261 articles from WEDNESDAY 11.3.2020

Smaller tropical forest fragments vanish faster than larger forest blocks

In one of the first studies to explicitly account for fragmentation in tropical forests, researchers report that smaller fragments of old-growth forests and protected areas experienced greater losses than larger fragments, between 2001 and 2018. The results suggest tropical forests are likely to continue shrinking if large-scale efforts to protect blocks of natural forest are not swiftly...

Stanford scientists discover the mathematical rules underpinning brain growth

'How do cells with complementary functions arrange themselves to construct a functioning tissue?' said study co-author Bo Wang, an assistant professor of Bioengineering. 'We chose to answer that question by studying a brain because it had been commonly assumed that the brain was too complex to have a simple patterning rule. We surprised ourselves when we discovered there was, in fact, such a...

Study unveils striking disparities in health outcomes among 2 populations

In a new study published today in JAMA, a team of researchers at BIDMC evaluated how health outcomes for low-income older adults who are dually enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid have changed since the early 2000s, and whether disparities have narrowed or widened over time compared with more affluent older adults who are solely enrolled in Medicare.

Submersible sensors rapidly detect bacterial pollution in water

Environmental engineers from San Diego State University tested sensors that can very quickly detect bacteria in the water, with the potential to relay data immediately to decision makers. This research has broad applications for identifying the presence of bacteria in water bodies everywhere, and can be easily and effectively used by water monitoring agencies as well as city and county...

Sugar tax has more public support than expected

The increase in diet-related illness has led to a high burden of costs for society. However, German policymakers, in comparison with their international counterparts, have so far been reluctant to make political interventions that support healthy eating. The concern is that interventions, such as imposing taxes, will be unpopular. Researchers at the University of Göttingen have now shown that...

The Lancet: Triple therapies to treat malaria are effective and safe

The first clinical trial of two triple artemisinin-based combination therapies for malaria finds that the combinations are highly efficacious with no safety concerns. Published in The Lancet, the study of 1,100 people with uncomplicated falciparum malaria from eight countries compared people receiving the current national first-line treatment combining two drugs, with two forms of triple therapy...

The naming of the shrew

Researchers at Louisiana State University have discovered a new species of shrew, which they have named the hairy-tailed shrew, or Crocidura caudipilosa.

The status of women

What drives people seek to high social status? A common evolutionary explanation suggests men do so because, in the past, they were able to leverage their social position into producing more children and propagating their genes.

Validating a better way to stratify BPD risk in vulnerable newborns

Factoring in the total number of days that extremely preterm infants require supplemental oxygen and tracking this metric for weeks longer than usual improves clinicians' ability to predict respiratory outcomes according to bronchopulmonary dysplasia severity, finds research led by Children's National Hospital.

Virtual reality shows promise for early detection of MS balance problems

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) often have a greatly increased risk of falling and injuring themselves even when they feel they're able to walk normally. Now a team led by scientists from the UNC School of Medicine has demonstrated what could be a relatively easy method for the early detection of such problems, using virtual reality.

World's first experimental observation of a Kondo cloud

Physicists have been trying to observe the quantum phenomenon Kondo cloud for many decades. A research team comprising a scientist from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has recently developed a novel device which successfully measures the length of the Kondo cloud and even allows for controlling the Kondo cloud. This can be regarded as a milestone in condensed matter physics, and may provide...