Culture
Leopards are fascinating animals. In addition to being sublime hunters that will eat nearly anything and can survive in varied habitats from forests to deserts, they are able to withstand temperatures ranging from minus 40 degrees Celsius during winter to plus 40 degrees in summer.
Despite their resilience, the majority of leopard species are endangered. Poaching and the clearing of forest habitat for human activities are among the reasons for their global decline.
But in northern China -- and specifically upon the Loess Plateu -- something fantastic is occurring.
While many people think of lead poisoning as a problem of the past, chronic exposure still occurs in some communities that may be missed in limited screening programs for children's blood lead levels. Now researchers at Emory University have developed a more precise screening index, illustrated with a map, which provides a fine-grain view of areas where children are most at risk for low-level lead exposure in the city of Atlanta and throughout the state of Georgia.
One of the best sources of information on the evolution of terrestrial ecosystems and plant diversity over millions of years is fossil pollen. For palynologists--the scientists who study ancient pollen--a common challenge in the field is the identification of plant species based on these fossil grains. By integrating machine-learning technology with high-resolution imaging, a team from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of California, Irvine and collaborating institutions was able to advance this goal.
Access to more localized data on childhood vaccination coverage, such as at the school or neighborhood levels, could help better predict and prevent measles outbreaks in the United States, according to a new University of Michigan study.
The research also shows that when people who are not vaccinated are geographically clustered, the probability and size of an outbreak increases. The study is scheduled for publication Oct. 26 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Roots are essential for reaching water and nutrients, for anchorage to the ground, but also for interacting and communicating with microorganisms in the soil. A long root enables the plant to reach deeper, more humid layers of soil, for example during drought. A shallower root with many root hairs is good for phosphate uptake, as phosphate is mostly found in the upper soil layers.
Caroline Gutjahr, Professor of Plant Genetics at the TUM School of Life Sciences in Weihenstephan, and her team discovered new hormone interactions which influence the growth of plant roots.
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health researchers find that strong state firearm laws are associated with fewer firearm homicides--both within the state where the laws are enacted and across state lines. Conversely, weak firearm laws in one state are linked to higher rates of homicides in neighboring states.
Results of the study appear in the journal Epidemiology, and are based on an analysis of county-level data on firearm homicides as they relate to state gun laws between 2000 and 2014.
URBANA, Ill. - Since COVID-19 began its menacing march across Wuhan, China, in December 2019, and then across the world, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has taken a "whatever works" strategy to ensure its replication and spread. But in a new study published in Evolutionary Bioinformatics, University of Illinois researchers and students show the virus is honing the tactics that may make it more successful and more stable.
North and South, rural and urban--the United States is a complex mix of cultures, mindsets, and life experiences. And, as a new report by researchers at Stanford University, Resources for the Future, and ReconMR illustrates, those state-by-state differences affect climate attitudes and opinions.
MFS Is a strong surrogate endpoint for OS for men receiving salvage RT for recurrent prostate cancer
An analysis of the phase III NRG Oncology clinical trial RTOG 9601 on men receiving salvage radiotherapy (SRT) following prostatectomy for recurrent prostate cancer indicated that, while biochemical failure (BF) was not a strong surrogate endpoint to determine overall survival (OS), metastasis-free survival (MFS) was in this patient population. These findings are consistent with data in the intact prostate primary radiation treatment setting.
With a training technique commonly used to teach dogs to sit and stay, Johns Hopkins University computer scientists showed a robot how to teach itself several new tricks, including stacking blocks. With the method, the robot, named Spot, was able to learn in days what typically takes a month.
New genetic sensors, developed by scientists at University of Warwick and Keele University, could function as a lab test device and even as a live monitoring system inside living cells
The innovative system can detect when a specific gene in a cell is active - instead of only detecting its presence
The technology is based on the widely utilised CRISPR system and could be applied to a variety of biotech applications, including therapeutics and diagnostics
In a new study published in Politics & Policy, Deserai Crow, PhD, associate professor at the University of Colorado Denver in the School of Public Affairs, found significant differences in rhetoric between both party affiliation and gender. Narratives from both Republican and Democratic candidates in 48 U.S. House campaigns from the 2018 midterm election were analyzed in this study.
HOUSTON - (Oct. 26, 2020) - Nanomechanics at Rice University and the University of Houston are getting ready to rev their engines for the second international Nanocar Race.
While they'll have to pump the brakes for a bit longer than expected, as the race has been bumped a year to 2022, the Rice-based team is pushing forward with new designs introduced in the American Chemical Society's Journal of Organic Chemistry.
CHAPEL HILL, NC - University of North Carolina School of Medicine scientists have made a curious discovery about a well-known human protein that helps the immune system fight viral infections. The lab of Stan Lemon MD, and colleagues found that one class of viruses actually requires this protein to infect cells and replicate.
Philadelphia, October 26, 2020 - A dual therapy treatment regimen of expanded-spectrum cephalosporins (ESCs) plus azithromycin (AZM) is the recommended standard of care for gonorrhea. A strain of the Neisseria (N.) gonorrhoeae that is resistant to the ESC and AZM combination has emerged around the world with the potential to make gonorrhea untreatable. The currently used screening methods for antimicrobial resistant (AMR) determinants are slow, expensive, and not widely available.