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Science 2021-01-25

Abusive bosses 'fake nice' instead of 'make nice'

Abusive bosses may retain their positions by taking superficial steps to repair their social images following outbursts, without acting meaningfully to change their behaviors, according to research led by a University of Wyoming business management expert. Shawn McClean, an assistant professor in UW's College of Business, joined colleagues from the University of Iowa, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Texas A&M University in conducting the research, which appears in the journal Personnel Psychology. Their study also was featured in Harvard Business Review, a preeminent business magazine. "Our study shows that supervisors are often driven by simply repairing their social image rather than ...
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Medicine 2021-01-25

Male breast cancer patients face high prevalence of heart disease risk factors

Male breast cancer patients were found to have a high prevalence of cardiovascular conditions, in a small study of this rare patient population presented at the American College of Cardiology's Advancing the Cardiovascular Care of the Oncology Patient Virtual course. "Due to the rarity of male breast cancer, there is no cardiovascular data from larger clinical trials or population studies. The lack of large data makes it even more important to individualize cardiovascular assessment and management based on each patient's unique oncologic, therapeutic and pre-existing cardiovascular risk profile to support them through cancer treatment into survivorship," said Michael Ibrahim, fourth year ...
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Science 2021-01-25

Opertech Bio's pioneering approach to taste testing and measurement published in JPET

PHILADELPHIA, PA - January 25, 2021 - Opertech Bio, Inc., today announced the publication of a seminal research article describing the application of its pioneering TāStation® technology to the pharmacological characterization of human taste discrimination. The findings are published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, JPET. The paper, entitled "Rapid throughput concentration-response analysis of human taste discrimination," is the first to quantitatively define the concentration-response function for human taste discrimination, a crucial step in understanding ...
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Social Science 2021-01-25

Litter provides habitat for diverse animal communities in rivers, study finds

In a study of local rivers, experts at the University of Nottingham in the UK have discovered more invertebrates - animals without a backbone, such as insects and snails - living on litter than on rocks. In urban rivers where there are no better alternatives, litter provided the largest, most stable and complex habitat available for invertebrates to live on. The findings could have important implications for the management of urban rivers, including how river clean-up events are conducted. The research team, in the School of Geography, studied three local rivers; the River Leen, Black Brook, and Saffron Brook, in ...
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New skull of tube-crested dinosaur reveals evolution of bizarre crest
Earth Science 2021-01-25

New skull of tube-crested dinosaur reveals evolution of bizarre crest

DISCOVERY BRIEF: The first new skull of a rare species of the dinosaur Parasaurolophus (recognized by the large hollow tube that grows on its head) discovered in 97 years. Exquisite preservation of the new skull gives paleontologists their first opportunity to definitively identify how such a bizarre structure grew on this dinosaur. For the first time, this study found characteristics to link tube-crested dinosaur species found in southern North America (New Mexico, Utah), distinct from the only northern species (Alberta). The locality, in northwestern New Mexico, is dated to about 75 million years ago, a time when North America was divided by a shallow sea and teemed with duckbilled dinosaurs, horned dinosaurs and early tyrannosaurs. Fossils from ...
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Oncotarget: Improved therapeutic efficacy of unmodified anti-tumor antibodies
Medicine 2021-01-25

Oncotarget: Improved therapeutic efficacy of unmodified anti-tumor antibodies

The cover for issue 2 of Oncotarget features Figure 4, "Combination therapy TA99/ICB reduced the lung tumor burden in the B16 model of metastases," published in "Improved therapeutic efficacy of unmodified anti-tumor antibodies by immune checkpoint blockade and kinase targeted therapy in mouse models of melanoma" by Pérez-Lorenzo, et al. which reported that here, the authors showed that removing immune suppression and enhancing stimulatory signals increased the anti-tumor activity of unmodified TA99 antibodies with a significant reduction of ...
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Oncotarget: Drug-resistant cells grow exponentially in metastatic prostate cancer
Medicine 2021-01-25

