Culture
The rate of pregnant women with opioid use disorder, or OUD, when giving birth more than quadrupled from 1999 to 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This indicates a significant public health concern related to adverse health outcomes for both mother and child. Impacts may range from preterm labor or neonatal abstinence syndrome, to adverse child welfare outcomes and early foster care placement.
New research has uncovered the risk factors for Fijians carrying a pneumonia-causing bacteria.
The collaborative study, led by the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) and the Fiji Ministry of Health and Medical Services, will help determine further public health interventions to prevent people carrying and transmitting the bacteria.
MCRI's Eleanor Neal said Streptococcus pneumoniae was a leading cause of childhood illness and death around the world.
Research findings suggest gut microbes can effect allergic immune responses. Tasuku Ogita who has recently joined Shinshu University is an expert on teas and their effects on gut bacteria. In this study, his team looked at green tea and the abundance of Flavonifractor plautii (FP) bacteria found in the gut. FP has been reported to be a part of the catechin metabolism in the intestines. Catechin is an antioxidant found in a variety of foods including green tea, of which 30 to 42% of its dry weight is catechin.
Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have succeeded in restoring mobility and sensation of touch in stroke-afflicted rats by reprogramming human skin cells to become nerve cells, which were then transplanted into the rats' brains. The study has now been published in the research journal PNAS.
A European Union (EU) programme aimed at reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions has made significant progress despite low prices in carbon markets, according to a study at the Universities of Strathclyde and Pittsburgh.
Under the EU's Emissions Trading System (ETS), introduced in 2005 in response to the Kyoto Protocol, governments set a cap on an allowable total amount of emissions over a certain period. They also issue tradable emission permits, which allow for one ton of CO2.
The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina has published a second ad-hoc-statement entitled "Coronavirus Pandemic - Measures Relevant to Health". The paper focuses on measures, which can contribute to a gradual normalisation of public life. Three measures are particularly important: (1) general use of mouth and nose protection, (2) short-term use of mobile phone data, and (3) increase in testing capacities.
In the summer of 2017, Christie Petrenko, an assistant professor and research associate at the University of Rochester’s Mt.
Using a combination of experimental and computational data, researchers discover paths to optimize pulses from highly intense X-ray beams.
Scientists have long pursued the ability to see the structure of a single, free-form molecule at atomic resolution, what many call the ?“holy grail” of imaging. One potential method involves aiming extremely short, highly intense X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) pulses at a sample material. But this ultrafast imaging technique also destroys its target, so time is of the essence.
Depression is a common psychiatric disorder and one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. Antidepressants are the first-line treatment for moderate to severe major depressive episodes. Despite their effectiveness, only 40% of patients respond to the first antidepressant they try. A recent paper in Nature Communication strongly suggests that a particular protein, GPR56, is involved in the biology of depression and the effect of antidepressants. The McGill led research team believe that this protein could offer a novel target for new antidepressant drugs.
New research finds that "fake news" inspires consumers to demand corrective action from companies - even if the company is a victim of the fake news story. The study also supports the idea that most people feel they are better at detecting fake news than other people are - and found that fake news increases calls for improved digital media literacy.
Security guards struggle with PTSD and lack mental health support. New report.
New research shows that thousands of security guards in the UK are suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), having been exposed to frequent episodes of verbal and physical abuse.
Chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin are being used to treat and prevent COVID-19 despite weak evidence for effectiveness, and physicians and patients should be aware of the drugs' potentially serious adverse events, states a review in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
In a policy brief published today in its namesake journal (DOI: 10.1111/jgs.16477), the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) offered a roadmap to guide federal, state, and local governments addressing COVID-19 concerns for a critical--and critically impacted--group: Older adults in nursing homes and long-term care. The brief outlined recommendations based on the latest research and guidance, encompassing actions on resource needs, patient transfers, priorities for public health, and opportunities to better empower health workers on the frontlines of COVID-19 care.
Improper removal of faulty brain cells during neurodevelopment may cause lifelong behavioral issues, new research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine suggests. The finding also could have important implications for a wide range of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
The Belle II experiment has been collecting data from physical measurements for about one year now. After several years of rebuilding work, both the SuperKEKB electron-positron accelerator and the Belle II detector have been improved compared with their predecessors in order to achieve a 40-fold higher data rate. Scientists at 12 German research institutions are involved in constructing and operating the detector, developing evaluation algorithms, and analyzing the data.