Culture
ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. (Feb 3, 2020) -- A big data approach to neuroscience promises to significantly improve our understanding of the relationship between brain activity and performance.
Darwin's finches are among the most celebrated examples of adaptive radiation in the evolution of modern vertebrates and now a new study, led by scientists from the University of Bristol, has provided fresh insights into their rapid development and evolutionary success.
Study of the finches has been relevant since the journeys of the HMS Beagle in the 18th century which catalysed some of the first ideas about natural selection in the mind of a young Charles Darwin.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have discovered a fundamental mechanism that regulates gene activity in cells. The newly discovered mechanism targets RNA, or ribonucleic acid, a close cousin of DNA that plays an important role in cellular activity.
The discovery, detailed in a paper published February 3 in the journal Molecular Cell, is a significant addition to the foundational understanding of how gene activity is regulated, and may ultimately lead to powerful new medical treatments.
A 52-year database of the distribution and movements of 35 Atlantic shark species revealed new information on some of the least known species. It also uncovered a few surprises about where sharks go and how long they live.
Salmonella is a key cause of foodborne gastroenteritis around the world, with most outbreaks linked to eggs, poultry meat, pork, beef, dairy, nuts and fresh produce.
Now Flinders University researchers have found a simple solution for preventing salmonellosis affecting eggs through surface contamination, giving crucial help for food services industries.
There is a constant spring-cleaning in our cells: The cell's own recycling system, so-called autophagy, fills garbage bags with cellular waste, transports them to the recycling yard and makes the decomposed material available again. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Cologne, Germany, have now been able to show in the model organism yeast that the membrane of the garbage bags, known as autophagosomes, is newly produced on the spot around the garbage and not built of already existing components.
A new score that measures multiple long-term health conditions performs better than the current Charlson Comorbidity Index and may help in health care planning and delivery, according to new research in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal): http://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.190757
Canada must invest in social spending and recognize that our health care system is not "universal" if Canadians living in low-income neighbourhoods are to have the same chance of good health as other Canadians, argues an editorial in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
TROY, N.Y. -- A newly identified compound is a promising candidate for inhibiting the production of amyloids, the abnormal proteins that form toxic clumps, called fibrils, inside the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease. As published today in the Royal Society of Chemistry's Chemical Communications, the compound -- known as "C1" -- uses a novel mechanism to efficiently prevent the enzyme gamma-secretase from producing amyloids.
Eating red meat, processed meat or poultry raises risk of cardiovascular disease
Eating meat - but not poultry- raises risk of dying from all causes
New findings contradict a recent controversial study saying people don't need to reduce their consumption of red meat and processed meat
Hershey, Pa. -- A plant-based diet may be key to lowering risk for heart disease. Penn State researchers determined that diets with reduced sulfur amino acids -- which occur in protein-rich foods, such as meats, dairy, nuts and soy -- were associated with a decreased risk for cardiovascular disease. The team also found that the average American consumes almost two and a half times more sulfur amino acids than the estimated average requirement.
What The Study Did: Data for nearly 30,000 adults from six study groups in the U.S. were used to investigate associations between eating processed meat, unprocessed red meat, poultry or fish and the risk of cardiovascular disease and death from any cause.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
Authors: Victor W. Zhong, Ph.D., of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, is the corresponding author.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - By figuring out how a common virus hides from the immune system, scientists have identified a potential vaccine to prevent sometimes deadly respiratory infections in humans.
The research was conducted using the human metapneumovirus (HMPV). The virus was discovered in 2001, but follow-up research has shown that it has circulated in humans for at least 50 years and is considered around the world to be the No. 2 cause of respiratory infections that can be especially dangerous for infants and the elderly.
New research has found that rates of disease caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae could be substantially reduced by changing our approach to vaccination. Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Simon Fraser University in Canada and Imperial College London combined genomic data, models of bacterial evolution and predictive modelling to identify how vaccines could be optimised for specific age groups, geographic regions and communities of bacteria.
Bacteria in our environment can be difficult to study: They are tiny and often live under conditions hard to recreate in the lab, for example in the deep sea or as symbionts in an animal host (or both, as the symbiotic bacteria in the present study). Investigations of the bacterial genome tell us what the microbes are theoretically capable of. What they actually do, however, is not revealed. Thus, scientists study the so-called metabolome of the bacteria: It comprises every metabolite the cells produce or consume, for example proteins, sugars or fats.