Culture
A considerable number of existing and proposed post-2020 biodiversity targets by international organizations are at risk of being severely compromised due to climate change, even if other barriers such as habitat exploitation are removed argue the authors of a study led by Almut Arneth from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). According to their analysis published in PNAS, global warming accelerates the loss of biodiversity. Vice versa, measures to protect biodiversity may also mitigate the impacts of climate change.
New research has shown how microbubbles carrying powerful cancer drugs can be guided to the site of a tumour using antibodies.
Microbubbles are small manufactured spheres half the size of a red blood cell - and scientists believe they can be used to transport drugs to highly specific locations within the body.
Philadelphia, December 8, 2020--Researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have found elevated levels of a biomarker related to blood vessel damage in children with SARS-CoV-2 infection, even if the children had minimal or no symptoms of COVID-19. They also found that a high proportion of children with SARS-CoV-2 infection met clinical and diagnostic criteria for thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA). TMA is a syndrome that involves clotting in the small blood vessels and has been identified as a potential cause for severe manifestations of COVID-19 in adults.
Leipzig/Frankfurt/Main/Düsseldorf. Aerosols and their spread play an essential role in the transmission of COVID-19. However, the risk of transmission could be significantly reduced if more could be done to reduce indoor airborne viruses. The Working committee particulate matter (AAF) has therefore issued an statement with concrete recommendations. These include window ventilation, exhaust ventilation, air purification systems and CO2 measuring devices for indoor areas such as classrooms or transportation, and the increased use of N95 and FFP2 masks.
Bartonella bacteria are increasingly recognized as an emerging infectious disease threat. A new study by North Carolina State University researchers has found additional instances of Bartonella infection in humans who exhibited neuropsychiatric symptoms, a subset of whom also had skin lesions. This research adds to the body of evidence that not only can Bartonella infection mimic a spectrum of chronic illnesses - including mental illness - but also that dermatological symptoms may accompany infection.
While a certain level of trust is needed for autonomous cars and smart technologies to reach their full potential, these technologies are not infallible - hence why we're supposed to keep our hands on the wheel of self-driving cars and follow traffic laws, even if they contradict our map app instructions.
Late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) is the most common form of dementia in the elderly, affecting almost 44 million people worldwide. Despite decades of research, genetic factors that predispose individuals to LOAD are not clearly understood. With a growing elderly population in the U.S. and many other developed countries, there is an urgent need for precise prognostic biomarkers and viable treatment options. Apart from advanced age, variants in the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene are a strong predictor of disease risk.
WASHINGTON (December 8, 2020) -- Researchers say they've identified a way to disrupt a process that promotes the growth of pancreatic cancers -- one of the most difficult and deadly cancers to treat.
The team, led by scientists at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and including investigators from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, STCube and Fluidigm, published their findings today in the journal Gastroenterology.
HOUSTON - (Dec. 8, 2020) - The wage gap between men and women is no secret, but another form of gender discrimination directly and disproportionately affects women worldwide: the "pink tax" imposed by import tariffs that target female products.
But new Rice University research concludes the "pink tax" is generally lower in countries where more women are elected to political office.
Scientists from Johns Hopkins University and Medicine have developed a possible new antibiotic for a pathogen that is notoriously resistant to medications and frequently lethal for people with cystic fibrosis and other lung ailments.
Thanks to a new technique developed by plant pathologists in Connecticut, scientists now have access to an affordable and effective tool to facilitate the study of the entire non-bacterial microbiomes of any plant species.
Like humans, plants have microbiomes. As plants grow, they recruit beneficial microorganisms from the surrounding soil to colonize the roots. Most plant microbiome research focuses on bacteria and fungi, though there are many other microorganisms that can impact plant health, such as nematodes, mites, protists, and fungi.
There is growing evidence that pregnant women who go beyond term, especially first time mothers and their infants, will benefit from induction of labour at 41 weeks, instead of expectant management with subsequent induction of labour at 42 weeks if labour will not start spontaneously. This is clearer now that researchers from Sweden and the Netherlands have appraised results from three previous investigations.
Tropical Asia and Africa are the only regions on Earth that retain diverse populations of large, land-dwelling mammals, such as elephants, rhinos, and big cats. A new study co-authored by Yale researcher Advait M. Jukar suggests that the persistence of mammalian megafauna in the Indian Subcontinent is related to the great beasts' long coexistence there with homo sapiens and other human ancestors.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA--December 8, 2020--When a coronavirus--including SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19--infects someone, it hijacks the person's cells, co-opting their molecular machinery for its own survival and spread. Researchers at Gladstone Institutes and the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, in collaboration with scientists at UC San Francisco (UCSF) and Synthego Corporation, have identified critical molecular processes in human cells that coronaviruses use to survive.
ITHACA, N.Y. - Researchers at Cornell University are using smartphones to capture location and real-time survey data to examine how social environments encountered in everyday life may affect health.
Equipped with smartphones for a week, dozens of older New York City residents allowed a Cornell sociologist to track their movements and reported several times a day where they were, what they were doing and how they felt.