Culture
Genetics isn't as important as once thought for the evolution of altruistic social behavior in some organisms, a new insight into a decade-long debate.
This is the first empirical evidence that suggests social behavior in eusocial species--organisms that are highly organized, with divisions of infertile workers--is only mildly attributed to how related these organisms are to each other.
New York, NY, October 3, 2018 - A pair of Columbia University astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and Kepler Space Telescope have assembled compelling evidence for the existence of a moon orbiting a gas-giant planet 8,000 light-years away.
Both sexes of a songbird called the blue-capped cordon-bleu intensify courtship performances that involve singing and dancing in the presence of an audience, especially if it is a member of the opposite sex, an international team of researchers has discovered.
A first in human study of patients with both inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and HIV found that administering a drug for IBD disrupts congregating T cells infected with HIV in the gut - which form a persistent reservoir of infection. The compound, called vedolizumab (VDZ), could someday help research efforts to develop a cure for HIV. Although modern antiviral medications can keep HIV at bay, there is still no treatment that eliminates the virus from the body. One key roadblock is the virus's ability to infect T cells that reside in the mucosal tissues of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.
New research from the University of British Columbia suggests that reducing mutated Huntington disease protein in the brain can restore cognitive and psychiatric impairments in mice.
Huntington disease (HD) is a genetic, progressive disorder that causes mental decline, psychiatric problems and uncontrolled movements. The disease is caused by mutant huntingtin (HTT) protein, with symptoms appearing in adulthood and worsening over time.
Published today in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS), two new research articles and a corresponding commentary from preeminent geriatrics leaders describe ways to make person-centered care--a novel approach to health that puts personal values and preferences at the forefront of decision-making--more actionable for older people.
One of the weirdest objects in the Milky Way just got weirder. Scientists have discovered a new source of the highest-energy photons in the cosmos: a strange system known as a microquasar, located in our neck of the galaxy a neighborly 15,000 light years from Earth. The discovery could shed light on some of the biggest, baddest phenomena in the known universe.
Following surgery, some patients experience a broken bone around the implants of a total hip replacement--called a periprosthetic femoral fracture. In a study of such patients published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, investigators found that 8.3% of patients had atypical femoral fractures, which are a rare type of femoral stress fracture. The researchers also found a strong association between use of bisphosphonates and risk of atypical femoral fractures.
In a Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research article, world-leading experts identify emerging frontiers in skin cancer and pigment diseases.
Melanoma is a deadly type of skin cancer that arises from pigment-forming cells. The article challenges the field by addressing provoking questions in melanoma immunotherapy, cancer systems biology, medical and surgical oncology, pigment biophysics, and precision prevention of skin diseases such as melanoma.
By analysing survey data from 1999-2001 and 2010-2012, researchers have estimated the demand for commercial sex among British men.
The Scottish Journal of Political Economy study found that men traveling abroad, men living in London, drug users, religious men, and men with middle-class income are more often together with prostitutes than other men.
A research group from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, has made great, rapid strides towards the development of a specially designed molecule which can store solar energy for later use. These advances have been presented in four scientific articles this year, with the most recent being published in the highly ranked journal Energy & Environmental Science.
While many cancer therapies initially can be very successful, tumors often return and spread when remaining cancer cells develop resistance to treatment. To combat this tendency, Frédéric Thomas of the French National Centre for Scientific Research proposes that cancer researchers take a lesson from our own immune system and explore "natural adaptive therapies." Such an approach would mimic the immune system's more restrained way of keeping cancer in check by gradually killing off cancerous cells.
BOSTON (Oct. 2, 2018, 2:00 p.m. ET)--Poor eating is a major cause of illness, especially from cardiometabolic conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. These diseases generate large economic burdens for both government and private insurance programs. For individuals and their families, additional burdens come in the form of personal illness, out-of-pocket costs, reduced quality of life, and a shortened lifespan. These diet-related diseases and costs disproportionately affect low-income families in the United States.
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- University at Buffalo childhood obesity experts are praising a study published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics that rigorously assessed how the home environments of young children who are genetically at high risk for obesity can influence whether they become overweight or obese.
"The study's main finding was that genetic influences on children's body mass index (BMI) depends upon their home environment," said Myles S. Faith, PhD, professor of counseling, school and educational psychology in the UB Graduate School of Education.
U of T scientists use nanoparticles to improve chemotherapy response and boost anti-tumor immunity in breast cancer