Armed conflicts between countries and states have devastating effects on the population, infrastructures and daily life. Furthermore, a belligerent attack, such as the one recently carried out by Russia on Ukraine, has consequences for the entire world. The JARA partners RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich have spoken out on this to strongly condemn the attack and have launched aid activities.
The pathogen SARS-CoV-2 has turned out to be a rapidly changing virus. Certainly known to all are the alpha, beta, gamma, delta and omicron variants. Along with all transformations, altered symptoms have also been discovered over time. What they all have in common, however, is the tendency to suffer from longer-term symptoms after the acute illness. The reasons for the so-called "Long-COVID" phenomenon are now being investigated in the new project "BRAVE" involving Prof. Giulia Rossetti (JARA-CSD) and Prof. Paolo Carloni (JARA-BRAIN and JARA-CSD).
Glutamate, the salt of glutamic acid, can be found in many different dishes and provides a hearty, spicy taste. Glutamine is also an amino acid that is released from astrocytes, non-neuronal cells in the brain, into the extracellular space and perceives important functions in the brain. A team of scientists around JARA-BRAIN member Prof. Joachim Lübke has now investigated the role of astroglial glutamine in synaptic activity.
Polymers are a class of materials with great potential. Equipped with different characteristics, they can be used in a wide variety of applications. A research team led by JARA-SOFT scientist Prof. Stephan Förster has now demonstrated thermal writing and storage of information in a responsive polymer for the first time. This enables the production of thermal data storage and carrier materials that release active pharmaceutical ingredients in a temperature-controlled manner.
The “NeuroSys – Neuromorphic Hardware for Artificial Intelligence Applications” research cluster will conduct research on such novel systems. By transferring fundamental research of the two JARA partners RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich into neuromorphic components and algorithms, it seeks to develop a viable technological basis for applications in the field of artificial intelligence, in particular.
