Culture
Tokyo, Japan - Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University studied the biodiversity of wetland plants over time in rice paddies in the Tone River basin, Japan. They found that paddies which were more likely to have been wetland before agricultural use retained more wetland plant species. On the other hand, land consolidation and agricultural abandonment were both found to negatively impact biodiversity. Their findings may one day inform conservation efforts and promote sustainable agriculture.
The most important components for the functioning of a biological cell are its proteins. As a result, protein production is arguably the most important process for cell growth. The faster the bacterial growth rate, the faster protein synthesis needs to take place. Because protein synthesis is the most expensive cellular process in terms of cellular resources usage, it appears reasonable to assume that the cell to increases production capacities by hosting more copies of the complicated machinery in proportion to its growth rate.
Bottom Line:
Baseline levels of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) predicted responses to first-line, but not second-line, immune checkpoint inhibition in patients with melanoma.
Journal in Which the Study was Published:
Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research
Author:
Elin Gray, PhD, an associate professor at Edith Cowan University in Australia and senior author on the study
Background:
The National Institutes of Health has launched an adaptive Phase 3 clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of three immune modulator drugs in hospitalized adults with COVID-19. Some COVID-19 patients experience an immune response in which the immune system unleashes excessive amounts of proteins that trigger inflammation -- called a "cytokine storm" -- that can lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome, multiple organ failure and other life-threatening complications.
Animal cooperation typically involves sharing crucial resources -- and the rules of sharing get complicated, especially when males are involved.
Natural selection theory dictates that males generally compete with each other for food and mates. Thus male cooperation in the animal world is an enigma, especially among unrelated animals.
Washington, DC - October 16, 2020 - In the absence of approved, effective treatments for COVID-19, some hospitals have been treating patients with severe COVID symptoms with blood plasma from recovering patients. The blood of recovered patients contains antibodies that act against the coronavirus. While plasma hasn't yet shown a benefit in randomized trials, some small retrospective studies suggest it may reduce illness severity and reduce hospitalization time.
"Essential services" is a phrase that has become commonplace in the era of COVID-19. In a new commentary piece, scholars from Lehigh University and Ohio State University argue that LGBTQ+ college and university campus resource centers are essential to the health, well-being and academic achievement of LGBTQ+ students. These centers, they write, are uniquely positioned to meet the needs of these students during COVID-19 and, as such, must continue to receive support and funding.
A new Alzheimer's study found that impaired blood flow in the brain is correlated with the buildup of tau tangles, a hallmark indicator of cognitive decline.
The work, published this week in the Journal of Neuroscience, suggests that treatments targeting vascular health in the brain -- as well as amyloid plaques and tau tangles -- may be more effective in preserving memory and cognitive function than single-target therapies.
PISCATAWAY, NJ - When governments create a minimum price for alcoholic beverages, deaths and hospitalizations related to alcohol use significantly decrease, according to results from a new report in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.
Called "minimum unit pricing," such policies "would result in a substantial and lasting reduction in the harms caused by alcohol in society," says lead researcher Adam Sherk, Ph.D., of the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada.
The increased adherence of women to Coronavirus policies may be one of the reasons for the lower vulnerability and mortality that they experienced, compared to men, in the early phase of the epidemic. "Policy makers who promote a new normality made of reduced mobility, face masks and other behavioral changes," says Vincenzo Galasso, one of the authors of a new study on gender differences in the reaction to COVID-19, "should, therefore, design a gender-differentiated communication if they want to increase the compliance of men."
The share of U.S. adults who support an active government role in society increased by more than 40 percent during the initial pandemic response--up from 24 percent in September 2019 to 34 percent in April 2020--according to a new national public opinion survey conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins University SNF Agora Institute.
Tumors of the pancreas are particularly feared. They are usually discovered late and mortality is high. Until now, no targeted and personalized therapies exist. Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the Heidelberg Institute for Stem Cell Technology and Experimental Medicine* (HI-STEM) have now succeeded for the first time in defining two differently aggressive molecular subtypes of pancreatic carcinoma. This provides new insights into the origin of the tumors.
Your advance look at two new studies publishing online on October 15, 2020 in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
EMBARGOED UNTIL 5:00 pm US Eastern Time, October 15, 2020
Researchers find hypochlorous acid could combat latrine odor and infectious microbes--and promote greater latrine use--in developing countries
Australia was not spared as a 30-year global rise in chronic illness and related risk factors such as obesity, high blood sugar, and outdoor air pollution created a perfect storm to fuel coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths, new research shows.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- People may be skeptical about medical and health articles they encounter on crowdsourced websites, such as Wikipedia and Wikihealth, according to researchers. While that may be good news for health officials who are worried that these sites allow non-experts to easily add and edit health information, the researchers added that having medical professionals curate content on those sites may not reduce the skepticism.