Culture
Politicians are unlikely to be punished or rewarded for their failures or successes in managing the coronavirus pandemic at the next election, suggests an analysis of survey data from the US, the UK and India, published in the online journal BMJ Global Health.
Movement in animals is complex, especially in human beings. A variety of neurons coordinate the activity and inactivity of our muscles, and without that coordination we'd fall flat on our face when we went for a walk.
CLEVELAND--More than 103,000 rental units spread across the city proper are potentially vulnerable to lead contamination because they were built before 1978 when lead paint was outlawed. According to a new study from Case Western Reserve University's Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, over one-third of these units are in poor condition and of very low market value.
Regulators have failed to properly address patient safety on discharge from hospital in England, leaving the physical wellbeing and dignity of patients continuously at risk at a time when they should be returning safely home, finds new research.
Edge Localised Modes, ELMs for short, are one of the disturbances of the plasma confinement that are caused by the interaction between the charged plasma particles and the confining magnetic field cage. During ELM events, the edge plasma loses its confinement for a short time and periodically throws plasma particles and energy outwards onto the vessel walls. Typically, one tenth of the total energy content can thus be ejected abruptly.
Hitting a specific point on a screen with a laser pointer during a presentation isn't easy - even the tiniest nervous shaking of the hand becomes one big scrawl at a distance. Now imagine having to do that with several laser pointers at once. That is exactly the problem faced by physicists who try to build quantum computers using individual trapped atoms. They, too, need to aim laser beams - hundreds or even thousands of them in the same apparatus - precisely over several metres such as to hit regions only a few micrometres in size that contain the atoms.
About half of the people with multiple sclerosis have the HLA-DR15 gene variant. A study led by the University of Zurich has now shown how this genetic predisposition contributes to the development of the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis in combination with environmental factors. The decisive factor is the shaping of a repertoire of immune cells which - although they are effective in fighting off pathogens such as Epstein-Barr virus - also attack brain tissue.
The March 2014 landslide in Oso, Washington, about 55 miles northeast of Seattle, became the deadliest landslide event in United States history. Forty-three people died and 49 homes and structures were destroyed.
A University of Washington engineer who analyzed the event's aftermath began to investigate the circumstances that can make landslides so deadly. The resulting study shows that certain human actions increase the chance of surviving a devastating event, and suggests simple behavioral changes could save more lives than expensive engineering solutions.
Ravens, crows, magpies and their relatives are known for their exceptional intelligence, which allows them to solve complex problems, use tools or outsmart their conspecifics. One capability, however, that we humans value highly, seems to be missing from their behavioral repertoire: generosity. Only very few species within the crow family have so far been found to act generously in experimental paradigms, while the highly intelligent ravens, for example, have demonstrated their egoistic tendencies in multiple studies.
It is probably the immune response to, rather than the virus in itself, that causes sudden confusion and other symptoms from the nervous system in some patients with COVID-19. This is shown by a study of cases involving six Swedish patients, now published in the journal Neurology.
With accumulated experience of the disease, it has become evident that symptoms and signs from the nervous system is common in patients suffering from COVID-19.
Every cell in our body constantly divides to form new cells. This happens without us even thinking about it. However, every single time a cell divides, a complicated process has to unfold just the right way for our cells to avoid sickness and death.
The most essential step in this process is DNA replication, where the DNA in a mother cell is copied into its two daughter cells. Here, many molecules have to work together in order to assemble two new, identical DNA strings.
A new way of producing an enzyme called fucosyltransferase VI (FTVI) in the lab could help enhance the therapeutic potential of cord blood transplants.
The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread rapidly across the globe at an alarming pace, causing considerable anxiety and fear among the general public. In response to the growing number of new cases, many countries have imposed lockdown measures to slow the spread of coronavirus. However, nearly every individual, community, business, and economy has been adversely affected by lockdown measures - an impact to society that cannot be ignored.
Most diseases are caused by aberrant cell signaling processes and basic research in cell signaling is needed to identify targets for future therapeutic approaches, especially in cases where no cures or effective treatments are currently available.
Millions of years ago, several species of crocodiles of different genera and characteristics inhabited Europe and sometimes even coexisted. But among all these species, it was thought unlikely that crocodiles of the genus Crocodylus, of African origin, had ever lived in the Mediterranean basin. The remains found in the Italian regions of Gargano, Tuscany and Scontrone over the last few decades confirm that they did.