WEAVE, 4MOST and SDSS-V will make this investigation possible for the entire solar neighbourhood.

    Puzzling difference

    “Astronomers have been using isochronous ages for as long as we have known how stars work, but these ages depend on the particular stellar model we use,” says Miret-Roig. “The high-quality data from the Gaia satellite has now allowed us to measure ages dynamically, independently of the stellar models, and we were excited to synchronise the two clocks.” During the calculations, however, a consistent and puzzling difference between the two age determination methods emerged. “And eventually we reached a point where we could no longer blame the discrepancy on observational errors – that’s when we realised that the two clocks were most likely measuring two different things,” says the astrophysicist.

    For the study, the research team analysed six nearby and young star clusters (up to 490 light years away and 50 million years old). The time scale of the embedded phase was found to be around 5.5 million years (plus/minus 1.1 million years) and could depend on the mass of the star cluster and the amount of stellar feedback.

    Applying this new technique to other young and nearby star clusters promises new insights into the star formation process and the drifting apart of stars, Miret-Roig hopes: “Our work paves the way for future research into star formation and provides a clearer picture of how stars and star clusters evolve. This is an important step in our endeavour to understand the formation of the Milky Way and other galaxies.”

    This publication has been co-funded by the European Union (ERC, ISM-FLOW, 101055318, PI: J. Alves). However, the views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Council. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

    [ad_2]

    University of Vienna

    Source link

  • Cats purr differently than previously thought

    Cats purr differently than previously thought

    [ad_1]

    Newswise — A recent investigation led by voice scientist Christian T. Herbst from the University of Vienna, published in Current Biology, delivers novel insights into how cats produce their purring sounds. A special ‚pad‘ embedded in the vocal folds might explain why the cats can produce these low-frequency sounds.

    Cats are vocal creatures: they meow, screech, and purr. From a voice production point of view, the meows and the screeches are not special. Their sound is generated in the cat’s larynx or “voice box” just like vocalization in humans and many other mammals. In contrast, cat purrs were long believed to be exceptional. Research dating back half a century suggests that the purrs are produced by a special mechanism – through cyclical contraction and relaxation of the muscles in the vocal folds within the larynx, requiring constant neural input and control from the brain.

    A recent study, led by Austrian voice scientist Christian T. Herbst at the University of Vienna, now demonstrates that these cyclic muscle contractions are not needed to generate cat purrs. Data from a controlled laboratory experiment shows that the domestic cat larynx can produce impressively low-pitched sounds at purring frequencies without any cyclical neural input or repetitive muscle contractions being needed. The observed sound production mechanism is strikingly similar to human “creaky voice” or “vocal fry”.

    “Anatomical investigations revealed a unique ‘pad’ within the cats’ vocal folds that may explain how such a small animal, weighing only a few kilograms, can regularly produce sounds at those incredibly low frequencies (20-30 Hz, or cycles per second) – far below even than lowest bass sounds produced by human voices”, says Herbst. The study’s findings – while not constituting an outright falsification of the previous theory – are a clear indicator that the current understanding of cat purring is incomplete, and warrants further research.

    About the study: Contributors include researchers from the Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Austria; the Institute of Morphology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria; Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic; and the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, Switzerland.

    [ad_2]

    University of Vienna

    Source link

  • Quantum physics secures digital payments

    Quantum physics secures digital payments

    [ad_1]

    Newswise — Have you ever been compelled to enter sensitive payment data on the website of an unknown merchant? Would you be willing to consign your credit card data or passwords to untrustworthy hands? Scientists from the University of Vienna have now designed an unconditionally secure system for shopping in such settings, combining modern cryptographic techniques with the fundamental properties of quantum light. The demonstration of such “quantum-digital payments” in a realistic environment has just been published in Nature Communications.

