Culture

New research published in the Journal of Physiology presents a breakthrough in the treatment of Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS).

RLS is a common condition of the nervous system that causes an overwhelming irresistible urge to move the legs. Patients complain of unpleasant symptoms such as tingling, burning and painful cramping sensations in the leg. More than 80% of people with RLS experience their legs jerking or twitching uncontrollably, usually at night.

Neanderthals were hunter-gatherers who inhabited western Eurasia for more than 200 thousand years during glacial as well as interglacial periods until they became extinct around 40 thousand years ago. While some of the anatomical regions of these extinct humans are well known, others, such as the vertebral column and the ribs, are less well known because these elements are more fragile and not well preserved in the fossil record.

The mesosphere, at heights between 85 and 100 kilometers above the Earth's surface, contains a layer of atomic sodium. Astronomers use laser beams to create artificial stars, or laser guide stars (LGS), in this layer for improving the quality of astronomical observations. In 2011, researchers proposed that artificial guide stars could also be used to measure the Earth's magnetic field in the mesosphere. An international group of scientists has recently managed to do this with a high degree of precision.

SARASOTA, Fla. (November 14, 2018)- The century-old train car known to be the site of business transactions for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has long been too fragile for visitors to step inside. The Wisconsin has faced conservation issues due to the discontinuation of spare train parts. Through a project led by the University of South Florida, it will no longer be limited to glancing through a window.

New research published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes [EASD]) shows that children who are larger than average at birth (large for gestational age or LGA) and born to mothers with gestational diabetes are almost three times as likely to be obese as children born a normal size to diabetes-free mothers. The study is by Dr Padma Kaul (Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada) and co-authors.

Dublin, Ireland: An antibody that binds simultaneously to two distinct regions of the HER2 receptor to block the growth of cancer cells has shown promising signs of anti-tumour activity in a number of cancers including those of the gullet (oesophagus), stomach and bowel.

A report from the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee (ISIC) titled ' Coffee and type 2 diabetes: A review of the latest research' highlights the potential role of coffee consumption on the reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and the potential mechanisms involved.

With the Christmas party season fast approaching, there will be plenty of opportunity to re-live the familiar, and excruciatingly-awkward, social situation of not being able to remember an acquaintance's name.

This cringe-worthy experience leads many of us to believe we are terrible at remembering names.

However, new research has revealed this intuition is misleading; we are actually better at remembering names than faces.

Use of practitioner-led complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), such as acupuncture, massage, osteopathy and chiropractic treatment, rose from 12 per cent of the population in 2005 to 16 per cent of the population in 2015, according to a survey led by researchers at the University of Bristol's Centre for Academic Primary Care. However, access to these treatments was unequal, with women, those who are better off and those in the south of England more likely to use CAM.

The survival of the heavily exploited Asian Houbara depends on the regulation of trapping and hunting, according to research led by the University of East Anglia (UEA).

New findings published today reveal that trying to stabilise populations solely through captive breeding will require the release of such large numbers it will inevitably compromise wild populations.

Smokers who regularly spend time with vapers (people who use e-cigarettes) are more likely to try quitting smoking, according to a new study carried out by UCL.

The study, published today in BMC Medicine and funded by Cancer Research UK, found that smokers who were regularly exposed to vapers (as opposed to other smokers) were around 20% more likely to have reported both a high current motivation to quit and made a recent quit attempt.

Researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) belonging to the Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC, from its name in Spanish) and the Faculty of Business and Economics have proven that adolescents who suffer from obesity feel less food enjoyment than those who have a normal weight. In addition, their work reveals that even trivial restrictions on food intake (that is, temporary diets) are associated with a reduction in pleasure.

Rechargeable Li-ion batteries are crucial parts for home electronics and portable devices such as cell phones and laptops. One can imagine how the life we have today would be like without cell phones and internet. Li-ion batteries (LIBs) are also growing in popularity for electric vehicle which can help to highly reduce the emission of CO2 and solve the serious greenhouse effect on the earth. All these demands call for superior Li-ion battery materials with better performance such as higher capacity, longer life time, lower cost, etc.

New research has shown that many Australians with rare cancers can benefit from genomic profiling. The findings of the patient-driven trial are being presented today at the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting and could result in dramatic changes to the way those with rare cancers are diagnosed and treated.

The initial data from the pilot study for Nominator Trial is being presented by Professor Clare Scott from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, and was funded in part by Rare Cancers Australia.

The escape response to evade perceived threats is a fundamental behavior seen throughout the animal kingdom, and laboratory studies have identified specialized neural circuits that control this behavior. Understanding how these neural circuits operate in complex natural settings, however, has been a challenge.