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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.
Fetal 'programming' of sweet taste's elicited pleasure
New research finds that adversities during gestation may influence the newborn's pleasure in response to sweet.
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.
Full body illusion is associated with a drop in skin temperature
Researchers used virtual reality technology with a specialized robotic system to test what happens when the mind is tricked into identifying with another body.
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...
Increased fluctuation in blood pressure linked to impaired cognitive function in older people
Higher variability in visit-to-visit blood pressure readings, independent of average blood pressure, could be related to impaired cognitive function in old age in those already at high risk of cardiovascular disease, suggests a paper published today on bmj.com.
Inhalable gene therapy may help pulmonary arterial hypertension patients
The deadly condition known as pulmonary arterial hypertension, which afflicts up to 150,000 Americans each year, may be reversible by using an inhalable gene therapy, report an international team of researchers led by investigators at the Cardiovascular Research Center at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Lawrence Livermore engineering team makes breakthrough in solar energy research
The use of plasmonic black metals could someday provide a pathway to more efficient photovoltaics -- the use of solar panels containing photovoltaic solar cells -- to improve solar energy harvesting, according to researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
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.
Making a change: Status quo bias in health decision making
People tend to follow the status quo when making health-related decisions -- even when the status quo is objectively worse, according to a new study published in Psychological Science.
Methamphetamine increases susceptibility to deadly fungal infection
Methamphetamine use can make a person more susceptible to the lung infection cryptococcosis, according to a study published in mBio®, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.
Myanmar at the crossroads: Conservationists see opportunities and challenges in biodiversity hotspot
Long isolated by economic and political sanctions, Myanmar returns to the international community amid high expectations and challenges associated with protecting the country's great natural wealth from the impacts of economic growth and climate change.
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....
New definition of chronic kidney disease labels 1 in 8 adults as sick
A new definition of chronic kidney disease labels over 1 in 8 adults and around half of people over 70 years of age as having the disease. Yet low rates of kidney failure suggest many of those diagnosed will never progress to severe disease.
NHS patient information leaflets are 'inaccurate, inconsistent and confusing'
The NHS's patient information leaflets are "inaccurate, inconsistent, and confusing -- and effort is duplicated" argues GP Margaret McCartney on bmj.com.
Offspring of mothers stressed during pregnancy with a passive stress coping style more prone to obesity
New animal research suggests greater risk for obesity and associated Type 2 diabetes in individuals that respond to stress in a passive manner and were born to mothers that were stressed during their pregnancy.
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...