Culture
What The Study Did: Health care workers who come in close contact with a patient's head and neck are particularly at risk for developing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) because of the rapid spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS- CoV-2) through respiratory droplets. This article provides safety recommendations for these health care workers regarding exams and surgical procedures based on a review of the literature and the experiences of physicians with firsthand knowledge of safety procedures during this pandemic.
Visual feedback is just as important as a sense of body position when it comes to the involuntary reflexes that activate muscle movement, says a new study in the open-access journal eLife.
The findings provide insights into how the brain balances different types of sensory information to control the earliest stages of movement, adding to our understanding of how these processes are controlled in health and disease.
A research team at the German Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) developed a method to isolate and cryopreserve testicular cells. This will allow the safekeeping and biobanking of gametes and other cells of the male reproductive tract of threatened or endangered feline species. The findings have been published in the scientific journal "Cryobiology".
More than 60 odorous substances were identified using combined chemo-analytical methods. The information gained provides a targeted strategy for avoiding off-odors. The results of this collaborative study with the Chair of Aroma and Smell Research at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) and the University of Alicante have now been published*.
Three previously unknown genetic mechanisms have been discovered in causing myopia otherwise known as short or near-sightedness, finds a new study.
The study, published today in Nature Genetics, led by King's College London, UCL and Kaiser Permanente in the USA, with the participation of the 23andMe, the genomics consumer company, found the ways in which genetics can play a part in myopia.
Scientists have revealed intricate structural changes in plants, fungi and bacteria in response to light, according to a new study published today in the open-access journal eLife.
The findings provide new insights into the function of protein molecules called phytochromes that are present in these three types of organisms. The results could lead to tools that control the function of phytochromes to achieve more efficient growth patterns in plants and crops.
A study of women who experienced mental ill-health from a hormonal contraception indicates they value their mental well-being higher than a satisfactory sex life. Their experiences can influence their choice of contraception. This is one of four themes that researchers have identified in interviews with 24 women who experience negative effects of some hormonal contraception. The study, from Linköping University in Sweden, has been published in the European Journal of Contraception and Reproductive Health Care.
Organic soybean producers using no-till and reduced-tillage production methods that incorporate cover crops -- strategies that protect soil health and water quality -- can achieve similar yields at competitive costs compared to tillage-based production.
That's the conclusion of a new study by researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. These findings are significant, according to lead researcher John Wallace, assistant professor of weed science, because they may contribute to increased sustainable domestic production of organic soybeans.
Amyloid plaque formation directly causes brain tissue loss in animals, but a drug called lithium reduces the life-shortening effects of this loss, shows a study published today in eLife.
Patients with Alzheimer's disease experience progressive memory loss and loss of brain matter over time. This study provides new details about what happens in the brain in Alzheimer's disease and suggests a potential strategy to slow it.
WASHINGTON--Individuals taking a class of steroid hormones called glucocorticoids for conditions such as asthma, allergies and arthritis on a routine basis may be unable to mount a normal stress response and are at high risk if they are infected with the virus causing COVID-19, according to a new editorial published in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Philadelphia, March 31, 2020 - Genetic studies of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) show that it takes many common genetic variations combining together in one individual to increase risk substantially. At the same time, neuroimaging experts have found differences in how the brains of people diagnosed with ADHD are functionally connected. However it's unclear how genetic risk might be directly related to altered brain circuitry in individuals diagnosed with ADHD.
According to a popular view, creativity is a product of the brain’s right hemisphere – innovative people are considered “right-brain thinkers” while “left-brain thinkers” are thought to be analytical and logical. Neuroscientists who are skeptical of this idea have argued that there is not enough evidence to support this idea and an ability as complex as human creativity must draw on vast swaths of both hemispheres.
Fast communication between our brain cells - or neurotransmission as it is called - is hugely important for our brain to work properly. Some of the messengers involved in this form of communication are neuropeptides, which are chemicals produced in the brain.
Some of these peptides are involved in causing the feeling of pain. In a new study, researchers from the University of Copenhagen show how the neuropeptide Big Dynorphin binds to a receptor involved in sending pain signals around the brain.
TROY, N.Y. -- The temptation for businesses to use artificial intelligence and other technology to improve performance, drive down labor costs, and better the bottom line is understandable. But before pursuing automation that could put the jobs of human employees at risk, it is important that business owners take careful stock of their operations.
A novel vaccine against pneumonia that is less expensive and more effective than those currently used in Brazil is being tested in human patients. Developed by researchers at the Butantan Institute (Brazil) and Boston Children's Hospital, part of the Harvard Medical School (USA), the innovation is capable of providing protection against all serotypes of the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae.