Culture
DALLAS, March 19, 2021 -- New research found patients hospitalized with COVID-19 had a higher risk of stroke, compared with patients who had similar infectious conditions such as influenza and sepsis in prior studies. Those who had an ischemic stroke were more likely to be older, male, Black race, or have high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes or an irregular heartbeat (atrial fibrillation) compared with other COVID-19 patients, according to late-breaking science presented today at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2021.
In-school COVID-19 transmission is rare - even among close school contacts of those who test positive for the virus - when schools heed public health precautions such as mandatory masking, social distancing and frequent hand-washing, according to results of a pilot study in Missouri aimed at identifying ways to keep elementary and secondary schools open and safe during the pandemic. A close contact is anyone who has been within 6 feet for more than 15 minutes in a 24-hour period with someone infected with COVID-19.
Notwithstanding last month's cold snap in Texas and Louisiana, climate change is leading to warmer winter weather throughout the southern U.S., creating a golden opportunity for many tropical plants and animals to move north, according to a new study appearing this week in the journal Global Change Biology.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- A camera-trap study in the Mendocino National Forest in Northern California reveals that black bears are adept at finding and stealing the remains of adult deer killed by pumas. This "kleptoparasitism" by bears, as scientists call it, reduces the calories pumas consume in seasons when the bears are most active. Perhaps in response to this shortage, the pumas hunt more often and eat more small game when the bears are not in hibernation.
The findings are published in the journal Basic and Applied Ecology.
How did life begin on Earth and could it exist elsewhere? Researchers at Simon Fraser University have isolated a genetic clue--an enzyme known as an RNA polymerase--that provides new insights about the origins of life. The research is published today in the journal Science.
Researchers in SFU molecular biology and biochemistry professor Peter Unrau's laboratory are working to advance the RNA World Hypothesis in answer to fundamental questions on life's beginnings.
Tohoku University researchers have, for the first time, developed the technology for the nanosecond operation of the spintronics-based probabilistic bit (p-bit) - dubbed the poor man's quantum bit (q-bit).
The late physicist R.P. Feynman envisioned a probabilistic computer: a computer that is capable of dealing with probabilities at scale to enable efficient computing.
Generating intense ultrashort pulses with high spatial quality has opened up possibilities for ultrafast and strong-field science. It is so important that the Nobel Prize in Physics 2018 was given to Dr. Strickland and Dr. Mourou for inventing a technique called chirped pulse amplification, which drives numerous ultrafast lasers worldwide. With the great advancement in the last decade, Yb-based ultrafast lasers have become highly popular, because they exhibit exceptional thermal efficiency, are low in cost and are highly flexible in adjusting pulse energies and repetition rates.
Schizophrenia and personality disorders are the most disabling mental health conditions to live with, according to scientists from The University of Queensland.
A Danish-Australian research team studied a cohort of 6.9 million Danish residents in the Danish Psychiatric Central Research Register to understand the burden of disability associated with 18 mental and substance use disorders.
Researchers looking at miniscule levels of plutonium pollution in our soils have made a breakthrough which could help inform future 'clean up' operations on land around nuclear power plants, saving time and money.
Publishing in the journal Nature Communications, researchers show how they have measured the previously 'unmeasurable' and taken a step forward in differentiating between local and global sources of plutonium pollution in the soil.
OSAKA, Japan. If you were given the option to eat a delicious meal by yourself, or share that meal with your loved ones, you would need as very good excuse ready if you chose the former. Turns out, fish share a similar inclination to look after each other.
In a recent study led by the University of Bristol, scientists have shown how to simultaneously harness multiple forms of regulation in living cells to strictly control gene expression and open new avenues for improved biotechnologies.
Engineered microbes are increasingly being used to enable the sustainable and clean production of chemicals, medicines and much more. To make this possible, bioengineers must control when specific sets of genes are turned on and off to allow for careful regulation of the biochemical processes involved.
Key takeaways
Nearly half of gastrointestinal cancer operations in this study were performed at 42 U.S. News & World Report "Best Hospitals."
These top-ranked hospitals performed more than four times the annual case volume of unranked hospitals.
Higher hospital case volume was associated with better outcomes, even after accounting for patient characteristics and complicating factors.
Patients with complex gastrointestinal (GI) cancers may fare better by seeking surgical care at high-volume, top-ranked hospitals.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- A new antibiotic compound clears infection of multi-drug resistant gonorrhea in mice in a single oral dose, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State and Emory University. The compound targets a molecular pathway found in bacteria but not humans and could lead to new treatments for gonorrhea and infections from other bacteria, such as tuberculosis and MRSA.
A new imaging technique is shining a light on immune responses and setting the scene for enhancing immune memory to optimise vaccine strategies.
By imaging intact lymphoid organs in three dimensions, researchers have been able to identify specialised niches, which can determine how immune T cells function.
The research, published in Nature Immunology, is a step forward in understanding the differentiation of T cells - critical cells for developing strong immune responses - and how we can use these crucial findings to inform and optimise vaccine strategies.
Professor Chunghun Lim and his research team in the Department of Biological Sciences unveiled a neuroprotective pathway that suppresses Lou Gehrig's Disease (ALS).