Inflammatory compounds found in cooked meat linked to childhood wheeze

Inflammatory compounds found in cooked meat are linked to a heightened risk of childhood wheeze, finds research published online in the journal Thorax.

Smartphone fitness apps and wearable activity trackers boost physical activity levels

Smartphone fitness apps and wearable activity trackers do help boost physical activity levels, finds a review and pooled data analysis of the available evidence, published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Washington Post to expand newsroom staff, add foreign hubs

The Washington Post announced plans on Monday to expand its newsroom staff to over 1,000 and add breaking news hubs in Europe and Asia to create a bigger global footprint.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-12-washington-newsroom-staff-foreign-hubs.html

Google Doodle celebrates Winter Solstice and Great Conjunction

Google is using its logo Monday to not only celebrate the first day of winter but a rare celestial event.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-12-google-doodle-celebrates-winter-solstice.html

Scientists urge concern, not alarm over new virus strains

Does it spread more easily? Make people sicker? Mean that treatments and vaccines won't work? Questions are multiplying as fast as new strains of the coronavirus, especially the one now moving through England. Scientists say there is reason for concern but that the new strains should not cause alarm.

Q&A: Family health history information

My grandmother died of breast cancer at 70. My first cousin was recently diagnosed at 35. And another cousin also had breast cancer a few years ago. A friend suggested that I undergo genetic counseling to determine my risk. Is that necessary? Can a genetic counselor tell me anything else about my risk for other diseases?

Deep, slow-slip action may direct largest earthquakes and their tsunamis

Megathrust earthquakes and subsequent tsunamis that originate in subduction zones like Cascadia—Vancouver Island, Canada, to northern California—are some of the most severe natural disasters in the world. Now a team of geoscientists thinks the key to understanding some of these destructive events may lie in the deep, gradual slow-slip behaviors beneath the subduction zones. This information might help in planning for future earthquakes in the area.

New method for imaging exhaled breath could provide insights into COVID-19 transmission

A new method for visualizing breath that is exhaled while someone is speaking or singing could provide important new insights into how diseases such as COVID-19 spread and the effectiveness of face masks.

Child care facilities can be safe and are essential, says new study

Child care programs can be safe within the context of low community transmission of COVID-19, according to new research from Case Western Reserve University, based on data from child care programs throughout Ohio.

Reston ebolavirus spreads efficiently in pigs

Reston ebolavirus (RESTV) should be considered a livestock pathogen with potential to affect other mammals, including people, according to National Institutes of Health scientists. The caution comes from a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in which the scientists found that experimental piglets infected with RESTV developed severe respiratory disease and shed the virus from the upper respiratory tract. RESTV can infect humans but is not known to cause disease. Now the scientists express concern that pigs could serve as an "interim or amplifying host for ebolaviruses."

Q&A: COVID-19 vaccine myths

There has been a lot of news coverage about the COVID-19 vaccines recently developed and now being administered across the U.S.

Social media use by young people in conflict-ridden Myanmar

Myanmar youth rely heavily on Facebook for news and information. This can be a platform for disseminating fake news and hate speech. With poor digital literacy skills, these youths may be susceptible to disinformation campaigns and other online dangers, according to the peer-reviewed journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.

Study identifies amenities parents want in public parks

While parents from diverse backgrounds most often value parks that offer amenities like playgrounds, sports fields and green spaces, they also want parks to feel safe, according to a survey by North Carolina State University researchers.

Loss of anti-tumor protein may cause resistance to certain cancer therapies

The absence of a protein that works to prevent tumor formation may explain why some patients are resistant to a common cancer therapy, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers. They said that testing cancers for the presence of this protein may help clinicians identify patients who may be resistant to or relapse when treated with the therapy.

Female athletes in WNBA don't return to elite performance for at least 2 years after ACL surgery

With the Michigan high school and collegiate sports season influx due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a study by Sports Medicine researchers at Henry Ford Health System provides a new perspective on performance levels of female professional athletes after they return from anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and reconstructive surgery.

Potential preventative treatment demonstrated for Crohn's disease

A potential preventive treatment for Crohn's disease, a form of inflammatory bowel disease, has been demonstrated in a mouse model and using immune-reactive T cells from patients with Crohn's disease.

