For the first time, a unique study conducted at Lund University in Sweden has tracked the meteorite flux to Earth over the past 500 million years. Contrary to current theories, researchers have determined that major collisions in the asteroid belt have not generally affected the number of impacts with Earth to any great extent. Researchers have been studying geological series since the 19th century in order to reconstruct how flora, fauna and the climate have changed over millions of years. Until now, however, almost nothing has been known about ancient meteorite flux - which makes sense since impact is rare, and the battered celestial bodies quickly break down as they encounter Earth's oxygen. A new study published in PNAS shows how researchers in Lund ...

New insight on the link between a gene called SORBS2 and congenital heart disease has been published today in eLife, with findings that may help explain the cause of the disease in some patients. Some people with congenital heart disease are missing part of the long arm of chromosome 4, otherwise known as chromosome 4q. Chromosomes are thread-like structures made up of DNA. When part of the chromosome is missing, it means that some of the genes located on that section are also lost. Previous studies have linked heart defects related to chromosome 4q deletion syndrome ...

Converting Central American tropical forests into agricultural land is changing the colour and composition of natural material washing into nearby rivers, making it less likely to decompose before it reaches the ocean, a new Southampton-led study has shown. The flow of dissolved organic material, such as soil, from land to the oceans plays an important role in the global carbon and nutrient cycles. Changing how land is used can alter the type and amount of material being transported, with widespread implications for ecosystems. In this latest study, an international research team set out to learn more about the effects of deforestation on the coastal environment by studying material that flowed into rivers from various settings in a Central American rainforest, tracking its progress into ...

applying a thin sheath around the defective vein eliminated the varicose vein problem in over 95 per cent of cases. The research team published their findings in the Journal of International Medical Research on 6 April 2021. When the blood pools in the leg Varicose veins are more than just a cosmetic problem: the unsightly bulges might result in serious health problems such as leg ulcers, thromboses or even pulmonary embolisms. The cause of varicose vein disease is usually a weakness in the connective tissue, which causes the vein wall to give way and thus the vein diameter to grow. This process is accelerated by pregnancy or frequent standing and sitting. The increase in vein diameter impairs the function of the vein valves. The valve leaflets are pulled apart and a leak ...

Weakened electrical signals in the brain may be an early warning sign of age-related neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, suggests a study published today in eLife. The findings hint at new ways to identify early on patients who may have an age-related brain disease. They also provide new insights on the changes that occur in the brain as these diseases develop. "As tools for detecting Alzheimer's disease early are limited, there is a need to develop a reliable, non-invasive test that would enable early diagnosis," says first author Murty Dinavahi, who was a PhD Research Scholar at the Centre for Neuroscience, Indian ...

The Late Triassic Tianqiaoling flora is well-known in China, and its discovery has changed our understanding of Chinese Late Triassic phytogeographical divisions. More broadly, this flora has great significance for the study of phytogeography in East Asia during this time. However, the previous dating of this flora was only evidenced by plant fossils and stratigraphic correlation, and the accurate dating has still not been achieved. Recently, the team of Dr. Yuhui FENG of Shenyang Normal University collected isotope dating samples from the bottom of the Tianqiaoling Formation, which is conformally contacted the Tianqiaoling flora-bearing beds (Figure 1). The ...

Difficulty sleeping, sleep apnea and narcolepsy are among a range of sleep disorders that thousands of Danes suffer from. Furthermore, it is estimated that sleep apnea is undiagnosed in as many as 200,000 Danes. In a new study, researchers from the University of Copenhagen's Department of Computer Science have collaborated with the Danish Center for Sleep Medicine at the danish hospital Rigshospitalet to develop an artificial intelligence algorithm that can improve diagnoses, treatments, and our overall understanding of sleep disorders. "The algorithm is extraordinarily precise. We completed various tests in which its performance rivaled that of the best doctors ...

When sailing along on the seas and you suddenly spot a porpoise's fin in the distance, chances are that you have only encountered a single animal. Porpoises are most often seen alone, but new research now suggests that they also roam in groups - and even enter into a sophisticated collaboration when hunting. The way they collaborate surprises us, because the common perception among biologists is that porpoises roam and hunt alone, says Associate Professor Magnus Wahlberg, who is an expert in marine mammals and heads the Marine Biological Research Centre at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU). Drone footage has revealed group hunting among porpoises coming together to hunt schools of fish. The research team has recorded almost 44 hours of drone footage from the waters around ...

