Culture
Brazilian scientists have discovered that the strong odor released by some amphibian species is produced by bacteria and that attracting a mate is one of its purposes.
The bacteria in question are a noteworthy example of symbiosis as they assist in the animal's mating process. A paper recounting the discovery of this role of microorganisms isolated from the skin of frogs has been published
in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- It's not uncommon for young adults to pitch in and help out with the care of younger siblings. But it turns out that sometimes birds choose to become avian au pairs rather than raise their own brood.
After a five-year experiment, researchers from Florida State University and the Tallahassee-based Tall Timbers Research Station found that when fewer mates were available for brown-headed nuthatches, these small pine-forest birds opted to stay home and help their parents or other adults raise their offspring.
New international guidelines on how to provide treatment for women having miscarriage surgery are needed after a large-scale international trial led by the University of Birmingham examined if antibiotics can avoid the surgical complication of a potentially fatal pelvic infection.
The blood test used to diagnose a heart attack (acute myocardial infarction) in patients admitted to hospital can be misleading, warn researchers in a study published by The BMJ today.
Of 20,000 consecutive patients undergoing blood tests at University Hospital Southampton, one in 20 had levels of troponin (a protein released into the bloodstream during a heart attack) greater than the manufacturer's recommended upper limit. But in most of these patients were being seen for other conditions and so there were no clinical signs or symptoms of a heart attack.
Democratic governance is linked with declines in cardiovascular disease mortality and road deaths, as well as increases in government health spending
Life expectancy improved faster in countries that transitioned to democracy between 1970 and 2015 compared to those that did not--increasing by an average of 3% after 10 years
Democracy appears to play a bigger part in health outcomes than a country's GDP--accounting for about 25% of the reductions in deaths from cardiovascular disease and transport injuries over time
Most studies that look at whether democracy improves global health rely on measurements of life expectancy at birth and infant mortality rates. Yet those measures disproportionately reflect progress on infectious diseases -- such as malaria, diarrheal illnesses and pneumonia -- which relies heavily on foreign aid.
Academics led by Professor Lucie Cluver at Oxford University have shown how key services in lower and middle-income countries can contribute to multiple sustainable development goals (SDGs), even for the highest-risk children and adolescents.
A report out today examines the factors that influence 'maths anxiety' among primary and secondary school students, showing that teachers and parents may inadvertently play a role in a child's development of the condition, and that girls tend to be more affected than boys.
The report was funded by the Nuffield Foundation, with additional support from the James S McDonnell Foundation.
PITTSBURGH, March 12, 2019 - Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Screening is key for early detection and increased survival, but the current method has a 96 percent false positive rate. Using machine learning, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC Hillman Cancer Center have found a way to substantially reduce false positives without missing a single case of cancer.
"A healthy community requires healthy soil." This idea spurred a consortium of researchers, farmers, and community garden practitioners to dive into the challenges--and opportunities--of urban agriculture. Their efforts, now in a second year, may highlight how urban soil can be a resource for human and environmental health.
The respiratory systems of Atlantic salmon function normally even when carrying large loads of piscine orthoreovirus (PRV), new UBC research has found.
"We didn't find significant harm to the fish's respiratory physiology despite the virus replicating to a load equal to, if not higher, than those seen naturally in wild or farmed fish" said Yangfan Zhang, a PhD student in UBC's faculty of land and food systems and lead author of the study published today in Frontiers in Physiology.
WASHINGTON -- In late 2018, the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft arrived at Bennu, the asteroid it will be studying and sampling over the next several years.
MISSOULA - New University of Montana research suggests climate change makes it increasingly difficult for tree seedlings to regenerate following wildfires in low-elevation forests, which could contribute to abrupt forest loss.
The study, "Wildfires and Climate Change Push Low-elevation Forests Across a Critical Climate Threshold for Tree Regeneration," was published March 11 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and is available online at http://bit.ly/2HeZc8t.
ANN ARBOR--By slingshotting themselves forward, human cells can travel more than five times faster than previously documented.
University of Michigan researchers observed the movement in bioengineered 3D scaffolds that model stromal tissue--the connective tissue that surrounds organs.
The researchers say this method of cell movement, observed for the first time, could be involved in the spread of cancer. And in the future it could potentially be harnessed to direct the movement of healthy cells for tissue repair therapies.
Concussion researchers have long suggested that damage to the corpus callosum, a thick bundle of nerves that connects the brain's two halves, could result in some common side effects of concussion, like dizziness or vision problems. The assumption is straightforward - that damage to the corpus callosum could affect coordination between the two halves - but difficult to prove.