Flies predict changes in their visual environment in order to execute evasive maneuvers, according to new research from the University of Chicago. This reliance on predictive information to guide behavior suggests that prediction may be a general feature of animal nervous systems in supporting quick behavioral changes. The study was published on May 20 in…
Around the world and within the U.S., the percentage of people wearing masks during the Covid-19 pandemic has varied enormously. What explains this? A new study co-authored by an MIT faculty member finds that a public sense of “collectivism” clearly predicts mask usage, adding a cultural and psychological perspective to the issue. The study uses…
Environmental quality is associated with advanced-stage prostate cancer at diagnosis, according to a new study by University of Illinois Chicago researchers. Prostate cancer is up to 57% heritable, with the remainder attributed to environmental exposures. However, studies on those environmental factors and prostate cancer aggressiveness have previously been limited. For their study, “Association between environmental quality and prostate cancer at diagnosis,” published…
At the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, a University of Illinois Chicago researcher conducted a survey asking respondents if they experienced health care delays because of the pandemic. In addition to learning about the types of delays, the study also presented a unique opportunity to capture a historic moment at the pandemic’s beginning. Elizabeth Papautsky, UIC assistant professor of biomedical and health information sciences, is first author on “Characterizing Healthcare…
ROCHESTER, Minn. — You might be older – or younger – than you think. A new study found that differences between a person’s age in years and his or her biological age, as predicted by an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled EKG, can provide measurable insights into health and longevity. The AI model accurately predicted the age…
In a time of a global crisis such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it is easy to note how people move through different phases to buckle up for such unprecedented and arduous times. In the very beginning of the pandemic last year, we observed “an epidemic of fear”, where it was all about the calamitous…
MSU researcher is studying, raising awareness about the role of sex in the efficacy of vaccines that make use of nanomedicine. If there’s one take-home message for the general public about the coronavirus vaccines approved in the U.S., it’s that they are remarkably effective. But Michigan State University’s Morteza Mahmoudi is raising awareness about an…
WASHINGTON — The chief executive of Emergent BioSolutions, whose Baltimore plant ruined millions of coronavirus vaccine doses, disclosed for the first time on Wednesday that more than 100 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine are now on hold as regulators check them for possible contamination. In more than three hours of testimony before a…
Nursing home residents, considered among the most vulnerable to Covid-19, appear to receive significant protection from vaccination, according to new research published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. In a letter to the editor, the researchers said that the use of vaccinations also appeared to protect nursing home residents who did not get…
In late 1910, a deadly plague started spreading in the northeast reaches of China, reaching the large city of Harbin. Tens of thousands of people coughed up blood; their skin pruned and turned purple. They all died. This outbreak sent the Qing government into a tailspin: They didn’t know what illness was causing these deaths,…