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A PROMPT, low-cost platform speeds up gonorrhea testing and spots antibiotic resistance

Eurekalert - May 12 2021 - 00:05
A portable, rapid testing platform can detect gonorrhea infections in patient samples in under 15 minutes, far faster than standard-of-care tests that can take hours or days.
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UNH research estimates 1.4 million children have yearly violence-related medical visits

Eurekalert - May 12 2021 - 00:05
A national report from the University of New Hampshire shows close to one and a half million children each year visit a doctor, emergency room or medical facility as a result of an assault, abuse, crime or other form of violence. This is four times higher than previous estimates based only on data from U.S. emergency rooms for violence-related treatment.
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University of Minnesota Medical School researchers identify target for senolytic drugs

Eurekalert - May 12 2021 - 00:05
In a study recently published in Nature, University of Minnesota Medical School researchers found that senescent immune cells are the most dangerous type of senescent cell.
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Backyard chickens, rabbits, soybeans can meet household protein demand

Eurekalert - May 12 2021 - 00:05
In 2020, stores sold out of garden seed, coops and rabbit cages. Meat shortages led many to wonder what to eat for protein when supply chains are disrupted and some people turned to gathering eggs, raising animals and growing their own food. A team from Michigan Tech and the University of Alaska assessed backyard protein sources: They looked at how a typical household with a typical backyard can raise chickens, rabbits or soybeans to meet its protein needs.
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Breakthrough could lead to early detection of pregnancy complications

Eurekalert - May 12 2021 - 00:05
in a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), researchers at the University of Missouri have found a way to study uterine fluid in the lab, thereby avoiding invasive procedures during pregnancy, while at the same time developing a potential model for using precision medicine to improve pregnancy outcomes.
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COVID-19 is not influenza, but it offers lessons on beating it, say Concordia researchers

Eurekalert - May 12 2021 - 00:05
Two Concordia researchers and their colleagues study the 2020 influenza figures from Canada, the United States, Australia and Brazil and show there is a clear relationship between COVID-mitigation measures such as hand-washing, masking and social distancing and the spread of the annual flu. They write that these preventive measures all but eliminated the flu in countries where it can kill tens of thousands of people a year, even as cases of COVID-19 soared.
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How the body builds a healthy relationship with 'good' gut bacteria

Eurekalert - May 12 2021 - 00:05
Research published in Nature reveals insights into how the body maintains balance with "good" gut bacteria that allows these microbes to flourish in the intestine but keeps them out of tissues and organs where they're not supposed to be.
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A delicate balance: Learning new ways that gut microbes educate the immune system

Eurekalert - May 12 2021 - 00:05
An immune system that mistakes our good gut bacteria for an enemy can cause a dangerous type of inflammation in the intestines called colitis. An immune system that looks the other way while gut microbes spill past their assigned borders is equally dangerous. Understanding how the immune system learns to make a brokered peace with its microbial residents, called the microbiota, is therefore an important area of research.
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Study finds ghost forest 'tree farts' contribute to greenhouse gas emissions

Eurekalert - May 12 2021 - 00:05
While standing dead trees in ghost forests did not release as much greenhouse gas emissions as the soils, they did increase GHG emissions of the overall ecosystem by about 25 percent.
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UCLA scientists decode the 'language' of immune cells

Eurekalert - May 12 2021 - 00:05
UCLA scientists have identified 'words' immune cells use to call up immune defense genes -- an important step toward understanding their language. The scientists also discovered that in an autoimmune disease, Sjögren's syndrome, two of these words are used incorrectly, activating the wrong genes and triggering the disease. Senior author, UCLA Professor Alexander Hoffmann, compares decoding the language of immune cells to when archaeologists discovered the Rosetta stone and could begin to read Egyptian hieroglyphs.
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New research may explain shortages in STEM careers

Eurekalert - May 12 2021 - 00:05
A new study by the University of Georgia revealed that more college students change majors within the STEM pipeline than leave the career path of science, technology, engineering and mathematics altogether
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Scientists use genetic engineering to explore mechanisms involved in psychiatric disorders

Eurekalert - May 12 2021 - 00:05
The research group created a virus capable of acting on specific adult brain regions, helping to elucidate the role of key neurons in the prefrontal cortex. They tested the technique on mice.
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Stimulating environments boost the brain; now scientists have found the genes responsible

Eurekalert - May 12 2021 - 00:05
Scientists use a swathe of modern techniques to map, in unprecedented detail, the molecular changes in the brain of mice that grew up in stimulating surroundings. These can be pinpointed to specific 'epigenetic' modifications to the genome within neurons and glia cells. These then regulate the activity of a minority of genes, especially within genomic regions implicated in cognitive mental health in humans. Published by the open access publisher Frontiers, the study may yield new leads in the search for mental health therapies.
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Symbiotic bacteria in root cells may be key to producing better crops, Rutgers study finds

Eurekalert - May 12 2021 - 00:05
A Rutgers study finds that symbiotic bacteria that colonize root cells may be managed to produce hardier crops that need less fertilizer.
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New ebolavirus vaccine design seeks to drive stronger antibody defense

Eurekalert - May 12 2021 - 00:05
Scientists at Scripps Research have unveiled a new Ebola virus vaccine design, which they say has several advantages over standard vaccine approaches for Ebola and related viruses that continue to threaten global health. In the new design, described in a paper in Nature Communications, copies of the Ebola virus outer spike protein, known as the glycoprotein, are tethered to the surface of a spherical carrier particle.
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PENTEC: World experts team up to improve outcomes for children after radiation therapy

Eurekalert - May 12 2021 - 00:05
Experts around the world volunteer in a large-scale effort to provide the first evidence-based guidelines for pediatric radiation therapy. These guidelines are aimed at minimizing long-term side effects while maintaining effectiveness of therapy.
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Lemon trees showed less response to citrus greening disease pathogen than orange trees

Eurekalert - May 12 2021 - 00:05
Citrus greening disease was first discovered in Florida in 2005. Since then, production of oranges in the United States for processing has declined by 72 percent between the 2007-2008 growing season and the 2017-2018 growing season, primarily in Florida. The disease was discovered in California in 2012, and now the state is beginning to see a rapid increase of citrus greening disease.
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Bears that mark more trees may be more successful in mating

Eurekalert - May 12 2021 - 00:05
Brown bears that are more inclined to grate and rub against trees have more offspring and more mates, according to a University of Alberta study. The results suggest there might be a fitness component to the poorly understood behaviour.
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All gas, no brakes: Testosterone may act as 'brake pedal' on immune response

Eurekalert - May 12 2021 - 00:05
Jonathan Busada, a researcher with the WVU School of Medicine and Cancer Institute, has investigated the role that hormones play in male and female inflammatory responses. In a new study, he found that testosterone may protect against stomach inflammation.
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How imperfect memory causes poor choices

Eurekalert - May 12 2021 - 00:05
A new study from UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and UC San Francisco's Department of Neurology combines insights from economics and psychology with decision-making experiments and fMRI brain scans to examine how our imperfect memories affect our decision making. Answering this question could hold implications for everything from conducting consumer research and crafting public policy to managing neurodegenerative diseases.
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