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A study led by the Medical University of Vienna has for the first time investigated the frequency of new persistent opioid use after surgery in Austria. The results show that 1.7% of patients continue to take opioids for at least three to six months after surgery, i.e. beyond a period when acute postoperative pain has usually subsided.

ISTA scientists revise our knowledge about the auxin signaling mechanism in plants According to Karl Popper, a theory or hypothesis can never be definitely proven, but it can be falsified. This implies that it should be rigorously tested for its validity. Scientific progress often involves revisiting and revising established textbook knowledge.

Psoriasis is one of the most common chronic inflammatory skin diseases, affecting around 250,000 people in Austria. While previous treatment approaches have mainly focused on inhibiting pro-inflammatory immune cells, a study led by MedUni Vienna shows that it is possible to restore the function of certain anti-inflammatory immune cells in a targeted manner.

Until now, old clothes have mainly been incinerated. Using adapted processes from paper production, it is possible to recover the cellulose fibres from used clothing and use them to produce cardboard and other packaging materials.

Contrary to expectations: Negative mood and lack of social contact reduced unhealthy eating During the first COVID-19 lockdown, researchers of the University of Vienna assessed the influence of stress, mood, and social interactions on "unhealthy" eating habits in nearly 800 participants across Austria, Italy, and Germany.

Our sun and its planets crossed the Radcliffe Wave in the well-known Orion complex An international research team led by the University of Vienna has discovered that the Solar System traversed the Orion star-forming complex, a component of the Radcliffe Wave galactic structure, approximately 14 million years ago.

ISTA researchers 3D print high-performance, sustainable thermoelectric materials Rapid, localized heat management is essential for electronic devices and could have applications ranging from wearable materials to burn treatment. While so-called thermoelectric materials convert temperature differences to electrical voltage and vice versa, their efficiency is often limited, and their production is costly and wasteful.

International researchers with the participation of TU Graz present a global assessment of ice loss since the beginning of the millennium.

From a tiny electric jolt when touching a doorknob to styrofoam peanuts that cling to a mischievous cat's fur-the well-known and seemingly simple phenomenon of static electricity has puzzled people since antiquity. How could this ubiquitous effect, frequently demonstrated to bedazzled children by rubbing a balloon on their hair, still not be completely understood by scientists? Static electricity goes by multiple names, but scientists prefer to call it 'contact electrification'.

Superconducting circuits are being used at TU Wien and ISTA to create new types of quantum systems that are much easier to control and much more tunable than natural quantum systems like atoms. Many objects that we normally deal with in quantum physics are only visible with special microscopes - individual molecules or atoms, for example.

What happens in the brain as we age? Might it be at all possible to rejuvenate nerve cells? Seeking answers to these questions, a research group led by Frank Edenhofer at the Department of Molecular Biology has succeeded for the first time in observing mini-brains age. As we get older, our brain ages along with us: we find learning new things more difficult and our memory occasionally fails us.

A recent study involving the Medical University of Vienna in an international collaboration provides new insights into bacterial vaginosis, the most common infection of the female genital tract caused by bacteria. This disease is associated with an increased risk of sexually transmitted infections, HIV and premature births.

Quantum computers: ISTA physicists achieve optical readout of superconducting qubits Qubits-the fundamental units of quantum information-drive entire tech sectors. Among them, superconducting qubits could be instrumental in building a large-scale quantum computer, but they rely on electrical signals and are difficult to scale.

Monocytes, the sentinel cells of the innate immune system, form the first line of defence against viral infections. A team of researchers from MedUni Vienna has now discovered a previously unknown mechanism that enables these cells to fight SARS-COV-2. The study results, recently published in the journal "Frontiers in Immunology", open up new possibilities for the treatment of particularly severe cases of COVID-19.

Why do our mental images stay sharp even when we are moving fast? A team of neuroscientists led by Professor Maximilian Jösch at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) has identified a mechanism that corrects visual distortions caused by movement in animals. The study, conducted in mice, identifies a core function that can be generalized across the vertebrate visual system, including primates such as humans.

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) enables the creation of large, anonymized image datasets for the development of diagnostic systems. As part of an international collaboration, researchers at MedUni Vienna have developed a generative AI that can generate and process synthetic medical imaging data.

An interdisciplinary research team led by the Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine and the Comprehensive Cancer Center of MedUni Vienna and Vienna General Hospital has investigated the potential of liquid biopsies from blood and cerebrospinal fluid for the diagnosis and monitoring of brain tumors in children and adolescents.

What happens to the human body during prolonged bed rest or weightlessness? The European Space Agency (ESA) is conducting so-called "bed rest studies" to investigate whether and what changes occur when the body is at rest for an extended period of time. These bed rest studies are carried out at various locations throughout Europe and offer researchers from a wide range of disciplines the opportunity to investigate these unusual circumstances in healthy test subjects.

A new microscopy method can identify molecules. However, the question of its resolving power proved to be a difficult puzzle. It has now been solved at TU Wien. When judging the quality of a microscope, the crucial question is: How large are the smallest structures that can just be made visible with it? How close can two objects be brought together before they can no longer be seen as two separate objects, but blur into a single image blob? With conventional light microscopes, this can be calculated using relatively simple formulas.

New insights into our linguistic roots via ancient DNA analysis Where lies the origin of the Indo-European language family? Ron Pinhasi and his team in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna contribute a new piece to this puzzle in collaboration with David Reich's ancient DNA laboratory at Harvard University.