Culture
Plastic is a kind of widely used artificial material. The invention of plastic gives us a lightweight, strong and inexpensive material to use but also bring us the plastic apocalypse. Many of the unrecycled plastic waste ends up in the ocean, Earth's last sink. Broken by waves, sunlight and marine animal, a single plastic bag can be broken down into 1.75 million microscopic fragments, which is called microplastics. Those microplastics might finally end up in our blood and system through the fish we eat or the water we drink.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Giant elliptical galaxies are not as likely as previously thought to be cradles of technological civilizations such as our own, according to a recent paper by a University of Arkansas astrophysicist.
The paper, published May 1 in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, contradicts a 2015 study that theorized giant elliptical galaxies would be 10,000 times more likely than spiral disk galaxies such as the Milky Way to harbor planets that could nurture advanced, technological civilizations.
A study reported in the journal Cell Metabolism on April 30 adds to the evidence that people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) are at greater risk of a poor outcome should they become infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. But there is some encouraging news: people with T2D whose blood sugar is well controlled fare much better than those with more poorly controlled blood sugar.
Philadelphia, May 1, 2020-- Children in rural communities are 1.7 times more likely to undergo an amputation after a lawnmower injury than children in urban communities, according to a new study by researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). The researchers also found that although lawnmower injuries are prevalent throughout the United States, children in Southern and Midwestern states account for more than 80% of pediatric lawnmower injuries.
The findings were published in the May issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
New Orleans, LA - A study conducted by a team of researchers at LSU Health New Orleans has shown for the first time that chronic exposure to inhaled nicotine alone increases blood pressure (hypertension), in both the body's general circulation and in the lungs that can lead to pulmonary hypertension. The study also found that nicotine-induced pulmonary hypertension is accompanied by changes in the size, shape and function (remodeling) of the blood vessels in the lung and the right lower chamber of the heart.
Native bees that boost food crops are in decline but changing fire management policies could help them.
Most flowering plant farms employ honeybees, a non-native species originally imported from Europe and managed by beekeepers. However, research shows that farms surrounded by natural bee habitat have higher crop yields.
UC Riverside entomologist Lauren Ponisio explains that native bees are increasingly important to food growers. They pollinate crops on the fringes of a farm and could potentially also be used for agricultural purposes.
Trauma patients are at risk of developing multiple infections while in the hospital, but it's difficult to identify those who are especially susceptible. Now a team at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) has found that certain scores already used to assess the severity of a trauma patient's condition can provide clues. The findings are published in PLOS ONE.
Certain genetic changes, termed "pathogenic variants," substantially increase risk for cardiovascular disease and cancer--the leading causes of death--but testing to identify individual carriers is not part of current clinical practice.
Now a team led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) determined that nearly 1% of the population carry such pathogenic variants. These individuals were at markedly increased risk and could not be reliably identified based on family history.
After a sharp drop in out-of-pocket costs between 2010 and 2011, Medicare patients who use specialty biologic medications for rheumatoid arthritis have seen higher out-of-pocket spending for those same drugs because of gradual price increases, a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association Open finds.
Scientists have identified a key process in the way bacteria protect themselves from attack - and it heralds a new strategy in the hunt for antibiotics.
The researchers from the University of Leeds have pieced together how bacteria build their outer, defensive wall - in essence, the cell's armour plating.
People with the genetic condition neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) are prone to developing tumors on nervous system tissue. A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found that the development and growth of such tumors are driven by nearby noncancerous neurons and immune cells. The findings point to potential new therapeutic targets for people with NF1.
DNA strand breaks can lead to cell death or to mutations and thus contribute in the long term to cancer development or the ageing process. Fortunately, cells possess molecular tools to repair such DNA strand breaks very efficiently. One of them is the enzyme poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1), which detects DNA strand breaks and thereby initiates downstream repair processes.
What The Study Did: This observational study examines the association of hydroxychloroquine or hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin with QT prolongation in adult patients hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Authors: Howard S. Gold, M.D., of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
What The Study Did: Case series assesses QT intervals for French patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) treated with hydroxychloroquine alone or in combination with azithromycin.
Authors: Martin Cour, M.D., Ph.D., of the Hôpital Edouard Herriot in Lyon, France, 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/jamacardio.2020.1787)
Researchers from City University of Hong Kong, Texas A&M, and University of North Texas published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that examines the effects of contract ambiguity on interorganizational governance.
The study forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing is titled "Effects of Contract Ambiguity in Interorganizational Governance" and is authored by Xu (Vivian) Zheng, David Griffith, Ling Ge, and Uri Benoliel.