An increasing number of US adults are using marijuana, as fewer people perceive the drug as harmful, according to a survey of over 500000 US adults conducted between 2002 and 2014 published in The Lancet Psychiatry. As marijuana has become increasingly potent over the past decade, the authors say that the findings suggest the need for improved education and prevention messages regarding the risks of marijuana.
Tech
Today, cell biology no longer focuses only on static states, but rather seeks to understand the dynamic development of cells. One example for this is the formation of various types of blood cells, such as red blood cells or endothelial cells from their precursors, the blood stem cells. To understand how this process is genetically controlled, scientists analyze which genes are expressed by means of transcriptome analysis.
Aalto University's Radio Science and Engineering researchers have developed a method that allows antennas to make the shift from the analogue to the digital world. The antennas currently in use are mostly based on technology developed half a century ago.
Collaborative research at Notre Dame has demonstrated that electronic interactions play a significant role in the dimensional crossover of semiconductor nanomaterials. The laboratory of Masaru Kuno, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, and the condensed matter theory group of Boldizsár Jankó, professor of physics, have now shown that a critical length scale marks the transition between a zero-dimensional, quantum dot and a one-dimensional nanowire.
A study supported by FAPESP and coordinated by researchers at the São José do Rio Preto Medical School (FAMERP) in São Paulo State, Brazil, suggests official statistics may underestimate the size of the epidemic caused by Zika virus. Some cases of Zika may be misreported as dengue, the authors also argue.
Antipsychotic medications are associated with an increased risk of pneumonia in persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD), according to new research from the University of Eastern Finland. The risk of pneumonia was the highest at the beginning of antipsychotic treatment, remaining elevated also in long-term use. No major differences were observed between the most commonly used antipsychotics.
A specially designed antidote to reverse acute, potentially life-threatening anticoagulant-related bleeding worked quickly, and was well-tolerated according to interim results of the ongoing ANNEXA-4 study.
Andexanet alfa reduced anticoagulant activity by roughly 90% within half an hour among patients with acute major bleeding while receiving a factor Xa (fXa) inhibitor, resulting in "excellent or good" homeostatis at 12 hours in most subjects, reported lead investigator Stuart J. Connolly, MD, from McMaster University, in Hamilton Ontario, Canada.
Human occupation is usually associated with deteriorated landscapes, but new research shows that 13,000 years of repeated occupation by British Columbia's coastal First Nations has had the opposite effect, enhancing temperate rainforest productivity.
TUSCON, AZ - Intumescence injury, also known as edema or oedema, is a nonpathogenic physiological disorder that can cause blister- or callus-like tumor growths to develop on the surface of leaves, petioles, and stems of plants. Problematic intumescence injury has been observed in many different plant species. Researchers from the School of Plant Sciences at The University of Arizona published a study in the June 2016 issue of HortScience in which they report on recommended light treatments to mitigate the disorder for tomato plants grown in UV light-deficient environments.
AMES, IA - The genus Nyssa L. includes several woody species with traits valued by horticulturists, but only black gum (Nyssa sylvatica Marsh.) is prevalent in the nursery trade. Considered among the most beautiful trees native to North America, cultivars of black gum provide outstanding foliage color in autumn.
CAMBRIDGE, MA -- The cost of solar power is beginning to reach price parity with cheaper fossil fuel-based electricity in many parts of the world, yet the clean energy source still accounts for just slightly more than 1 percent of the world's electricity mix.
Most people know that e-mails and facebook messages from unknown senders can contain dangerous links. However, many users still click on them - and Dr. Zinaida Benenson from the Chair of Computer Science 1 at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) has investigated why. The results of the experiment were clear: up to 56 percent of e-mail recipients and around 40 percent of facebook users clicked on a link from an unknown sender although they knew of the risks of their computer becoming infected with a virus. And the main reason? Curiosity.
Daejeon, Republic of Korea, August 29, 2016--A research team led by Professor Keon Jae Lee from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and by Dr. Jae-Hyun Kim from the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) has jointly developed a continuous roll-processing technology that transfers and packages flexible large-scale integrated circuits (LSI), the key element in constructing the computer's brain such as CPU, on plastics to realize flexible electronics.
For those of you who take sandcastle building very seriously, listen up: MIT engineers now say you can trust a very simple equation to calculate the force required to push a shovel -- and any other "intruder"-- through sand. The team also found that the same concept, known as the resistive force theory, can generate useful equations for cohesive materials like muds.
Researchers have discovered an enzyme that plays a leading role in the formation of compounds that give aged wines their sought-after aroma.