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Showing posts from August, 2022

Team developing oral insulin tablet sees breakthrough results

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A group of researchers from the University of British Columbia who are creating oral insulin tablets to replace daily insulin injections have made a critical finding. Researchers have found that rats absorb insulin from the most recent iteration of their oral tablets in a manner similar to that of rats receiving insulin by injection. Professor Dr. Anubhav Pratap-Singh (he/him), the principal investigator from the faculty of land and food systems, says, "These exciting results show that we are on the right track in developing an insulin formulation that will no longer need to be injected before every meal, improving the quality of life, as well as mental health, of more than nine million Type 1 diabetics around the world." He reveals that his diabetic father, who has been injecting insulin three to four times a day for the past 15 years, served as the motivation for his hunt for a non-injectable insulin. The senior fellow in Dr. Pratap-lab, Singh's Dr. Alberto Baldelli (he

A Briefcase-Sized Box Is Already Making Oxygen on Mars

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Currently, the Martian atmosphere is in no way hospitable to Earthlings. It is formed primarily of carbon dioxide and is over 100 times less dense than Earth's atmosphere. It would soon stop breathing completely for any individuals who tried to breathe in it. A modest device, about the size of a suitcase, has been consistently extracting breathable oxygen from the Martian atmosphere on that sandy, arid, alien world. In order to manufacture breathing air for a human expedition to the red planet, it is the first demonstration of the processing of in situ resources for human use on another world. Its name is MOXIE (Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Experiment), and it is a device that utilizes electrolysis to separate Martian carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide and oxygen. It is mounted inside NASA's Perseverance rover. According to the researchers, MOXIE produced oxygen seven times as much between February 2021, when Perseverance arrived, until the end of 2021. Acco

“Astonishing” Effects of Grape Consumption and “Remarkable” Impacts on Health and Lifespans

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Dr. John Pezzuto and his Western New England University team have published research that demonstrates the "astonishing" effects of grape consumption as well as its "amazing" effects on lifespans. The journal Foods published one paper. It shown that adding grapes to a high-fat diet, which is generally consumed in western countries, in an amount equal to slightly under two cups per day, resulted in a decrease in fatty liver and an increase in lifespan. According to Pezzuto, these investigations give the proverb "you are what you eat" a completely new meaning. He claimed that the research with grapes demonstrated real alterations in genetic expression. He has produced approximately 600 scholarly articles. "That is genuinely amazing." Grapes boosted levels of antioxidant genes and postponed natural death in conjunction with a high-fat diet. Pezzuto recognized that extrapolating a mouse's lifespan to a human being's is not an exact science. H

NASA Targets September 3 for Next Artemis I Moon Mission Launch Attempt

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On Monday, August 29, 2022, as the launch countdown nears, a NASA helicopter flies past the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft mounted atop the mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B. NASA and Joel Kowsky The launch of Artemis I will take place on Saturday, September 3 at 2:17 p.m. EDT (11:17 a.m. PDT), at the start of a two-hour window. The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, the ground systems, and the Orion spacecraft are being tested together for the first time at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Mission management gathered on Tuesday, August 30, to examine data and create a future plan for handling problems that came up during a flight test launch attempt on August 29. The four RS-25 engines could not be chilled down to minus 420 degrees Fahrenheit during the launch attempt. Engine 3 in particular displayed higher temperatures compared to the other engines. Teams also detected a hydrogen leak on a component of the tail service mast umbilica

New Study Reveals How To Get Children To Stop Eating Unhealthy Snacks

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According to the study, a new intervention encourages schoolchildren to consume fewer unhealthy snacks. A fresh approach encouraging pupils to consume fewer unhealthy snacks has been successfully evaluated by psychologists. Secondary school students frequently overestimate the amount of unhealthy snacking among their classmates, which raises their likelihood of consuming unhealthy snacks themselves, according to researchers from Staffordshire University. "In focus groups with 11 to 13-year-olds done prior to the intervention, we discovered they knew what healthy eating behaviors were, as well as the short-term and long-term impacts, but didn't always implement these behaviors," said Sian Calvert, who oversaw the research across a number of studies. Students were skipping meals as a result of their frequent unhealthy snacking, which appeared to have an impact on how often they consumed normal meals. The focus group discussions also revealed that peers had a significant inf