Scientists uncover mechanisms that wire the brain's cerebral cortex

A research team led by Michael Fox, a professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, has identified the type of brain cell that produces collagen 19, a protein that is crucial for the formation of inhibitory circuits in the brain.

Melody of an Alpine summit falling apart

The entire summit of the 2592 meters high Hochvogel is sliced by a five meters wide and thirty meters long fracture. It continues to open up by up to half a centimeter per month. Throughout the years, the southern side of the mountain has already subsided by several meters; and at some point it will fail, releasing up to 260,000 cubic meters of limestone debris down into the Hornbach Valley in Austria. Such a volume would roughly correspond to 260 family houses. When this will happen is hard to predict by conventional methods. Researchers of the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam—German Research Centre for Geosciences and the Technical University of Munich have approached this question by seismic sensors. The devices record the subtle vibration of the peak: similar to a violin string which is pulled more or less does the pitch of the summit change as it becomes stressed, an effect that allows unique insight to the preparation phase of an upcoming rock slide. Thus, also a timely warning should become possible—even if human dwellings are not threatened directly at this site. The study has recently been published in the journal Earth Surface Processes and Landforms.

Study published on the well-being of small business workers during COVID-19

As the pandemic was starting to take hold, researchers from the Center for Health, Work & Environment (CHWE) at the Colorado School of Public Health (ColoradoSPH) performed a study to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on the well-being of workers in Colorado. The team evaluated changes to employees' work and home life resulting from COVID-19 and individual perceptions of workplace safety and health climates. These climates reflect employee perceptions of how committed their employer is to their safety and health. They are commonly used as an indicator of organizational safety and health cultures.

Monitor lizard should be regarded as 'ecosystem engineer,' researchers say

Ten years of research led by the University of South Florida has revealed that a monitor lizard should be regarded as an "ecosystem engineer," a rarity for reptiles. Tortoises and sea turtles are the only reptiles considered to be ecosystem engineers, a term used to describe organisms that have a great impact on their environment based on their ability to create, modify, maintain or destroy a habitat. Sean Doody, assistant professor and graduate director of integrative biology at the USF St. Petersburg campus, discovered that while a related species is considered invasive in the United States, in Australia, small animal communities rely on the monitor lizards' burrow system, called a warren, using it as a habitat, a place to forage for food and nesting.

How to be happier in 2021

So you want to look trimmer, be smarter, and successful next year? You strive to exercise and call your friends more, and spend less?

Gene pathway linked to schizophrenia identified through stem cell engineering

Using human-induced pluripotent stem cells engineered from a single family's blood samples, a gene signaling pathway linked to a higher risk for developing schizophrenia was discovered by scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). The research was published in a recent issue of Neuropsychopharmacology.

Under Antarctica's ice, Weddell seals produce ultrasonic vocalizations

Weddell seals are chirping, whistling and trilling under Antarctica's ice at sound frequencies that are inaudible to humans, according to a research team led by University of Oregon biologists.

New strain of COVID-19 is driving South Africa's resurgence

South Africa has announced that a new variant of the COVID-19 virus is driving the current resurgence of the disease, with higher numbers of confirmed cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

Tube fishway technology will get fish up and over those dam walls

Engineers and scientists at UNSW Sydney have come up with an ingenious way to get fish past dam walls, weirs and other barriers blocking their migration in Australian rivers.

High-flying Tesla joins S&P 500; skeptics say buyer beware

In the middle of last year, Tesla's losses were piling up, sales weren't enough to cover expenses and big debt payments loomed. The situation was so bad that one influential Wall Street analyst raised the possibility that Tesla wouldn't be able to pay its bills and would have to be restructured financially.

Stampede2, Bridges simulations show weak spots in Ebola virus nucleocapsid

In the midst of a global pandemic with COVID-19, it's hard to appreciate how lucky those outside of Africa have been to avoid the deadly Ebola virus disease. It incapacitates its victims soon after infection with massive vomiting or diarrhea, leading to death from fluid loss in about 50 percent of the afflicted. The Ebola virus transmits only through bodily fluids, marking a key difference from the COVID-19 virus and one that has helped contain Ebola's spread.