Oncotarget: Drug-resistant cells grow exponentially in metastatic prostate cancer

The cover for issue 1 of Oncotarget features Figure 2, "Results in clinical trials," published in "Drug resistant cells with very large proliferative potential grow exponentially in metastatic prostate cancer" by Blagoev, et al. which reported that most metastatic cancers develop drug resistance during treatment and continue to grow, driven by a subpopulation of cancer cells unresponsive to the therapy being administered. There is evidence that metastases are formed by phenotypically plastic cancer cells with stem-cell-like properties. Currently, the population structure and growth dynamics ...
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Oncotarget: Prognostic biomarker for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma
Medicine 2021-01-25

Oncotarget: Prognostic biomarker for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

The cover for issue 52 of Oncotarget features Figure 1, "Volcano plots of DNA methylation in tumor tissues compared with nontumor tissue," published in "Reduction of T-Box 15 gene expression in tumor tissue is a prognostic biomarker for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma" by Morine, et al. which reported that the authors conducted a genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation of the tumor and non-tumor tissue of 15 patients with Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and revealed TBX15 was the most hypermethylated gene of the tumor. Another validation set, which comprised 58 HCC with radical resection, was analyzed to investigate the relationships between tumor phenotype and TBX15 mRNA expression. TBX15 mRNA levels in tumor tissues were significantly lower compared ...
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Aging-US: PAM (PIK3/AKT/mTOR) signaling in glia: potential contributions to brain tumors
Medicine 2021-01-25

Aging-US: PAM (PIK3/AKT/mTOR) signaling in glia: potential contributions to brain tumors

Aging-US Issue 1 Volume 13 features "PAM (PIK3/AKT/mTOR) signaling in glia: potential contributions to brain tumors in aging" which reported that despite a growing proportion of aged individuals at risk for developing cancer in the brain, the prognosis for these conditions remains abnormally poor due to limited knowledge of underlying mechanisms and minimal treatment options. While cancer metabolism in other organs is commonly associated with upregulated glycolysis and hyperactivation of PIK3/AKT/mTOR pathways, the unique bioenergetic demands of the central nervous system ...
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Aging-US: Nicotinamide mononucleotide in degenerative model of retinal detachment
Science 2021-01-25

Aging-US: Nicotinamide mononucleotide in degenerative model of retinal detachment

Aging-US published "Neuroprotective effects and mechanisms of action of nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) in a photoreceptor degenerative model of retinal detachment" which reported that here, the authors investigated nicotinamide mononucleotide, a precursor of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, in a retinal detachment induced photoreceptor degeneration. NMN administration after RD resulted in a significant reduction of TUNEL photoreceptors, CD11b macrophages, and GFAP labeled glial activation; a normalization of protein carbonyl content, and a preservation of the outer nuclear layer thickness. NMN administration significantly increased NAD levels, SIRT1 protein expression, and heme oxygenase-1 expression. Delayed NMN administration still exerted protective effects after RD. This ...
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Medicine 2021-01-25

Mental health is important to overall health, and heart disease prevention and treatment

DALLAS, Jan. 25, 2021 -- Psychological health can positively or negatively impact a person's health and risk factors for heart disease and stroke, according to "Psychological Health, Well-Being, and the Mind-Heart-Body Connection," a new American Heart Association Scientific Statement, published today in the Association's flagship journal Circulation. The statement evaluates the relationship between psychological health and heart health, summarizing ways to help improve psychological health for people with and at risk for heart disease. "A person's mind, heart and body are all interconnected and interdependent in what can be termed 'the mind-heart-body-connection,'" said Glenn N. Levine, M.D., FAHA, master clinician and professor of medicine at ...
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Science 2021-01-25

Despite some advances, women still face disparities of the global burden of stroke

DALLAS, Jan. 25, 2021 -- The continued global burden of stroke and how it disproportionately affects women are highlighted in new science published online today in the February issue of Stroke, a journal of the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association. Stroke editors selected nine manuscripts focused on stroke disparities in women in this collaboration with Go Red for Women®, the Association's global movement to end heart disease and stroke in women. "Stroke continues to be a leading cause of death and disability worldwide, with women being more adversely affected by the global burden of stroke," said Stroke Editor-In-Chief Ralph L. Sacco, M.D., M.S., FAHA, ...
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Microbes fuelled by wind-blown mineral dust melt the Greenland ice sheet
Environment 2021-01-25

Microbes fuelled by wind-blown mineral dust melt the Greenland ice sheet

Scientists have identified a key nutrient source used by algae living on melting ice surfaces linked to rising sea levels. The Greenland ice sheet - the second largest ice body in the world after the Antarctic ice sheet - covers almost 80% of the surface of Greenland. Over the last 25 years, surface melting and water runoff from the ice sheet has increased by about 40%. The international research team, led by the University of Leeds, analysed samples from the southwestern margin on Greenland's 1.7 million km² ice sheet over two years. They discovered that phosphorus containing minerals may be driving ever-larger algal blooms on the Greenland Ice Sheet. As the algal blooms grow they darken the ice surface, decreasing albedo - ...
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Medicine 2021-01-25

Nanomedicine's 'crown' is ready for its close up

EAST LANSING, Mich. - An international team of researchers led by Michigan State University's Morteza Mahmoudi has developed a new method to better understand how nanomedicines -- emerging diagnostics and therapies that are very small yet very intricate -- interact with patients' biomolecules. Medicines based on nanoscopic particles have the promise to be more effective than current therapies while reducing side effects. But subtle complexities have confined most of these particles to research labs and out of clinical use, said Mahmoudi, an assistant professor in the Department of Radiology and the Precision Health Program. "There's been a considerable investment of taxpayer money in cancer nanomedicine research, but that research hasn't successfully translated ...
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Global ice loss increases at record rate
Science 2021-01-25

Global ice loss increases at record rate

The rate at which ice is disappearing across the planet is speeding up, according to new research. And the findings also reveal that the Earth lost 28 trillion tonnes of ice between 1994 and 2017 - equivalent to a sheet of ice 100 metres thick covering the whole of the UK. The figures have been published today (Monday, 25 January) by a research team which is the first to carry out a survey of global ice loss using satellite data. The team, led by the University of Leeds, found that the rate of ice loss from the Earth has increased markedly within the past three decades, from 0.8 trillion tons per year in the 1990s to 1.3 trillion tons per year by 2017. Ice melt across the globe ...
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Medicine 2021-01-25

Childhood cancer survivors are not more likely to terminate their pregnancies

Female childhood cancer survivors face a lower likelihood of becoming pregnant than women in the general population, but once pregnant, they are not more likely to undergo an abortion. The findings come from a new study published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. Cancer survivors might be reluctant to start a family due to concerns for their children's health as well as the potential recurrence of their own cancer. This could lead to a greater likelihood of induced abortions in female survivors who become pregnant. To examine whether pregnancies of childhood cancer survivors are more likely to end with ...
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Fine tuning first-responder immune cells may reduce TBI damage
Medicine 2021-01-25

Fine tuning first-responder immune cells may reduce TBI damage

AUGUSTA, Ga. (January 25, 2021) - Immediately after a traumatic brain injury and as long as one year later, there are increased levels of immune cells called ILCs in the brain promoting inflammation, which can worsen brain damage, scientists report. They also report for the first time that the cell energy sensor AMPK is a brake that can stop what becomes a chronic state of destructive inflammation driven by these ILCs, or innate lymphoid cells. "We think ILCs are kind of a master regulator of all that inflammation happening within the brain," says Dr. Krishnan Dhandapani, neuroscientist in the Department of Neurosurgery at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. "It's like the ...
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Efficient solid-state depolymerization of waste PET
Environment 2021-01-25