500,000 American Men Get Vasectomies Every Year – A Specialist Explains the Quick and Simple Procedure

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In the United States, about 500,000 men have vasectomy procedures every year. Despite the fact that the proportion of men receiving them has been down for the previous 20 years, it appears that after the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022, those numbers are increasing. Although it's too soon for official statistics, I can personally attest that more new patients are coming to see me as a urologist and microsurgeon who specializes in vasectomies. In our Miami clinic, we used to regularly conduct 20 to 25 vasectomies each month. However, since the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling, we've been fully booked, with 30 vasectomies planned per month into the following year. Additionally, I've noticed a 30% increase in online searches for vasectomies. It's the first such increase I've noticed in my fifteen years of employment. The number of urologists is also increasing. In fact, a physician in Kansas City reported a 900% surge in enquiries about vas

Scientists Warn of Potential Threat to Heart Health From Extreme Weather

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In a study of roughly 2.3 million Europeans, negative correlations between cold weather and heart disease fatalities, particularly in underprivileged areas, were discovered. At the ESC Congress 2022, the recent research was presented. [1] In people with cardiac problems, excessive deaths from heart disease and stroke have been linked to hot weather.                                                                            The University of Oslo in Norway's Professor Stefan Agewall, the study's lead author, stated: "Climate change is causing both an increase in the average world temperature and extreme cold in specific locations. Intense heatwaves across Europe during the summer of 2003 resulted in over 70,000 additional deaths. [2] Excess hospital admissions and mortality are related to cold weather. [3,4] Previous research on the effects of heat and cold on the cardiovascular system generally relied on aggregated data, like the number of deaths per day in a city. In orde

Identical Twins Reveal Legalizing Recreational Cannabis Has Increased Frequency of Use by 20%

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A recent study that appeared in the academic journal Addiction suggests that the legalization of cannabis for recreational use in some U.S. states has resulted in an average 20% rise in the frequency of cannabis use in those states. An extensive sample of adult identical twins was used in the study to evaluate the consequences of legalizing cannabis for recreational use. Particularly intriguing were the 111 identical twin pairings where one twin resided in a state with a different legalization of recreational marijuana than the other. Twin studies offer remarkably well-matched controls for one another in comparison to research on unrelated individuals, allowing for more accurate evaluation of the causal effect of legalizing recreational activities. Participants in the study comprised 1,425 people from states where marijuana use for recreational purposes is permitted and 1,997 people from places where it is outlawed. The study indicated that across all of them, legalization led to an in

Researchers Discover How Plants Reprogram Their Cells To Fight Invaders

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Factories can retool to support the demands of conflict during times of war. Assembly lines switch from producing washing machines to aircraft engines, or from creating vehicle parts to machine guns. According to Xinnian Dong, a professor at Duke University, plants can also change their production from peacetime to wartime. Microbes, such as bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens, frequently damage crops and other plants. A plant modifies the chemical stew of proteins, the life's mainstay components, inside its cells when it detects a microbial incursion. Dong and her research team have been piecing together how they accomplish it over the past few years. Dong and lead author Jinlong Wang describe the essential elements in plant cells that reconfigure their protein-making machinery to fight disease in a new study that was just published in the journal Cell. Bacterial and fungal diseases reduce crop productivity by about 15% annually, costing the world economy over $220 billion. For

Particle Physics Surprise: Nucleons Pick Pair Partners Differently in Small Nuclei

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The atom's nucleus, which is composed of protons and neutrons, frequently pairs up. According to a recent high-precision experiment, these particles may choose different partners based on how densely packed the nucleus is. The work was done at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility of the US Department of Energy. The results provide fresh information regarding the short-range interactions between protons and neutrons in nuclei and could have an impact on the outcomes of studies meant to elucidate more intricate aspects of nuclear structure. The research will be released today, August 31, 2022, in the magazine Nature. The statistics are an order of magnitude more exact than in prior studies. The paper's principal author is Shujie Li. She started working on the experiment while a graduate student at the University of New Hampshire and is currently a postdoctoral researcher in nuclear physics at the DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Californi

