Eurekalert

Wonderwerk Cave has been identified as potentially the earliest cave occupation in the world and the site of some of the earliest indications of fire use and tool making among prehistoric humans.

Boundary conditions of shopping, such as shipping costs or travel time, are of central importance for individual store choices. Assessment of purchasing security, environmental protection aspects, and work conditions also come into play when deciding between online and local. This is found by a microeconometrical, representative study at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) funded by the German Research Foundation. Some of its results are now reported in Papers in Applied Geography and Raumforschung und Raumordnung.

The study showed that the cells of people who survived critical illness (ie two or more organs failing) produced energy in a different way to those who did not survive. The behaviour of critically ill cells looks similar to how cells adapt to limited oxygen levels (hypoxia). The work took place before the COVID-19 pandemic, but findings are relevant to patients on ventilators experiencing low oxygen levels or multiple organ failure.

Touching patients while providing care is an important and unavoidable aspect of the nursing profession. Nurses can also transform touch into a useful therapeutic tool to improve patients'-- and their own--wellbeing. That is the topic of a study, "'Permission to Touch': Nurses' Perspectives of Interpersonal Contact during Patient Care," published in the Western Journal of Nursing Research. Through focus groups and interviews, participants said they found touch and massage helpful when providing patient care.

Brain research and advocacy nonprofit Cohen Veterans Bioscience (CVB) today announced the launch of a National TBI Precision Solutions Research Roadmap, with the advent of the first in a series of publications resulting from its Brain Trauma Blueprint program. The Brain Trauma Blueprint is a framework that enables stakeholder groups across government, academia, foundations, and industry to advance precision diagnostics and treatments for brain trauma through a coordinated effort.

The opioid prescribing guideline released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2016 has failed to reduce addiction and overdoses, significantly worsened the quality of pain care in the United States and should be revoked, according to a large new survey of patients and healthcare providers.

The University of Southern Denmark (SDU), Rigshospitalet and the University of Copenhagen have come together to study the effects of Football Fitness on various health parameters and self-rated health following treatment for breast cancer.The study concludes, that Football Fitness strengthens bones and muscles as well as improving balance in women treated for breast cancer. This in turn reduces the risk of various established long-term consequences of the medical treatment the women have undergone.

A study led by researchers at the Centre for Palaeogenetics in Stockholm shows that the last remaining populations of the Sumatran rhinoceros display surprisingly low levels of inbreeding. The genomes from 21 modern and historical rhinoceros' specimens were sequenced to investigate the genetic health in rhinos living today and ones that recently became extinct. With less than 100 individuals remaining, the Sumatran rhinoceros is one of the most endangered mammal species in the world.

Patients with breast and prostate cancers who are treated with hormonal therapies have an increased risk of heart attack and/or stroke as they age.The increased likelihood of a heart attack or stroke is greater in patients who already have two or more cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, smoking or a family history of heart disease or stroke.The longer the duration of hormonal therapy, the higher the risk of cardiovascular disease.

A new Australian study reveals that changes in lifestyle patterns were longitudinally associated with concurrent changes in body mass index (BMI) z scores, and maternal pre-pregnancy BMI, maternal dietary patterns and television viewing time are significant determinants, according to a paper published online in Obesity, The Obesity Society's (TOS) flagship journal. This is the first study that used multi-trajectory modeling to examine the longitudinal relationship between concurrent changes in lifestyle patterns and BMI z scores in early childhood.

Protecting long-term care residents from outbreaks requires different infrastructure, proper staffing conditions and a culture of quality assurance, researchers have found.

The Piotrowski Lab has reported newly identified invasive ionocytes in the sensory organs of larval and adult zebrafish fish that may provide clues to how sensory organs continue to function in changing environments.

A majority of gay and bisexual Generation Z teenage boys report being out to their parents, part of an uptick in coming out among young people that researchers have noted in recent decades, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. However, stigma and religious beliefs still prevent some young people from disclosing their sexual identity.

A recent study provides insights on the COVID-19 pandemic's effects on employment, anxiety, and financial distress among women with gynecologic cancer and low income. The findings are published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

Hazelnut is widely grown for its rich oleic acid content and flavor. However, owing to the unavailability of high-quality genetic resources for hazelnut, crop improvement has remained a significant challenge. A new study published in Horticulture Research presents a high-quality whole genome analysis of Chinese hazelnut, along with identification of several genes underlying economically important traits like oil content and disease resistance. These findings can lead to improvements in hazelnut yield worldwide.

Researchers investigated the high-loss free space high-precision time-frequency dissemination experiment between remote locations, simulating the high-precision time-frequency high-orbit satellite-ground links in the channel loss, atmospheric noise, and transmission delay effects.

The discovery is a step forward towards the creation of smart drugs that will neutralize the proteins and prevent disease, without the use of antibiotics

The team identified a fundamental pattern in the work of the human proteins and determined the structure of their complex with a functional fragment of the papillomavirus oncoprotein. Using these data, the team suggested a way to affect the stability of the studied protein complex, which could be further developed into a therapeutic approach against papillomavirus infections.

Scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) have pioneered a novel method for producing supramolecular protein assemblies from protein crystals. Their approach involves strategically introducing mutations in a protein monomer to create disulfide bonds (S-S) between the building blocks of protein crystals at very specific sites. After isolating the protein crystals from the cells and dissolving them, these bonds create uniform, stable filaments. Such protein assemblies could find applications in molecular storage, drug delivery, and catalysis.

Researchers using a new method involving the mineral barite have dated the first emergence of continental crust to 500 million years earlier than previously thought. The results will be presented at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly 2021, which is taking place from 19-30 April 2021.