Culture
Probiotic bacteria that have been killed by heat can significantly improve symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) compared to placebo, and are not associated with any safety risk, according to a new 12-week, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial with 443 patients published in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology journal.
New modelling research, published in The Lancet journal, suggests that China's aggressive control measures appear to have halted the first wave of COVID-19 in areas outside Hubei province, the epicentre of the epidemic. However, given the substantial risk of the virus being reintroduced from abroad, and with economic activity increasing, real-time monitoring of COVID-19 transmissibility and severity is needed to protect against a possible second wave of infection, researchers say.
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Personal growth and job skills have taken a backseat to an increased focus on standardized test scores in schools across the nation, according to new University at Buffalo-led research.
The study, which analyzed the educational goals of principals at thousands of public, private and charter schools over two decades, found the shift in priorities is most pronounced in public schools.
April 8, 2020 -- "COVID-19 in Humanitarian Settings and Lessons Learned from Past Epidemics" published in Nature Medicine, invokes a global response to protect the most vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors make the point that displaced populations, including refugees and migrants, are often the first to be stigmatized and unjustly blamed for the spread of disease, yet they are also among the most vulnerable people during a pandemic--to both the virus itself and the measures enacted to control it.
Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed an "off-the-shelf" artificial cardiac patch that can deliver cardiac cell-derived healing factors directly to the site of heart attack injury. In a rat model of heart attack, the freezable, cell-free patch improved recovery. The researchers also found similar effects in a pilot study involving a pig model of heart attack.
ITHACA, N.Y. - Students learned just as much in online STEM college courses as they did in traditional classroom settings, and at a fraction of the cost, according to a first-of-its-kind study.
Below please find link(s) of new coronavirus-related content published today in Annals of Internal Medicine. A collection of coronavirus-related content is free to the public at http://go.annals.org/coronavirus.
Chest Computed Tomography for Detection of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Don't Rush the Science
Plant-derived chemicals called cardenolides have long been used to treat heart disease, and have shown potential as cancer therapies. But the compounds are very toxic, making it difficult for doctors to prescribe a dose that works without harming the patient.
Hormonal changes caused by motorboat noise cause clownfish to hide, skip meals and attack their neighbours - putting damselfish in distress.
Working on the reefs around Moorea in French Polynesia, an international team of scientists exposed 40 pairs of clownfish to recordings of natural reef sounds or motorboat noise for up to two days. Motorboat noise caused clownfish to hide in the protective tentacles of their host anemone, move less into open water to feed and to be more aggressive towards domino damselfish that also reside in the anemone.
As agriculture emerged in early civilizations, crops were domesticated in four locations around the world -- rice in China; grains and pulses in the Middle East; maize, beans and squash in Mesoamerica; and potatoes and quinoa in the Andes. Now, an international team of researchers have confirmed a fifth domestication area in southwestern Amazonia where manioc, squash and other edibles became garden plants during the early Holocene, starting over 10,000 years ago.
A warming global climate could cause sudden, potentially catastrophic losses of biodiversity in regions across the globe throughout the 21st century, finds a new UCL-led study.
The findings, published today in Nature, predict when and where there could be severe ecological disruption in the coming decades, and suggests that the first waves could already be happening.
The human body is composed of billions of cells, each of which is made and maintained through countless interactions among its molecular parts. But which interactions sustain health and which ones can cause disease when they go awry? The human genome project has provided us with a "parts list" for the cell, but only if we can understand how these parts go together, or interact, can we really begin to understand how the cell works and what goes wrong in disease.
A team at the University of Bristol has developed a new method of dating pottery which is allowing archaeologists to date prehistoric finds from across the world with remarkable accuracy.
The exciting new method, reported in detail today in the journal Nature, is now being used to date pottery from a range of key sites up to 8,000 years old in Britain, Europe and Africa.
Pottery and the dating game
The earliest human inhabitants of the Amazon created thousands of artificial forest islands as they tamed wild plants to grow food, a new study shows.
The discovery of the mounds is the latest evidence to show the extensive impact people had on the area. From their arrival 10,000 years ago they transformed the landscape when they began cultivating manioc and squash.
A new prognostic tool predicts how long someone diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) will be able to wait before starting cancer treatment. Researchers describe what they hope will become a point-of-care resource to help improve clinical decision making in a study published today in the journal Blood.