Metals and metalloids may alter prenatal hormone concentrations during pregnancy: study

Exposure to metals such as nickel, arsenic, cobalt and lead may disrupt a woman's hormones during pregnancy, according to a Rutgers study.

Socioeconomic background linked to survival after having a cardiac arrest in hospital

Hospital in-patients from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are less likely to receive prompt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) after their hearts stop beating and less likely to survive than patients from higher socioeconomic backgrounds.

Climate warming linked to tree leaf unfolding and flowering growing apart

An international team of researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhejiang A & F University and the University of Eastern Finland have found that regardless of whether flowering or leaf unfolding occurred first in a species, the first event advanced more than the second over the last seven decades.

COVID-19: avoiding hospital caused heart disease death rise

Lower rates of hospital attendance for urgent heart problems during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic may have contributed to avoidable deaths in England, finds a new study led by UCL researchers.

High-flying Tesla joins S&P 500; skeptics say buyer beware

In the middle of last year, Tesla's losses were piling up, sales weren't enough to cover expenses and big debt payments loomed. The situation was so bad that one influential Wall Street analyst raised the possibility that Tesla wouldn't be able to pay its bills and would have to be restructured financially.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-12-high-flying-tesla-sp-skeptics-buyer.html

Stampede2, Bridges simulations show weak spots in Ebola virus nucleocapsid

In the midst of a global pandemic with COVID-19, it's hard to appreciate how lucky those outside of Africa have been to avoid the deadly Ebola virus disease. It incapacitates its victims soon after infection with massive vomiting or diarrhea, leading to death from fluid loss in about 50 percent of the afflicted. The Ebola virus transmits only through bodily fluids, marking a key difference from the COVID-19 virus and one that has helped contain Ebola's spread.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-stampede2-bridges-simulations-weak-ebola.html

Climate warming linked to tree leaf unfolding and flowering growing apart

An international team of researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhejiang A & F University and the University of Eastern Finland have found that regardless of whether flowering or leaf unfolding occurred first in a species, the first event advanced more than the second over the last seven decades.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-climate-linked-tree-leaf-unfolding.html

Study resolves the position of fleas on the tree of life

A study of more than 1,400 protein-coding genes of fleas has resolved one of the longest standing mysteries in the evolution of insects, reordering their placement in the tree of life and pinpointing who their closest relatives are.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-position-fleas-tree-life.html

Ivory Coast creates first marine protected area

Ivory Coast has announced the creation of its first Marine Protected Area (MPA).

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-ivory-coast-marine-area.html

Study resolves the position of fleas on the tree of life

A study of more than 1,400 protein-coding genes of fleas has resolved one of the longest standing mysteries in the evolution of insects, reordering their placement in the tree of life and pinpointing who their closest relatives are.

Getting into shape pre-surgery to aid recovery for older patients: study

Older adults about to undergo elective surgery should undertake a sustained programme of targeted exercise beforehand to counteract the muscle-wasting effects of bedrest, new research suggests.

Screen time, emotional health among parents' top concerns for children during pandemic

Parenting in a pandemic is not for the faint of heart.

Ivory Coast creates first marine protected area

Ivory Coast has announced the creation of its first Marine Protected Area (MPA).

Surveillance of antimicrobial resistance could be more challenging outside of the EU

In a new report from the Microbiology Society, experts from around the UK explain the desperate need for long-term and ambitious funding for surveillance and research into antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Study reveals low risk of COVID-19 infection among patients undergoing head and neck cancer surgery

A recent international observational study provides important data on the safety of head and neck cancer surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings are published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. The study is part of the COVIDSurg Collaborative, an initiative to describe surgical practices during the early period of the pandemic, when many hospitals had limited capacity and when it was unclear whether it was safer to delay or continue in-hospital cancer treatments.

Status Group International’s Rollout of Franchise Development Investment Fund Investment Capital for Franchisees & Franchisors

Status Group International (SGIC) is finalizing a new Investment Capital opportunity designed explicitly for USA-based franchise growth. [PR.com]

Visibility of Home Workers Enhanced with Bodet’s New Time and Attendance Software

Leading European time management specialists, Bodet Ltd, have enhanced their Kelio time and attendance software to accommodate staff working at home as well as those attending the office. [PR.com]