Brain
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- With just over two months before the 2020 election, three professors at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business offer a comprehensive review of how other nations are seeking to protect their democratic institutions and presents how a multifaceted, targeted approach is needed to achieve that goal in the U.S., where intelligence officials have warned that Russia and other rivals are again attempting to undermine our democracy.
RICHMOND, Va. (Sept. 2, 2020) -- The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred a remarkable number of psychologists across the United States to shift to delivering mental health care to patients remotely, according to a national study led by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University.
The Gerontological Society of America's highly cited, peer-reviewed journals are continuing to publish scientific articles on COVID-19, and all are free to access. The following were published between July 29 and September 1; all are free to access:
University of Alberta graduate student Scott Melnyk made an intriguing fossil find during a graduate level course--and ended up identifying the fossilized tracks of a newly discovered wood-boring organism in a new study.
"Apectoichnus lignummasticans is unique in that it is only the third wood-boring trace fossil associated with marine environments," explained Melnyk, graduate student with the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and member of the Ichnology Research Group.
With many people working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, blue jeans are a more popular wardrobe choice than ever. But most people don't think about microscopic remnants of their comfy jeans and other clothing that are shed during laundering. Now, researchers reporting in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology Letters have detected indigo denim microfibers not only in wastewater effluent, but also in lakes and remote Arctic marine sediments.
The BCG vaccine has a broad, stimulating effect on the immune system. This gives it an effective preventive action against various infections - possibly also against COVID-19. New studies are investigating that. BCG is frequently given to children, but a double-blind randomized clinical study, a collaboration between Radboud university medical center and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens shows that elderly people also benefit from it. The results are published in Cell.
People who did not have a large heart rate response to a stress task surprised researchers later -- after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic -- when they showed more symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder related to the crisis than others who also did the stress task and COVID-19 stress ratings.
Zika virus is a mild infection for most people but it can be dangerous during pregnancy, causing infants to be born with abnormally small heads (microcephaly) and other congenital malformations. A new study published in Frontiers in Immunology has shown that Zika virus can establish a persistent, replicating infection in the placenta, which is present months after the onset of the acute infection.
Enzymes that control a plant's response to lower oxygen levels could be manipulated to make vital crops resistant to the impacts of flooding triggered by climate change, new research shows.
Eager to learn the latest in instructional practices that research says will better engage and educate her students, an assistant professor of biochemistry attends a virtual workshop devoted to exactly that.
The cause of the allergic reaction are T lymphocytes (T cells). These cells are part of the body's defences and normally react to viruses or bacteria in the skin. In the case of a nickel allergy, they also respond to electrically charged nickel atoms (ions) that can be released from nickel-containing products. These ions are then "identified" by the T cells in the form of a metal ion complex together with the body's own proteins. For explanation: Humans have a wide variety of T cells.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- In 2019, Google claimed it was the first to demonstrate a quantum computer performing a calculation beyond the abilities of today's most powerful supercomputers.
But most of the time, creating a quantum algorithm that stands a chance at beating a classical computer is an accidental process, Purdue University scientists say. To bring more guidance to this process and make it less arbitrary, these scientists developed a new theory that may eventually lead to more systematic design of quantum algorithms.
Among all the curious states of matter that can coexist in a quantum material, jostling for preeminence as temperature, electron density and other factors change, some scientists think a particularly weird juxtaposition exists at a single intersection of factors, called the quantum critical point or QCP.
A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis identifies a specific gene's previously unknown role in fertility. When the gene is missing in fruit flies, roundworms, zebrafish and mice, the animals are infertile or lose their fertility unusually early but appear otherwise healthy. Analyzing genetic data in people, the researchers found an association between mutations in this gene and early menopause.
The study appears Aug. 28 in the journal Science Advances.