In the 1980s, scientists captured the precise mechanics of a protein machine. It looked strange, to researchers its tall thin structure with stubby legs invoked the enchanted broomstick that stole the show in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" segment of Disney's 1940 Fantasia film.
Many cancer survivors face physical and mental challenges, such as sexual dysfunction or anxiety about getting cancer again or financial hardships, even decades after the treatment is ended.
Finding ways to help will become increasingly important because more cancer patients are living many years after treatment. The number of U.S. survivors is expected to top 19 million by 2024. While most survivors do well after treatment, some experience continuing problems that can significantly impair their quality of life well beyond the 5-year survival milestone. The problems and challenges can vary by the type of cancer patients had and the treatments they received.
Recent results of a study finds that that sensor changes have significantly biased temperature observations from the Snowpack Telemetry (SNOTEL) station network.
More than 700 SNOTEL sites monitor temperature and snowpack across the mountainous western U.S. SNOTEL provides critical data for water supply forecasts. Researchers often use SNOTEL data to study mountain climate trends and impacts to mountain hydrology and ecology.
University of Montana and Montana Climate Office researcher Jared Oyler and colleagues applied statistical techniques to account for biases introduced when equipment was switched at SNOTEL sites in the mid-1990s to mid-2000s.
The massive ice sheet that covers about 80 percent of Greenland is the largest single chunk of melting snow and ice in the world
and for that reason it is considered the biggest potential contributor to rising sea levels due to glacial meltwater in a warming world.
What gets the most media, and therefore a lot of research, attention is the ice sheet's aquamarine lakes -- bodies of meltwater that tend to abruptly drain -- and monster chunks of ice that slide into the ocean to become icebergs.
A team of scientists has identified how a "sixth sense" in fish allows them to detect flows of water, which helps resolve a long-standing mystery about how these aquatic creatures respond to their environment. The work in Physical Review Letters illustrates how sensory systems evolve in accordance with physical principles while also offering a framework for understanding how sensory networks are structured.
In a new study, an analysis of 5,749 patients who received dalcetrapib or placebo and provided DNA in a clinical study found a strong association between the effects of dalcetrapib and a specific gene called ADCY9 (adenylate cyclase 9) on chromosome 16, particularly for a specific genetic variant (rs1967309). In patients with the genetic profile AA at rs1967309, there was a 39% reduction in the composite cardiovascular endpoint with dalcetrapib compared to placebo. Supporting evidence was also obtained from a second study, which showed that patients with the favorable genetic profile also benefited from a reduction in the thickness of their carotid artery walls with dalcetrapib.
Over 12 million Americans visit their doctors annually complaining of headaches and the real costs and estimates of lost productivity could be up to $31 billion annually.
What might help more people without spending more money? Fewer tests and some counseling about lifestyle changes.
As has been demonstrated, even after complete spinal paralysis the human spinal cord is able to trigger activity in the leg muscles using electrical pulses from an implanted stimulator. Now a team of researchers has succeeded in identifying the mechanisms the spinal cord uses to control this muscle activity. These mechanisms still work even if the neural pathways from the brain are physically interrupted as the result of a spinal cord injury. It is the first time throughout the world that the spinal-cord activation patterns for walking have been decoded, say the authors of a new paper.
Up to 10% of adults living in developed countries fish for food and recreation and a new paper finds that in the Mediterranean Sea that could be up to 10% of the total production of fisheries - a large amount that is basically un-regulated outside buying a license.
A small pilot study has shown that most of the children in a new oral immunotherapy treatment program were able to eat 100 grams of wheat bread without side effects, a promising way to mitigate the risk of accidental ingestion by people with this allergy.
Microbiologists rarely wash their jeans. The reason is because they know how to keep the color looking new without getting odors - they freeze their pants. Freezing can even work in more extreme scenarios, like with waste water. When waste water freezes, it is purified through the formation of a cleaner layer of ice. Then the clean layer of ice can be removed from the rest of the waste water, and the remaining waste water is more concentrated, which can be treated as needed with a lot less outside processing. Energy is required only for breaking the ice and transporting it from the waste water pool.Credit: Lappeenranta University of Technology, LUT
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently warned that statins could affect the memory, attention span and other cognitive abilities of people who it drug to control high cholesterol. Despite cultural claims in the US that the FDA is too liberal in approval, a new review found that they were instead being far too conservative. It was the precautionary principle becoming a vice, according to a systematic review of 25 clinical trials incorporating nearly 47,000 people, led by Brian R. Ott, M.D., professor at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
Long before oxytocin was the miracle spray that could make people feel more trusting, our ancestors used lavender. Unsurprisingly, it still works today, according to a new psychology paper.Nederlandse Vereniging voor Psychonomie member psychologists Roberta Sellaro and Lorenza Colzato investigated whether the calming olfactory fragrance of lavender has a positive effect on mutual trust. Aromatherapists already knew that aromatic compounds can alter mood and even claim cognitive, psychological or physical wellbeing effects. “Mutual trust is the social glue of society,” says Sellaro. “Interpersonal trust is an essential element for social co-operation bargaining and negotiation.”Trust Game
