Culture
Studies have long suggested that oxytocin -- a hormone that can also act as a neurotransmitter -- regulates prosocial behavior such as empathy, trust and bonding, which led to its popular labeling as the "love hormone." Mysteriously, oxytocin has also been shown to play a role in antisocial behaviors and emotions, including reduced cooperation, envy and anxiety. How oxytocin could exert such opposite roles had largely remained a mystery, but a new UC Davis study sheds light on how this may work.
Same-gender couples have higher-quality interactions with one another than heterosexual couples in Southern California, a new UC Riverside study finds.
The study also holds that couples with two men have the smallest social networks.
Researcher Megan Robbins says the recently published study is the first to compare same- and different-sex couples' social networks and daily interactions with one another.
Fast facts:
In a recent study, NYU Abu Dhabi faculty Alberto Gandolfi proposes alternate weeks of in-classroom and remote teaching as a way to allow students to learn in the classroom while protecting them from COVID-19.
The optimal strategy results in the school opening 90 days out of 200, with the number of COVID-19 cases among the individuals related to the school increasing by nearly 66 percent, instead of the almost 250 percent increase, which is predicted should schools fully reopen.
Washington, DC - October 7, 2020 - Researchers have outlined an approach to characterize and develop an effective environmental monitoring methodology for SARS CoV-2 virus, that can be used to better understand viral persistence in built environments. The investigators from 7 institutions published their research this week in mSystems, an open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology. Built environment refers to the human-made environment that provides the setting for human activity, ranging in scale from buildings to cities and beyond.
A Dartmouth-Gallup study finds that women are more concerned about COVID-19 than men, a difference that transcends party lines. This female perspective towards the pandemic may be overlooked due to the underrepresentation of women in the workplace that is compounded by an underrepresentation in politics, creating what the researchers refer to as a representational "double whammy" effect.
PHILADELPHIA--A pay-for performance program that offers enhanced reimbursement to oncology practices for prescribing high-quality, evidence-based cancer drugs increased use of these drugs without significantly changing total spending on care, Penn Medicine researchers report in a new study published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Researchers have observed black imported fire ants using sand to draw liquid food out of containers, when faced with the risk of drowning. This is the first time this sophisticated tool use has been reported in animals. These findings are published in the British Ecological Society journal Functional Ecology.
The team of Professor Jinyang Liang, a specialist in ultrafast imaging at the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), in collaboration with an international team of researchers, has developed the fastest camera in the world capable of recording photons in the ultraviolet (UV) range in real time. This original research is featured on the front cover of the 10th issue of the journal Laser & Photonics Reviews.
A new study by Simon Fraser University (SFU) researchers has found clear evidence that wearing a mask can have a significant impact on the spread of COVID-19. The researchers, from SFU's Department of Economics, have determined that mask mandates are associated with a 25 per cent or larger weekly reduction in COVID-19 cases.
Injuries to peripheral nerves -- tissues that transmit bioelectrical signals from the brain to the rest of the body -- often result in chronic pain, neurologic disorders, paralysis or disability. Now, researchers have developed a stretchable conductive hydrogel that could someday be used to repair these types of nerves when there's damage. They report their results in ACS Nano.
A public health advisory issued by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2003, followed by drug label warnings, indicated that children and adolescents taking antidepressants were at increased risk of developing suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Research has shown that these warnings reduced the diagnosis and treatment of depression among young people. Now, a new study suggests that the warnings may also have contributed to an increase in suicide deaths among youth.
DNA and RNA have been compared to "instruction manuals" containing the information needed for living "machines" to operate. But while electronic machines like computers and robots are designed from the ground up to serve a specific purpose, biological organisms are governed by a much messier, more complex set of functions that lack the predictability of binary code. Inventing new solutions to biological problems requires teasing apart seemingly intractable variables - a task that is daunting to even the most intrepid human brains.
Engineers have invented a way to spray extremely thin wires made of a plant-based material that could be used in N95 mask filters, devices that harvest energy for electricity, and potentially the creation of human organs.
The method involves spraying methylcellulose, a renewable plastic material derived from plant cellulose, on 3D-printed and other objects ranging from electronics to plants, according to a Rutgers-led study in the journal Materials Horizons.
Projections of potentially dramatic sea-level rise from ice-sheet melting in Antarctica have been wide-ranging, but a Rutgers-led team has created a model that enables improved projections and could help better address climate change threats.
Two-thirds of older adults rely on at least two prescription drugs, and more than half take two or more non-prescription drugs or supplements. And two in ten take five or more prescription drugs. Some of those pills, capsules and tablets may interact with one another in ways that could put them at risk.
But a new poll shows that most people over 50 haven't connected with a pharmacist to check for potential clashes among their prescription drugs, non-prescription drugs, and supplements, or the potential to save money by switching to lower-cost options.