Culture
An international team of evolutionary biologists and paleontologists have reconstructed the evolution of the avian brain using a massive dataset of brain volumes from dinosaurs, extinct birds like Archaeopteryx and the Great Auk, and modern birds.
William T. Molin (U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Stoneville, MS) teamed up with Allison Yaguchi, Mark Blenner, and Christopher A. Saski (Clemson University, SC) to sequence and dissect the structure of the extrachromosomal DNA replicon that underlies the molecular and biochemical basis of resistance to the herbicide glyphosate in Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri). This work aids our understanding of adaptive evolution in plants and has implications for optimizing pesticide use in the environment.
New research on the structure of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has revealed a promising novel drug target for treating HIV infection, which affects more than 1 million Americans and 40 million people worldwide. The findings, published today in Science, show that the virus's genetic code can be read in two different ways by cells the virus has infected. The result is that infected cells make two different forms of the virus's RNA.
Babies born prematurely who require treatment to prevent blindness from retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) could be treated with a dose of Avastin (bevacizumab) that is a fraction of the dose commonly used for ROP currently. Results from the dose-finding study were published April 23 in JAMA Ophthalmology. The study was conducted by the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group (PEDIG) and supported by the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health.
What The Study Did: This decision analytical model describes several key epidemiological features of imported coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in Wenzhou, China.
Authors: Xiaoqing Pan, Ph.D., of Shanghai Normal University, and Yan Lu, Ph.D., of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, in China, are the corresponding authors.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.6785)
What The Study Did: This survey study looked at how often cancer survivors in the United States and their spouses or partners stay in their jobs because of concerns about losing their health insurance.
Authors: Erin E. Kent, Ph.D., M.S., of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, 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/jamaoncol.2020.0742)
One of the major concerns about the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has been the burden that cases will place on the health care system. A new study published April 23 in the journal Health Affairs found that the spread of the virus could cost hundreds of billions of dollars in direct medical expenses alone and require resources such as hospital beds and ventilators that may exceed what is currently available.
The findings demonstrate how these costs and resources can be cut substantially if the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus can be reduced to different degrees.
The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico is following an asteroid approaching Earth this week and while it poses no threat, it appears to know our planet is facing a pandemic.
"The small-scale topographic features such as hills and ridges on one end of asteroid 1998 OR2 are fascinating scientifically," says Anne Virkki, head of Planetary Radar at the observatory, "But since we are all thinking about COVID-19 these features make it look like 1998 OR2 remembered to wear a mask."
Fishing for a living can seem so Zen - a time to be in the moment, just the fisher, the boat, the water.
Yet scientists are throwing a bit of shade on that perception, showing all the arrangements before and after the fish takes the bait - including the bait itself, in fact - must be considered to make effective and equitable policy about global fishing.
Daniela Beckmann, Mirko Feldmann, Olena Shchyglo and Professor Denise Manahan-Vaughan from the Department of Neurophysiology of the Medical Faculty worked together for the study.
When sensory perception fades
The Kem Kem beds in Morocco are famous for the spectacular fossils found there, including at least four large-bodied non-avian theropods, several large-bodied pterosaurs and crocodilians.
Recognition of the needs of wives and intimate partners in supporting the recovery of veterans and front-line emergency workers affected by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been highlighted in a new study led by Flinders University.
Their contribution to trauma recovery, and their own need for support, are not well understood by military and emergency service organisations, healthcare providers and government, the researchers found when they interviewed 22 partners of Australian veterans, paramedics, fire and police officers.
Researchers have confirmed that neuropeptide somatostatin can improve cognitive function in the brain. A research group of Professor Seung-Hee Lee from the Department of Biological Sciences at KAIST found that the application of neuropeptide somatostatin improves visual processing and cognitive behaviors by reducing excitatory inputs to parvalbumin-positive interneurons in the cortex.
Images from the Akatsuki spacecraft unveil what keeps Venus's atmosphere rotating much faster than the planet itself.
An international research team led by Takeshi Horinouchi of Hokkaido University has revealed that this 'super-rotation' is maintained near the equator by atmospheric tidal waves formed from solar heating on the planet's dayside and cooling on its nightside. Closer to the poles, however, atmospheric turbulence and other kinds of waves have a more pronounced effect. The study was published online in Science on April 23.
Another piece of the puzzle about the longevity of the corpus luteum in lynxes has been uncovered. Scientists at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) and the Leibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology (Leibniz-FMP) discovered that selected anti-oxidative enzymes, especially the enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD2), may play an important role to maintain the unusual longevity of the corpus luteum in lynxes. It is highly likely that SOD2 not only detoxifies the reactive oxygen radicals in the cells, but also inhibits programmed cell death.