Men who suffer sensory loss, particularly hearing loss, are more likely to be physically inactive and obese than women, according to a new study published in the European Journal of Public Health. Researchers analysed data from more than 23,000 Spanish adults, and examined associations with physical inactivity and obesity in people with vision and hearing loss, and explored differences between men and women. Results suggest inactive people with hearing loss were 1.78 times more likely to be obese compared to those who did not have any hearing loss. In people who had difficulty seeing, the odds ratio is slightly smaller, with a likelihood ...

Systematic literature review provides evidence base for new therapeutic avenues in vasculitis Researchers have reviewed all clinical trials of targeted drugs used in the treatment of vasculitis. With this, they propose a completely mechanistic categorisation of these diseases, which may in time provide better treatment. Diseases which cause inflammation of the blood vessels are presently categorised according to the size of the blood vessels involved. But it would make more sense - and ultimately end with better treatment - if the diseases were categorised based on the causes of the inflammation. This is shown by a systematic literature review of clinical trials in vasculitis, which researchers from Aarhus ...

Astrophysicists from the University of Bath have developed a new method for pinpointing the whereabouts of extremely rare extragalactic objects. They hope their technique for finding 'changing-look quasars' will take scientists one step closer to unravelling one of greatest mysteries of the universe - how supermassive black holes grow. Quasars are believed to be responsible for regulating the growth of supermassive black holes and their host galaxies. A quasar is a region of spectacular luminosity at the centre of a galaxy, powered by a supermassive black hole - the largest type of black hole, with a mass that exceeds that of our sun by millions or billions. There is a supermassive black hole ...

When it comes to climate change, policymakers may fail to see the trees for the forest. Turns out that the trees may be the answer after all, according to a study published by authors from more than seven countries on June 3rd in Nature Climate Change. "Climate change and biodiversity loss are two major environmental challenges," said paper author Akira S. Mori, professor at Yokohama National University. "But the vast majority of attention has been paid to one unidirectional relationship -- climate change as a cause and biodiversity loss as a consequence." Mori and his co-authors argue that climate change and species ...

Tuesday, 8 June 2021: A study by RCSI indicates that exercise is probably the most effective short-term treatment for depression in people with coronary heart disease, when compared to antidepressants and psychotherapy or more complex care. The study, led by researchers at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, is published in the June edition of Psychosomatic Medicine. This is the first systematic review to compare treatments for depression in those with coronary disease and the findings provides valuable clinical information to help doctors determine the best treatment plan for patients. The researchers reviewed treatment trials which investigated antidepressants, psychotherapy, ...

Around the globe, software-intensive organisations shift from plan-based development processes to Agile ones, intending to focus more on team interaction, better products, customers' needs, and readiness to change. But how do these organisations succeed with large-scale Agile software transformations - and how do the success factors relate? This has been discussed in the scientific community for several years. Now, Associate Professor Daniel Russo from Department of Computer Science, Aalborg University presents a long-term study, which sheds even more light on the ...

Rising unemployment, inadequate benefits and low paid work are the main causes of poverty and destitution in Stoke-on-Trent according to the findings of a new study. The research carried out by Staffordshire University and Citizens Advice Staffordshire North & Stoke-on-Trent, and funded through Research England's Strategic Priorities Fund, aims to understand the impact COVID-19 is having on residents in the city. The report includes case studies of people who have turned to Citizens Advice and Alice Charity's Foodbank after finding themselves unable to work through the pandemic and facing increasing debt or struggling to claim benefits. Post ...

Lanthanides are rare-earth heavy metals with useful magnetic properties and a knack for emitting light. Researchers had long assumed that lanthanides' toxicity risk was low and therefore safe to implement in a number of high-tech breakthroughs we now take for granted: from OLEDs (organic light-emitting displays)¬¬ to medical MRIs and even hybrid vehicles. In recent years, however, some scientists have questioned lanthanides' safety. In matters concerning health care, for example, some MRI patients have attributed a litany of side effects, including ...

