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Wealth inequality is key driver of global wildlife trade
It was commonly assumed that wildlife products are exported from low-income countries to meet the demand of consumers in wealthy economies, and therefore, a widening wealth gap may drive up the volume of global trade and endanger wildlife. Recently, a research team co-led by the University of Hong Kong and Lingnan University corroborated this premise by analysing global wildlife trade databases. The findings are published in Science Advances.
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The level of satisfaction with life in Spain is marked by household financial capacity
In recent decades, Spain has undergone rapid social changes in terms of gender equality, despite starting from a more backward position than most European countries. This process is hampered by the economic downturn that began in 2008, underlining the importance of the economic context in the development of gender inequality levels. Little attention has been paid in academia to how this gender revolution is associated with factors related to individual wellbeing.
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Nature draws out a happy place for children
Young children in deprived areas see nature and outdoor spaces as being associated with "happy places", according to a new study published in the journal Child Indicators Research.
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Freeports: innovative trading hubs or centres for money laundering and tax evasion?
A new study from the University of Portsmouth calls for further government oversight to curb potential illegal activity through these zones.
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Many people could reduce their 'feeding window' by three hours
A new study from the University of Surrey has revealed 'real world' factors that influence people's interest in adopting a dietary pattern called time-restricted feeding.
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Bone-deep: Mineral found in human bone can help fight toxic organic compounds
Many industrial processes emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are hazardous to human health. In a new study, scientists from NITech, Japan, tailor the catalytic activity of hydroxyapatite, a mineral contained in human bones, using mechanical stress. This method was inexpensive and resulted in a 100% VOC conversion, potentially opening doors to effective climate control.
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Researchers use optical data to reveal the basic structure of spacetime in rotating frames
In a paper published in Modern Physics Letters A, researchers at the University of Georgia, USA, use high-resolution optical data to probe the nature of relativistic spacetime in rotating frames. Relativistic transformations describe fundamental attributes of spacetime. The predictions of the four major rotational transformations were compared with high-resolution published optical data. This analysis reveals the transformation that accurately describes relativity in rotating frames, thus defining the basic spacetime structure.
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New marine sulfur cycle model after the Snowball Earth glaciation
Dr. Lang and colleagues present a new marine sulfur cycle model that incorporates the volatile organosulfur cycle to explain the global deposition of superheavy pyrite, i.e. pyrite isotopically heavier than the coeval seawater sulfate, after the Cryogenian Sturtian Snowball Earth glaciation 717-660 million years ago. These findings improve our understanding of the Snowball Earth glaciation and marine sulfur cycle in Proterozoic oceans.
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Quantum mechanics paves the way for more stable organic solar cells
Quantum mechanics can be used to create more stable and more easily produced organic solar cells. These are the findings of new research from the University of Gothenburg.
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Pepsin-degradable plastics of bionylons from itaconic and amino acids
Marine plastic waste problems have been more serious year by year. One of the worst issues is that creatures in ocean are going extinct by mistakenly swallowing them. Conventional biodegradable plastics are degradable in digestive enzymes, but their performances are too low to use in society. In this study, researchers from JAIST have used bio-derived resources such as itaconic acid and amino acid for the syntheses of high-performance BioNylons having the pepsin degradation function.
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Researchers reveal Knl1 gene function in plants
Dr. HAN Fangpu's group from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences reports the identification and functional study of the maize Knl1 gene in an article published online in PNAS.
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Discovering candidate for reflex network of walking cats: Understanding animals with robots
A group of researchers from Osaka University developed a quadruped robot platform that can reproduce the neuromuscular dynamics of animals, discovering that a steady gait and experimental behaviors of walking cats emerged from the reflex circuit in walking experiments on this robot.
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How to predict severe influenza in hospitalised patients
Melbourne researchers have identified predictors of both severe disease and recovery in hospitalised influenza patients, finding that the immune system works in concert to fight influenza.
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MOF metallic mastery
The tightly defined ratios of metals in metallic organic frameworks makes them ideal starting materials for novel catalyst creation.
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Improved air quality during first wave of COVID prevented 150 premature deaths in major Spain cities
For the first time, researchers have estimated the impact of lockdown-related air pollution reduction on mortality in 47 provincial capital cities
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COVID-19 news from Annals of Internal Medicine
Majority of COVID-19 patients receiving home-based hospital care did not require care escalation to traditional hospital setting.
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New mothers twice as likely to have post-natal depression in lockdown
Almost half (47.5%) of women with babies aged six months or younger met the threshold for postnatal depression during the first COVID lockdown, more than double average rates for Europe before the pandemic (23%), finds a new study in London led by UCL researchers.
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Electromagnetic levitation whips nanomaterials into shape
To deliver reliable mechanical and electric properties, nanomaterials must have consistent, predictable shapes and surfaces, as well as scalable production techniques. UC Riverside engineers are solving this problem by vaporizing metals within a magnetic field to direct the reassembly of metal atoms into predictable shapes.
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Lichens slow to return after wildfire
Lichen communities may take decades -- and in some cases up to a century -- to fully return to chaparral ecosystems after wildfire.
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New study suggests pregnant women hospitalized for COVID-19 do not face increased risk of death
Pregnant women who are hospitalized with COVID-19 and viral pneumonia are less likely than non-pregnant women to die from these infections, according to a new study by researchers with The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM).
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