Culture
Flies that cannot take to the air respond by sleeping more as they learn to adapt to their flightlessness, according to a study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The findings, published May 8 in Science Advances, suggest that sleep may be an evolutionary tool that helps animals adapt to challenging new situations.
New research has demonstrated that the key to implementing successful reform in low-performing schools is hiring and retaining effective principals and teachers. These findings, reported in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis (EEPA), also note that teacher turnover as well as student mobility and chronic absenteeism undermine potentially positive effects from these reforms.
Epithelial cells are held together and connected by several different types of structures that form cell-cell contacts. One of these structures, found near the top surface of the cell, is the adherens junction. This junction is critical for organ development, tissue architecture and cell function; disruption of adherens junctions can lead to inflammatory bowel disease, disorders of the skin and hair, and certain types of cancer.
As interest in the application of plasma medicine -- the use of low-temperature plasma (LTP) created by an electrical discharge to address medical problems -- continues to grow, so does the need for research advancements proving its capabilities and potential impacts on the health care industry. Across the world, many research groups are investigating plasma medicine for applications including cancer treatment and the accelerated healing of chronic wounds, among others.
CORVALLIS, Ore. -- In the ongoing struggle to address health care disparities in rural communities across the U.S., a recent Oregon State University study found that the perfect partner may be hiding in plain sight.
The direction of ocean currents can determine the direction of gene flow in rafting species, but this depends on species traits that allow for rafting propensity. This is according to a City College of New York study focusing on seahorse and pipefish species. And it could explain how high genetic diversity can contribute to extinction in small populations.
Leesburg, VA, May 8, 2020--Although the clinical symptoms of new pediatric lung disorders such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), swine-origin influenza A (H1N1), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury (EVALI), and coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pneumonia may be nonspecific, some characteristic imaging findings "have emerged or are currently emerging," according to an open-access article in the American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR).
WASHINGTON (May 7, 2020) "We have seen this before." Global health scholars have issued a clarion call about the needless loss of life expected because of a foreseeable prospect of "slow and inadequate access to supplies" to control COVID-19 in sub-Saharan Africa. They say what is unfolding now is similar to when lifesaving diagnostics and treatments came to the region long after they were available elsewhere.
In everyday life, matter behaves in a predictable, expected way. If you throw a ball, you assume it will travel in a certain direction and have a predictable recoil. What's more, forces exerted on one object would not have an impact on another, independent object.
An international team of researchers including the University of Adelaide, has completed the first large-scale study of DNA belonging to ancient humans of the central Andes in South America and found early genetic differences between groups of nearby regions, and surprising genetic continuity over thousands of years.
Herpes simplex virus (HSV1) infections are initiated at mucosal surfaces where the virus infects epithelial cells. When HSV1 spreads from the peripheral nerves and into the central nervous system, it can infect the brain and cause herpes simplex encephalitis, a rare disease with high mortality if left untreated. In most cases, the innate immune system prevents HSV1 brain infection, but HSV1 is sometimes able to evade the brain's defenses.
Scientists from the University of Groningen have developed a method that combines different resolution levels in a computer simulation of biological membranes. Their algorithm backmaps a large-scale model that includes features, such as membrane curvature, to its corresponding coarse-grained molecular model. This has allowed them to zoom in on toxin-induced membrane budding and to simulate a full-sized mitochondrial lipid membrane. Their approach, which was published in the journal Nature Communications on 8 May, opens the way to whole-cell simulations at a molecular level.
As bad as things might seem here in 2020, they could be worse: we could be living 252 million years ago during the Permian mass extinction. Volcanic eruptions and dramatic, sudden climate change killed most of the animals on land and almost everything in the oceans, setting the stage for the later rise of the dinosaurs on land and an explosion of new marine life. One kind of marine reptile, the ichthyosaurs, eventually evolved into sleek, dolphin-like predators, but scientists don't know much about early ichthyosaurs.
What The Viewpoint Says: The authors explain why COVID-19 presents a greater burden for immigrant communities and this article advocates for a more equitable health care system.
Authors: Jonathan Ross, M.D., M.S., of the Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York, is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.2131)
An international study led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) scientists found that the global mean sea-level rise could exceed 1 metre by 2100 and 5 metres by 2300 if global targets on emissions are not achieved.
The study used projections by more than 100 international experts for the global mean sea-level changes under two climate scenarios - low and high emissions. By surveying a wide range of leaders in the field, the study offers broader assurance about its projections for the ranges of future sea-level rise.