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Plastic electronics: Ushering in the next generation of technology
A team of researchers from multiple institutions have successfully come up with a novel way of transforming an otherwise less-conducting organic material into an efficient conductor of electricity for electronic application. This paves the way for development of cost-effective, structurally and functionally amenable semiconductor devices, thus marking the dawn of a new era in semiconductor technology.
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Blood transfusions in cats: A precious resource requiring a considered approach
Blood transfusions are a common procedure in medical practice in which donated blood is used to replace blood lost to injury or surgery or to treat serious medical conditions. The procedure is not performed as routinely in the treatment of pet cats - but, as in people, can be lifesaving. The availability of donors has been a limitation in primary care veterinary practice, but with the growth of blood banks providing greater access to feline blood, the procedure is likely to become more commonplace.
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Implications are global in new study predicting Human exodus in Bangladesh
Researchers led by Maurizio Porfiri at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, apply data science to predict how the cascading effects of the migration in Bangladesh will ultimately affect 1.3 million people across the country by 2050.
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Experimental proof for Zeeman spin-orbit coupling in antiferromagnetics
A NUST MISIS professor was part of an international research team that has found evidence for the existence of the Zeeman spin-orbit coupling in antiferromagnetic conductors. This work may pave the way for the next generation of electronics. The study was published in npj Quantum Materials.
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Research by University of Minnesota Medical School students suggests protocol change for tear gas deployment
A new study by five doctoral students in neuroscience at the University of Minnesota Medical School calls attention to a lack of regulation and unknown long-term health effects of tear gas. Based on their research, the group recommends changing the protocols around the use of tear gas as a crowd control measure at both the local and national level.
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Study of COVID-19 in Ireland shows links between underlying conditions and poorer outcomes
A national study of 20,000 patients conducted by RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences and the HSE Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) has identified the underlying conditions that are associated with more severe outcomes from COVID-19 in an Irish setting.
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Study evaluates biomarker criteria for assessing Alzheimer's risk
As a potential framework for assessing an asymptomatic person's risk of developing dementia, the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association have endorsed a research tool based on three biomarkers called the AT(N) framework--A, for amyloid, T for tau, and (N) for neurodegeneration or atrophy. However, a new study by researchers in Seattle suggests a subset of people classified by this approach as having the highest risk for dementia will not develop dementia in their lifetime.
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Increase in stroke mortality in people with COVID-19 during first lockdown
Deaths of people who suffered strokes increased during the first lockdown compared to the three previous years, new data analysis has found. Despite the pandemic, health care quality was maintained at a high level.
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Mental health promotes children's physical activity during lockdown
According to the Motorik-Modul-Längsschnittstudie (MoMo, Motor Module Longitudinal Study) of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Karlsruhe University of Education (PHKA), mental health of children and adolescents decreased during the first lockdown. For children aged between 4 and 10 years and for girls irrespective of their age, mental health was found to promote physical activity during Covid-induced lockdown in spring 2020. This is reported in Children (DOI: 10.3390/children8020098).
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Smell training, not steroids, best treatment for COVID-19 smell loss
New research finds that steroids should not be used to treat smell loss caused by COVID-19. Instead, the international team of smell experts recommend 'smell training' - a process that involves sniffing at least four different odours twice a day for several months.
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How COVID-19 impacted UK healthcare
One third of people in the UK managed to access the hospital care they needed at the peak of the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.Researchers looked at the extent to which people managed to access NHS healthcare in April 2020 and as lockdown restrictions eased.They found equal access to NHS hospital care for people at different levels of income. But those on higher incomes had better access to GP consultations, prescriptions, medical helplines at the peak of the first wave.
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Sounds familiar: A speaker identity-controllable framework for machine speech translation
Smart assistant devices often need to perform speech translation, which does not always produce the desired voice identity due to drawbacks in the conventional voice conversion (VC) model. In a new study, researchers from Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology designed a VC model that mimics and controls speaker voice identity during speech translation using two deep learning based training frameworks, opening doors to voice modification, voice restoring, and voice cloning applications.
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Freeze! New model to help protect ships from ice accretion
Entering Monday with some cool news: Researchers from Skoltech (Russia) and their colleagues from SINTEF (Norway) have developed a mathematical model of freezing water droplets moving in cold air. This model is a part of a joint RFBR-supported Russian-Norway research project. The project is focused on predicting ice accretion on ships and other offshore structures operating in the Arctic climate, which may interfere with their proper functioning and endanger crew members and cargo.
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When Chauvet Cave artists created its artwork, the Pont d'Arc was already there
The Chauvet Cave, which lies by the entrance to the Gorges of the Ardèche, is home to the world's oldest cave paintings, dating back 36,000 years. The location of the cavern--surrounded by a remarkable landscape, next to the Pont d'Arc natural archway--raises the question of whether the people who executed these artworks looked and walked out upon the same landscape as today. Did they see the same natural archway?
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Common inflammatory bowel disease treatment blunts COVID-19 vaccine response
The research measured antibody responses after vaccination with the Pfizer/BioNTech or the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in 865 people treated with infliximab, an anti-tumour necrosis factor (anti-TNF) biologic drug, prescribed to around two million people worldwide. The research found that people treated with infliximab had significantly lower concentrations of antibodies, when compared to 428 people on an alternative treatment, vedolizumab.
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Surprise in the deep sea
A team around deep-sea scientist Antje Boetius has now discovered that sponges leave trails on the sea floor in the Arctic deep sea.
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Weight loss surgery reduces brain pressure in patients with neurological condition
Weight loss surgery is more effective than dieting to reduce brain pressure that can cause blindness in patients with a neurological condition, finds a study led by the University of Birmingham
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How do slow anomalies beneath subducting slabs affect giant megathrust earthquakes?
Dr. FAN Jianke from the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS) and Prof. ZHAO Dapeng from Tohoku University investigated the oceanic asthenosphere structure of six subduction zones to revealed how slow anomalies beneath subducting slabs affect giant megathrust earthquakes.
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Divide and conquer? New insights from the ancients of the microscopic world
Australian scientists have unlocked another mystery of the class of microorganisms believed to be among Earth's oldest of life forms, throwing new light on the study of cell division and the evolution of life.
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New cancer algorithm flags genetic weaknesses in tumours
A new way to identify tumours that could be sensitive to particular immunotherapies has been developed using data from thousands of NHS cancer patient samples sequenced through the 100,000 Genomes Project. The MMRDetect clinical algorithm makes it possible to identify tumours that have 'mismatch repair deficiencies' and then improve the personalisation of cancer therapies to exploit those weaknesses.
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