Culture
In November of 2019--likely, even earlier--a tiny entity measuring just a few hundred billionths of a meter in diameter began to tear apart human society on a global scale. Within a few months, the relentless voyager known as SARS-CoV-2 had made its way to every populated corner of the earth, leaving scientists and health authorities with too many questions and few answers.
While President Donald Trump's impeachment gripped the country in late 2019 and early 2020, the long-term consequences of his trial and acquittal for American democracy remain yet unclear. What's clear already, however, is that both the public's and political experts' perceptions of the health of US democracy clearly declined during this period.
A new study finds disruptions in health insurance coverage are common in the United States and are associated with poorer cancer care and survival. The study appears in JNCI: The Journal of the National Cancer institute.
Coronavirus testing geared up in New York over the past week, but only 8% of our 1000 NYC survey respondents reported they had been tested to date. The great majority of these people (74%) said their test took place over the last two weeks and 40% mentioned that it took place just "within the last few days." These findings are part of the seventh weekly city and statewide tracking survey from the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy (CUNY SPH) conducted April 24-26
Biologists studying collectives of bacteria, or "biofilms," have discovered that these so-called simple organisms feature a robust capacity for memory.
Working in the laboratory of University of California San Diego Professor Gürol Süel, Chih-Yu Yang, Maja Bialecka-Fornal and their colleagues found that bacterial cells stimulated with light remembered the exposure hours after the initial stimulus. The researchers were able to manipulate the process so that memory patterns emerged.
Collaborate research of the University of Jyvaskyla and the Natural Resources Institute Finland on salmonid fishes, sheds light on animal defence mechanisms and their interactions. The research demonstrates that populations with a strong physiological resistance show little behavioural avoidance and damage repair, and vice versa. The results can have important practical implications for stocking activities of endangered salmonids. The study was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B in April 2020.
Working alongside research groups from Heidelberg, researchers from Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin have elucidated the novel disease processes involved in the development of pulmonary fibrosis. They were able to show that the protein known as NEDD4-2 plays a key role in lung health and that loss of this crucial regulatory molecule has a significant impact on various mechanisms involved in the development of chronic progressive lung disease.
Researchers from the University of Sheffield have discovered a new insight into how a group of rare childhood brain disorders develop during pregnancy.
Findings reveal that defective immune cells in the brain contribute to the development of rare neurological diseases that cause severe physical and mental disabilities in children.
One in 7,600 children are affected and at the moment there are very limited treatment options for them.
Results could be used to help pave the way for the development of better therapies.
The proteasome is a major proteolytic machine that regulates cellular proteostasis through selective degradation of ubiquitylated proteins. As the maintenance of protein homeostasis is essential to human health, malfunctions of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) causes various diseases such as cancers, inflammation, and neurodegeneration. However, we do not yet know the overall principles behind UPS.
In this study, the research team discovered a novel mode of protein degradation by the UPS under a stress condition.
Research on virtual reality started in the eighties, but it is now that good quality is available to the public and it can become a mass consumer product soon. However, there is almost no scientific knowledge on the effects of virtual reality in the long run, nor any oversight over content.
Evolution is usually viewed as a slow process, with changes in traits emerging over thousands of generations only. Over the recent years, however, research has indicated that adaptation in specific traits can occur more quickly. However, very few studies outside microorganisms were able to demonstrate empirically how quickly natural selection shapes the whole genome.
ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. (April 27, 2020) - A team of Army and academic researchers are investigating how eye-pupil size changes can indicate a person's cognitive state as a means to enable teaming with autonomous agents.
The future Army battlespace will require humans and AI agents to team effectively to accomplish mission-critical goals. Although AI agents can fill gaps in human performance, they are rigid and lack the flexibility inherent to human behavior, which could interfere with teaming.
For example, do they resuscitate patients even though the prospects of recovery are slim and the risk to the healthcare team high? How should healthcare workers respond?
This is one of the topics covered in the COVID-19 Special Issue of the Wits Journal of Clinical Medicine. The journal, published by Wits University Press under open access conditions, presents the first clinical data on COVID-19 published in South Africa.
The special issue covers a range of aspects of the pandemic, from the clinical, through ethical, to the social dynamics of its impact.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Lactating mothers who use e-cigarettes or nicotine replacement therapies may be putting their breastfed babies at risk for skull defects, a new study in animals suggests.
Cigarette smoking has already been linked to increased risk for these abnormalities in previous research. This study tested the effects of nicotine alone on head and face development.
Plant breeding has considerably increased agricultural yields in recent decades and thus made a major contribution to combating global hunger and poverty. At the same time, however, the intensification of farming has had negative environmental effects. Increases in food production will continue to be crucial for the future because the world population and demand continue to grow.