In recent years, researchers have discovered ways to remove specific fears from the brain, increase one's own confidence, or even change people's preferences, by using a combination of artificial intelligence and brain scanning technology. Their technique could lead to new treatments for patients with conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), phobias or anxiety disorders. But while this technique is extremely promising, in some individuals it remains unsuccessful. Why are there such differences in outcome? Better understanding how the brain can self-regulate its own activity patterns would go a long way toward establishing the technique for clinical use. The researchers who spearheaded this technique have thus released a unique dataset ...

Peer review/Experimental study/Animals Propranolol, a drug that is efficacious against infantile haemangiomas ("strawberry naevi", resembling birthmarks), can also be used to treat cerebral cavernous malformations, a condition characterised by misshapen blood vessels in the brain and elsewhere. This has been shown by researchers at Uppsala University in a new study published in the scientific journal Stroke. "Up to now, there's been no drug treatment for these patients, so our results may become hugely important for them," says Peetra Magnusson of the University's Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, who headed the study. Cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs, also called cavernous angiomas or cavernomas) are vascular lesions ...

DALLAS, Feb. 23, 2021 — Women face many female-specific risks for heart disease and stroke, including pregnancy, physical and emotional stress, sleep patterns and many physiological factors, according to multiple studies highlighted in this year’s Go Red for Women® special issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association, published online today. “Although cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in men and women, women are less likely to be diagnosed and receive preventive care and aggressive treatment compared to men,” said Journal of the American Heart Association Editor-in-Chief Barry London, M.D., Ph.D., Ph.D., the Potter Lambert Chair in Internal Medicine, director of the division ...

Using an innovative computational approach to analyze vast brain cell gene expression datasets, researchers at MIT and Sorbonne Université have found that Huntington's disease may progress to advanced stages more because of a degradation of the cells' health maintenance systems than because of increased damage from the disease pathology itself. The analysis yielded a trove of specific gene networks governing molecular pathways that disease researchers may now be able to target to better sustain brain cell health amid the devastating neurodegenerative ...

The use of the polymeric flame retardant PolyFR in "eco-friendly" foam plastic building insulation may be harmful to human health and the environment, according to a new commentary in Environmental Science & Technology. The authors' analysis identifies several points during the lifecycle of foam insulation that may expose workers, communities, and ecosystems to PolyFR and its potentially toxic breakdown products. With the climate crisis fueling demand for energy-efficient insulation, the production of PolyFR is increasing rapidly. That's because this flame retardant is added to all foam plastic building insulation in North America to comply with flammability codes, replacing the flame retardant ...

HSE University researchers have become the first in the world to discover genetic predisposition to severe COVID-19. The results of the study were published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology. T-cell immunity is one of the key mechanisms used by the human body to fight virus infections. The staging ground for cell immunity development is the presentation of virus peptides on the surface of infected cells. This is followed by activation of T lymphocytes, which start to kill the infected cells. The ability to successfully present virus peptides is largely determined by genetics. In human cells, human leukocyte antigen class I (HLA-I) molecules are responsible for this presentation. The set of six such molecules is unique in every ...

Young novice drivers who speak into hand-held smartphones while driving are also likely to drive while under the influence of drink or drugs, according to researchers at Lero, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software. The study "Smartphone Use While Driving: An Investigation of Young Novice Driver (YND) Behaviour," also found that speaking on a hand-held phone is strongly correlated with high-risk driving behaviours such as overtaking on the inside of the car ahead, speeding, driving without a valid licence and driving while intoxicated. Lero researchers, surveyed 700 German Young Novice Drivers ...

COVID-19 infection in pregnancy is not associated with stillbirth or early neonatal death, according to a new study. However the research, from over 4000 pregnant women with suspected or confirmed COVID-19, also found women who had a positive test were more likely to have a premature birth. The research, led by scientists from Imperial College London and published in the journal Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology, used data from the UK and the USA. The study team looked at data from 4004 pregnant women who had suspected or confirmed COVID-19. Of these women, ...

