Culture
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- A unique nanoparticle to deliver a localized cancer treatment inhibits tumor growth in mice, according to a team of Penn State researchers.
The nanoparticles, developed by Daniel Hayes, associate professor of biomedical engineering, have a specific chemistry that allows a microRNA (miRNA) to attach to it. A miRNA is a molecule that when paired to a messenger RNA (mRNA) prevents it from operating. In this case, it prohibits the mRNA in a cancer cell from creating proteins, which are essential for that cancer cell to survive.
MIAMI--Climate change--from rising temperatures and more severe heavy rain, to drought--is increasing risks for economies, human security, and conflict globally. Scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science are leading an effort to better assess the climate-conflict link to help societies manage the complex risks of increased violence from a changing climate.
Typically, there aren't a lot of positive thoughts when E. coli, generally found in animal and human intestines, is mentioned. It's been blamed for closing beaches and swimming pools and shuttering restaurants because of contamination in salad bars, meats or other food items.
But for more than a century, one strain of the bacteria, E. coli Nissle 1917, has been used as a probiotic and therapeutic agent. Currently, it is used in some countries to treat intestinal inflammation.
From movies to museum exhibits, the dinosaur Dilophosaurus is no stranger to pop culture. Many probably remember it best from the movie "Jurassic Park," where it's depicted as a venom-spitting beast with a rattling frill around its neck and two paddle-like crests on its head.
A newly-identified, fast-growing species of algae poses a major threat to coral reefs and the ocean ecosystem. It was previously discovered in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument by a team of researchers from the University of Hawaiʻi, Western Australian Herbarium, College of Charleston and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Knee replacements are a huge burden on society and individuals from all walks of life. A major global systematic review has identified the common jobs - paid and unpaid - that may be putting people unknowingly at risk.
A study by the Universities of Sydney, Oxford and Southampton reveals there is a need for targeted work health and safety practices to extend beyond physically burdensome jobs; regulators and insurance companies should take account of the high number of medium-risk occupations and that unpaid roles also rate highly.
Meconium--the earliest stool of an infant--is composed of materials ingested during the time the infant spends in the uterus. A new study published in Pediatric Obesity found that the types of normal bacteria found in the meconium may predict an infant's likelihood of later developing obesity.
In a recent study from Singapore, early access to pension wealth was associated with improved health status. The findings are published in Economic Inquiry.
When it comes to soils, proper identification is key. Identification allows scientists to determine the story behind the soil: how it formed, how it behaves in different scenarios, and how valuable it may be to certain plants and animals.
Soil classification, or scientific identification, can also help determine if the soil needs extra attention and resources for protection. For example, certain soils may not be safe for hiking, could be home to an endangered species, or foster a unique ecosystem like wetlands.
New research from the UBC Sauder School of Business shows that people are 30 per cent more likely to donate their assets when faced with their own mortality.
The study examines how people respond to "mortality salience" -- that is, the uniquely human awareness that they're going to die.
Earlier studies have shown that some people console themselves by acquiring more material possessions -- in other words, they subscribe to the notion that "He who dies with the most toys wins."
Positive thinking has long been extolled as the route to happiness, but it might be time to ditch the self-help books after a new study shows that realists enjoy a greater sense of long-term wellbeing than optimists.
Researchers from the University of Bath and London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) studied people's financial expectations in life and compared them to actual outcomes over an 18-year period. They found that when it comes to the happiness stakes, overestimating outcomes was associated with lower wellbeing than setting realistic expectations.
Understanding what makes something harmful or offensive can be hard enough for humans, never mind artificial intelligence systems.
So, perhaps it's no surprise that social media hate speech detection algorithms, designed to stop the spread of hateful speech, can actually amplify racial bias by blocking inoffensive tweets by black people or other minority group members.
In fact, one previous study showed that AI models were 1.5 times more likely to flag tweets written by African Americans as "offensive"--in other words, a false positive--compared to other tweets.
Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have found that they can stop the growth of pancreatic cancer cells by interfering with the way the cells store cholesterol. Their findings in mice and lab-grown pancreas models point toward a new strategy for treating the deadly disease.
7 July 2020: Couples embarking on IVF to treat their infertility tend to overestimate their chance of success, according to a prospective study of 69 couples having at least their second treatment attempt. Such over-optimism, suggest the authors, may be a source of distress or even a reason to discontinue their IVF treatment.
The results of the study will be presented today by embryologist Johanna Devroe from the University Hospital of Leuven, Belgium, during ESHRE's online Annual Meeting.
Physicists at MIT have designed a quantum "light squeezer" that reduces quantum noise in an incoming laser beam by 15 percent. It is the first system of its kind to work at room temperature, making it amenable to a compact, portable setup that may be added to high-precision experiments to improve laser measurements where quantum noise is a limiting factor.