Washington, DC-- A new approach to analyzing seismic data reveals deep vertical zones of low seismic velocity in the plumbing system underlying Alaska's Cleveland volcano, one of the most-active of the more than 70 Aleutian volcanoes. The findings are published in Scientific Reports by Helen Janiszewski, recently of Carnegie, now at the University of Hawai?i at Mānoa, and Carnegie's Lara Wagner and Diana Roman.
Medicaid expansion dramatically reduced the numbers of low-income residents without insurance in the Diabetes Belt, a swath of 644 counties across 15 southeastern states (including Virginia) that are stricken with high diabetes rates, a new study has found.
The increase in people with insurance helps address the lack of access to care that is a key contributor to the diabetes epidemic. Prior to the Affordable Care Act, the Diabetes Belt counties had higher uninsured rates than other areas, but that was erased by 2014 through Medicaid expansion.
Seriously ill patients require serious, higher-level care, and sometimes patients must be transferred from one hospital to another to allow access to that care. For example, a patient may require procedures, tests or expertise that only an academic medical center can deliver. The benefits of such interhospital transfer (IHT) are believed to outweigh the risks, but at the same time, studies of national databases indicate that transferred patients have a higher risk of dying than patients admitted to the hospital locally through the emergency department.
Why are some people better able to fight off the flu than others? Part of the answer, according to a new study, is related to the first flu strain we encounter in childhood.
Ann Arbor, February 4, 2020 - Dentists are among top prescribers of opioids in the US, however, whether their opioid prescribing exceeds guidance had not been investigated.
If you feed the birds in your backyard, you may be doing more than just making sure they have a source of food: you may be helping baby birds give parasites the boot.
New research published in the Journal of Applied Ecology from UConn assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology Sarah Knutie shows that feeding bluebirds can have a significant impact on parasitic nest flies feeding on baby bluebirds.
Parasitic flies can be found in the nests of many bird species, and some can have significant impacts on nestling survival.
Philadelphia, February 4, 2020 - Non-invasive prenatal tests (NIPTs) are used for fetal genetic disease screening in pregnant women. In contrast, invasive tests like amniocentesis carry the risk of causing fetal harm. A report in The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, published by Elsevier, describes the development of a single-cell DNA assessment method with high sensitivity and specificity.
Even though they are inanimate objects, sand dunes can 'communicate' with each other. A team from the University of Cambridge has found that as they move, sand dunes interact with and repel their downstream neighbours.
MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. (February 4, 2020)-- Researchers led by biologists at Tufts University have discovered that the brains of developing embryos provide signals to a nascent immune system that help it ward off infections and significantly improve the embryo's ability to survive a bacterial challenge. Using frog embryos, which continue to develop with their brains removed, the researchers found that embryos without a brain are not able to marshall the forces of immune cells to an injury or infection site, leading the embryo to succumb to an infection more quickly.
It may not always seem so, but scientists are convinced that humans are unusually cooperative. Unlike other animals, we cooperate not just with kith and kin, but also with genetically unrelated strangers. Consider how often we rely on the good behavior of acquaintances and strangers-- from the life-saving services of firefighters and nurses, to mundane activities like our morning commute and queueing at the airport check-in counter. Of course, we encounter people who cheat, disregard the welfare of others, and engage in cronyism and nepotism.