132 articles from MONDAY 9.9.2019

Scientists find psychiatric drugs affect gut contents

Scientists have found that antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs can change the quantity and composition of gut bacteria in rats. These results raise questions about the specificity of psychoactive drug action, and if confirmed in humans whether psychiatrists might need to consider the effects on the body before prescribing. The research team is currently carrying out a large-scale human...

The birth of vision, from the retina to the brain

How do neurons differentiate to become individual components of the visual system? Researchers (UNIGE and EPFL), have identified the genetic programmes governing the birth of different types of retinal cells and their capacity to wire to the correct part of the brain, where they transmit visual information. In addition, the discovery of several genes regulating nerve growth allows for the...

First potential biomarker for a debilitating fainting condition

Nearly 90% of those in the largest-to-date study of patients with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome had elevated levels of a specific autoantibody. The finding both adds significantly to the evidence that POTS is an autoimmune disorder, and identifies a key biomarker that might allow diagnosis with a simple blood test.

New app offers faster and easier assessment for multiple sclerosis

Researchers report they have developed and validated a tablet-based app that offers a faster, easier and more accurate way for health care providers who don't have specialized training to assess the cognitive function of people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Multiple sclerosis is a chronic neurologic illness that affects the central nervous system, resulting in a variety of symptoms including motor...

New Models Suggest Titan Lakes Are Explosion Craters

Portal origin URL: New Models Suggest Titan Lakes Are Explosion CratersPortal origin nid: 451516Published: Monday, September 9, 2019 - 06:58Featured (stick to top of list): noPortal text teaser: A new theory, based on radar data from NASA's Cassini mission, proposes that some of Titan's lakes formed when pockets of nitrogen blew out basins that filled with...

Philippines culls 7,000 pigs in outbreak of African swine fever

Infected pigs found in two towns near capital Manila, as country becomes latest to be hit by diseaseThe Philippines has reported its first cases of African swine fever, becoming the latest country hit by the disease that has killed pigs from Slovakia to China, pushing up pork prices worldwide.The virus is not harmful to humans but causes haemorrhagic fever in pigs that almost always ends in death....

Can you solve it? The passport control puzzle

Show me your documents pleaseUPDATE: The solution is now up hereToday’s puzzle concerns passport control, the delegation of uniformed and often surly officers at ports and airports whose job it is to check your travel document is valid.Let’s say that 1 in 10,000 people who present themselves at UK passport control have invalid passports, and let’s say that UK passport control is pretty good...