Culture
Selecting the best possible embryo to implant in a woman undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) is a complicated task. As success rates for IVF have improved, many clinics now implant a single embryo during an IVF cycle -- with the goal of avoiding a multiple pregnancy -- and the responsibility of selecting the embryo falls to the embryologist. To determine the quality and viability of an embryo, embryologists typically examine specific features of the embryos using a light microscope.
Microdata from Swedish population registers provide new insights into cities' economic growth paths. The data reveal a surge in regional inequality, with more and more resources flowing to cities atop the urban hierarchy, which thus acquire an increasing share of national wealth.
(Boston)--A new study raises the possibility that close-range blast exposure among veterans with a genetically higher risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD), may make them more susceptible to degradation of their white matter, the part of the brain made of fiber connections called axons that connect nerve cells.
Although there is evidence that genetic risk for AD may elevate the risk of neurodegeneration following traumatic brain injury, it has been unknown if blast exposure also interacts with AD disease risk to promote neurodegeneration.
PHILADELPHIA (June 24, 2019) - New research from the Monell Center analyzed nearly 400,000 food reviews posted by Amazon customers to gain real-world insight into the food choices that people make. The findings reveal that many people find the foods in today's marketplace to be too sweet.
Told to optimize for speed while racing down a track in a computer game, a car pushes the pedal to the metal ... and proceeds to spin in a tight little circle. Nothing in the instructions told the car to drive straight, and so it improvised.
This example - funny in a computer game but not so much in life - is among those that motivated Stanford University researchers to build a better way to set goals for autonomous systems.
Each year during the holiday season, soup kitchens and charities alike are flooded with offers to volunteer. But is a donation of your time most beneficial to the charity, or would a financial contribution provide more value?
Researchers from Portland State University and Texas A&M University wondered what drives volunteering -- especially when a monetary donation would have more impact. Their study, "Why Do People Volunteer? An Experimental Analysis of Preferences for Time Donations," was published in this spring in the journal Management Science.
Research presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2019 Annual Meeting draws a strong link between severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and impaired coronary flow reserve, which is an early sign of the heart disease atherosclerosis. Using 13N-ammonia positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT), researchers were able to noninvasively evaluate coronary microvascular function in OSA patients and use their findings to predict cardiovascular disease risk.
Recent research suggests that increased visceral fat - that is body fat surrounding a number of important internal organs such as the liver, pancreas and intestines - carries the risk of cognitive impairment in later life. "Our goal was to investigate whether excess organ fat is associated with a reduction in the structural networks and storage capacity of our brain throughout its lifetime. We also wanted to find out whether this interaction can be influenced by oestradiol," said Rachel Zsido.
Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI in Villigen, Switzerland, have for the first time elucidated the structure of important enzymes in human cells that alter essential building blocks of the cellular cytoskeleton. This reveals the missing part of a cycle that regulates the build-up or breakdown of supporting elements of the cell. The enzymes investigated work as molecular scissors and can be involved in the development of various diseases, for example, cancer and diseases of the nervous system.
Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy - NMR spectroscopy for short - is one of the most important methods of physicochemical analysis. It can be used to precisely determine molecular structures and dynamics. The importance of this method is also evidenced by the recognition of ETH Zurich's two latest Nobel laureates, Richard Ernst and Kurt Wüthrich, for their contributions to refining the method.
The study, carried out by experts from the University of Nottingham and funded by the NIHR School for Primary Care Research, found that there was nearly a 50% increased risk of dementia among patients aged 55 and over who had used strong anticholinergic medication daily for three years or more.
Anticholinergic drugs help to contract and relax muscles. They work by blocking acetylcholine, a chemical that transmits messages in the nervous system.
Serotonin is a multipurpose molecule found throughout the brain, playing a role in memory, cognition, and feelings of happiness and other emotions. In particular, researchers have long debated serotonin's role in sleep: Does serotonin promote sleep, or its opposite, wakefulness?
Now, Caltech scientists have found that serotonin is necessary for sleep in zebrafish and mouse models.
USC researchers have discovered a secret sauce in the brain's vascular system that preserves the neurons needed to keep dementia and other diseases at bay.
The finding, in a mouse model of the human brain, focuses on specific cells called pericytes and reveals that they play a previously unknown role in brain health. Pericytes secrete a substance that keeps neurons alive, even in the presence of leaky blood vessels that foul brain matter and result in cognitive decline.
Bottom Line: Food insecurity is when you worry that your food will run out before you have enough money to buy more. This study used nationally representative data to examine the association between food insecurity and migraine in young U.S. adults because the economic and education transition of young adulthood may increase risk for food insecurity. The study included almost 14,800 young people (ages 24 to 32). Overall, 11% of young adults were food insecure, and migraine was more common among young adults who were food insecure.
Bottom Line: Having a family member who was previously dispensed prescription opioids was associated with higher odds of overdose for individuals who themselves didn't have an opioid prescription in this analysis of insurance company data. The study included 2,303 people with the earliest date of an opioid overdose in a family and 9,212 others in the insurance database for comparison. Researchers report the increased risk of opioid overdose for an individual if a family member was prescribed an opioid applied to all age groups and increased with greater quantities of opioids prescribed.