Efficient solid-state depolymerization of waste PET

These results were published in the prestigious journal ChemSusChem and thanks to the remarkable reviews, the paper was ranked among the top five percent publications in the field, thus earning a Very Important Paper (VIP) status. Furthermore, the editorial board featured this study on its cover. Plastic pollution has become one of the most complex environmental issues, especially in the context of increasing production and demand for plastic materials. While innovations in polymer chemistry have radically changed our lives in the mid-20th century, the outstanding properties of plastics such as durability, chemical stability, strength and many other pose a serious problem ...
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Science 2021-01-25

Women influenced coevolution of dogs and humans

PULLMAN, Wash. - Man's best friend might actually belong to a woman. In a cross-cultural analysis, Washington State University researchers found several factors may have played a role in building the mutually beneficial relationship between humans and dogs, including temperature, hunting and surprisingly - gender. "We found that dogs' relationships with women might have had a greater impact on the dog-human bond than relationships with men," said Jaime Chambers, a WSU anthropology Ph.D. student and first author on the paper published in the Journal of Ethnobiology. "Humans were more likely to regard dogs as a type of person if the dogs had a special ...
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Environment 2021-01-25

Doctoral student leads paleoclimate study of precipitation and sea ice in Arctic Alaska

Arctic sea ice is rapidly diminishing due to global warming, and scientists have found that sea ice dynamics have a big impact on circulation and precipitation patterns in Arctic Alaska, which lies at a climatological crossroads between the Arctic and North Pacific Oceans. Recent studies--most of which focus on current trends in the region and on what will happen in the future--have shown that circulation patterns in the Arctic and North Pacific Oceans influence one another. Doctoral candidate Ellie Broadman of Northern Arizona University's School of Earth and Sustainability wanted to learn about this relationship on a longer timescale, so she developed and led a ...
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Medicine 2021-01-25

Continued strict control measures needed to reduce new COVID-19 strains

A group of scientists is calling on governments to consider the continued use of strict control measures as the only way to reduce the evolution and spread of new COVID-19 variants. The experts in evolution, virology, infectious disease and genomics - at the University of East Anglia (UEA), Earlham Institute and University of Minnesota - warn that while governments are negotiating a "precarious balance" between saving the economy and preventing COVID-19 fatalities, stronger action now is the best way to mitigate against more serious outcomes from such virulent strains later. While COVID-19 vaccine deployment is now underway, a threat to vaccine effectiveness comes from other emerging strains, both existing - such as the UK, South Africa and Brazil variants ...
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Medicine 2021-01-25

The Lancet: World failing to address health needs of 630 million women and children affected by armed conflict

New estimates reveal extent of the health burden of armed conflict--affecting at least 630 million women and children worldwide in 2017, and contributing to more than 10 million deaths among children under 5 years of age over 20 years. Changing nature of war is a growing threat to humanitarian access and the provision of essential health services for women and children, but responses in countries like Syria, Pakistan, and Colombia may provide context-specific innovative ways forward. Armed conflicts are becoming increasingly complex and protracted and a growing threat to humanitarian access and the delivery of essential health services, affecting at least 630 million women and ...
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Medicine 2021-01-23

Dramatic changes to radiotherapy treatments due to COVID-19

Dramatic changes were seen in the delivery of radiotherapy treatments for cancer during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic in England. Much shorter radiotherapy courses were delivered, treatments were delayed where it was safe to do so and some increases were seen in order to compensate for reduced surgical capacity. Experts believe the changes reflect an impressive adaption of services by the NHS, and that the overall impact on cancer outcomes is likely to be modest. The new research, led by the University of Leeds, with Public Health England and the Royal College of Radiologists, reveals that there was a decrease in radiotherapy treatment courses of 19.9% in April, 6.2% in May, and 11.6% in June 2020, compared with the same months the previous year. These decreases equated ...
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