Culture
Steroids are essential for treating children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow, but they can cause severe side effects such as psychological reactions and sleep problems. An analysis of all relevant studies published to date indicates that there's insufficient high-quality research investigating the risk factors for these side effects.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the global response to it have changed many of the interactions that humans have with nature, in both positive and negative ways. A perspective article published in People and Nature considers these changes, discusses the potential long-term consequences, and provides recommendations for further research.
Ordinary pure water has no distinct taste, but how about heavy water - does it taste sweet, as anecdotal evidence going back to 1930s may have indicated? And if yes - why, when D2O is chemically practically identical to H2O, of which it is a stable naturally-occurring isotope? These questions arose shortly after heavy water was isolated almost 100 years ago, but they had not been satisfactorily answered until now.
Though the U.S. and South Korea recorded their first official COVID-19 case on the same day, January 20, 2020, there were notable differences in how each country would ultimately address what has become the world's most severe pandemic since 1918.
Imagine there are arrows that are lethal when fired on your enemies yet harmless if they fall on your friends. It's easy to see how these would be an amazing advantage in warfare, if they were real. However, something just like these arrows does indeed exist, and they are used in warfare ... just on a different scale.
These weapons are called tailocins, and the reality is almost stranger than fiction.
AI-powered symptom checkers can potentially reduce the number of people going to in-person clinics during the pandemic, but first, researchers say, people need to know they exist.
COVID symptom checkers are digital self-assessment tools that use AI to help users identify their level of COVID-19 risk and assess whether they need to seek urgent care based on their reported symptoms. These tools also aim to provide reassurance to people who are experiencing symptoms that are not COVID-19 related.
What The Study Did: The clinical and other characteristics of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children in the United States, a condition that occurs in association with the COVID-19 pandemic, are described in this study.
Authors: Ermias D. Belay, M.D., of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.0630)
Washington, D.C. - April 6, 2021 - A new study has demonstrated that autism spectrum disorder is related to changes in the gut microbiome. The findings are published this week in mSystems, an open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.
The period with the strictest lockdown conditions and quarantining posed additional problems for young people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families, given that their routines were suddenly disrupted. Routines form an essential aspect of their everyday life and life structure. However, their response and adaptation to this new situation was better than expected in aspects like communication and interaction with their families.
Scientists from Tohoku University have developed a new fluorine-free calcium (Ca) electrolyte based on a hydrogen (monocarborane) cluster that could potentially realize rechargeable Ca batteries.
The researchers say the new material, achieved by designing the coordination structure of Ca cation with a weakly coordinating anion and mixed solvents, shows markedly improved electrochemical performances such as high conductivity and high electrochemical stabilities.
A total of 108 women participated in the research from the first weeks of pregnancy to delivery, having recorded their stress levels before, during, and after conception (via the concentration of cortisol in hair) and performed different psychological tests
A study carried out by scientists from the University of Granada (UGR) has revealed that women who experience stress both before becoming pregnant and during conception are almost twice as likely to have a girl as a boy.
Cuckoo wasps - also called emerald wasps - are some of the most beautiful insects we have, with colourful exteriors that shine like jewels. However, these beauties have also created a lot of headaches.
"Normally we distinguish insects from each other by their appearance, but cuckoo wasps are so similar to each other that it makes it difficult," says Frode Ødegaard.
New research suggests Ireland's increasing populations of Sika deer may be linked to local outbreaks of TB infection in cattle.
Although TB infection rates have decreased in general in recent decades, county-level data shows a correlation between higher Sika numbers and higher local TB infections - with County Wicklow a particular hotspot.
New Orleans, LA - A study led by Edward Wojcik, PhD, Associate Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, identified how microcephaly (abnormally small heads) and blindness may develop in Zika-infected fetuses, as well as a new way to potentially prevent these neurodevelopmental defects. The results are published online in iScience, available here.
Comparison of coda waves, the scattered waves that arrive after the direct waves of a seismic event, can be used to determine the relative locations of two underground explosions, according to a new study published in the open-access journal The Seismic Record.
The technique, called coda wave interferometry, was tested on explosions conducted as part of the Source Physics Experiment (SPE). Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers Sean Ford and Bill Walter report that coda wave interferometry can also put a limit on the extent of damage caused by an explosion.