Culture
Some people are more sensitive than others - and around half of these differences can be attributed to our genes, new research has found.
The study, led by Queen Mary University of London, compared pairs of identical and non-identical 17-year-old twins to see how strongly they were affected by positive or negative experiences - their 'sensitivity' level. The aim was to tease out how much of the differences in sensitivity could be explained by either genetic or environmental factors during development: nature or nurture.
A wearable biosensor may help monitor stress experienced by healthcare professionals, according to a study published in Physiological Reports.
A study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society examined five personality traits--neuroticism, extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness--and their links to pre-dementia conditions called motoric cognitive risk (MCR) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) syndromes.
Among 524 adults aged 65 years and older who were followed for a median of 3 years, 38 participants developed MCR and 69 developed MCI (some with memory loss, or amnestic MCI).
Tokyo, Japan - Glass is such a common, everyday material that you probably don't think about it much. It may surprise you to learn that researchers today still don't understand how glass forms. Figuring this out is important for glass industries and many other surprising applications of glasses.
WASHINGTON (June 3, 2020) - The vast majority of U.S. adults (80%) say they will be more mindful about practicing self-care regularly once the pandemic is over, according to a new survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Samueli Integrative Health Programs. Nearly half of Americans (46%) also report that they are struggling to find ways to maintain their whole health (i.e., physical, mental, and spiritual health) during the pandemic.
Stand outside and look underneath your feet. There, perhaps under some grass, is the soil. On a dry day, all the spaces in the soil are filled with air. And some distance further down, those spaces are entirely water. So, what's in between?
That's the capillary fringe. And it might just be the most important -- and mysterious -- thing you've never heard of.
More than 110 million years ago, a lumbering 1,300-kilogram, armour-plated dinosaur ate its last meal, died, and was washed out to sea in what is now northern Alberta. This ancient beast then sank onto its thorny back, churning up mud in the seabed that entombed it--until its fossilized body was discovered in a mine near Fort McMurray in 2011.
Researchers at Mount Sinai have discovered that human acute myeloid leukemia (AML) stem cells are dependent on a transcription factor known as RUNX1, potentially providing a new therapeutic target to achieve lasting remissions or even cures for a disease in which medical advances have been limited.
PITTSBURGH, June 2, 2020 - Using skin cells from human volunteers, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have created fully functional mini livers, which they then transplanted into rats.
In this proof-of-concept experiment, the lab-made organs survived for four days inside their animal hosts. These results were published today in Cell Reports.
Dr. Alan Herbert from InsideOutBio describes ground-breaking research in a paper published online today by Royal Society Open Science. The study focuses on the digital genome that uses programmable DNA-based on-off switches to change the readout of genetic information. The digital rewiring of the genome involves switch elements called flipons. Flipons fast track the evolution of multi-cellular organisms. The flipon strategy is less risky evolution based only on mutations.
A study in Cell Reports maps genes essential for the metabolic function of M. agalactiae and M. pneumoniae, two common bacteria that infect livestock and humans respectively.
The map of M. agalactiae reveals new insights that unlocks routes to explore new vaccines and antimicrobials for veterinary applications.
The results can also be used to finetune a re-engineered version of M. pneumoniae so that it can treat human lung diseases in the future.
HOUSTON-(June 2, 2020) - The country's first convalescent plasma transfusion trial results have been peer-reviewed and published, showing 19 out of 25 patients improving with the treatment and 11 discharged from the hospital. On March 28, Houston Methodist became the first academic medical center in the nation to transfuse plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients into two critically ill patients.
When it's time to schedule a vacation, most people will do it right away. But when it comes to booking a root canal, some people will procrastinate while others will put it at the top of their to-do list.
New research from the UBC Sauder School of Business may have figured out why. The study, published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, reveals key insights into how excitement, anticipation and dread factor into people's decision-making.
Computer simulations conducted by astrophysicists at Tohoku University in Japan, have revealed a new theory for the origin of supermassive black holes. In this theory, the precursors of supermassive black holes grow by swallowing up not only interstellar gas, but also smaller stars as well. This helps to explain the large number of supermassive black holes observed today.
Tiger snakes living in Perth's urban wetlands are accumulating toxic heavy metals in their livers, suggesting that their habitats - critical, local ecosystems - are contaminated and the species may be suffering as a result.