Brain
Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed a mathematical framework that can turn any sheet of material into any prescribed shape, inspired by the paper craft termed kirigami (from the Japanese, kiri, meaning to cut and kami, meaning paper).
Researchers are increasingly studying the effects of environmental insults on psychiatric and neurological conditions, motivated by emerging evidence from environmental events like the record-breaking smog that choked New Delhi two years ago. The results of a new study publishing August 20 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by an international group of researchers using large data sets from the US and Denmark suggests a possible link between exposure to environmental pollution and an increase in the prevalence of psychiatric disorders.
First study to demonstrate relationship between green space and mental wellbeing at an individual level published
Using data from 25,518 people, the researchers show that Londoners who live within 300m of green space have significantly better mental wellbeing
Proximity to green space was more important than lifestyle factors such as employment, income, and general health.
It is hoped that planners will use the results to help create a healthier, happier and more productive urban landscape.
Bioengineers and dentists from the UCLA School of Dentistry have developed a new hydrogel that is more porous and effective in promoting tissue repair and regeneration compared to hydrogels that are currently available. Once injected in a mouse model, the new hydrogel is shown to induce migration of naturally occurring stem cells to better promote bone healing. Current experimental applications using hydrogels and stem cells introduced into the body or expensive biological agents can come with negative side effects.
In 2006, scientists discovered a way to "reprogram" mature cells -- adult skin cells, for example -- into stem cells that could, in principle, give rise to any tissue or organ in the body. Many assumed it was only a matter of time until this groundbreaking technique found its way into the clinic and ushered in a regenerative medicine revolution.
Bottom Line: An observational study of 601 mother-child pairs from six cities in Canada hints at an apparent association between maternal exposure to fluoride during pregnancy and lower IQ scores measured in children ages 3 to 4. Community water has been fluoridated for decades to prevent tooth decay; a majority of U.S. residents are supplied with fluoridated water, as are more than one-third of Canadian residents and about 3% of European residents. This study analyzed two measures of fluoride exposure during pregnancy.
Researchers at Purdue University have created a quantum spin wave for light. This can be a carrier of information for future nanotechnologies but with a unique twist: they only flow in one direction.
The article "Unidirectional Maxwellian spin waves", by Todd Van Mechelen and Zubin Jacob has been published in the open access journal Nanophotonics on degruyter.com.
TAMPA, Fla. (August 19, 2019)- It's been more than a decade since a vaccine was introduced to prevent contraction of human papillomavirus (HPV), the most common sexually transmitted disease in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends patients start receiving the vaccine between ages 11 and 12, with catch-up vaccination recommended for certain groups through age 26. However, a new study conducted at the University of South Florida (USF) found many female college students have not been inoculated and religion may be a contributing factor.
National or other emissions inventories of greenhouse gases that are used to develop strategies and track progress in terms of emissions reductions for climate mitigation contain a certain amount of uncertainty, which inevitably has an impact on the decisions they inform. IIASA researchers contributed to several studies in a recently published volume that aims to enhance understanding of uncertainty in emissions inventories.
The existence of water in deep Earth is considered to play an important role in geodynamics, because water drastically changes the physical properties of mantle rock, such as melting temperature, electric conductivity, and rheological properties. Water is transported into deep Earth by the hydrous minerals in the subducting cold plates. Hydrous minerals, such as serpentine, mica and clay minerals, contain H2O in the form of hydroxyl (-OH) in the crystal structure.
What types of electricity storage could have the biggest impact globally for a low-carbon energy future? Can humanity simultaneously de-carbonize energy and extend heat, lighting and transportation to more than a billion people now living with without modern energy services?
These are the types of big-picture questions that are being answered by the research that fits into a new academic discipline--"macro-energy systems"--proposed by a group of researchers led by Stanford University.
What The Study Did: This study evaluated whether implementing two antimicrobial stewardship interventions (pharmacist approval to continue antibiotic use after the first dose and pharmacist engagement with the prescriber about antibiotic appropriateness after 72 hours of treatment) were feasible in community hospitals.
Authors: Deverick J. Anderson, M.D., M.P.H., of the Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina, is the corresponding author.
(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.9369)
The first thing that catches an archaeologist's eye on the small piece of papyrus from Elephantine Island on the Nile is the apparently blank patch. Researchers from the Egyptian Museum, Berlin universities and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin have now used the synchrotron radiation from BESSY II to unveil its secret. This pushes the door wide open for analysing the giant Berlin papyrus collection and many more.
Freshwater wetlands from Georgia to New York are home to a previously unrecognized species of medicinal leech, according to scientists at the Smithsonian's National Museum of National History.
Barcelona: Analyses show that gases found in microscopic inclusions in diamonds come from a stable subterranean reservoir at least as old as the Moon, hidden more than 410 km below sea level in the Earth's mantle.