Most fish rely on water to feed, using suction to capture their prey. A new study, however, shows that snowflake morays can grab and swallow prey on land without water thanks to an extra set of jaws in their throats. After a moray eel captures prey with its first set of jaws, a second set of "pharyngeal jaws" then reaches out to grasp the struggling prey and pull it down into the moray's throat. Rita Mehta, an associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz, first described this astonishing feeding mechanism in a 2007 Nature paper. The new study, published June 7 in the Journal of Experimental Biology, shows that these pharyngeal jaws enable ...

Forty years ago, the first cases of HIV/AIDS in the U.S began to raise public awareness- but new research highlights the struggle people living with the disease still face against stigma, discrimination and negative labelling in their own families, communities and even amongst healthcare professionals. A new study by Flinders University researchers interviewed 20 HIV healthcare providers including doctors, nurses, and counsellors in Yogyakarta and Belu districts, Indonesia to examine their experiences when treating patients with HIV. Their responses indicated admission of ...

A trial using mice has shown that a diet high in sugar from childhood could lead to significant weight gain, persistent hyperactivity and learning impairments Many people on 'western' diets consume four times more the sugar recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Reducing sucrose intake in mice by four-fold prevented sugar-induced increase in weight gain, supporting the WHO's recommendations of 25g per person a day. Children who consume too much sugar could be at greater risk of becoming obese, hyperactive, and cognitively impaired, as adults, according to the results of a new study of mice led by ...

Propylene oxide (PO) is one of the important propylene derivatives with high reactivity, which is used extensively as raw material for the manufacture of numerous commercial chemicals. The titanosilicate-catalyzed hydrogen peroxide propylene oxide process (HPPO) is considered to be most advantageous because it is highly economical and ecofriendly, giving only H2O as the theoretical byproduct and achieving high PO selectivity under mild reaction conditions. The industrial HPPO process is generally carried out in a fixed-bed reactor using the shaped titanosilicate catalysts. Unfortunately, the inert and non-porous binders in shaping ...

The geometric isolation of metal species in single-atom catalysis (SACs) not only maximizes the atomic utilization efficiency, but also endows SACs with unique selectivity in various transformations. The coordination environment of isolated metal atoms in SACs determines the catalytic performance. However, it remains challenging to modulate the coordinative structure while still maintain the single-atom dispersion. Recently, a research group led by Prof. ZHANG Tao and Prof. WANG Aiqin from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences fabricated Ru1/NC ...

CHICAGO --- Having trouble falling or staying asleep may leave you feeling tired and frustrated. It also could subtract years from your life expectancy, according to a new study from Northwestern Medicine and the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom (UK). The effect was even greater for people with diabetes who experienced sleep disturbances, the study found. Study participants with diabetes who experienced frequent sleep disturbances were 87% more likely to die of any cause (car accident, heart attack, etc.) during the 8.9-year study follow-up period compared to people without diabetes or sleep disturbances. They were 12% more likely to die over this period than those who had diabetes but not frequent sleep disturbances. "If you don't have diabetes, your sleep ...

In a paper published by the Journal of Sleep Research, researchers reveal how they examined data* from half a million middle-aged UK participants asked if they had trouble falling asleep at night or woke up in the middle of the night. The report found that people with frequent sleep problems are at a higher risk of dying than those without sleep problems. This grave outcome was more pronounced for people with Type-2 diabetes: during the nine years of the research, the study found that they were 87 per cent more likely to die of any cause than people without diabetes ...

Durham, NC - Critically ill COVID-19 patients treated with non-altered stem cells from umbilical cord connective tissue were more than twice as likely to survive as those who did not have the treatment, according to a study published today in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine. The clinical trial, carried out at four hospitals in Jakarta, Indonesia, also showed that administering the treatment to COVID-19 patients with an added chronic health condition such as diabetes, hypertension or kidney disease increased their survival more than fourfold. All 40 patients who took part in the double-blind, controlled, ...

A new study from the University of California, Davis and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai confirms that surgical masks effectively reduce outgoing airborne particles from talking or coughing, even after allowing for leakage around the edges of the mask. The results are published June 8 in Scientific Reports. Wearing masks and other face coverings can reduce the flow of airborne particles that are produced during breathing, talking, coughing or sneezing, protecting others from viruses carried by those particles such as SARS-CoV2 and influenza, said Christopher Cappa, professor ...