ITHACA, N.Y. - Critics claim environmental regulations hurt productivity and profits, but the reality is more nuanced, according to an analysis of environmental policies in China by a pair of Cornell economists. The analysis found that, contrary to conventional wisdom, market-based or incentive-based policies may actually benefit regulated firms in the traditional and "green" energy sectors, by spurring innovation and improvements in production processes. Policies that mandate environmental standards and technologies, on the other hand, may broadly harm output and profits. "The conventional wisdom is not entirely ...

As electronic devices saturate all corners of public and personal life, engineers are scrambling to find lightweight, mechanically stable, flexible, and easily manufactured materials that can shield humans from excessive electromagnetic radiation as well as prevent electronic devices from interfering with each other. In a breakthrough report published in Advanced Materials--the top journal in the field-- engineers at the University of California, Riverside describe a flexible film using a quasi-one-dimensional nanomaterial filler that combines excellent electromagnetic shielding with ease of manufacture. "These novel films are promising for high-frequency communication technologies, which require electromagnetic ...

A federally approved heart medication shows significant effectiveness in interfering with SARS-CoV-2 entry into the human cell host, according to a new study by a research team from Texas A&M University and The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). The medication bepridil, which goes by the trade name Vascor, is currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat angina, a heart condition. The team's leaders are College of Science professor Wenshe Ray Liu, professor and holder of the Gradipore Chair in the Department of Chemistry at Texas A&M, and Chien-Te Kent Tseng, professor ...

Climate change impacts are broad and far reaching. A new study by University of Oklahoma researchers from the Institute for Environmental Genomics explores the impacts of climate warming on microbial network complexity and stability, providing critical insights to ecosystem management and for projecting ecological consequences of future climate warming. "Global climate change is one of the most profound anthropogenic disturbances to our planet," said Jizhong Zhou, IEG's director, a George Lynn Cross Research Professor in the College of Arts and Sciences and an adjunct professor in the Gallogly College of Engineering. "Climate warming can alter soil microbial community diversity, structure and activities, but it remains uncertain whether and how it impacts network complexity and its relationships ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio - If depression is making it more difficult for some unemployed people to land a job, one type of therapy may help, research suggests. In a new study, 41% of unemployed or underemployed people undergoing cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) found a new job or went from part- to full-time work by the end of the 16-week treatment for depression. Those who had a job but found it difficult to focus on and accomplish work tasks because of depression said the treatment helped to significantly reduce these problems. "For the most part, researchers have focused on showing ...

Just when you thought you could head indoors to be safe from the air pollution that plagues the Salt Lake Valley, new research shows that elevated air pollution events, like horror movie villains, claw their way into indoor spaces. The research, conducted in conjunction with the Utah Division of Facilities Construction and Management, is published in Science of the Total Environment. In a long-term study in a Salt Lake-area building, researchers found that the amount of air pollution that comes indoors depends on the type of outdoor pollution. Wildfires, fireworks and wintertime inversions all affect indoor air to different degrees, ...

Researchers Learn that Pregnant Women Pass Along Protective COVID Antibodies to their Babies Antibodies that guard against COVID-19 can transfer from mothers to babies while in the womb, according to a new study from Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian researchers published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. This discovery, published Jan. 22, adds to growing evidence that suggests that pregnant women who generate protective antibodies after contracting the coronavirus often convey some of that natural immunity to their fetuses. The findings also lend support to the idea that vaccinating mothers-to-be may also have benefits for their newborns. "Since we can now say that the antibodies pregnant women make against COVID-19 ...

The U.S. pulp and paper industry uses large quantities of water to produce cellulose pulp from trees. The water leaving the pulping process contains a number of organic byproducts and inorganic chemicals. To reuse the water and the chemicals, paper mills rely on steam-fed evaporators that boil up the water and separate it from the chemicals. Water separation by evaporators is effective but uses large amounts of energy. That's significant given that the United States currently is the world's second-largest producer of paper and paperboard. The country's approximately 100 paper mills are estimated to use about 0.2 quads (a quad is a quadrillion BTUs) of energy per year for water recycling, making it one of the most energy-intensive chemical processes. All industrial ...

