Culture
Dang robots are crummy at so many jobs, and they tell lousy jokes to boot. In two new studies, these were common biases human participants held toward robots.
The studies were originally intended to test for gender bias, that is, if people thought a robot believed to be female may be less competent at some jobs than a robot believed to be male and vice versa. The studies' titles even included the words "gender," "stereotypes," and "preference," but researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology discovered no significant sexism against the machines.
Your house number could be the key to the safe relaxation of COVID-19-related restrictions if governments follow a new exit strategy proposal published today in the British Medical Journal.
Co-authored by Professor Adrian Barnett, a statistician with QUT's School of Public Health and Social Work, the paper suggests governments around the globe use an 'odds-and-evens' approach to allowing people to head back to work and enjoy other activities after weeks of lockdown.
Modern society relies on polymers, such as polypropylene or polyethylene plastic, for a wide range of applications, from food containers to automobile parts to medical devices. However, like people, polymers age, and when they do, the materials become prone to cracking or breaking. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have developed a method to visualize variations in polymers that arise with age.
A team of astronomers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and other institutes has discovered a black hole lying just 1000 light-years from Earth. The black hole is closer to our Solar System than any other found to date and forms part of a triple system that can be seen with the naked eye. The team found evidence for the invisible object by tracking its two companion stars using the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile. They say this system could just be the tip of the iceberg, as many more similar black holes could be found in the future.
(Boston)--High blood pressure (hypertension) is the leading cause of death in the world affecting more than 1.4 billion people and accounting for more than 28,000 deaths each day. Today, the International Society of Hypertension (ISH) has released the "ISH 2020 Global Hypertension Practice Guidelines" to help reduce the burden of this significant health threat affecting people from every country and socio-economic group.
Several clinical trials have reported beneficial effects of organic nitrates on bone health, which could lead to a reduced risk of fractures. Some of these trials have been retracted because of scientific misconduct; however. A new study published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research found that organic nitrates do not have clinically relevant effects on bone mineral density or bone turnover in postmenopausal women, and the medications caused significant side effects.
Day services--programs designed to provide stimulation in a safe environment during the day for adults with physical and mental impairments--may help improve the cognitive function of adults with Alzheimer's disease, according to a study published in Psychogeriatrics.
Many cancer survivors with high medical copayments experience financial toxicity, an economic side effect of cancer treatment. A recent analysis of published studies found that few cancer survivors received financial information support from healthcare facilities during their initial treatment, even though cancer-related financial toxicity has multiple impacts on survivors' health and quality of life.
Research published in Anaesthesia suggests that a "soft opt-out" system may increase consent rates for organ donation after death, which could boost the number of organs available for transplantation.
Neuroscientists at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory have found that a protein acts like a volume dial for the release of neurotransmitters, the chemicals that neurons release across connections called synapses to stimulate muscles or communicate with other neurons in brain circuits. The findings help explain how synapses work and could better inform understanding of some neurological disorders.
Despite the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), reports show that many health care workers contracted the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which raises substantial concerns about the effectiveness of the PPE. Highly sought after PPE used in hospitals and other health care settings is critical in ensuring the safety of those on the frontline of COVID-19, but only if they are used properly.
Singapore, 6 May 2020 - Researchers from Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), MIT's research enterprise in Singapore, have discovered a new anti-phage defence mechanism found in some bacteria, which uses previously unknown features to protect their DNA. The groundbreaking discovery enables scientists to overcome existing challenges in bacterial resistance to antibiotics. The growing antimicrobial resistance is a major concern for the global health community, and phage therapy is an important pillar in combating bacterial infections.
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - May 6, 2020 - Cortexyme, Inc. (Nasdaq: CRTX), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering a novel, disease-modifying therapeutic approach to treat what it believes to be a key underlying cause of Alzheimer's (AD) and other degenerative diseases, today announced the publication of research further documenting the ability of the pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis to invade neurons and trigger Alzheimer's-like neuropathology.
Lead author Dr Tracy Xu, Lecturer in Hospitality at The University of Surrey's world-renowned School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, has had her paper published in the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. The research behind the paper involved speaking to 19 hotel HR experts to identify the key trends and major challenges that will emerge in the next ten years and how leaders should deal with the challenges brought about by service robot technologies.
The lab of Xavier Saelens (VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology) announces the isolation and characterization of a unique antibody that can bind to the virus that causes COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2). The antibody was described in collaboration with research groups in the US. The team has established that the antibody binds to a conserved epitope on the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. Importantly, the antibody can neutralize a lab variant of the virus, an important step forward in the development of a potential antiviral drug against the new coronavirus. Their work appears in Cell.