Culture
A quarter of intensive care patients are readmitted to hospital shortly after returning home and some of these readmissions are avoidable, research suggests.
High levels of carer stress, difficulty understanding health and social care packages and psychological trauma all contribute to high rates of return, the findings show.
Pinpointing the reasons for unplanned readmissions is key to developing care packages that support patients at home and could save vital funds, researchers say.
Researchers at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, USA have developed an index that identifies the risk for lupus based on the presence and amount of Immunoglobin G (IgG) and Immunoglobin M (IgM) antibodies and levels of C1q, a protein complex associated with protection from lupus, in blood serum. The findings are published in the open access journal Molecular Medicine.
When people are injured, how does the brain adapt the body's movements to help avoid pain? New research published in The Journal of Physiology investigates this question.
After an injury, our body will rapidly associate pain to a particular movement and modify which muscles we use accordingly. This new research shows that the message from motor brain areas toward a muscle is reduced if this muscle is responsible for producing a painful movement and increased if it the muscle counteracts that movement.
Scientists from the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a way to use machine learning to dramatically accelerate the design of microbes that produce biofuel.
Prawns have personalities - and cautious crustaceans do better in the battle for food, new research shows.
Scientists from the University of Exeter studied rockpool prawns (Palaemon elegans) and found some were consistently shy, while others were bolder.
But this bravery may come at a cost - as the risk takers tended to do worse than other prawns when competing for food.
"We found that the shyer prawns were better at controlling a food source," said first author Daniel Maskrey, formerly of the University of Exeter but now at the University of Liverpool.
New research carried out by the John Innes Centre has delved into the genetic memory systems through which plants pass seasonal information down to their seeds to give them the best chance of reproductive success.
Plants integrate seasonal signals such as temperature and day length and use this memorised information to optimise the timing for key lifecycle stages.
In just over 1,000 years, Icelanders have gone through numerous changes in their gene pool, to the extent that Iceland's first settlers, who came to the island from Norway and the British and Irish isles between the years 870 and 930, are much more similar to the inhabitants of their original home countries than to Iceland's present-day inhabitants.
Our national forests and grasslands -- 193 million acres throughout the United States -- are a national treasure intended for use by everyone. But a new study by San Francisco State University Professor of Recreation, Parks & Tourism Nina Roberts and the U.S. Forest Service finds that many ethnic minorities are not using or enjoying these places.
LA JOLLA--(May 31, 2018) One of the many challenges in treating HIV is that the virus can lie dormant in cells, quietly evading immune detection until it suddenly roars to life without warning and begins replicating furiously. Salk Institute researchers discovered a small molecule called JIB-04 that destroys the HIV protein called Tat, responsible for revving up the virus.
Symptoms associated with borderline personality disorder -- a severe and chronic mood disorder characterized by an inability to manage strong emotions -- tend to worsen just before and during menses, according to a study in Psychological Medicine.
DALLAS - May 31, 2018 - Glucose is the energy that fuels cells, and the body likes to store glucose for later use. But too much glucose can contribute to obesity, and scientists have long wanted to understand what happens within a cell to tip the balance.
To solve this riddle, researchers at UT Southwestern's Cecil H. and Ida Green Center for Reproductive Biology Sciences examined specialized compartments inside the cell to reveal the role of a molecule termed NAD+ in turning on genes that make fat cells.
White Americans' fear of losing their socioeconomic standing in the face of demographic change may be driving opposition to welfare programs, even though whites are major beneficiaries of government poverty assistance, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University.
Cell biologists have deepened understanding of proteins associated with neurodegenerative diseases. The findings could open up new treatment approaches for disorders including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), among others.
Researchers in Japan have gained valuable insights into 'stress granules' -- clumps of RNAs and proteins that form when cells are stressed by factors such as heat, toxins and viruses.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - A strong social network could be the key to preserving memory.
New research from The Ohio State University found that mice housed in groups had better memories and healthier brains than animals that lived in pairs.
The discovery bolsters a body of research in humans and animals that supports the role of social connections in preserving the mind and improving quality of life, said lead researcher Elizabeth Kirby, an assistant professor of behavioral neuroscience and member of the Center for Chronic Brain Injury at Ohio State.
Boston, MA - The mortality rate in Puerto Rico rose by 62% [95% confidence interval (CI) 11% to 114%] after Hurricane Maria, according to a new study led by researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The study was conducted in January and February 2018, in collaboration with colleagues from Carlos Albizu University in Puerto Rico and the University of Colorado School of Medicine.