Culture
The European project Diverfarming, founded by the European Commission within its Horizon 2020 programme, not only seeks environmental sustainability among crop diversification and low input management practices, but also seeks to implement sustainable innovations into the agri - food supply chain making it more sustainable too. In this way, value chain actors will also obtain benefits such as economic stability.
New research from the University of South Australia finds that Australian businesses are ill-prepared for mandatory modern slavery reporting, with more than two-thirds of ASX 100 companies unable to produce a disclosure statement about potentially exploitative labour practices.
It is a concerning finding given that initial reporting periods have already commenced requiring Australian businesses to deliver their first modern slavery statements by 31 December 2020.
Tokyo, Japan - MicroRNA (miRNA) is a type of RNA that plays an important role in various cellular processes and is also involved in developing defenses against pathogens. Increasing numbers of studies have indicated that certain human diseases are caused by altered expression and organization of miRNA.
* A joint survey by researchers from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and Benue State University (BSU) finds that short height and low education levels are characteristic traits of Nigerian women with type 2 diabetes showing early symptoms of dementia.
* This work points to the importance of childhood nutrition and education programmes, particularly for girls, in public health improvement strategies in Nigeria. A sustained programme addressing these problems can mitigate a future burden of dementia in the country's adult diabetic women.
Healthy and competitive markets - and not stringent regulations - help dial back the cost of mobile phone contacts, according to new research.
Consumers in the UK benefit from comparatively cheaper bills than many of their counterparts abroad because regulations over contract length and costs are kept to a minimum.
Instead, market competition, where companies vie to offer the best deals to customers, provides the most effective way of keeping prices down and promoting a good service.
NEW YORK, NY (JULY 26, 2019) -- Although fewer young people with ADHD are treated with antipsychotic drugs than suspected, many prescriptions for the drugs do not appear to be clinically warranted, according to a new study from psychiatry researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. They also found that antipsychotic use among youths with ADHD was highest among preschool-age children.
Background
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Alexandra Kravchenko, Michigan State University professor in the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, and several of her colleagues recently discovered a new mechanism determining how carbon is stored in soils that could improve the climate resilience of cropping systems and also reduce their carbon footprints.
The findings, published last week in the scientific journal Nature Communications, reveal the importance of soil pore structure for stimulating soil carbon accumulation and protection.
More than 64% of employed Russians work evenings, nights or weekends, and this is one of the highest figures among European countries. Andrei Shevchuk and Anna Krasilnikova from HSE University were the first to study the extent of nonstandard working hours in Russia and its impact on work-life balance.
Departure from Traditions
DUARTE, Calif. -- PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitors are a powerful and growing form of immunotherapy used to treat melanoma, kidney cancer, head and neck cancers, Hodgkin's lymphoma and other cancers. The PD-L1 protein is expressed on tumor cells and aids the cancer by signaling to immune cells, such as T cells, to stop working against tumors.
BOSTON - Using novel transgenic mouse models they developed, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators have provided new evidence that it is the ratio of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids, rather than the total amount of them, that influences risk of developing chronic disease. This work has important implications for wellness and dietary guidelines. Their paper is just out in Nature's Communications Biology.
Boston - The population in the United States is expected to become increasingly older, with estimates indicating that by the year 2030, nearly 40 percent of Americans will be over the age of 65.
As people are living longer, their skin is not only chronologically, or biologically aging, but it is also being exposed to environmental factors, such as sunlight, which can cause age-related damage to the skin.
Although psychiatric disorders can be linked to particular genes, the brain regions and mechanisms underlying particular disorders are not well-understood. Mutations or deletions of the SHANK3 gene are strongly associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and a related rare disorder called Phelan-McDermid syndrome. Mice with SHANK3 mutations also display some of the traits associated with autism, including avoidance of social interactions, but the brain regions responsible for this behavior have not been identified.
CRISPR-based tools have revolutionized our ability to target disease-linked genetic mutations. CRISPR technology comprises a growing family of tools that can manipulate genes and their expression, including by targeting DNA with the enzymes Cas9 and Cas12 and targeting RNA with the enzyme Cas13. This collection offers different strategies for tackling mutations. Targeting disease-linked mutations in RNA, which is relatively short-lived, would avoid making permanent changes to the genome.
Some countries' Paris Climate Agreement pledges may not be as ambitious as they appear, a new study has found.
The Paris Agreement takes a bottom-up approach to tackling climate change, with countries submitting pledges in the form of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to greenhouse emissions.
However, writing today in Environmental Research Letters, researchers from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), Spain, reveal a lack of consistency and transparency between the various commitments.
Central London's freshwater sources contain high levels of antibiotic resistant genes, with the River Thames having the highest amount, according to research by UCL.
The Regent's Canal, Regent's Park Pond and the Serpentine all contained the genes but at lower levels than the Thames, which contained genes providing resistance for bacteria to common antibiotics such as penicillin, erythromycin and tetracycline.