Culture
The makeup of our microbiomes -- the unique communities of bacteria, viruses and other microbes that live in and on us -- have been linked, with varying degrees of evidence, to everything from inflammatory bowel disease to athletic performance.
But exactly how could such tiny organisms have such immense influences on a person?
February 26, 2020 (Toronto) - In a first-of-its-kind study using advanced brain imaging techniques, a commonly used anti-psychotic medication was associated with potentially adverse changes in brain structure. This study was the first in humans to evaluate the effects of this type of medication on the brain using a gold-standard design: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.
What The Study Did: Researchers in this observational study evaluated dimensions of the aorta in 442 older competitive runners and rowers (ages 50 to 75) to examine the association between long-term endurance exercise and enlargement of the artery.
Authors: Aaron L. Baggish, M.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
MADISON -- Sand dunes, like many ecosystems, have more than one comfort zone. Variations in moisture, especially, can shift them from active, blowing waves of dry sand to rolling mounds with soils held down by grass and low shrubs.
But those changes are not always smooth and uniform, and new research on dunes in China describes how even neighboring dunes can long remain in different and seemingly conflicting states -- confounding the assessment of stabilization efforts and masking the effects of climate change.
Administering stem cell or enzyme therapy in utero may be a path to alleviating some congenital diseases that often result in losing a pregnancy, according to a new study in mice by UC San Francisco researchers, who showed that stem cells can enter the fetal brain during prenatal development and make up for cells that fail to make an essential protein.
BOSTON - It's long been known that endurance athletes have larger hearts on average than the rest of the population and that cardiac enlargement is a healthy adaptation to exercise.
A novel blood test that uses gold nanoparticles to detect cancer has also been shown to identify signals released by cancer cells which could result in earlier diagnosis and better treatment.
New research has revealed the nanotechnology developed by University of Queensland scientists can detect and monitor extracellular vesicles (EVs) in the bloodstream.
Melbourne researchers have uncovered important differences between the male and female immune system which may explain why men are more susceptible to obesity and metabolism-related associated diseases, such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
It has long been known that men are more likely than women to develop unhealthy obesity and related metabolic diseases, while women are more prone to certain autoimmune diseases such as arthritis. These findings suggested the male and female immune systems differ, but until now scientists weren't sure how.
A recent study published in Nature has reported two conserved epigenetic regulators as novel anti-aging targets. The research, by scientists from Dr. CAI Shiqing's Lab at the Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Institute of Neuroscience of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and Dr. JIANG Lubing's team at Institut Pasteur of Shanghai of CAS, identified conserved negative regulators of healthy aging by using multiple modalities and systems, thus providing insights into how to achieve healthy aging.
Entrepreneurs seeking funds on business-oriented crowdfunding platforms should avoid over-emphasising the social or environmental benefits of their start-ups or products if they are to maximise potential investment, a new study from the University of Bath and Polytechnic University of Milan shows.
The latest U.S. Preventive Services Task Force evidence report on screening for cognitive impairment in older adults raises many questions, but provides few answers for healthcare providers, patients, and families. The recommendation findings, published in JAMA, state that the tools to accurately identify cognitive impairment in older adults exist, but that there is insufficient evidence to assess the value of using them routinely in older people.
Mount Sinai Health System physicians--the first experts in the country to analyze chest computed tomography (CT) scans of patients from China with coronavirus disease (COVID-19)--have identified specific patterns in the lungs as markers of the disease as it develops over the course of a week and a half. The finding, published in the February issue of Radiology, could lead to quicker diagnosis in patients who come in with possible COVID-19 symptoms, and help keep patients isolated in early stages when the lung disease may not show up in initial scans.
According to a February 13 report from the World Health Organization, the Wuhan coronavirus has stricken more than 46,000 people and has caused over 1,300 deaths since the first cases in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Now, researchers reporting in ACS' Journal of Medicinal Chemistry have designed compounds that block the replication of similar coronaviruses, as well as other disease-causing viruses, in the lab. The compounds have not yet been tested in people.
Today, phenols are used to produce medicines, paints, and inexpensive furniture made of chipboard or MDF panels and also to process food. Some of them are capable of imparting a pleasant smoky aroma to food, so they are often added to sausage or fish. But if we eat something that is high in phenols, it can have a deleterious effect on our health, so at factories they pay close attention to their concentrations in food.
As social insects, ants are particularly dependent on optimizing their communication in order to ward off enemies and to recognize individuals from their own colony. They must also protect themselves against desiccation. Their bodies are covered with wax-like substances known as cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) that serve both purposes - communication and protection against desiccation.