401 articles from THURSDAY 10.9.2020

Fatter legs linked to reduced risk of high blood pressure

Adults with a higher percentage of fat tissue in their legs were less likely than those with a lower percentage to have high blood pressure. Research findings held true even after adjusting for age, sex, race and ethnicity, education, smoking, alcohol use, cholesterol levels and waist fat, although to a lesser degree.

Research on the impact of ACE-i and ARBs for patients with COVID-19 continues to evolve

Low blood pressure, or hypotension, in COVID-19 patients with a history of hypertension appears to be a risk factor for kidney damage and death. Reducing hypertension medications if and when COVID-19 patients become hypotensive could prevent acute kidney injury and death, according to a new study. A different study confirmed hypertension is the most common co-existing disease in hospitalized...

Telomere length varies across human tissue types

A new study answers the question of whether or not blood cell telomere length is a suitable proxy for telomere length in other tissues by examining over 20 human tissue types, finding variations and correlations between different tissue types.

High-fidelity record of Earth's climate history puts current changes in context

Scientists have compiled a continuous, high-fidelity record of variations in Earth's climate extending 66 million years into the past. The record reveals four distinctive climate states, which the researchers dubbed Hothouse, Warmhouse, Coolhouse, and Icehouse. These major climate states persisted for millions and sometimes tens of millions of years, and within each one the climate shows rhythmic...

Biological sex affects genes for body fat, cancer, birth weight

Biological sex has a small but ubiquitous influence on gene expression in almost every type of human tissue, reports a new study. These sex differences are observed for genes involved in many functions, including how people respond to medication, how women control blood sugar levels in pregnancy, how the immune system functions, how cancer develops and male pattern baldness. The information could...

FABP4: Preschool-aged biomarker discovered for autism spectrum disorder

Researchers have discovered a biomarker that can detect autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in preschool-aged children. The new study found that levels of the protein FABP4 were much lower in four- to six-year-old children with ASD than they were in other typically developing children. Experiments in mice that lacked FABP4 revealed changes in neurons that resemble those found in the postmortem brains...

Seeing the eye like never before

In a big step for ophthalmology, scientists created a method to view the inner workings of the eye and its diseases at the cellular level. Currently, researchers can only see a broad section of the retina. This new technology allows them to zoom into just one part of a cell. In their words, they have accelerated the process for vision restoration.

Colors evoke similar feelings around the world

People all over the world associate colors with emotions. In fact, people from different parts of the world often associate the same colors with the same emotions. This was the result of a detailed survey of 4,598 participants from 30 nations over six continents, carried out by an international research team.

How coronavirus took hold in North America and in Europe

Early interventions were effective at stamping out coronavirus infections before they spread, according to a new study. Combining virus genomics with epidemiologic simulations and travel records, the research shows that in both the United States and in Europe, sustained transmission networks became established only after separate introductions of the virus that went undetected.

$500 billion question: What's the value of studying the ocean's biological carbon pump?

The ocean plays an invaluable role in capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, taking in somewhere between five to 12 gigatons (billion tons) annually. Due to limited research, scientists aren't sure exactly how much carbon is captured and stored—or sequestered—by the ocean each year or how increasing CO2 emissions will affect this process in the future.