Culture
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - In a recent study, University of Arkansas physics researchers found evidence of an inverse transition in ferroelectric ultrathin films, which could lead to advances in development of data storage, microelectronics and sensors.
Italian American organized crime may conjure images of classic gangster flicks, but as James B. Jacobs explores in the Crime and Justice article "The Rise and Fall of Organized Crime in the United States," its history is unexpectedly nuanced and mutable. The Cosa Nostra families--popularly known as the Mafia--operated, at the height of their power, in at least twenty-four American cities, with five in New York City alone. Although no national body governed the families, they operated similarly to one another and were major urban power brokers.
The ability to forget our memories - for better or worse - is dependent on microglia and their inclination to weaken and eliminate the synapses connecting engram neurons, according to a new study in mice. The findings - which answer questions about whether microglia, known to be active in brain development, also affect forgetting later in life - present an important mechanism underlying memory erasure and may help aid our understanding of forgetting and amnesia.
Clumps of proteins inside cells are a common thread in many neurodegenerative diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig's disease. These clumps, or solid aggregates of proteins, appear to be the result of an abnormality in the process known as liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS), in which individual proteins come together to form a liquid-like droplet.
WASHINGTON, DC and SAN DIEGO, CA - Feb. 6, 2020 - Empowering Medicare to directly negotiate drug prices, accelerating the adoption of value-based care, using philanthropy as a catalyst for reform and expanding senior-specific models of care are among recommendations for reducing healthcare costs published in a new special report and supplement to the Winter 2019-20 edition of Generations, the journal of the American Society of Aging (ASA).
Engineers with the University of Cincinnati have created a tiny portable lab that plugs into your phone, connecting it automatically to a doctor's office through a custom app UC developed.
The lab the size of a credit card can diagnose infectious diseases such as coronavirus, malaria, HIV or Lyme disease or countless other health conditions like depression and anxiety.
The patient simply puts a single-use plastic lab chip into his or her mouth then plugs that into a slot in the box to test the saliva.
Tinder's meteoric rise in popularity has cemented its position as the go-to dating app for millions of young and not-so-young users. Although it is widely known as a platform to facilitate hookups and casual dating, some of the app's estimated 50 million+ worldwide users are employing it for something altogether different.
New Orleans, LA - Pooja Mehta, M.D., clinical assistant professor of obstetrics & gynecology at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, was a member of a research team that found 13% of deaths occurring during or up to one year after pregnancy among Louisiana women in 2016-17 were homicides. Results are published online in JAMA Pediatrics, available here.
HOUSTON -- A study led by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center furthered understanding about mitochondria, the cell components known as the "powerhouse of the cell." Knowing more about the genome is crucial given that mitochondria play important roles in tumorigenesis.
Most cells in the tissues of most organisms proliferate through somatic cell division (mitosis). This is a continuous cycle where a single cell doubles its genetic information (chromosomes) and divides equally to create two copies of the original cell. In contrast, germ (egg and sperm) cells are produced through a special type of cell division called meiosis, which takes place in the gonads. This process begins like normal mitosis but switches after some time to create four genetically dissimilar germ cells that have half the original cell's genetic material.
NEW YORK -- The protein tau has long been implicated in Alzheimer's and a host of other debilitating brain diseases. But scientists have struggled to understand exactly how tau converts from its normal, functional form into a misfolded, harmful one. Now, researchers at Columbia University's Zuckerman Institute and Mayo Clinic in Florida have used cutting-edge technologies to see tau in unprecedented detail. By analyzing brain tissue from patients, this research team has revealed that modifications to the tau protein may influence the different ways it can misfold in a person's brain cells.
DURHAM, N.C. -- Biomedical engineers at Duke University have developed the most advanced disease model for blood vessels to date and used it to discover a unique role of the endothelium in Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome. Called progeria for short, the devastating and extremely rare genetic disease causes symptoms resembling accelerated aging in children.
ANN ARBOR, Michigan -- Women with early stage breast cancer who test positive for an inherited genetic variant are not always receiving cancer treatment that follows current guidelines, a new study finds.
An inherited gene can increase risk of developing a second breast cancer, so strategies such as removing a woman's breasts or ovaries are intended to prevent a future cancer. But women who have already been diagnosed with breast cancer must also consider how best to treat the existing tumor.
In mammalian adult brains, neural stem cells are only present in few specific parts, so called niches. Only these niches are capable of generating new neurons. For the first time, researchers defined the proteome of these niches, the entire set of expressed proteins, and compared it to other regions of the brain. The findings help to identify key regulators for neurogenesis, an important step towards activating neurogenesis after brain injuries.
From plastics to pesticides, it seems like every week delivers fresh news about the dangers of endocrine disruptors--chemicals in the environment that alter the body's hormones and can lead to reproductive, developmental, neurologic and immune problems and cancer.
Industry regulation and individual consumer choice can reduce exposure to such chemicals, but there are few options to counteract damage that has already occurred.
Now new research conducted in worms suggests a path toward changing that.