Large galaxies are known to strip the gas that occupies the space between the stars of smaller satellite galaxies. In research published today, astronomers have discovered that these small satellite galaxies also contain less 'molecular' gas at their centres. Molecular gas is found in giant clouds in the centres of galaxies and is the building material for new stars. Large galaxies are therefore stealing the material that their smaller counterparts need to form new stars. Lead author Dr Adam Stevens is an astrophysicist based at UWA working for the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) and affiliated to the ARC Centre of Excellence in All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D). Dr Stevens ...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Cold temperatures, prevalent during glacial periods, had a significant impact on past and modern unglaciated landscapes across much of North America, according to a recent study by University of Arkansas geologist Jill A. Marshall. Marshall, assistant professor of geosciences, is the first author of the study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. The findings help shape understanding of the earth's "Critical Zone," the relatively thin layer of the planet that extends from where vegetation meets the atmosphere to the lowermost extent of weathered bedrock. "Climate and ecosystems determine how quickly bedrock ...

DALLAS - Feb. 22, 2021 - Three decades-old antibiotics administered together can block a type of pain triggered by nerve damage in an animal model, UT Southwestern researchers report. The finding, published online today in PNAS, could offer an alternative to opioid-based painkillers, addictive prescription medications that are responsible for an epidemic of abuse in the U.S. Over 100 million Americans are affected by chronic pain, and a quarter of these experience pain on a daily basis, a burden that costs an estimated $600 billion in lost wages and medical expenses ...

Scientists have identified a way to "rescue" muscle cells that have genetically mutated, paving the way to a possible new treatment for rare childhood illness such as Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). The study, led by the Universities of Exeter and Nottingham, is published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, USA. The research used novel drugs being developed at the University of Exeter, which "metabolically reprogram" the cellular energy production centres in muscle cells, by providing them with a fuel source to generate metabolic energy. DMD is a genetic condition caused by a mutation in a gene called dystrophin which results in progressive irreversible muscular degeneration and weakening. Its symptoms include muscle ...

Things just got hairy at Princeton. Researchers found they could coat a liquid elastic on the outside of a disc and spin it to form useful, complex patterns. When spun just right, tiny spindles rise from the material as it cures. The spindles grow as the disc accelerates, forming a soft solid that resembles hairs. Inspired by biological designs and rationalized with mathematical precision, the new method could be used at an industrial scale for production with plastics, glasses, metals and smart materials. The researchers published their findings ...

(Boston)--Tau is a protein that helps stabilize the internal skeleton of nerve cells (neurons) in the brain. Groups of toxic tau protein, termed tau oligomers, drive disease progression and memory loss in Alzheimer's disease (AD). A new study from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) shows how these tau oligomers form, and, correspondingly, how they can be prevented. AD is a major cause of disease in the elderly and places a huge financial cost on the health care system. Scientists have known for a long time that two proteins (?-amyloid and tau) clump and accumulate in the brains ...

LOGAN, UTAH, USA -- You might not like mosquitoes, but they like you, says Utah State University biologist Norah Saarman. And where you lead, they will follow. In addition to annoying bites and buzzing, some mosquitoes carry harmful diseases. Aedes aegypti, the so-called Yellow Fever mosquito and the subject of a recent study by Saarman and colleagues, is the primary vector for transmission of viruses causing dengue fever, chikungunya and Zika, as well as yellow fever, in humans. "Aedes aegypti is an invasive species to North America that's become widespread in the eastern United States," says Saarman, assistant professor in USU's Department of Biology and the USU Ecology Center, whose research focuses ...

Adolescents and teens may be more likely to be bullied by their friends -- and friends-of-friends -- than classmates they don't know as well, according to a new study. Diane Felmlee, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Demography at Penn State and researcher on the paper, said the findings give new insight into how and why bullying occurs -- important information for anti-bullying efforts. "People often assume that bullying occurs between relative strangers, or that it targets those on the fringes of the social network," Felmlee said. "Those do occur, but in our study, we find that the rate of peer aggression is significantly higher between those students who are closely linked. Furthermore, our finding is not due to friends simply spending ...

In a new study out of University of California San Diego School of Medicine, researchers have identified a universal strain of bacteria derived from healthy human skin that can treat the most common type of eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis. In the paper published Feb. 22, 2021, in Nature Medicine, the research team investigated the safety and mechanisms of this certain bacteria in a first-in-human, Phase I, double-blinded clinical trial looking to treat people living with eczema. Of the 54 participants, two-thirds reported improvements in their ...