    Digital payments have replaced physical banknotes in many aspects of our daily lives. Similar to banknotes, they should be easy to use, unique, tamper-resistant and untraceable, but additionally withstand digital attackers and data breaches. In today’s payment ecosystem, customers’ sensitive data is substituted by sequences of random numbers, and the uniqueness of each transaction is secured by a classical cryptographic method or code. However, adversaries and merchants with powerful computational resources can crack these codes and recover the customers’ private data, and for example, make payments in their name.

    A research team led by Prof. Philip Walther from the University of Vienna has shown how the quantum properties of light particles or photons can ensure unconditional security for digital payments. In an experiment the researchers have demonstrated that each transaction cannot be duplicated or diverted by malicious parties, and that the user’s sensitive data stays private. “I am really impressed how the quantum properties of light can be used for protecting new applications such as digital payments that are relevant in our every day’s life”, says Tobias Guggemos.

    For enabling absolute secure digital payments, the scientists replaced classical cryptographic techniques with a quantum protocol exploiting single photons. During the course of a classical digital payment transaction the client shares a classical code – called cryptogram – with his payment provider (e.g. a bank or credit card company). This cryptogram is then passed on between customer, merchant and payment provider. In the demonstrated quantum protocol this cryptogram is generated by having the payment provider sending particularly prepared single photons to the client. For the payment procedure, the client measures these photons whereby the measurement settings depend on the transaction parameters. Since quantum states of light cannot be copied, the transaction can only be executed once. This, together with the fact that any deviation of the intendent payment alters the measurement outcomes, which are verified by the payment provider, makes this digital payment unconditionally secure.

    The researchers successfully implemented quantum-digital payments over an urban optical fiber link of 641m, connecting two university buildings in down-town Vienna. Digital payments currently operate within a few seconds. “At present, our protocol takes a few minutes of quantum communication to complete a transaction. This is to guarantee security in the presence of noise and losses” says Peter Schiansky, first author of the paper. “However, these time limitations are only of technological nature” adds Matthieu Bozzio, who is convinced that “we will witness that quantum-digital payments reach practical performance in the very near future”.

    [ad_2]

    University of Vienna

    Source link

  • Consistent link between the seaside and better health

    Consistent link between the seaside and better health

    [ad_1]

    Newswise — Seaside residents and holidaymakers have felt it for centuries, but scientists have only recently started to investigate possible health benefits of the coast. Using data from 15 countries, new research led by Sandra Geiger from the Environmental Psychology Group at the University of Vienna confirms public intuition: Living near, but especially visiting, the seaside is associated with better health regardless of country or personal income.

    The idea that being near the ocean may boost health is not new. As early as 1660, doctors in England began promoting sea bathing and coastal walks for health benefits. By the mid-1800s, taking ‘the waters’ or ‘sea air’ were widely promoted as health treatment among wealthier European citizens. Technological advances in medicine in the early 20th century led to the decline in such practices, which are only recently gaining popularity again among the medical profession.

    As part of the EU-funded Horizon 2020 project Seas, Oceans, and Public Health In Europe led by Professor Lora Fleming, Geiger and colleagues from the Universities of Vienna, Exeter, and Birmingham, as well as Seascape Belgium and the European Marine Board, surveyed over 15,000 participants across 14 European countries (Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom) and Australia about their opinions on various marine-related activities and their own health.

    The findings, published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, surprised the team. Lead author Geiger said: “It is striking to see such consistent and clear patterns across all 15 countries. We also now demonstrate that everybody seems to benefit from being near the seaside, not just the wealthy. Although the associations are relatively small, living near and especially visiting the coast can still have substantial effects on population health.”

    Understanding the potential benefits of coastal access for all members of society is key for policymaking. Dr. Paula Kellett from the European Marine Board said: “The substantial health benefits of equal and sustainable access to our coasts should be considered when countries develop their marine spatial plans, consider future housing needs, and develop public transportation links.”

    But what does this mean for landlocked residents like Geiger and her colleagues in Austria? “Austrians and other central Europeans visit the coasts in their millions during the summer months, so they too get to experience some of these benefits. Besides, we are also starting to appreciate the similar health benefits offered by inland waters such as lakes and natural pools.”

