Culture
DURHAM, N.C. -- Chronic exposure to microplastic fibers causes aneurysms, erosion of surface layers and other serious damage to fish gills, and increases egg production in female fish, a sign that chemicals in the fibers may be acting as endocrine disruptors, a new study by U.S. and Chinese scientists finds.
Stimulating immune cells with two cancer immunotherapies together can shrink the size of the viral "reservoir" in SIV-infected non-human primates treated with antiviral drugs, researchers have concluded. The reservoir includes immune cells that harbor virus despite potent antiviral drug treatment.
Inflamed tensions between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir region have raised concerns about the potential for a limited nuclear war between the two countries. But a new study combining climate, agriculture and economic models finds that the repercussions would extend far beyond the region, producing a decade of global cooling and a severe decline in crop production that would compromise global food security.
A war between India and Pakistan using less than 1 percent of nuclear weapons worldwide could lead to the worst global food losses in modern history, according to a Rutgers co-authored study that is the first of its kind.
Sudden global cooling from a limited nuclear war along with less precipitation and sunlight "could disrupt food production and trade worldwide for about a decade - more than the impact from anthropogenic climate change by late (21st) century," the study says.
Scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Brown University have developed new approaches that significantly improve the accuracy of an important material testing technique by harnessing the power of machine learning.
A powerful Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) collaboration has revealed that a bacterial superbug can prevent stem cells in the gut from carrying out their vital role of regenerating the inner lining of the intestine. This causes potentially severe disease, particularly in the elderly.
While concerns loom over an impending recession caused by the spread of COVID-19, policymakers and business leaders have implemented radical strategies, such as slashing interest rates to invigorate the U.S.'s weakened economy. Research and Development (R&D) has long been key in the nation's economic prospects and according to new research from the University of California San Diego, the country's ability to maintain its competitive edge in this area largely depends on managers in R&D being less averse to risk.
ITHACA, N.Y. - When you smell an orange, the scent is most likely combined with several others: car exhaust, garbage, flowers, soap. Those smells bind simultaneously to the hundreds of receptors in your brain's olfactory bulb, obscuring one another, yet you can still recognize the smell of an orange, even when it's blended with a totally different pattern of other scents.
NEW YORK, NY (March 16, 2020) - CRISPR-based genetic screens have helped scientists identify genes that are key players in sickle-cell anemia, cancer immunotherapy, lung cancer metastasis, and many other diseases. However, these genetic screens are limited in scope: They can only edit or target DNA. For many regions of the human genome, targeting DNA may not be effective, and other organisms, such as RNA viruses like coronavirus or flu, cannot be targeted at all with existing DNA-targeting CRISPR screens.
Children's museums can be a challenging environment for parents who feel the urge to explain the science behind all the novel activities that dazzle youngsters.
Sometimes that impulse goes awry, as when a well-meaning parent offers a detailed explanation that interrupts a youngster's exploration and dampens the fun--and the learning.
New research suggests that timing is key to supporting children's learning in these environments.
New Rochelle, NY, March 16, 2020--Physicians describe the standardized procedure of surgical anesthesia for patients with COVID-19 infection requiring emergency surgery to minimize the risk of virus spread and reduce lung injury in a Letter to the Editor published in Surgical Infections, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. publishers.
A new paper including research from a Utah State University scientist provides a framework for understanding how light and noise pollution affects wildlife. The framework is the product of an effort among worldwide experts in ecology and physiology and reveals the presence of "sensory danger zones," or areas where sensory pollutants influences animal activity. The study is published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution. The paper is a collaborative work with principal investigator Neil Carter, assistant professor at the School for Environment and Sustainability.
Protein aggregation and misfolding underpins several neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntingdon's and Alzheimer's. Proteins can also become aggregated or denatured under conditions of stress, such as extreme heat.
Maternal obesity increases the risk for obesity and metabolic perturbations in their offspring, but what are the mechanisms? In a new study published March 12 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology, Sebastien Bouret of the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) in Lille, France, and colleagues show that a key step in the process is the triggering of stress in a complex membrane system within all cells called the endoplasmic reticulum (ER).
African swine fever (ASF) is a devastating infectious disease in swine and has been catastrophic for the global pig industry. In 2018, ASFV was transmitted to pigs in China and ten other Asian countries, which mauled heavily pig industry in these areas. The fact demonstrates that ASF is hard to be controlled by culling infected pigs alone in China, and the development and application of an efficacious vaccine is urgently needed. Different vaccine strategies for ASF have been evaluated in the past decades.