Featured news
A study on savannah-living chimpanzees suggests the need to move safely on thin tree branches could explain why early hominins that could walk upright kept their tree-climbing adaptations.
Featured news
Researchers followed 1,735 people in Denmark over 10 years after their loss of loved one. 6% participants showed unabatingly high levels of grief symptoms, and these had a 88% higher hazard rate of dying from any cause over the time period than those with persistently low symptoms. The first group were likewise more likely to use healthcare services, with 186% higher odds of receiving talk therapy or other mental health services, and between 160% and 463% higher odds of being prescribed psychotropic medication. This is the first study on the long-term mortality rate and the use of healthcare in a large-scale cohort of bereaved persons. The results suggest that patients at risk for long-term ‘high grief’ may be identified in advance, and need additional support from the healthcare system.
Featured news
Physiological rhythms could explain why Italian university students were more likely to fail exams early or late in the day.
Life sciences
Dr Beatriz Cosendey is the author of a recently published Frontiers in Amphibian and Reptile Science article. In it, she and co-authors investigated the role of the anaconda as a mythical creature in Brazil’s Lower Amazon region, locals’ perception of the snake, and how better coops for chickens could play a vital role in the peaceful co-existence of people and snakes.
Health
Researchers followed 1,735 people in Denmark over 10 years after their loss of loved one. 6% participants showed unabatingly high levels of grief symptoms, and these had a 88% higher hazard rate of dying from any cause over the time period than those with persistently low symptoms. The first group were likewise more likely to use healthcare services, with 186% higher odds of receiving talk therapy or other mental health services, and between 160% and 463% higher odds of being prescribed psychotropic medication. This is the first study on the long-term mortality rate and the use of healthcare in a large-scale cohort of bereaved persons. The results suggest that patients at risk for long-term ‘high grief’ may be identified in advance, and need additional support from the healthcare system.
Health
Scientists have identified the human gene SDR42E1 as essential for the absorption of vitamin D from the intestine, its subsequent metabolic processing, as well as the production of lipids and steroids. Without the functional protein, the survival of cells dropped by 53%. This discovery has at least two potential applications in precision medicine. First, the experiments showed that the gene can be blocked to selectively kill cancer cells. Second, boosting SDR42E1’s expression could help treat many other diseases, for example, autoimmune and metabolic disorders, against which vitamin D and its related forms are thought to protect.
Health
Guest editorial by Rachael Frost, a senior lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University and author of a new Frontiers in Pharmacology article.
Health
Researchers here developed a monoclonal antibody specific against mugwort pollen – an important allergen causing hay fever – in mice, which is highly effective in blocking symptoms of IgE immunoglobin-mediated allergy against this pollen. The monoclonal antibodies can be delivered inside the nose, rather than intravenously, acting almost like a ‘molecular shield’. The study is a proof-of-principle, which can be extended to other pollen species.
Neuroscience
In well-designed gardens, our gaze shifts quicker and more often. Researchers believe this could be key to understanding the relaxing effects gardens can have on viewers.
Neuroscience
A new model of brain metabolism – the most complex ever generated –shows how altering key chemicals could restore aged cells to their youthful activity and resilience.
Neuroscience
The auricular muscles, which helped our distant ancestors move their ears to improve hearing quality, activated when people were trying to listen to competing sounds.
Neuroscience
Scientists show that low-status male cichlid fish have higher levels of oxidative stress in their brain, which is linked to poorer mental and neurological health in humans.
Environment
Stable isotope analysis can tell apart ivory from mammoths dug up from the permafrost and modern elephants, closing a loophole for selling elephant ivory
Environment
Scientists studying the impact of solar power on local neighborhoods find that most people living close to large-scale solar plants wouldn’t mind if a new plant was built nearby.
Environment
First video footage shows impacts of anchor and chain damage caused by cruise, research, fishing, and private vessels on Antarctic sea floor and animals, highlighting critically understudied conservation issue.
Environment
In a new article published in Frontiers in Organizational Psychology, Daria Haner, Dr Yilei Wang, Dr Deniz Ones, Dr Stephan Dilchert, Dr Yagizhan Yazar, and Karn Kaura unveil surprising new findings: the world’s most sustainable businesses are the world’s most long-lived businesses, too. In this guest editorial, they explain their results, discuss the potential underlying reasons for their findings, and underline the importance of sustainability to the future of business.
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