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Applying mathematics takes 'friendship paradox' beyond averages
In network science, the famous "friendship paradox" describes why your friends are (on average) more popular, richer, and more attractive than you are. But a slightly more nuanced picture emerges when we apply mathematics to real-world data.
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An 'atlas' of the brain's choroid plexus across the lifespan
Choroid plexus tissue, anchored in each of the brain's ventricles and bathed in cerebrospinal fluid, is a small but influential player in the brain. It's now been spatially inventoried with single-cell RNA sequencing, cataloguing its cell types and gene expression patterns in each ventricle during early development, adulthood, and old age.
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How a Vietnamese raw pork snack could help us keep food fresh, naturally
Nem Chua is eaten raw but doesn't cause food poisoning when prepared correctly. Food scientists went to explore why - and discovered a powerful new bacteria-killer. On World Food Safety Day (7 June), a new study reveals the ideal growth conditions to potentially make the bacteriocin at industrial scales.
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Hospitalized individuals with active cancer more likely to die from COVID-19
New research indicates that patients hospitalized with active cancer were more likely to die from COVID-19 than those with a history of cancer or those without any cancer diagnosis. The findings published by Wiley early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, also indicate those with active blood cancers have the greatest risk of death due to COVID-19.
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Postpartum mental health visits 30% higher during COVID-19 pandemic
Mental health visits for new mothers were 30% higher during the COVID-19 pandemic than before the pandemic, particularly in the first 3 months after giving birth, found new research in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.210151
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ALPALGA: The search for mountain snow microalgae
The life of the microscopic algae that inhabit snow at high elevations is still relatively unknown. Researchers from the CNRS, CEA, Météo-France, INRAE and the l'Université Grenoble Alpes have therefore created the ALPALGA consortium to study this little-known world, threatened by global warming. Scientists will publish their initial results in Frontiers in Plant Science on June 7, 2021, describing for the first time the distribution of dozens of mountain microalgae species according to elevation.
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New insights into survival of ancient Western Desert peoples
Researchers at the University of Adelaide have used more than two decades of satellite-derived environmental data to form hypotheses about the possible foraging habitats of pre-contact Aboriginal peoples living in Australia's Western Desert.
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The ACCOLADE study on C3 glomerulopathy
C3 glomerulopathy is a rare disease in which the deposition of C3 protein causes severe inflammation of the glomeruli, which can progress to end stage kidney disease requiring dialysis or transplantation. A new study demonstrates that the inflammatory C5a receptor can be selectively blocked with avacopan. This targeted intervention in the immune system is much less risky than general immunosuppression.
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Mechanisms of kidney protection by gliflozins
SGLT2 inhibitors (gliflozins) are oral anti-diabetic drugs. They not only reduce blood sug-ar, but also improve cardiovascular and renal outcomes -- not only in type 2 diabetics, but also in non-diabetics. This benefit cannot be due to lower blood sugar levels per se; however, it is not yet known how these positive effects are actually mediated. A recent study has now discovered correlations with the hematocrit value.
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Healthy environment, healthy kidneys!
Climate change represents one of the greatest global health threats of our time. In choosing Healthy Environment, Healthy Kidneys as the theme for the 2021 fully virtual Congress, the ERA-EDTA highlights the central role of nephrologists and other health professionals in advocacy for global efforts to reduce emissions and protect against climate change.
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Nucleosome breathing from atomistic time snapshots
Computer simulations visualize in atomic detail how DNA opens while wrapped around proteins.
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Acoustic waves give a bounce to real-time seismic imaging
Geologic structures and deposits below planetary surfaces can be mapped faster than ever.
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Regulation of protein homeostasis by cardiac glycosides
The unfolded protein response (UPR) is a pivotal mechanism to mitigate protein homeostasis through transcriptional or translational control. On the other hand, since dysregulation of UPR has been associated with various human diseases, the compounds modulating UPR can clarify the pathological significance of the UPR.
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Global travelers pick up numerous genes that promote microbial resistance
Research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that international travelers often return home with new bacterial strains jostling for position among the thousands that normally reside within the gut microbiome. Such travel is contributing to the rapid global increase and spread of antimicrobial resistance.
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Climate change increases extreme rainfall and the chance of floods
An international research team have concluded that increases in extreme rainfall and associated flooding are projected to continue as global temperatures continue to rise. Efforts to limit warming to +1.5C will help limit changes in extreme rainfall, though some societal adaptations will still be required.
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Cells/colony motion index of oral keratinocytes predicts epithelial regenerative capacity
Cells/colony motion of oral keratinocytes was non-invasively and quantitatively determined by optical flow algorithm. As per the distinct cell growth kinetics, modified optic flow algorithm was applied with fewer full-screening imaging analyses & cell segmentations, which confirmed the association of proliferative capacity & epithelial regenerative capacity with mean motion speed (MMS). The index of MMS was identified to detect the substandard population, prior to human clinical use, which may be applied to other cell cultures.
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Quantum holds the key to secure conference calls
The world is one step closer to ultimately secure conference calls, thanks to a collaboration between Quantum Communications Hub researchers and their German colleagues, enabling a quantum-secure conversation to take place between four parties simultaneously.
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New marine scale worm species first to provide evidence of male dwarfism
Researchers recently found a new species of scale worms (Annelida: Polynoidae) living mostly in pairs with a striking difference compared to the almost 900 already known species of scale worms: one was a quarter the size of its mate.
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Mothers transmitting hepatitis B to children as broken hospital procedures plague Europe
Procedures to prevent the direct transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV) from mother to child, particularly during and after pregnancy, have significant fragmentation and gaps, a new survey presented at the 6th World Congress of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition has shown.
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Screening reveals coeliac disease cases in children have doubled in 25 years
(Geneva, 5 June 2021) Mass screening of school-age children has led to significantly higher numbers of coeliac disease cases being diagnosed, according to a new study presented today at the 6th World Congress of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition.
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