Culture
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are at record levels in the United States, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting recent “steep and sustained” increases. STIs are particularly common among young adults (aged 18-24 years), yet most sexually active college students have never been tested. This presents an urgent challenge, as well as a unique opportunity, for universities to increase STI testing among their students.
Supersized alcopops are single-serving flavored beverages with very high alcohol content. Consumption of these drinks is linked to dangerous consequences such as blacking out, vomiting, being injured or worse, and they are popular among underage drinkers, which is where prior research has typically focused.
University of South Carolina scientists are exploring ways to make nerve regeneration happen faster and more successfully.
A new study published in Current Biology identifies the biological triggers that promote quicker nerve regeneration. From their previous studies, the researchers knew that damaged nerves regrow more quickly when "stress granules" in the site of the nerve injury are broken apart. Now they know what causes those stress granules to disassemble through a process called protein phosphorylation.
For a tiny embryo to develop into an adult organism, its cells must develop in precise patterns and interact with their neighbors in carefully orchestrated ways. To create complex tissues and organs -- from the pattern of rods and cones in the retina to the Byzantine filtration systems of the kidney -- all these developing cells must constantly answer a fundamental but surprisingly difficult question: Where am I?
Greenwood, SC (October 15, 2020) - A research team at the Greenwood Genetic Center (GGC) has successfully used small molecules to restore normal heart and valve development in an animal model for Mucolipidosis II (ML II), a rare genetic disorder. Progressive heart disease is commonly associated with ML II. The study is reported in this month's JCI Insight.
It's not a coincidence that dogs are cuter than wolves, or that goats at a petting zoo have shorter horns and friendlier demeanors than their wild ancestors. Scientists call this "domestication syndrome" -- the idea that breeding out aggression inadvertently leads to physical changes, including floppier ears, shorter muzzles and snouts, curlier tails, paler fur, smaller brains, and more.
HOUSTON - (Oct. 15, 2020) - Education has long been linked to health -- the more schooling people have, the healthier they are likely to be. But a new study from Rice University sociologists found that the health benefits of a good education are less evident among well-educated bisexual adults.
E-cigarettes might not be a safer alternative to smoking during pregnancy, according to the first known study into the effects of prenatal nicotine exposure on babies.
Psychologists at Durham University, UK, found that babies of mothers who smoked e-cigarettes during pregnancy displayed similar abnormal reflexes to infants whose mothers smoked traditional cigarettes.
Abnormal reflexes can include a baby not grasping a finger with their hand or not being startled if the hand supporting their head is suddenly removed.
ORLANDO, Fla. (October 15, 2020) - A group of three gene variants, commonly inherited together, may provide clues to more successful treatment of pediatric eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), a chronic inflammation of the food pipe often confused with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). A new study, led by researchers from Nemours Children's Health System and published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, identifies genetic variants that help predict which children with EoE may not respond to proton pump inhibitor (PPI) medication therapy as a long-term solution.
Anyone who has experienced "butterflies in the stomach" before giving a big presentation will be unsurprised to learn there is a physical connection between their gut and their brain. Neuroscientists and medical professionals call this connection the "gut-brain axis" (GBA); a better understanding of the GBA could lead to the development of treatments and cures for neurological disorders such as depression and anxiety, as well as for a range of chronic auto-immune inflammatory diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and rheumatoid arthritis.
People who live through traumatic experiences in childhood often suffer long-lasting consequences that affect their mental and physical health. But moreover, their children and grand-children can also be impacted as well. In this particular form of inheritance, sperm and egg cells pass on information to offspring not through their DNA sequence like classical genetic heredity, but rather via biological factors involving the epigenome that regulates genome activity. However, the big question is how the signals triggered by traumatic events become embedded in germ cells.
Autonomous vehicles (AV) are the wave of the future in the automobile industry, and there's extensive discussion about the impacts on transportation, society, the economy and the environment.
However, less attention has been focused on the potential health impacts of self-driving vehicles.
Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have developed a new way to diagnose diseases of the blood like sickle cell disease with sensitivity and precision and in only one minute. Their technology is smaller than a quarter and requires only a small droplet of blood to assess protein interactions, dysfunction or mutations.
The team published its results Oct. 15 in the journal Small.
A unique study conducted by University of Georgia entomologists led to the discovery of a distinctive supergene in fire ant colonies that determines whether young queen ants will leave their birth colony to start their own new colony or if they will join one with multiple queens.
Researchers also found that ants were more aggressive toward queens who don't possess the supergene, causing main colony workers to kill them. This critical finding opens the door to new pest control methods that may be more efficient in eradicating problematic fire ant colonies.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Researchers are learning more about the brightly colored bacterial mats threatening the ecological health of coral reefs worldwide. In new research released this month, a Florida State University team revealed that these mats are more complex than scientists previously knew, opening the door for many questions about how to best protect reef ecosystems in the future.