Tech
Despite a fall in prescription numbers for low-value treatments, the overall cost of prescribing these items in English primary care has risen, according to new research published by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. NHS England has identified low-value treatments deemed to be ineffective, over-priced and of low clinical value, in order to increase value from the £17.4bn NHS medicines bill.
Third-grader Jessica was quiet in group discussions and did not see herself as a strong science student. But after an eight-week unit in school where she was able to read, write about, collect data on and even draw and photograph ladybugs for a project, she began to see herself as scientist in her own right - explaining the life stages and lifestyles of ladybugs to grownups with conviction.
Jessica became a citizen scientist.
Lithium ion batteries have come a long way since their introduction in the late 1990s. They're used in many everyday devices, such as laptop computers, mobile phones, and medical devices, as well as automotive and aerospace platforms, and others. However, lithium ion battery performance still can decay over time, may not fully charge after many charge/discharge cycles, and may discharge quickly even when idle.
Washington, DC (May 22, 2018) -- For the first time in humans, researchers will test a two-pronged approach to treat advanced stage colorectal cancer (CRC), potentially increasing life expectancy. Combining a DNA vaccine, which boosts the body's immune response against tumors, with an antibody that blocks the body's natural defense against the potency of the DNA vaccine, may lead to the development of an effective treatment for late stage CRC, when a cure is not often possible.
Children as young as age three are able to make judgements about who owns an object based on its location, according to a study from the University of Waterloo.
The findings also show that children can sense an item's ownership without seeing someone interact with it. They intuitively know who owns an item, even if their parents have not pointed that out to them.
GALVESTON, Texas - A collaborative research team has uncovered new information that more accurately explains how cancerous tumors grow within the body. This study is currently available in Nature Genetics.
Each time a blood vessel splits into smaller vessels, red blood cells (RBCs) are presented with the same decision: Take the left capillary or the right. While one might think RBCs would divide evenly at every fork in the road, it is known that at some junctures, RBCs seem to prefer one vessel over the other. One new computer model looks to determine why RBCs behave this way, untangling one of the biggest mysteries in our vascular system
Researchers report important new insights into evolution following a study of mitochondrial DNA from about 5 million specimens covering about 100,000 animal species.
Mining "big data" insights from the world's fast-growing genetic databases and reviewing a large literature in evolutionary theory, researchers at The Rockefeller University in New York City and the Biozentrum at the University of Basel in Switzerland, published several conclusions today in the journal Human Evolution. Among them:
The study entitled 'Seagrass meadows support global fisheries production' published in Conservation Letters, provides evidence that a fifth of the world's biggest fisheries, such as Atlantic Cod and Walleye Pollock are reliant on healthy seagrass meadows. The study also demonstrates the prevalence of seagrass associated fishing globally.
A chance to switch to renewable sources for heating, electricity and fuel, while also providing new opportunities for several industries to produce large numbers of renewable products. This is the verdict of researchers from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, who now, after ten years of energy research into gasification of biomass, see an array of new technological achievements.
Stimulating the brain to alter its intrinsic reward system shows promise in the treatment of obesity, according to results presented in Barcelona at the European Society of Endocrinology annual meeting, ECE 2018. The technique has yielded positive results after just a single treatment session, revealing its potential to become a safer alternative to treat obesity, avoiding invasive surgery and drug side effects.
Nanoparticles derived from tea leaves inhibit the growth of lung cancer cells, destroying up to 80% of them, new research by a joint Swansea University and Indian team has shown.
The team made the discovery while they were testing out a new method of producing a type of nanoparticle called quantum dots. These are tiny particles which measure less than 10 nanometres. A human hair is 40,000 nanometres thick.
New research has shown that older people with very low heart disease risks also have very little frailty, raising the possibility that frailty could be prevented.
The largest study of its kind, led by the University of Exeter, found that even small reductions in risk factors helped to reduce frailty, as well as dementia, chronic pain, and other disabling conditions of old age.
Aromatic polyimide is one of the most thermal- and chemical-resistant polymers with high mechanical strength, which is widely used for electrical insulation materials and aerospace materials. One of the major polyimides is made from tetramethyl biphenyltetracarboxylate, which is prepared by dehydrogenative coupling of dimethyl phthalate catalyzed by conventional [Pd(OAc)2]/[Cu(OAc)2]/1,10-phenanthroline (phen) system. However, the product yield is normally less than 10%. Nevertheless, this process is used for the industrial production.
While household air pollution from solid fuel stoves has previously been associated with child mortality, this is the first study to investigate the association between household air pollution and lung development beginning in utero and to identify the most harmful times during pregnancy for exposure to this pollution. The study was presented at the 2018 American Thoracic Society International Conference.