Culture
Sharing a home with a pet appeared to act as a buffer against psychological stress during lockdown, a new survey shows.
Most people who took part in the research perceived their pets to be a source of considerable support during the lockdown period. (23 March - 1 June, 2020)
(Boston)--Hospitalized COVID-19 patients who were vitamin D sufficient, with a blood level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D of at least 30 ng/mL (a measure of vitamin D status), had a significant decreased risk for adverse clinical outcomes including becoming unconscious, hypoxia (body starved for oxygen) and death. In addition, they had lower blood levels of an inflammatory marker (C-reactive protein) and higher blood levels of lymphocytes (a type of immune cell to help fight infection).
A paper just published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that adherence to infection control processes, especially proper wearing of personal protective equipment (PPE) and cohorting strategies, such as grouping residents based on their risk of infection or whether they tested positive for COVID-19, was significantly associated with declines in weekly infection and mortality rates.
Detergents, shampoos, soaps and other everyday items sometimes contain a group of chemicals called phthalates, which are often used to enhance products and add flexibility to plastics. However, mounting research has shown a link between phthalates and effects on hormones in humans, laboratory animals and wildlife, which is why phthalates are increasingly being replaced with other chemicals, such as a compound called DINCH.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- A politically engaged electorate is key to any thriving democracy, but not everyone participates in elections and other political activities. New research found that people who are narcissistic may also be more politically active.
Self-discipline, high achievement and diligence linked to better cognitive resilience
People can function well in spite of neuropathology in brain
Evidence shows path to optimize function in old age
CHICAGO --- Our aging brains collect tangles and sticky plaques that can interfere in our cognition and memory. But some older adults with this neuropathology have more cognitive resilience than others, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study.
The reason: their personalities.
Consumers always look for good quality products, above all in fresh food like vegetables. But how do we measure the quality of fresh spinach before it gets on the market nowadays? The most commonly used methods to analyze vegetable quality are slow, costly and destructive. They require choosing several samples from the same batch, to be analyzed later at a laboratory. In order to carry out different kinds of analyses, the product must be destroyed, so an entire harvest cannot be used.
New research presented at this week's ESCMID Conference on Coronavirus Disease (ECCVID, held online) shows that a shorter time from symptom onset to hospitalisation is associated with more serious disease and death in patients with COVID-19. The study is by Dr Annie Wong-Beringer and colleagues, University of Southern California (USC) School of Pharmacy, Los Angeles, CA, USA, and presented at ECCVID by co-author Amanda Chron.
A contact tracing study presented at this year's ESCMID Conference on Coronavirus Disease (ECCVID) confirms the effectiveness of wearing of masks in public, handwashing, and social distancing to protect against SARS-CoV-2 infection. The study is by Assistant Professor Direk Limmathurotsakul, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand, and Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, University of Oxford, UK, and colleagues from the Thai Ministry of Public Health.
Criticisms of COVID-19 models by Democratic elites in May 2020 appeared to undermine public support for the models' use - and trust in science more broadly - according to a series of survey experiments conducted with the participation of more than 6,000 Americans. However, whether Republican elites criticized or supported the models appeared to have little effect. Sarah Kreps and Douglas Kriner suggest the lack of response to Republican messaging could be due to the party's split messaging on science-backed guidance for this issue.
MADISON, Wis. -- The mature brain is infamously bad at repairing itself following damage like that caused by trauma or strokes, or from degenerative diseases like Parkinson's. Stem cells, which are endlessly adaptable, have offered the promise of better neural repair. But the brain's precisely tuned complexity has stymied the development of clinical treatments.
One of the important objectives of green chemistry is the use of eco-friendly solvents and catalysts to perform chemical reactions. Catalysts such as organocatalysts, enzymes, and ionic liquids have shown very assuring results in synthesis by reducing the number of hazardous effects of chemical reactions. Among those catalysts, the activities of ascorbic acid are promising because of its extraordinary abilities.
SAN ANTONIO - A new study implicates 160 genes in brain shrinkage seen on MRIs of 45,000 healthy adults. The shrinkage is in the cortex, the dimply outer layer of the brain that gives rise to thinking, awareness and action, and largely consists of gray matter.
The study, published Sept. 22 in the journal Nature Communications, examined 34 regions of the cortex in a discovery group of 22,894 individuals, then confirmed the findings in a replication group of 22,635 individuals.
Researchers have shaken up a once accepted timeline for cataclysmic events in the early solar system. About 4.5 Ga (giga-anum, or billion years ago), as a large disc of dust and ice collapsed around our newly formed star, planets and smaller celestial bodies were formed. What followed was a chaotic and violent period of collisions and impacts as the familiar eight planets carved out their orbits to resemble the balanced system we observe today.
Wolves today live and hunt in packs, which helps them take down large prey. But when did this group behavior evolve? An international research team has reported specimens of an ancestral wolf, Canis chihliensis, from the Ice Age of north China (~1.3 million years ago), with debilitating injuries to the jaws and leg. The wolf survived these injuries long enough to heal, supporting the likelihood of food-sharing and family care in this early canine.