Culture
There has never been a more dangerous time than the COVID-19 pandemic for people with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, cancer, respiratory problems or cardiovascular conditions, new UNSW Sydney research has found.
Among the adverse impacts of the pandemic for people with NCDs, the study found they are more vulnerable to catching and dying from COVID-19, while their exposure to NCD risk factors - such as substance abuse, social isolation and unhealthy diets - has increased during the pandemic.
(Boston)--The field of forensic anthropology is a relatively homogenous discipline in terms of diversity (people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with mental and physical disabilities, etc.) and this is highly problematic for the field of study and for most forensic anthropologists.
At the core of the forensic sciences are basic sciences and the STEM fields, which have struggled with increasing diversity and inclusion. The lack of diversity in the STEM fields and the forensic sciences is concerning because it can limit the types of questions being asked in research.
The critically endangered vaquita has survived in low numbers in its native Gulf of California for hundreds of thousands of years, a new genetic analysis has found. The study found little sign of inbreeding or other risks often associated with small populations.
Moving around in the half-light is difficult but not impossible. To help us in this undertaking we have the rods, a type of light-sensitive cells (photoreceptors) present in the retina of vertebrates, capable of detecting very low lights which allow to move about even in poorly lit cellars or caves. They are biological wonders capable of detecting even a single quantum of light, but they need continuous maintenance.
URBANA, Ill. - Extrusion is the norm in the pet and aqua feed industries, yet it remains unusual for swine feed in the United States. But the technology can improve energy and protein digestibility in pigs, according to research from the University of Illinois.
Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have studied a population of women in rural Poland for the past four years to understand how their lifestyle affects their bone density. The age group and lifestyle of these women are often overlooked in such studies.
The study "Bone density and frame size in adult women: effects of body size, habitual use, and life history" was published in the American Journal of Human Biology.
Water tainted with even a small concentration of human hormones can have profound effects on fish, according to a University of Cincinnati biologist.
UC assistant professor Latonya Jackson conducted experiments with North American freshwater fish called least killifish. She found that fish exposed to estrogen in concentrations of 5 nanograms per liter in controlled lab conditions had fewer males and produced fewer offspring.
Scientists have found estrogen at as much as 16 times that concentration in streams adjacent to sewage treatment plants.
HOUSTON - (Oct. 23, 2020) - Researchers at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine have developed a new method to isolate specific cells, and in the process found a more robust fluorescent protein.
Both the platform and the protein could be highly useful to synthetic biologists and biomedical researchers. They often need to single out cells with specific visual phenotypes like shape or activity determined by their genetic or epigenetic makeup or their developmental history.
Stress is present everywhere, even bacteria and plant cells have to cope with it. They express various specific stress proteins, but how exactly this line of defense works is often not clear. A group of scientists headed by Professor Dirk Schneider of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) has now discovered a protective mechanism in cyanobacteria as well as in chloroplasts of plant cells: Complex ring structures formed by a protein attach to cell membranes and dissociate. Thereafter, the individual proteins spread out on the membrane surface and form a carpet structure.
Residents of U.S. counties with more social connections (measured as Facebook friends) to China or Italy - the first countries to report major COVID-19 outbreaks - were more likely to adhere to social distancing restrictions at the onset of the pandemic, according to a new study. The findings suggest that social networks supplied pandemic-related information that significantly influenced individual behavior. However, social ties also could have negative effects on pandemic-related behavior. For instance, areas within the U.S.
LA JOLLA, CA--Through intricate experiments designed to account for sex-specific differences, scientists at Scripps Research have collaborated to zero in on certain changes in the brain that may be responsible for driving alcohol abuse among people with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
LA JOLLA, CA--A team led by scientists at Scripps Research has developed a theoretical approach that could ease the process of making highly complex, compact molecules.
Such molecules are often found in plants and other organisms, and many are considered desirable starting points for developing potential new drugs. But they also tend to be highly challenging for chemists to construct and modify in the lab--a process called synthesis.
BOSTON - For the first time, researchers have successfully created airway basal stem cells in vitro from induced pluripotent stem cells by reprogramming blood cells taken from patients. Given that airway basal cells are defined as stem cells of the airways because they can regenerate the airway epithelium in response to injury, this study may help accelerate research on diseases impacting the airway, including COVID-19, influenza, asthma and cystic fibrosis.
A new method for verifying a widely held but unproven theoretical explanation of the formation of stars and planets has been proposed by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). The method grows from simulation of the Princeton Magnetorotational Instability (MRI) Experiment, a unique laboratory device that aims to demonstrate the MRI process that is believed to have filled the cosmos with celestial bodies.
Cosmic dust
The CRISPR Journal announces the publication of its October 2020 issue. The Journal is dedicated to validating and publishing outstanding research and commentary on all aspects of CRISPR and gene editing, including CRISPR biology, technology, and genome editing, and commentary and debate of key policy, regulatory, and ethical issues affecting the field. The Journal, led by Editor-in-Chief Rodolphe Barrangou, PhD (North Carolina State University) and Executive Editor Dr. Kevin Davies, is published bimonthly in print and online. Visit The CRISPR Journal website for more information.