Culture | Page 1745 | Science Codex

Higher muscle mass associated with lower mortality risk in heart disease patients

FINDINGS

Researchers from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA found that cardiovascular disease patients who have high muscle mass and low fat mass have a lower mortality risk than those with other body compositions. The findings also suggest that regardless of a person's level of fat mass, a higher level of muscle mass helps reduce the risk of death.

These findings indicate the importance of assessing body composition as a way to help predict cardiovascular and total mortality in people with cardiovascular disease.

Thin-film solar cells: How defects appear and disappear in CIGSe cells

Copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGSe) solar cells have the highest efficiency of polycrystalline thin-film solar cells. The four elements comprising CIGSe are vapour-deposited onto a substrate together to form a very thin layer of tiny chalcopyrite crystals. It is an exceedingly complex process controlled by many variables. This is why CIGSe modules in standard industrial formats have not yet attained the record efficiency already demonstrated at laboratory scale. One possible cause: defects that reduce the efficiency level can form during the course of fabrication.

Dartmouth-led study of chimpanzees explores the early origins of human hand dexterity

Chimpanzees use manipulative dexterity to evaluate and select figs, a vital resource when preferred foods are scarce, according to a new Dartmouth-led study just published by Interface Focus. The action resembles that of humans shopping for fruits, and the study demonstrates the foraging advantages of opposable fingers and careful manual prehension, or the act of grasping an object with precision.

Older adults need better blood pressure and cholesterol control to prevent cardiovascular disease

Philadelphia, PA, April 22, 2016 - The leading cause of death in the elderly, the fastest growing segment of the population, is cardiovascular disease (CVD). Prevention of cardiovascular events in elderly patients presents a therapeutic challenge because this age group is generally underrepresented in clinical trials, and doctors often assume that it is too late to initiate preventive therapy in the elderly.

The Lancet: Blood transfusions in high risk malaria zones could be made safer with new blood treatment technology

Patients, especially children, who undergo blood transfusions in sub-Saharan Africa are at high risk of transfusion-transmitted malaria. A new trial, published in The Lancet today, suggests that treating donated blood with a new technology that combines UV radiation and vitamin B is safe and could minimise the risk of malaria infection following blood transfusions.

Reducing infectious malaria parasites in donated blood could help prevent transmission

A technique for reducing the number of infectious malaria parasites in whole blood could significantly reduce the number of cases of transmission of malaria through blood transfusion, according to a collaboration between researchers in Cambridge, UK, and Kumasi, Ghana.

New study shows electronic health records often capture incomplete mental health data

New York, NY - April 21, 2016: Complementary sources of data can be used to paint a more complete picture of a patient's health trajectory than a single source. Significant recent investment in Electronic Health Records (EHRs) took place on the assumption of improved patient safety, research capacity, and cost savings. However, most of these health systems and health records are fragmented and do not share patient information. While fragmentation and incomplete clinical data in EHRs are recognized problems, almost no published data estimate their extent.

Tighter enforcement along the US-Mexico border backfired, researchers find

The rapid escalation of border enforcement over the past three decades has backfired as a strategy to control undocumented immigration between Mexico and the United States, according to new research that suggests further militarization of the border is a waste of money.

"Rather than stopping undocumented Mexicans from coming to the U.S., greater enforcement stopped them from going home," said Douglas Massey, one of the researchers and the Henry G. Bryant Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton.

Girls more anxious about mathematics, STEM subjects compared to boys

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Global studies have shown that women are underrepresented in some science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects and fields. Even in countries with higher gender equality, sex differences in math and technical scores persist. Now, using international data, a team of psychologists from the University of Missouri, the University of California-Irvine and the University of Glasgow in Scotland, have determined that, overall, girls experience negative emotions about mathematics that can result in avoidance of math topics.

Missed nursing care may contribute to racial disparities in rehospitalizations after AMI

PHILADELPHIA, PA (April 21, 2016) - Why are black older adults at higher risk of repeat hospital admission after a heart attack? Treatment at hospitals with higher rates of missed nursing care may be a contributing factor, reports a study in the May issue of Medical Care.

Murine models of arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy benefit from GSK3β inhibition

Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) is an inherited heart disease that results from mutations in genes that encode components of the cardiac desmosome, which forms the junction between cardiac muscle and the epithelium. Patients with ACM have an increased risk of sudden death due to the breakdown of the muscle wall of the heart with age. A previous chemical screen in a zebrafish ACM model identified a glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) inhibitor (SB2) that reversed disease.

Resolvin D1 ameliorates inflammatory arthritis in mouse model

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a debilitating autoimmune disorder that is characterized by the accumulation of inflammatory cells within the fluid of the joints. Current therapeutic strategies mostly serve to ease pain and rarely are able to reverse damage or resolve inflammation. A study in this issue of JCI Insight indicates that the lipid mediator resolvin D1 has anti-arthritic properties and should be further explored for treating RA.

Overall stability analysis of improved buckling restrained braces

In order to improve the behavior of double-tube buckling restrained braces (BRBs), it is proposed to set contact rings between inner tube and outer tube of the brace. As a result, they can provide lateral constraint for the inner tube. In this way, the improved buckling restrained braces (IBRBs) are created. In this paper, the design methodology of the specimens is explained in detail. The large scale model tests and the finite element analysis is used in a program edited in MATLAB.

A picture is worth a thousand... Airbnb guests?

"Sharing economy" markets have flourished recently, particularly within the field of travel and tourism. Taxi services such as Uber, dining services such as Eatwith and accommodation services such as Airbnb offer an alternative for people seeking low-cost services and direct interactions with the local community.

The Lancet Psychiatry: Improvements in NHS mental health care in England may have helped to reduce suicide rates

Increasing specialist community services like crisis resolution, helping make the transition to adult services smoother for young people, and implementing clinical guidelines are just some of the service changes that are linked to significantly reduced suicide rates in mental health services in England over the last 16 years, according to new research published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal.