Culture
Elite athletes who adopted simple oral health measures, such as using high fluoride toothpaste and cleaning between their teeth, reported significantly reduced negative effects on performance related to poor oral health, finds a study led by UCL.
Below please find a summary and link(s) of new coronavirus-related content published today in Annals of Internal Medicine. The summary below is not intended to substitute for the full article as a source of information. A collection of coronavirus-related content is free to the public at http://go.annals.org/coronavirus.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Parkinson's disease is a common, progressive and debilitating neurodegenerative disease. It currently cannot be prevented or cured.
In 2003, Heiko Braak proposed that non-inherited forms of PD are caused by a pathogen in the gut. He hypothesized that the pathogen could pass through the intestinal mucosal barrier and spread to the brain through the nervous system. Up to now, there has been no evidence of a specific pathogen that may trigger PD.
ROCHESTER, Minn. - Mayo Clinic researchers and collaborators have found investigational convalescent plasma to be safe following transfusion in a diverse group of 20,000 patients. The findings -- from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Expanded Access Program for COVID-19 -- are reported in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
Several years ago, planetary scientist Lynnae Quick began to wonder whether any of the more than 4,000 known exoplanets, or planets beyond our solar system, might resemble some of the watery moons around Jupiter and Saturn. Though some of these moons don't have atmospheres and are covered in ice, they are still among the top targets in NASA's search for life beyond Earth. Saturn's moon Enceladus and Jupiter's moon Europa, which scientists classify as "ocean worlds," are good examples.
(SACRAMENTO) --In the first four years since California established extreme risk protection order (ERPO) policies, use of the relatively new violence prevention tool has increased substantially, a UC Davis Violence Prevention Program (VPRP) study has found. The majority of orders were requested by law enforcement officers for recipients who are male and white.
By analyzing longevity data for professional Japanese traditional artists, researchers at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) have found that Kabuki actors, known for their vigorous movements, surprisingly had shorter lifespans compared with other traditional arts performers who lead mostly sedentary lifestyles. The findings suggest that job-related strenuous exercise throughout life may not necessarily extend longevity.
BEER-SHEVA, Israel...June 19, 2020 - Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative disease caused by repeated head injuries often affecting athletes, can only be diagnosed currently through brain tissue analysis post-mortem. However, in a new study published in Brain, a Journal of Neurology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers present a new test methodology.
Using optogenetic control, researchers have created an electrical signature that is perceived as an odor in the brain's smell-processing center, the olfactory bulb, even though the odor does not exist. Applied in the brains of mice, the approach proved useful in advancing our understanding of the neuronal logic of how mammalian brains perceive smells and distinguish one smell from the next.
In a Policy Forum, Joseph Cimpian and colleagues identify blind spots in current educational policy designed to remedy gender inequity in STEM and argue that interventions may need to become more nuanced concerning student achievement. Not all STEM majors are equal in terms of gender disparity and despite educational efforts to equalize gender representation, significant gaps persist in some areas.
"Why do plants have thorns?" is an easy question: The thorns help protect against hungry animals that like to munch on the plants. "Where do thorns come from?" is a more complicated question -- but Yale scientists have found an answer.
Their insight, reported in the June 18 issue of Current Biology, may help change the way oranges and other crops are grown.
First, a primer for non-botanists: Many plants have sharp, spiky armor that can be classified as thorns, prickles or spines.
What The Study Did: The association of sociodemographic characteristics with reported incidence, knowledge and behavior regarding COVID-19 among U.S. adults is examined in this survey study.
Authors: David Cutler, Ph.D., of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.12403)
What The Study Did: This survey study of patients with COVID-19 investigates how common the ability to taste and smell was reduced at the onset of the disease.
Authors: Fabio Ferreli, M.D., of the Humanitas Clinical and Research Center in Milan, Italy, is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamaoto.2020.1155)
"Using iPSC lines to study the functions of archaic human DNA is an untapped but very interesting approach," says senior author J. Gray Camp of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, and the University of Basel in Switzerland. "No one has ever been able to look at the role Neandertal DNA plays during development."
Studies have found that about two percent of the genomes of modern humans from outside Africa are composed of Neandertal DNA. This archaic DNA is a result of mating between the two groups tens of thousands of years ago.
An international group of researchers has tackled the controversial question of when measles first emerged, finding it could be linked to the rise of large cities. The team sequenced the genome of a measles strain from 1912 and looked backwards to assess when the virus likely arose in human populations, dating this at around 6th century BCE.