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It is currently recommended in Europe that screening for hepatitis C virus (HCV) should target people at high risk of infection. In France, public health data suggest that in 2014 approximately 75 000 people aged 18 to 80 were infected by HCV, but were unaware of their status. In at least one in ten cases, these people are at an advanced stage of the disease when diagnosed. Today's treatments of HCV infection are both highly effective and well tolerated, and cure the infection in a few weeks in over 95% of cases.
MISSOULA, Montana - Forests, one of the most dominate ecosystems on Earth, harbor significant biodiversity. Scientists have become increasingly interested in how this diversity is enhanced by the sheltering microclimates produced by trees.
A recent University of Montana study suggests that a warming climate in the Pacific Northwest would lessen the capacity of many forest microclimates to moderate climate extremes in the future.
In recent years, researchers have focussed on the enzyme TLK2 suspecting it of playing a main role in several diseases. A new study conducted at the University of Copenhagen now reveals that the enzyme displays lower levels of activity in intellectual disability and that it is possible to inhibit it in breast cancer, where it is overactive. The study thus suggests that the enzyme may be a target for potential therapies.
A research team found a novel function of fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2), a self-renewal factor for spermatogonial stem cell (SSC) which is the origin of the sperm production. Although it has demonstrated that both FGF2 and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is indispensable for SSC self-renewal and survival in vitro, the present study revealed that FGF2 showed the different properties from GDNF in mouse testis. This finding will contribute to the regulation of SSCs in vivo for the treatment of male infertility.
Invigorating the idea of computers based on fluids instead of silicon, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have shown how computational logic operations could be performed in a liquid medium by simulating the trapping of ions (charged atoms) in graphene (a sheet of carbon atoms) floating in saline solution. The scheme might also be used in applications such as water filtration, energy storage or sensor technology.
Experts from the Higher School of Economics have determined that cultural diversity is beneficial for team performance in eSports, while language and experience diversity negatively affect performance. These results might be of interest to companies of similar industries aiming to maximize profits. The study, entitled 'Is Diversity Good or Bad? Evidence from eSports Teams Analysis,' was published in the journal Applied Economics.
Availability of family and friends key factor in deciding organ transplant suitability
This may sanction existing prejudices and widen inequalities in selection process, warn researchers
The availability of a supportive network of family and friends is a key factor in deciding on a person's suitability for an organ transplant, reveals research published online in the Journal of Medical Ethics.
Around 25 percent of Medicare spending in the U.S. occurs in the last year of people's lives. This is sometimes discussed as a questionable use of resources: Is society throwing large amounts of medical treatment at some patients in a futile, if noble, effort to extend lives that are bound to end soon?
A new study co-authored by an MIT health care economist offers a resounding answer: No.
Charles Lieber and his group are rewriting the rules of how scientists study retinal cells, and they're doing it with a single injection.
Although it's far from perfect by virtually any measure - whether poverty rates, violence, access to education, racism and prejudice or any number of others - the world continues to improve. Why, then, do polls consistently show that people believe otherwise?
The answer, Daniel Gilbert says, may lie in a phenomenon called "prevalence induced concept change."
Genetic ancestry tests are often advertised as a tool to uncover new connections to diverse cultures and ancestries, but new research from the University of British Columbia has found people tend to pick and choose which races they identify with based on preconceived biases.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Researchers at Indiana University have found early evidence that tiny snippets of genetic material called microRNA may help with early detection of conditions such as Alzheimer's disease.
The study, published June 18 in Nature Scientific Reports, found that changes in microRNA are detectable in mice long before they start to show symptoms from neurodegeneration. These microRNA changes may represent an early warning sign, or "biomarker," for the condition.
Researchers have identified a new gene-activation pathway caused by lipids associated with coronary artery disease, a finding that could help identify new directions in research and drug development. The study was published in June in Nature Communications.
When playing an economic game those that were assigned as 'lower status' were more likely to share their wealth than their 'higher status' counterparts, according to a new study at Queen Mary University of London.
The social experiment involved a series of economic games in which people played with other people for real money. The games involved participants deciding how much money they kept and how much they gave to a group pot. The money in the pot was always shared out to the players.
Spiders are ubiquitous within our forests, fields, and backyards. Although you may be used to seeing the beautiful yellow and black spiders of the genus Argiope in your garden, large ground-scurrying wolf spiders in your yard, or spindly cellar spiders in your basement, this new sheet-web-building spider is probably one you haven't seen before. The reason is that it's known from a single cave in the world, Stygeon River Cave, in southern Indiana.