Culture
January 8, 2020 -- Researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health assessed the time trends in alcohol and marijuana detected in homicide victims and found that the prevalence of marijuana almost doubled, increasing from 22 percent in 2004 to 42 percent in 2016. Alternately, the prevalence of alcohol declined slightly from 40 percent in 2004 to 35 percent in 2016. The findings are published in Injury Epidemiology.
San Antonio, Texas (January 8, 2020) - New technology employing single cell genome sequencing of the parasite that causes malaria has yielded some surprising results and helps pave the way for possible new intervention strategies for this deadly infectious disease, according to Texas Biomedical Research Institute Assistant Professor Ian Cheeseman, Ph.D. Dr. Cheeseman was Principal Investigator of a three-year study published in the January 2020 edition of Cell Host & Microbe, a high-impact peer-reviewed publication.
BAR HARBOR, MAINE — Scientists at the MDI Biological Laboratory, in collaboration with scientists from the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato, Calif., and Nanjing University in China, have identified synergistic cellular pathways for longevity that amplify lifespan fivefold in C.
PHILADELPHIA--A new Penn Medicine study puts researchers within closer reach of vaccines that can protect infants against infections by overcoming a mother's antibodies, which are known to shut down immune defenses initiated by conventional vaccines. That hurdle largely explains why vaccinations for infectious diseases like influenza and measles not given until six to 12 months of age. Findings from the preclinical study were published online today in Science Translational Medicine.
URBANA, Ill. - Affirmative action policies (AAP) such as quota systems based on racial or socio-economic criteria are often recommended as a way to increase enrollment of underrepresented students in higher education. But those policies can be controversial and their results are sometimes questioned.
More than half of cancer cases worldwide are associated with genetic mutations in p53, the protein responsible for protecting DNA from changes that can lead to cancer. When this protein deforms, it not only loses its protective capacity, but can also gain new functions, acting as a "traitor", and contributing to the spread of the tumor by forming protein clusters that may be resistant to chemotherapy. The mechanisms by which this "betrayal" occurs and how it causes drug resistance are not yet fully understood.
The brain undergoes dramatic change during the first years of life. Its circuits readily rewire as an infant and then child encounters new sights and sounds, taking in the world and learning to understand it. As the child matures and key developmental periods pass, the brain becomes less malleable--but certain experiences create opportunities for parts of the adult brain to rewire and learn again.
A survey of yogurt ingredients show that sugar levels have significantly decreased in the last two years, but concerns about overall nutritional content remain.
Scientists from the University of Leeds have examined product and nutrient information from 893 yogurts available in UK supermarkets and compared all products to a 2016 baseline survey. Their study, published today in in the journal Nutrients, found there was an overall 13% decrease in total sugar content.
Philadelphia, January, 2020--A multi-center team of researchers led by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) has discovered a genetic signature that could help distinguish an adult-onset form of diabetes sharing many type 1 diabetes (T1D) characteristics from pediatric-onset T1D, opening the door to potentially more straightforward diagnostic tests for the adult condition and improving responses by ensuring patients receive the most appropriate treatment.
Astronomers using the Mayall telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a program of NSF's National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory, have identified several overlapping bubbles of hydrogen gas ionized by the stars in early galaxies, a mere 680 million years after the Big Bang. This is the earliest direct evidence from the period when the first generation of stars formed and began reionizing the hydrogen gas that permeated the Universe.
Log cabins in West Virginia's Appalachian Mountains have a story to tell: when people leave, the forest takes over.
Researchers at West Virginia University are using tree-ring dating to determine not only when trees were cut down to build historic log buildings in the region but also what the forests were like before European immigrants arrived. This could help researchers shed light on when Native Americans abandoned the area and how their absence altered the landscape.
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Carpal tunnel, stiff shoulders, eye-strain headaches - these are all well-known side effects of prolonged computer use. But what happens when you step away from the desktop and into virtual reality?
A recent study from Oregon State University assessed how some common virtual reality movements contribute to muscle strain and discomfort. It's an effort to ensure future user safety in this fast-growing technology that is used not only for gaming, but also increasingly for education and industrial training.
The way consumers use vapour and tobacco heating products (THPs) can affect the levels of harmful and potentially harmful constituents they are exposed to, and a new study has analysed how the use of these products compares with cigarette smoking.
Emissions from a number of tested vapour and THPs were shown to contain far fewer and lower levels of certain toxicants than cigarette smoke.*1,2 However, the way consumers actually use these products can have a significant bearing on the levels of harmful and potentially harmful constituents they are exposed to.
An analysis of death certificates suggests that the number of alcohol-related deaths doubled in the United States between 1999-2017.
Worldwide, the burden of glaucoma--quantified as health loss--is higher in men than in women, according to a recent analysis published in Acta Ophthalmologica.