Culture
(Vienna, Friday, 22 May, 2020) Those who are socially isolated are over 40% more likely to have a cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack or stroke, than those who were socially integrated, new research has shown.
The German study, due to presented tomorrow at the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) Virtual Congress, found that those who are socially isolated are almost 50% more likely to die from any cause. The research also showed that a lack of financial support independently increased the risk of cardiovascular events.
Facing a scarcity of pollen, bumblebees will nibble on the leaves of flowerless plants, causing intentional damage in such a way that accelerates the production of flowers, according to a new study, which reports on a previously unknown behavior of bumblebees. The leaf-damaging bumblebee bites have a drastic effect on plant flowering, compelling some to bloom two weeks to a full month earlier. Although the mechanisms by which deliberate bee damage accelerate flowering remain unclear, the results reveal bumblebees as powerful agents in influencing the local availability of floral resources.
In lieu of a vaccine or reliable preventative medications, the only approaches currently available to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 are behavioral - handwashing, mask-wearing and social distancing, for example. In a Policy Forum, Johannes Haushofer and Jessica Metcalf argue that it is crucial to identify the "nonpharmaceutical interventions" (NPIs) that most effectively reduce virus transmission at the lowest economic and psychological costs. While handwashing initiatives are relatively inexpensive, sanctioned school and business closures are extremely costly.
Tropical forests face an uncertain future under climate change, but new research published in Science suggests they can continue to store large amounts of carbon in a warmer world, if countries limit greenhouse gas emissions.
The world's tropical forests store a quarter-century worth of fossil fuel emissions in their trees alone. There are fears that global heating can reduce this store if tree growth reduces or tree death increases, accelerating climate change.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio has seen a growing disparity between abortion rates in rural and urban communities, later abortions, and less use of medication abortion care as the state has heavily regulated abortion and clinics have closed, a new study has found.
Researchers say their study raises concerns about inadequate and inconsistent access to a full spectrum of reproductive health care.
Regions of Italy with higher family fragmentation and a high number of residential nursing homes experienced the highest rate of COVID-19 infections in people over age 80, according to a new study published May 21, 2020 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Giuseppe Liotta of the University of Rome, Italy, and colleagues.
New research from the University of East Anglia (UEA) recommends changes to the system which sees drug companies strike deals with competitors to stop them producing cheaper generic alternatives.
These 'pay-for-delay' deals involve a payment from a branded drug manufacturer to a generic maker in order to delay market entry. In return for withdrawing its challenge, the generic firm receives a payment and/or a license authorizing it to enter the market at a later date, but before the expiration of the patent itself.
University of Melbourne researchers have quantified the toll that having multiple chronic diseases takes in China for the first time, which could have significant implications for its economic and health systems.
Researchers say is also timely as COVID-19 has placed further pressure on the public health emergency management system in China.
A new review discusses the findings from over 40 studies on coronavirus immunity and what they could mean for the Covid-19 pandemic.
Written by top UK virologists, the article discusses the existing knowledge about immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses, and how this could be used to inform virus control strategies. The review, which is free to read in the Journal of General Virology (JGV), collates the available scientific evidence in a number of key areas, including how long immunity to coronaviruses lasts and the prospect of antibody testing.
A new study by researchers from the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE), a joint centre of UPF and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), shows that, surprisingly, the distribution of mutations in human tumours is more similar to that of chimpanzees and gorillas than that of humans.
The article, which analyses cancer from the evolutionary point of view, is published today, 19 May, in Nature Communications. It was led by Arcadi Navarro and David Juan and involved the researchers Txema Heredia-Genestar and Tomàs Marquès-Bonet.
Altered gene expression in fat tissue may help explain why individuals who have regained weight after weight loss surgery still experience benefits such as metabolic improvements and a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. The findings come from a study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine.
Ecological resources are an important material foundation for the survival, development, and self-realization of human beings. In-depth and comprehensive research and understanding of ecological resources are beneficial for the sustainable development of human society. Advances in observation technology have improved the ability to acquire long-term, cross-scale, massive, heterogeneous, and multi-source data. Ecological resource research is entering a new era driven by big data.
With the aim of making the labour market more flexible, between 1990 and 2010 most of the economies, the European ones in particular, adopted various measures designed to reform their labour markets, which involved making it cheaper to dismiss permanent employees and encouraging the use of temporary contracts.
A new report, Spotlight on Adolescent Health and Well-being, published today by WHO Regional Office for Europe, compiles extensive data on the physical health, social relationships and mental well-being of 227 441 schoolchildren aged 11, 13 and 15, from 45 countries. Irish children rank low on substance use such as smoking and drinking alcohol and high on physical activity. Ireland also ranks high for problematic social media use.
Researchers from Sechenov University together with colleagues from several Russian institutes analysed data on the RNA structure of tick-borne encephalitis virus. Much larger than in previous studies, the data volume of the new study allowed them to estimate the age of the virus subtypes and track its spread in Eurasia. The results of the study were published in the journal Viruses.