You are alone on a small sailing boat, more than four thousand miles of ocean ahead and you are up against approximately 80 sailors. It will take you three or four weeks to get to the finishing line. But how will you manage to sleep and which sleeping strategy will pay off during the race?…
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Researchers have uncovered a link between the structure of the protein alpha-synuclein and its likelihood to misfold and aggregate. Alpha-synuclein aggregates are the hallmark of neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease. Their findings, published today in Nature Communications, identify potential new therapeutic targets in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. The human brain contains a protein…
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A technique that can better assess harmful chemicals adds to the analysis toolkit for cigarette alternatives. This pioneering research by KAUST scientists reveals that a tobacco-heating device called «I quit ordinary smoking» (IQOS), emits many more potentially harmful chemicals than those identified by the manufacturer. The IQOS device operates at a lower temperature than ordinary…
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Parents with temperamental children should pay special attention to helping them develop good eating habits. These children are more susceptible to developing an unhappy relationship with food, researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) have found. Temperament is often equated with anger, but it embraces much more. Temperament is the child’s fundamental…
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Scientists can monitor biomolecular processes in live tissue by noninvasive optical methods, such as fluorescence imaging. However, the fluorescent dyes used for that purpose are often rather unstable, and photobleaching, lack of specificity, and poor pharmacokinetics are recurrent issues. US scientists have developed a molecular shield that stabilizes near-infrared fluorescent dyes and enhances their functionality.…
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Do you have what is known as problematic alcohol use? Then statistically you will also be particularly genetically predisposed to develop e.g. depression and insomnia. And to become dependent on drugs and tobacco. This is shown by a new international study in which researchers from iPSYCH are involved. The researchers have looked at the role…
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Brazil, which has followed the inept example of Mexico in failing to swiftly enact national public health policies to contain the coronavirus pandemic, has now become the world leader in terms of infections and daily deaths, according to the latest round of data provided by the Latin America COVID-19 Observatory. In a trilingual webinar Tuesday,…
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Emergency room visits in the United States have dropped sharply during the pandemic, underscoring concerns that people with serious medical conditions, like heart attacks, are avoiding hospitals, according to a new analysis released on Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As the coronavirus spread across the United States this spring, visits to…
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The malaria drug hydroxychloroquine did not prevent Covid-19 in a rigorous study of 821 people who had been exposed to patients infected with the virus, researchers from the University of Minnesota and Canada are reporting on Wednesday. The study was the first large controlled clinical trial of hydroxychloroquine, a drug that President Trump has repeatedly…
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Why do some people infected with the coronavirus suffer only mild symptoms, while others become deathly ill? Geneticists have been scouring our DNA for clues. Now, a study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Variations at two spots…
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