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191,281 articles from EurekAlert

Environmental awareness develops at an early age

In a piece of research carried out on children under eight, José Domingo Villarroel has reached the conclusion that it is from an early age that they develop the awareness that leads them to protect the environment. Indeed, they refuse to tread on a flower, for example. What is more, this awareness can emerge before they are capable of differentiating between living beings and non-living beings.

Exercise may be the best medicine for Alzheimer's disease

A University of Maryland School of Public Health study suggests that regular, moderate exercise could improve memory and cognitive function in those at risk for Alzheimer's disease in a way no drug can. Dr. Carson Smith studied the effects of exercise on a group of older adults with mild cognitive impairment and found that brain activity associated with memory, measured by neuroimaging, improved...

Fat digestibility in pigs study looks at oils in soybeans, corn co-products

Pork producers need accurate information on the energy value of fat in feed ingredients to ensure that diets are formulated economically and in a way that maximizes pork fat quality. Researchers at the University of Illinois have determined the true ileal and total tract digestibility of fat in four corn co-products, as well as in full fat soybeans and corn oil.

Fewer states holding alcohol retailers responsible for harms from illegal service

Fewer states are holding alcohol retailers liable for harms caused by customers who were served illegally, according to a new report from researchers at Alcohol Policy Consultations and the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Published online by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, the legal research study documents the gradual...

Frontiers news briefs: July 30

This week's news briefs include: cross-cultural communication of emotional non-speech sounds; molecular tools may help solve the riddle of Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome; two types of anomalies in the brains of people with autism; and transcription and replication result in distinct epigenetic marks following repression of early gene expression.

Hardness, in depth

Scientists have now built a machine that sets a new standard of accuracy for testing a material's hardness, which is a measure of its resistance to bumps and scratches. The new machine is called the Precision Nanoindentation Platform, or PNP.

How superbug spreads among regional hospitals: A domino effect

A moderate increase in vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) at one hospital can lead to a nearly 3 percent increase in VRE in every other hospital in that county, according to a study in the August issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. VRE is one of the most common bacteria that...

How to learn successfully even under stress

Whenever we have to acquire new knowledge under stress, the brain deploys unconscious rather than conscious learning processes. Neuroscientists at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum have discovered that this switch from conscious to unconscious learning systems is triggered by the intact function of mineralocorticoid receptors. These receptors are activated by hormones released in response to stress by...

Learning from a virus: Keeping genes under wraps

By studying how the human cytomegalovirus, or CMV, packages its genetic material during infection, an international collaboration of researchers has identified potential inroads for new therapies that could one day prevent birth defects and save transplant patients from virus-caused complications. UA researcher Felicia Goodrum is among the team investigating CMV, which infects most people at some...

Lessons from combat care helped save lives and limbs after Boston bombing, reports

Collaboration across surgical specialties and lessons from combat casualty care -- especially the use of tourniquets and other effective strategies to control bleeding -- helped mount an effective surgical response to aid victims of the Boston Marathon bombings, according to a special editorial in the July issue of The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery, which is led by Editor-in-Chief Mutaz B....

Lifelike cooling for sunbaked windows

Sun-drenched rooms make for happy residents, but large glass windows also bring higher air-conditioning bills. Now a bioinspired microfluidic circulatory system for windows developed by researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University could save energy and cut cooling costs dramatically -- while letting in just as much sunlight.

NASA sees little rainfall in Tropical Depression Flossie

Tropical Storm Flossie weakened as it interacted with the Hawaiian Islands and became a depression. NASA's TRMM satellite saw mostly light rain and one isolated area of heavy rainfall within the storm after it weakened. All watches and warnings were dropped for the Hawaiian Islands on July 30.

New approach to treating venomous snakebites could reduce global fatalities

A team of researchers led by Dr. Matt Lewin of the California Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with the Department of Anesthesia at the University of California, San Francisco, has pioneered a novel approach to treating venomous snakebites -- administering antiparalytics topically via a nasal spray. This needle-free treatment may dramatically reduce the number of global snakebite fatalities....

Picosecond accurate slow-motion confirms oxide materials exhibit considerably faster switching properties than do semi-conductors

As part of an international team of researchers, scientists at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin have observed the switching mechanism from a non-conducting to a conducting state in iron oxide (specifically, magnetite) with previously unrealized precision. This switching mechanism -- which, in oxides, proceeds in two consecutive steps and which is thousands of times faster than it is in current...