Culture
Bacteria are capable of extremely rapid growth, but only when the conditions are right. If they lack nutrients, or if it is too cold or dry, they will enter a dormant state to wait it out. Until now, the question of how individual bacterial cells decide whether to divide has generally been studied using populations that are happily growing. But to date nobody has been able to say what it is that prompts a dormant bacterium to wake up and start dividing.
Children who are genetically predisposed to overweight, due to common gene variants, can still lose weight by changing their diet and exercise habits. Around 750 children and adolescents with overweight or obesity undergoing lifestyle intervention participated in the study conducted by researchers from the University of Copenhagen and Holbæk Hospital.
Human skin contains sensitive nerve cells that detect pressure, temperature and other sensations that allow tactile interactions with the environment. To help robots and prosthetic devices attain these abilities, scientists are trying to develop electronic skins. Now researchers report a new method in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces that creates an ultrathin, stretchable electronic skin, which could be used for a variety of human-machine interactions.
Researchers working to understand the biochemistry of cataract formation have made a surprising finding: A protein that was long believed to be inert actually has an important chemical function that protects the lens of the eye from cataract formation.
The lens is made up of cells packed with structural proteins called crystallins. Crystallins within each lens cell form a protein-dense gel, and the gel's optical properties -- like its transparency and the way it refracts light -- help focus light onto the retina.
The scene: a bitter divorce, and a custody battle over the couple's 7-year-old son. Awarded full custody, the mother - perhaps seeking revenge? - sets out to destroy the son's relationship with his father. The mother tells the son lies about the father's behavior, plants seeds of doubt about his fitness as a parent, and sabotages the father's efforts to see his son. The son begins to believe the lies; as he grows up, his relationship with his father becomes strained.
Given the considerable costs of providing alternative sources of care, there is remarkably little good quality evidence to back this approach, conclude the researchers.
Redirecting low need patients from emergency care departments to alternative sources of care, has been proposed as a potential solution to tackling the overcrowding that often occurs in these facilities.
The more often adolescents say they have seen adverts for e-cigarettes, the more often they use both e-cigarettes and smoke tobacco cigarettes, according to a study published in ERJ Open Research [1].
The study took place in Germany, where regulations around tobacco and e-cigarettes advertising are more permissive than in other parts of Europe. Elsewhere there are firm bans on advertising tobacco but certain types of adverts and promotions for e-cigarettes are permitted.
ANN ARBOR--An extremely messy personal space seems to lead people to believe the owner of that space is more neurotic and less agreeable, say University of Michigan researchers.
Psychologists from U-M's Flint and Ann Arbor campuses explored the degree of messiness in one's workspace and how it affects perceptions of the owner's personality.
In three experiments, about 160 participants were randomly assigned to sit in a researcher's office that was clean and uncluttered, or in another office that was either "somewhat" or "very" messy.
Exploring objects through touch can generate detailed, durable memories for those objects, even when we don't intend to memorize the object's details, according to findings published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
CHICAGO - A minimally invasive procedure in which pulses of energy from a probe are applied directly to nerve roots near the spine is safe and effective in people with acute lower back pain that has not responded to conservative treatment, according to a study being presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
Researchers from the Max-Planck-Institute for the Science of Human History and the University of Helsinki have analyzed the first ancient DNA from mainland Finland. As described in Nature Communications, ancient DNA was extracted from bones and teeth from a 3,500 year-old burial on the Kola Peninsula, Russia, and a 1,500 year-old water burial in Finland. The results reveal the possible path along which ancient people from Siberia spread to Finland and Northwestern Russia.
Boston, Mass - Physicians at Massachusetts Eye and Ear have, for the first time, induced a sense of smell in humans by using electrodes in the nose to stimulate nerves in the olfactory bulb, a structure in the brain where smell information from the nose is processed and sent to deeper regions of brain. Reporting online today in International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology, the research team describes their results, which provide a proof of concept for efforts to develop implant technology to return the sense of smell to those who have lost it.
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center's latest findings on cancer immunotherapies, CRISPR for blood disorders, stem cell transplantation and insights on the immune system and cancer will be featured at the 60th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology, which will be held Dec. 1-4 in San Diego. See highlights below.
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A new paper published by McGill University researchers in JAMA Internal Medicine suggests that some clinical trials may promote the use of ineffective and costly treatments. That's the opposite of what clinical trials are aimed at, namely preventing ineffective and costly treatments from being taken up by physicians and patients.
The livestock sector could use almost half of the 1.5 degree C greenhouse gas emission budget allowed by 2030, so addressing this should be a key part of the strategy to hit climate targets, according to a new study published in Climate Policy.
Dr Helen Harwatt, farmed animal law and policy fellow at Harvard Law School, advises that getting protein from plant sources instead of animal sources would drastically help in meeting climate targets and reduce the risk of overshooting temperature goals.