295 articles from WEDNESDAY 19.8.2020
No more playing with fire: Study offers insight into 'safer' rechargeable batteries
Lithium-ion batteries are used in various electronic devices. But, they also come with potential hazards, particularly if the battery is damaged or overcharged. This usually occurs because, in its overcharged state, spiky structures called 'lithium dendrites' get deposited in the battery. Now, scientists at Okayama University use a technique called 'operando nuclear magnetic resonance' to track...
Observational study identifies drug that improves survival in sickest COVID-19 patients
A drug normally used in rheumatoid arthritis and cancer treatments, tocilizumab, improves hospital survival in critically-ill patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). The findings were published in The Lancet Rheumatology on Aug. 14, and Hackensack Meridian Health researchers have updated the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other national leaders of the findings to potentially...
Older adults with existing depression show resilience during the pandemic
Older adults with existing depression are showing resilience during the pandemic, research shows.
One in 10 Tennessee families were food insufficient during early months of COVID-19
The latest research from the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture indicates that during late April and early May 2020, approximately 525,000 Tennessee households were food insufficient, meaning they sometimes or often did not have enough to eat - that's one in 10 families. About 30% of these struggling households were food sufficient prior to the onset of the pandemic.
Osteoarthritis: Conservative therapy delays need for knee and hip joint replacement surgery
With implementation of conservative treatment methods like physiotherapy and individually tailored, adjusted exercises, quality of osteoarthritis care can improve and patients can delay the need for an artificial hip or knee joint. This has been demonstrated by a clinical study from Norway that was recently presented at the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR 2020) Online Annual Congress.
Out of sync: Ecologists report climate change affecting bee, plant life cycles
Reporting on the first community-wide assessment of 67 bee species of the Colorado Rockies, ecologists Michael Stemkovski of Utah State University and Rebecca Irwin of North Carolina State University say "phenological mismatch," changing timing of life cycles between bees and flowers, caused by climate change, has the potential to disrupt a mutually beneficial relationship.
Partner selection ultimately happens in the woman's reproductive tract
The female reproductive tract has the final say in human mate choice, according to new research from the University of Eastern Finland.
Patients with recently discovered antibodies have more severe myasthenia gravis
A study of 181 patients at 16 sites across the country who test negative for two antibodies long known to cause muscle-weakening myasthenia gravis, found that about 15% test positive for one of two newly discovered antibodies that also attack the point of communication between nerves and muscle.
Plastic debris releases potentially harmful chemicals into seabird stomach fluid
A recent study has found that plastic ingested by northern fulmars, a common seabird, could release potentially toxic chemicals in their stomachs. Using plastic waste from the shore and stomach fluid from fulmars, the researchers closely mimicked fulmar plastic consumption. The findings highlight that plastic waste in the sea not only poses physical risks for seabirds, but could also have toxic...
Portrait of a virus
Researchers create a centralized electronic medical records tool to gather, monitor, analyze clinical trends in COVID-19 across multiple countries. Proof-of-concept platform overcomes key hurdles of decentralized EMR systems.
Potential link for Alzheimer's disease and common brain disease that mimics its symptoms
A new study by investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital uncovered a group of closely related genes that may capture molecular links between Alzheimer's disease and Limbic-predominant Age-related TDP-43 Encephalopathy, or LATE, a recently recognized common brain disorder that can mimic Alzheimer's symptoms.
Prevention of heart disease can start before birth
Babies that experience low oxygen levels in the womb due to pregnancy complications often go on to develop heart disease in adulthood. A study using sheep has discovered that a specialised antioxidant called MitoQ can prevent heart disease at its very onset. The results are published today in the journal Science Advances.
Protein influences regeneration of vascular cells
Through their basic research, physicians at the Heart Center of the University Hospital Bonn have discovered how the communication between individual cells can be influenced with the help of a specific protein. These findings are an important approach to improving the treatment of diseases such as arteriosclerosis (calcified blood vessels), which causes heart attacks. The study was published...
Protein structural insights chart the way to improved treatments for heart disease
A team including Wei Liu, assistant professor in ASU's School of Molecular Sciences (SMS) and the Biodesign Institute's Center for Applied Structural Discovery, has published a paper today in Molecular Cell that offers promising details for improved therapeutic treatments for cardiac disease.
Pumice arrives delivering "vitamin boost" to the reef
The giant pumice raft created by an underwater volcanic eruption last August in Tonga has begun arriving on the Australian eastern seaboard, delivering millions of reef-building organisms that researchers say could be a "vitamin boost" for the Great Barrier Reef.
Quest for quantum Internet gets a boost with new technique for making entanglement
Traditional ways of producing entanglements, necessary for the development of any 'quantum internet' linking quantum computers, are not very well suited for fiber optic telecoms networks used by today's non-quantum internet. However, researchers have come up with a new way to produce such particles that is much more compatible.
Quick fixes won't stop sexual harassment in academia, experts say
Many academic institutions are failing to address the most common forms of gender-based harassment: behaviors that communicate derision, disgust or disrespect for members of one sex or gender group.
Research challenges popular belief that 'unbridled ambition' costs female candidates votes
A new study into voter behaviour in the US and UK argues that electorates value aspiration and ambition among female candidates seeking office challenging common assumptions.
Researchers discovered new information on the regulation of cancer cell motility
PIM kinases are enzymes that promote metastatic growth and spread of cancer cells. Researchers from the University of Turku, Finland, have obtained new information on how the PIM kinases enhance cancer cell motility by regulating the formation of actin fibres in the cytoskeleton. The published results support the development of PIM-targeted therapies to prevent metastasis formation in cancer...
Researchers find link between gut microbiome and cancer treatment outcomes
City of Hope and TGen have found that greater gut microbial diversity in patients with metastatic kidney cancer is associated with better treatment outcomes on FDA-approved immunotherapy regimens. A potential takeaway: Oncologists might encourage patients to eat a high-fiber diet, including fruits and vegetables high in fructo-oligosaccharides such as bananas, dried fruit, onions, leeks, garlic,...
Researchers identify better classification system for adult idiopathic scoliosis
Researchers have designed a new X-ray classification system for adult idiopathic scoliosis that can more precisely define which parts of the spine need correction
Researchers predict deficits in female birth numbers in India over coming decades
Between 2017 and 2030, an estimated 6.8 million fewer female births will be recorded in India than would be by chance, due to sex-selective abortions, according to a new study published August 19, 2020 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Fengqing Chao of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia, and colleagues.
Seafood could account for 25% of animal protein needed to meet increases in demand
Policy reforms and technological improvements could drive seafood production upward by as much as 75% over the next three decades, research by Oregon State University and an international collaboration suggests.
Shifting public health messaging about face coverings could improve uptake
Encouraging the public to see face masks as a social practice, which they can use to express their cultural background or their personality, could encourage more people to use them regularly, say researchers writing in The BMJ today.
Small set of genes may provide unique barcode for different types of brain cells in worms
When it comes to brain cells, one size does not fit all. Neurons come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and contain different types of brain chemicals. A new study in Nature suggests that the identities of all the neurons in a worm are linked to unique members of a single gene family that control the process of converting DNA instructions into proteins, known as gene expression.