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In the United States, nearly every pediatric doctor's visit begins with three measurements: weight, height and head circumference. Compared to average growth charts of children across the country, established in the 1970s, a child's numbers can confirm typical development or provide a diagnostic baseline to assess deviations from the curve. Yet, the brain, of vital importance to the child's development, is merely hinted at in these measurements.

Sea otters are the smallest marine mammal. As cold-water dwellers, staying warm is a top priority, but their dense fur only goes so far. We have long known that high metabolism generates the heat they need to survive, but we didn't know how they were producing the heat -- until now

Orthopedic surgeons know that knee surgeries that require revisions have inferior outcomes compared with primary surgeries but until now, the reason for this was unknown. Today a team of orthopedic physicians reports that opting for a transtibial surgical approach and choosing an inference screw for femoral and tibial fixation will improve the patient's odds of having a significantly better six-year clinical outcome.

An analysis of MRI images of the tissue grafts used for patients who underwent surgery to repair the anterior cruciate knee ligament suggests grafts used from the quadriceps may be superior to tissue grafts from the hamstring. The research was presented today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine - Arthroscopy Association of North America Combined 2021 Annual Meeting.

Why do some Europeans discriminate against Muslim immigrants, and how can it be reduced? The School of Arts & Sciences' Nicholas Sambanis conducted innovative studies at train stations across Germany involving willing participants, unknowing bystanders and, most recently, bags of lemons. His newest study finds evidence of significant discrimination against Muslim women, but it is eliminated when they show they share progressive gender attitudes.

The authors of a new UW-led study write that because law enforcement directly interacts with a large number of people, "policing may be a conspicuous yet not-well understood driver of population health."

Trust in science - but not trust in politicians or the media - significantly raises support across US racial groups for COVID-19 social distancing.

A survey offered to transgender and nonbinary people across six continents and in thirteen languages shows that during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, many faced reduced access to gender-affirming resources, and this reduction was linked to poorer mental health. Brooke Jarrett of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, and colleagues present the findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on July 9, 2021.

Two factors that play a key role in climate change - increased climate warming and elevated ozone levels - appear to have detrimental effects on soybean plant roots, their relationship with symbiotic microorganisms in the soil and the ways the plants sequester carbon.

In a new study, published in Science Advances, researchers combined close-up observations of Jupiter's environment by NASA's satellite Juno, which is currently orbiting the planet, with simultaneous X-ray measurements from the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton observatory (which is in Earth's own orbit).

Plant researchers have a potent new tool at disposal: In the journal Science Advances, a research team from Würzburg shows how to close the stomata of leaves using light pulses.

Changing climate patterns have left millions of people vulnerable to weather extremes. As temperature fluctuations become more commonplace around the world, conventional power-guzzling cooling and heating systems need a more innovative, energy-efficient alternative, and in turn, lessen the burden on already struggling power grids.

A massive volcanic eruption in Indonesia about 74,000 years ago likely caused severe climate disruption in many areas of the globe, but early human populations were sheltered from the worst effects, according to a Rutgers-led study.

DNA is composed of nucleobases represented by the letters A, T, G and C. But in a bacteriophage, another base, represented by the letter Z, exists. Scientists from the Institut Pasteur and the CNRS, in collaboration with the CEA, have now elucidated the biosynthesis pathway of this base. This work has been published in the April 30th, 2021 issue of Science.

To enable tissue renewal, human tissues constantly eliminate millions of cells, without jeopardizing tissue integrity, form and connectivity. The mechanisms involved in maintaining this integrity remain unknown. Scientists from the Institut Pasteur and the CNRS reveal a new process which allows eliminated cells to temporarily protect their neighbors from cell death, thereby maintaining tissue integrity. The results of the research were published in the journal Developmental Cell on June 2, 2021.

Scientists from the Institut Pasteur (CNRS joint unit), in collaboration with Hopital Europeen Georges Pompidou (AP-HP), Orleans Regional Hospital and Strasbourg University Hospital, demonstrated that the Delta variant is less sensitive to neutralizing antibodies than the Alpha variant.Sera from people vaccinated with two doses of mRNA vaccine effectively neutralized the Delta variant. Sera from individuals who had received a single dose of specific vaccines were inactive or barely active against the Delta and Beta variants.

In a mouse model, scientists from the Institut Pasteur, in collaboration with Inserm, Université de Paris and Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital (AP-HP) demonstrated that the immaturity of both the gut microbiota and epithelial barriers such as the gut and choroid plexus play a role in the susceptibility of newborn infants to bacterial meningitis caused by group B streptococcus (GBS). The findings were published in the journal Cell Reports on June 29, 2021

Food insecurity is a major problem in the US, and it worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides some relief, but millions of Americans still lack adequate access to healthy food. A new study from the University of Illinois proposes a potential solution.

Researchers analyzed almost 30,000 RT-PCR tests on swabs from 4,269 players in 2020: 11.7% turned out positive. The rate was the same as among front-line health workers.

Certain metabolites of bacteria from the intestine make immune cells more aggressive as a new study conducted by scientists from german universities in Würzburg and Marburg reveals. The findings could help improve cancer therapies.