    [ad_2]

    University of Vienna

    Source link

  • Shedding light on the origin of complex life forms

    Shedding light on the origin of complex life forms

    [ad_1]

    How did the complex organisms on Earth arise? This is one of the big open questions in biology. A collaboration between the working groups of Christa Schleper at the University of Vienna and Martin Pilhofer at ETH Zurich has come a step closer to the answer. The researchers succeeded in cultivating a special archaeon and characterizing it more precisely using microscopic methods. This member of the Asgard archaea exhibits unique cellular characteristics and may represent an evolutionary “missing link” to more complex life forms such as animals and plants. The study was recently published in the journal “Nature”.

    All life forms on earth are divided into three major domains: eukaryotes, bacteria and archaea. Eukaryotes include the groups of animals, plants and fungi. Their cells are usually much larger and, at first glance, more complex than the cells of bacteria and archaea. The genetic material of eukaryotes, for example, is packaged in a cell nucleus and the cells also have a large number of other compartments. Cell shape and transport within the eukaryotic cell are also based on an extensive cytoskeleton. But how did the evolutionary leap to such complex eukaryotic cells come about? Most current models assume that archaea and bacteria played a central role in the evolution of eukaryotes. A eukaryotic primordial cell is believed to have evolved from a close symbiosis between archaea and bacteria about two billion years ago. In 2015, genomic studies of deep-sea environmental samples discovered the group of the so-called “Asgard archaea”, which in the tree of life represent the closest relatives of eukaryotes. The first images of Asgard cells were published in 2020 from enrichment cultures by a Japanese group.

    Asgard archaea cultivated from marine sediments

    Christa Schleper’s working group at the University of Vienna has now succeeded for the first time in cultivating a representative of this group in higher concentrations. It comes from marine sediments on the coast of Piran, Slovenia, but is also an inhabitant of Vienna, for example in the bank sediments of the Danube. Because of its growth to high cell densities, this representative can be studied particularly well. “It was very tricky and laborious to obtain this extremely sensitive organism in a stable culture in the laboratory,” reports Thiago Rodrigues-Oliveira, postdoc in the Archaea working group at the University of Vienna and one of the first authors of the study.

    Asgard archaea have a complex cell shape with an extensive cytoskeleton

    The remarkable success of the Viennese group to cultivate a highly enriched Asgard representative finally allowed a more detailed examination of the cells by microscopy. The ETH researchers in Martin Pilhofer’s group used a modern cryo-electron microscope to take pictures of shock-frozen cells. “This method enables a three-dimensional insight into the internal cellular structures,” explains Pilhofer. “The cells consist of round cell bodies with thin, sometimes very long cell extensions. These tentacle-like structures sometimes even seem to connect different cell bodies with each other,” says Florian Wollweber, who spent months tracking down the cells under the microscope. The cells also contain an extensive network of actin filaments thought to be unique to eukaryotic cells. This suggests that extensive cytoskeletal structures arose in archaea before the appearance of the first eukaryotes and fuels evolutionary theories around this important and spectacular event in the history of life.

    Future insights through the new model organism

    “Our new organism, called ‘Lokiarchaeum ossiferum’, has great potential to provide further groundbreaking insights into the early evolution of eukaryotes,” comments microbiologist Christa Schleper. “It has taken six long years to obtain a stable and highly enriched culture, but now we can use this experience to perform many biochemical studies and to cultivate other Asgard archaea as well.” In addition, the scientists can now use the new imaging methods developed at ETH to investigate, for example, the close interactions between Asgard archaea and their bacterial partners. Basic cell biological processes such as cell division can also be studied in the future in order to shed light on the evolutionary origin of these mechanisms in eukaryotes.

    This text was published in a similar form by ETH Zurich.

    [ad_2]

    University of Vienna

    Source link