Culture

About 29 million Americans use over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to treat pain. Every year in the United States, NSAID use is attributed to approximately 100,000 hospitalizations and 17,000 deaths. In addition, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently strengthened its warning about risks of non-aspirin NSAIDs on heart attacks and strokes. While each over-the-counter and prescription pain reliever has benefits and risks, deciding which one to use is complicated for health care providers and their patients.

Widespread poaching in tropical biodiversity hotspots is causing unprecedented declines in wildlife populations, known as defaunation. A new study published in the journal Diversity & Distributions, provides evidence that large-scale systematic surveys and novel methods of data collection and analysis, are necessary to assess the extent and distribution of poaching and its impact on biodiversity in forest exposed to severe defaunation. Mapping biodiversity in this way will provide information critical to protecting rare species that may still exist in these landscapes.

Small organic molecules, including the amino acids that form the 'building blocks' of proteins in living cells, fragment to form ions under the impact of high-energy radiation such as electron beams. A new study published in EPJ D has now shown what happens when electrons collide with one amino acid, glutamine. The extent of the damage and the nature of the ions formed are both affected by the energy of the colliding electrons.

Vision is fundamentally based on the perception of contrast. When light conditions change, the eye needs a certain period of time to adapt and restore its ability to estimate contrast correctly. These processes are relatively well understood. However, researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have now discovered a mechanism employed by the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster that broadens our understanding of visual perception. Their results explain why the eye can correctly evaluate contrast, even in suddenly changing light conditions.

The number of overweight children has increased significantly. In addition to psychological problems, chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and joint wear and tear are on the rise. Some food and beverage companies have signed a voluntary commitment at EU level to restrict advertising of foods high in fat, sugar and salt to children. A study by scientists at the University of Bonn shows: The number of corresponding commercials aimed at children decreased in Germany once this agreement had been put in place, but the companies also exploit loopholes.

It is now technically possible to hold groups of atoms at temperatures that are only a few hundredths of a degree above absolute zero. This so-called 'ultracold gas' loaded in an optical lattice is an extremely powerful platform to study quantum mechanical phenomena including phase transitions, due to the excellent control of experimental parameters, such as potential depths, inter-particle interaction strengths and lattice parameters.

3D printers working in the millimeter range and larger are increasingly used in industrial production processes. Many applications, however, require precise printing on the micrometer scale at a far higher speed. Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have now developed a system to print highly precise, centimeter-sized objects with submicrometer details at a so far unmatched speed. This system is presented in a special issue of Advanced Functional Materials (DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201907795).

Producing thin-film solar modules requires much less energy than conventional wafer-based Si PV modules, and therefore their energy payback time is much shorter. Chalcopyrite-structured compounds of copper, indium, gallium, and selenium (CIGSe) are an important class of materials for thin-film PV, because CIGSe absorbs incident light much better than silicon, and so a very thin layer grown on a substrate via coevaporation suffices to convert light into electrical energy efficiently.

Efficiency up to 22,6 percent

Excessive and obsessive exercise is very harmful to health, this being particularly pronounced for persons suffering from eating disorders. Based on electronic diaries, a team of researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the University of Freiburg has now uncovered for the first time psychological mechanisms underlying pathological exercise. Their results allow the conclusion to be drawn that persons with eating disorders use exercise to regulate depressive mood and negative thoughts relating to their eating disorders.

Up to 10% of patients who are hospitalized or undergo surgery will experience acute kidney injury (AKI), and as many as 50% of patients in intensive care units will meet the criteria for AKI, the National Kidney Foundation has determined. Some of these patients will progress to kidney failure within months.

A new handheld 3D printer can deposit sheets of skin to cover large burn wounds - and its "bio ink" can accelerate the healing process.

The device, developed by a team of researchers from the University of Toronto Engineering and Sunnybrook Hospital, covers wounds with a uniform sheet of biomaterial, stripe by stripe.

The bio ink dispensed by the roller is composed of mesenchymal stroma cells (MSCs) -- stem cells that differentiate into specialized cell types depending on their environment. In this case, the MSC material promotes skin regeneration and reduces scarring.

Can staph microbes lead to cancer?

Microbes are known to affect digestion, mood and overall health, and now Princeton researchers have shown that a shift in the microbiome is linked to cancer -- at least in a threatened subspecies of foxes found only on one island off the California coast.

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Researchers at Michigan State University's Precision Health Program have helped develop a fascinating new method for detecting the density of proteins in the blood - a method that could vastly improve the rate at which diseases are detected and diagnosed.

If you're concerned about rising health care costs and overwhelming medical bills, you're not alone. According to statistics reported in 2019:

Approximately 30% of an average health care bill is paid for out of pocket by the patient (Association of Credit and Collection Professionals International).

About 67% of Americans are either very worried or somewhat worried about unexpected medical bills, compared to only 41% who are concerned about not being able to pay their rent or mortgage (Kaiser Family Foundation).