Culture
Bethesda, Maryland (Nov. 4, 2020) - Early identification and removal of cancerous colorectal polyps is critical to preventing the progression of colorectal cancer and improving survival rates. The U.S. Multisociety Task Force on Colorectal Cancer has released new guidance for endoscopists on how to assess colorectal lesions for features associated with cancer, discuss how these factors guide management, and outline when to advise surgery after malignant polyp removal.
Predicting the outcomes of actions in order to make good decisions is a critical role of brain function. This process is thought to work through two fundamentally different mechanisms called "model-free" and "model-based" learning. Though fundamental for flexible and adaptive behaviour, the neurobiology of model-based learning remains poorly understood.
Now, in a study published in the scientific journal Neuron, scientists pin down a brain area crucial for this type of learning and demonstrate how its activity encodes multiple aspects of the decision-making process.
In a small study of adults with major depression, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report that two doses of the psychedelic substance psilocybin, given with supportive psychotherapy, produced rapid and large reductions in depressive symptoms, with most participants showing improvement and half of study participants achieving remission through the four-week follow-up.
A recent study has shown that it may be possible to dampen the workings of the subconscious brain to prevent alcohol relapse, the results leading to a world-first trial of a personalised smartphone app called "SWiPE".
Cognitive Bias Modification, a new form of computerised brain-training, is focused on training the brain to automatically avoid alcohol cues, with findings showing that early relapse was reduced by 17 percent after four sessions of CBM, compared to those who received a "control" (placebo) version of the task.
Researchers from Beijing Normal University, Peking University and National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) found that there is weak correlation between fast radio bursts(FRBs) and soft gamma-ray repeater J1935+2154(SGRs). The study was published in Nature on Nov. 4.
The detection of FRB 200428 associated with the galactic magnetar SGR J1935+2154 provides crucial clues to the generation of FRBs.
In the vast universe, some extremely strong radio waves occasionally blink, with duration of only milliseconds. Such fast radio bursts were discovered by astronomers in 2007. Puzzling questions arise: Who sent them? What information is conveyed by these radio bursts?
The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) has revealed some mystery of the fast radio bursts, according to a study published in Nature on Oct. 28.
Fishermen working on Lake Tanganyika in eastern Congo experience a lack of safety and want better enforcement of existing regulations. They also report a decline in the lake's fish stocks. These are some of the findings of a large international study led by KU Leuven (Belgium) based on 1018 interviews with stakeholders in the area. The study was published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research.
Since the dawn of space exploration, humankind has been fascinated by survival of terrestrial life in outer space. Outer space is a hostile environment for any form of life, but some extraordinarily resistant microorganisms can survive. Such extremophiles may migrate between planets and distribute life across the Universe, underlying the panspermia hypothesis or interplanetary transfer of life.
Today, a multitude of industries, including optics, electronics, water purification, and drug delivery, innovate at an unprecedented scale with nanometer-wide rolls of honeycomb-shaped graphite sheets called carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Features such as light weight, convenient structure, immense mechanical strength, superior thermal and electrical conductivities, and stability put CNTs a notch above other material alternatives. However, to supply their rising industrial demand, their production must be constantly scaled up, and therein lies the main challenge to using CNTs.
Coronavirus has infected more than 40 million people around the world and has caused more than a million deaths in less than a year. Moreover, it is still not clear why some people who contract the virus show no symptoms whereas others may die or suffer very severe consequences. Although age, illnesses and previous treatments can be used to give a prognosis in some cases, it is still not possible to state for certain how each case of coronavirus will evolve. One of the treatments that have been discussed in regard to their role in the evolution of COVID-19 has been statins.
A rise in negative health behaviours - such as lack of sleep, exercise and an unhealthy diet - is connected to poorer mental health during the tightest restrictions of Scotland's COVID-19 lockdown, a new study has confirmed.
Though we may not always realize it, photodetectors contribute greatly to the convenience of modern life. Also known as photosensors, photodetectors convert light energy into electrical signals to complete tasks such as opening automatic sliding doors and automatically adjusting a cell phone's screen brightness in different lighting conditions.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Fake news detectors, which have been deployed by social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook to add warnings to misleading posts, have traditionally flagged online articles as false based on the story's headline or content. However, recent approaches have considered other signals, such as network features and user engagements, in addition to the story's content to boost their accuracies.
Scientists worldwide have been working flat out on research into infectious diseases in the wake of the global outbreak of the COVID-19 disease, caused by the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. This concerns not only virologists, but also physicists, who are developing mathematical models to describe the spread of epidemics. Such models are important for testing the effects of various measures designed to contain the disease - such as face masks, closing public buildings and businesses, and the familiar one of social distancing.
In March 2020, New York City, an icon of America, was unfortunately named an early epicenter of the novel coronavirus. Now seven months later, America faces a new surge in coronavirus cases and researchers at Texas A&M University hope to provide information and context to help with the battle ahead.
Rich Whittle, a doctoral student at Texas A&M, cites in a recent study that by April 2020, New York City accounted for more than a third of the nation's confirmed cases, with a transmission rate five times higher than the rest of the country.