Scientists Boost Immune Response to COVID-19 Vaccine by 25 Times

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It's ironic that certain immunizations require additional "boosters." Adjuvants, which help vaccines elicit a more powerful immune response and better prepare the body to combat pathogens, can be added to vaccines. According to research, an additive increased the immune response to an experimental COVID-19 injection in mice by 25 times more than the vaccination alone. A new publication detailing the discovery was released in the ACS Infectious Diseases journal today, August 31, 2022. Some vaccinations contain an adjuvant, which aids in the development of a stronger immune response in recipients. In other words, adjuvants increase the effectiveness of immunizations. Despite the use of cutting-edge mRNA genetic technology in the first COVID-19 injections approved in the U.S., the tried-and-true method of employing pathogen proteins can result in vaccinations that are less expensive to develop and simpler to store. Only one protein-based vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 has be

Antipsychotic Drug Opens New Pathway To Beat Chronic Pain

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Pain is a vital alarm system that warns us of tissue damage and compels us to leave potentially dangerous situations, despite the fact that it is uncomfortable. Although it is assumed that pain will lessen as wounds heal, many individuals continue to experience it even after they have recovered. Currently, a new study with an unexpected connection to lung cancer suggests potential new treatments for persistent pain. An international group of researchers from IMBA - Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Harvard Medical School, and Boston Children's Hospital led the project, which was reported in Science Translational Medicine. The research, which was carried out using laboratory mouse models, revealed several therapeutic possibilities that could help the globe better manage chronic pain and stop the opioid pandemic. An key risk signal is acute pain. Contrarily, chronic pain is a result of a lingering injury and can even occur in the absence of a s

Honor Spielberg's 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' on its 40th birthday with this deluxe visual history

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This summer, one of Hollywood's most beloved films turned 40. After 40 years, "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," the sweet science fiction tale about a lonely California boy and his Reese's Pieces-loving alien friend, continues to move both children and adults. For fans and cinephiles who can't get enough of the touching story that starred Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Dee Wallace, C. Thomas Howell, Robert MacNaughton, K. C. Martel, and Peter Coyote, Insight Editions has just released a prestige-format edition titled "E.T. the Extra-T(opens in new tab)e(opens in new tab)rrestrial: The Ultimate Visual History"(opens in new tab This impressive 257-page hardcover is written by author Caseen Gaines ("Inside Pee-Playhouse," wee's "A Christmas Story: Behind the Scenes of a Holiday Classic") and serves as the essential companion volume and guide to director Steven Spielberg's legendary movie, which enthralled audiences when it was first r

A Neuroscientist Explains How Diet Can Influence Mood, Behavior and More

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Vitamin C Happy Fruit Citrus                                                                                Our total health is impacted by what we eat, and getting the correct balance of nutrients is vital. The Age of Discovery, which spans the 15th and 16th centuries, is noted for its long maritime trips during which time mariners saw visions of exquisite cuisines and lush landscapes. After months at sea, it was agonizing to learn that these were merely hallucinations. Some seamen cried bitter tears of longing, while others plunged themselves overboard. It was believed that a mixture of sophisticated chemicals would be the solution to these terrifying mirages. Lemon juice, it turns out, was a really straightforward remedy. These sailors had scurvy, a condition brought on by a lack of vitamin C. Fruits and vegetables are good sources of vitamin C, which is an important micronutrient. The synthesis and release of neurotransmitters, the chemical messengers employed by the brain, depend

Scientists Discover a 4-Billion-Year-Old Ancient Piece of Earth’s Crust Underneath Western Australia

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Lasers make it possible to locate old crust. Using lasers smaller than a human hair to target miniscule grains of a mineral recovered from beach sand, Curtin University researchers have found evidence of an approximately four billion-year-old section of the Earth's crust that resides beneath the South-West of Western Australia. The zircon mineral was used, and the lasers were used to vaporize portions of individual grains in order to reveal where the grains were originally eroded from as well as the geological history of the area, according to the Timescales of Mineral Systems Group at Curtin's School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, led by Ph.D. candidate Maximilian Droellner. This new finding contributes to our understanding of how the planet changed from being inhospitable to supporting life. According to Mr. Droellner, "There is evidence that a chunk of crust up to four billion years old, roughly the size of Ireland, has been affecting the geological evolution of WA fo