Culture
Researchers from Florida State University are shedding light on nutrient levels in the Gulf of Mexico with new findings published this month in the Journal of Geophysical Research - Oceans.
A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, and the University of Virginia, USA, has studied the impact of high ozone air pollution on the chemical communication between flowers and pollinators. They showed that tobacco hawkmoths lost attraction to the scent of their preferred flowers when that scent had been altered by ozone. This oxidizing pollutant thus disturbs the interaction between a plant and its pollinator, a relationship that has evolved over millions of years.
Artificial intelligence, machine learning and neural networks are terms that are increasingly being used in daily life. Face recognition, object detection, and person classification and segmentation are common tasks for machine learning algorithms which are now in widespread use. Underlying all these processes is machine learning, which means that computers can capture the essential properties or the key characteristics of processes in which the relationships between objects are really complex.
New homes are increasingly being outfitted with solar panels, heat pumps, rechargeable batteries and other means of producing and storing heat, electricity and gas, all of which interconnect with the electrical grid. At the level of an entire neighborhood, these decentralized, intermittent energy sources form a complex network, which can also include energy-consuming installations such as electric vehicle charging stations.
Researchers in France have discovered that patients suffering from severe COVID-19 show changes in a class of immune cells known as unconventional T cells. The study, published today in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM), suggests that monitoring the activity of these cells in the blood of patients could predict the severity and course of the disease.
AURORA, Colo. (Sept. 3, 2020) - A new study led by researchers from the University of Colorado School of Medicine compares adolescent siblings to determine the impact of early and frequent use of marijuana on cognitive function.
This study, published in the journal Addiction, contrasts with previous studies by finding that moderate adolescent cannabis use may have adverse effects that cannot be explained by the genetic or environmental factors that siblings may have in common.
In a retrospective study of patients tested for COVID-19, researchers at the University of Chicago Medicine found an association between vitamin D deficiency and the likelihood of becoming infected with the coronavirus.
Over the next two weeks, The Lancet will be publishing two reports calling for urgent global action on non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
The NCD Countdown to 2030 tracks global progress on non-communicable diseases against commitments to reduce deaths from NCDs by a third by 2030. The report will publish 6.30pm [New York time] Thursday 3rd September (details below).
International team of scientists discover link between genes and penicillin allergy using biobanks from Estonia, UK and USA
Penicillin, a life-saving medicine, is the most common cause of drug allergy, with clinical manifestations ranging from temporary skin reactions to life-threatening systemic syndromes. Thus far, genetic factors have only been found for rare severe allergic reactions to penicillin. However, less is known about the genetics behind milder forms of penicillin hypersensitivity reactions that occur in a larger proportion of the population.
An infection with the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 can affect multiple organs. With this in mind, researchers of the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and Cornell University in the US have investigated cellular factors that could be significant for an infection. To this end, they analysed the activity of 28 specific genes in a wide range of human tissues. Their findings, which provide a map of potentially disease-relevant factors across the human body, are published in the journal Cell Reports.
Molecules are the building blocks of everyday life. Many materials are composed of them, a little like a LEGO model consists of a multitude of different bricks. But while individual LEGO bricks can be simply shifted or removed, this is not so easy in the nanoworld. Atoms and molecules behave in a completely different way to macroscopic objects and each brick requires its own "instruction manual". Scientists from Jülich and Berlin have now developed an artificial intelligence system that autonomously learns how to grip and move individual molecules using a scanning tunnelling microscope.
Antibiotics affect breast milk microbiota in mothers of preterm infants: University of Toronto study
A team led by researchers at the University of Toronto and The Hospital for Sick Children has found that mothers of preterm babies have highly individual breast milk microbiomes, and that even short courses of antibiotics have prolonged effects on the diversity and abundance of microbes in their milk.
The evidence for hormone involvement in COVID-19 infection and treatment will be evaluated and discussed by endocrine experts in a dedicated COVID-19 session at e-ECE 2020. The European Society of Endocrinology's annual meeting is going online 5-9 September 2020 and the e-ECE 2020 programme will feature cutting-edge science and the latest in clinical practice and patient care.
CATONSVILLE, MD, September 3, 2020 - Social media has forever changed our society and how people do business. A 2013 report by J.D. Power found nearly two-thirds of customers have used a company's social media site to connect with customer service. New research in the INFORMS journal Information Systems Research finds businesses that use Twitter as a social care channel are seeing a 19% increase in customer satisfaction.
BINGHAMTON, NY -- Although researchers have known for decades that depression runs in families, new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York, suggests that children suffering from social anxiety may be at particular risk for depression in the future.