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Vitamin D may not protect against COVID-19, as previously suggested
While previous research early in the pandemic suggested that vitamin D cuts the risk of contracting COVID-19, a new study from McGill University finds there is no genetic evidence that the vitamin works as a protective measure against the coronavirus.
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Remote patient monitoring may reduce need to hospitalize cancer patients
A study by researchers at Mayo Clinic Cancer Center has found that cancer patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who received care at home via remote patient monitoring were significantly less likely to require hospitalization for their illness, compared to cancer patients with COVID-19 who did not participate in the program. Results of the study were presented Friday, June 4, at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting and published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
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Early warning system for COVID-19 gets faster through wastewater detection and tracing
A new research paper builds on previous research of COVID-19 testing in municipal sewer systems and subsequent tracing the virus back to the source by more accurately modelling a system's treelike network of one-way pipes and manholes, and by speeding up the detection/tracing process through automatic sensors installed in specific manholes, chosen according to an easier-to-use algorithm.
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Understanding the skin's defense system
It can be easy to forget that the human skin is an organ. It's also the largest one and it's exposed, charged with keeping our inner biology safe from the perils of the outside world. Michigan State University's Sangbum Park is someone who never takes skin or its biological functions for granted. He's studying skin at the cellular level to better understand it and help us support it when it's fighting injury, infection or disease.
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Bacteria are connected to how babies experience fear
Why do some babies react to perceived danger more than others? According to new research from Michigan State University and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, part of the answer may be found in a surprising place: an infant's digestive system.
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Wide variation in cost and transparency of payer-negotiated prices for thyroid cancer care
Since Jan. 1, 2021, hospitals in the US have been required by The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide pricing information online about items and services. A team of researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts Eye and Ear leveraged the newly available data to analyze price transparency and price variation for the treatment of thyroid cancer.
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New study into green tea's potential to help tackle COVID-19
A Swansea University academic is part of a team investigating how green tea could give rise to a drug capable of tackling Covid-19.Dr Suresh Mohankumar carried out the research with colleagues in India during his time at JSS College of Pharmacy, JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research Their findings suggest that one of the compounds in green tea could combat the coronavirus behind Covid-19.
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A missing antibody molecule may indicate when dengue will become deadly
The antibody's altered structure helps explain an enduring mystery of dengue--why only a fraction of those infected will develop severe disease.
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COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impact on the mental health of adolescents
A study of over 59,000 Icelandic adolescents by a team of Icelandic and North American behavioral and social scientists found that COVID-19 has had a significant, detrimental impact on adolescent mental health, especially in girls. The study is the first to investigate and document age- and gender-specific changes in adolescent mental health problems and substance use during the COVID-19 pandemic, while accounting for upward trends that were appearing before the pandemic.
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Geologist identifies new form of quasicrystal
A UMass Lowell geologist is among the researchers who have discovered a new type of manmade quasicrystal created by the first test blast of an atomic bomb.
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Disparities in COVID-19 rates among adults with kidney failure in New York City
Among adults with kidney failure undergoing hemodialysis in New York City, Black and Hispanic patients were more likely to develop symptomatic COVID-19 than White patients. Neighborhood-level social vulnerability factors were associated with COVID-19 incidence among White patients, but these factors did not explain racial/ethnic disparities.
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Plant competition during climate change
Freiburg researchers show how extreme drought and plant invasion impact ecosystems in the Mediterranean region
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Preventing suicide among a 'hidden population' in public housing
New research suggests that African American families living in public housing are a "hidden population" when it comes to national suicide prevention efforts.
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Attentive listening helps teens open up, study finds
Engaged listening techniques such as eye contact, nodding and using key words to praise openness helps teenagers when they admit bad behaviour and share hurt feelings with their parents, a new study has shown.
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Using HPC and experiment, researchers continue to refine graphene production
From touch screens and advanced electronic sensors to better drug delivery devices, graphene has become one of the most promising new materials in recent decades. In an effort to produce cheap, defect-free graphene in larger quantities, researchers from the Technical University of Munich have been using GCS HPC resources to develop more efficient methods for producing graphene at the industrial scale.
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How to retard time for cells
Scientists at Leipzig University, in collaboration with colleagues from Germany and England, have succeeded in reversibly slowing down cellular processes. A team of biophysicists led by Professor Josef Alfons Käs and Dr Jörg Schnauß were able to show in experiments that cells can be transferred into slow motion without changing the temperature. From a physical point of view, such possibilities have so far only been available in the context of the theory of relativity.
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Gene protection for COVID-19 identified
A genetic link has been discovered explaining why some people catch Covid but don't get sick. The gene is found three times as often in people who are asymptomatic. This is the first clear evidence of genetic resistance because the study compared severely affected people with an asymptomatic COVID group and used next generation sequencing to focus in detail and at scale on the HLA genes which are packed together on chromosome 6.
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Geostationary Earth Orbit Hyperspectral Infrared Radiance data improve local severe storm forecasts proofed by using a new Hybrid OSSE method
Scientists are developing data assimilation methods for Numerical Weather Prediction models that will increase the quality of initialization data from satellites. The Observing System Simulation Experiment (OSSE) is designed to use data assimilation to investigate the potential impact of future atmospheric observing systems. Traditional OSSE processes require significant effort to compute, simulate, and calibrate information, then assimilate the data to produce a forecast. Therefore, model meteorologists are working to make this process more efficient.
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Self-excising designer proteins report isoform expression
Our proteome is much bigger than our genome because one gene produces several variants of proteins called protein isoforms, whose disbalance is implicated in many diseases. A new bioengineered reporter system developed at Helmholtz Zentrum München and the Technical University of Munich now allows for the first time to follow protein isoform expression over time in live cells. The method helps to decipher the underlying regulatory mechanisms and enables screening for potential molecular interventions.
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Multisensory facilitation near the body in all directions
Researchers at Toyohashi University of Technology, Keio University, and the University of Tokyo investigated audio-tactile multisensory integration near the body using touch detection with task-irrelevant approaching and receding sounds in all directions: front, rear, left, and right. They found that the tactile stimulus was detected faster near the body space than far from it when a sound approached from any direction. Thus, peripersonal representations exist with approaching sound, irrespective of direction.
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