Brain | Page 169 | Science Codex

Scientists identify mechanism that may explain why males are more at risk than females for neurodevelopmental disorders

Researchers have recently begun to realize that biological sex plays a key role in disease risk. Sex plays a role in hypertension, diabetes, arthritis - and in many neurological and psychiatric disorders. Depression and anxiety affect females more, while neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorders, early onset schizophrenia, and attention deficit hyperactivity, affect more males. Males are also more sensitive to prenatal insults, such as gestational stress, maternal infection and drug exposure.

More than 8 million babies born from IVF since the world's first in 1978

Barcelona, 3 July 2018: Forty years after the birth of Louise Brown, the world's first test-tube baby, an international committee monitoring progress in assisted reproduction reports today that the global total of babies born as a result of IVF and other advanced fertility treatments is "more than 8 million".(1) Dr David Adamson speaking at this congress on behalf of the International Committee for Monitoring ART (ICMART) said: "Based on ICMART's annual collection of global IVF data, it is estimated that since Louise Brown's birth in 1978 over 8 Million babies have been born from IVF around

Predicting bad side effects

Researchers from Japan's Tohoku University and colleagues have found that a simple DNA test can predict if East Asian patients are likely to have bad reactions to thiopurine medications.

Administering hormones affects DNA

The public debate on endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) - exogenous substances that have the same or similar effects as endogenous hormones - has been going on for some time. Chemicals such as bisphenol A or phthalates, the latter of which are used to soften plastics, may be connected to rising infertility rates among men and women.

Global surface area of rivers and streams is 45 percent higher than previously thought

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Texas A&M University used satellite images, on-the-ground measurements and a statistical model to determine how much of the earth is covered by rivers and streams. They found that global river and stream surface area is about 45 percent greater than what was indicated by previous studies.

Rivers and streams are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, so the significantly higher river and stream surface area calculation has important implications for understanding carbon emissions.

IDSA/ASM lab diagnosis guide helps health care providers

ARLINGTON, Va. - Advances in rapid molecular testing mean infectious diseases can be accurately diagnosed in minutes or hours rather than days or weeks and patients can receive appropriate treatment sooner. A guide released by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and American Society for Microbiology (ASM) helps health care providers keep up with the latest technology and know what tests to order and when.

Granite crystallizes at temperature 200 degrees lower than previously thought

Evidence from rocks in Yosemite National Park suggests that granite stored in the Earth's crust is partially molten at 500 degrees Celsius, nearly 200 degrees lower than had previously been believed. The finding, published online today in Nature, challenges long-held assumptions that underlie our views about the state of magma in volcanically active regions, the location of economically important ore deposits, and Earth's geothermal gradient.

New 'promiscuous' enzyme helps turn plant waste into sustainable products

A new family of enzymes has been discovered which paves the way to convert plant waste into sustainable and high-value products such as nylon, plastics, chemicals, and fuels.

The discovery was led by members of the same UK-US enzyme engineering team which, in April, improved a plastic-digesting enzyme, a potential breakthrough for the recycling of plastic waste.(Kate to add LINK)

Progress toward improved Wilson's disease drug

Cold Spring Harbor, NY - Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), working in collaboration with DepYmed Inc., a CSHL spinout company, today report that they have conducted promising preclinical experiments on a compound that could be used to treat Wilson's disease and possibly other disorders -- including certain types of cancer -- in which levels of copper in the body are elevated, causing or contributing to pathology.

Study: Teaching grad students to teach effectively doesn't compromise research careers

A new Portland State University study suggests that universities should do more to invest in training graduate students in 21st century teaching methods, and that doing so does not mean that they would be any less prepared for a career in research.

In fact, the study found that Ph.D. students who are trained in evidence-based teaching -- methods that emphasize interactive, collaborative and hands-on learning rather than just traditional lecture -- can be just as competitive of researchers, if not better, than those who are not.

Princeton chemists teach an enzyme a new trick, with potential for building new molecules

Princeton chemists have found a way to make a naturally occurring enzyme take on a new, artificial role, which has significant implications for modern chemistry, including pharmaceutical production. Their work appears in the journal Nature Chemistry.

Pre-school Kids understand markets - you should get what you pay for

From a young age, children have a nuanced understanding of fairness.

New University of Michigan research indicates that children as young as 5 incorporate market concerns—the idea that what you get is in line with what you give or offer—into their decision making, and increasingly do so with age.

Some people think children are innately selfish—they want to get goodies for themselves. Other people think children are innately altruistic—they care about helping others. Most people think children are both.

Better model of water under extreme conditions could aid understanding of Earth's mantle

Deep inside the Earth exist pockets of water, but the liquid there isn't like the water on the surface.

When exposed to unimaginably high temperatures and pressures, water exhibits all sorts of weird phases and properties, from remaining a liquid at temperatures 10 times higher than the boiling point to existing as a liquid and a solid at the same time.

Deep-sea marine sponges may hold key to antibiotic drug resistance

Drug resistance to antibiotics is on the rise and there is an urgent need to develop new drugs to treat infectious diseases that are a major threat to human health globally. Researchers from Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute may have a solution to this problem using sea sponges collected from the ocean depths.

Parents' explanations of peer interactions affect how children interpret peers' behavior

Young children are more likely to behave aggressively if they think other children want to hurt them--for example, when they interpret accidental bumps as provocations. Researchers investigated whether parents' explanations of how peers interact would help 4- to 6-year-olds interpret others' behavior with less hostility and behave less aggressively. They found that parents' explanations help young children view their peers' behavior with less hostility.