Author: healthadmin
Scientists at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) have taken a new look at Earth’s violent beginnings and found that ancient asteroid impacts may have played a key role in making Earth habitable. Their computer models suggest that repeated impacts did more than just reshape the young Earth’s surface. They also created large hydrothermal systems, hydrothermal environments that may have provided the right conditions for life to emerge. To reach these conclusions, the researchers modeled the early history of asteroid impacts on Earth. Their simulations showed that these powerful impacts disrupted the planet’s crust, creating porous underground channels that allowed water…
One study found that while a vegan diet without supplements was associated with healthier body composition and cholesterol levels, it also had a significantly higher risk of inadequate intake of important vitamins and minerals, highlighting the importance of careful dietary planning. Study: Healthier macronutrient profile but higher risk of certain micronutrient deficiencies: A cross-sectional study of vegans, lacto-ovo vegetarians, and omnivores in Northeast China. Image credit: zi3000/Shutterstock.com New research published in journal nutrients Significant micronutrient deficiencies have been reported among unsupplemented vegans and vegetarians in Northeast China. Researchers compare plant-based diets in northeastern China Plant-based foods are becoming extremely popular…
The recent cancellation of a large air products, chemicals and clean energy complex in Louisiana is likely due to political hostility and public distrust, according to industry analysts looking at potential ramifications for the petrochemical industry. Air Products announced Tuesday that it has canceled a planned hydrogen production facility in Ascension Parish and an associated carbon capture project to transport and store carbon dioxide from a site beneath Lake Maurepas. Overall, the company had plans to invest $8 billion in Louisiana. Baton Rouge-based economist David Dismukes said the project has faced increasing political headwinds since it was announced in 2021,…
A large-scale study in siblings showed that the apparent association between prenatal paracetamol use and autism or ADHD disappears when common family-related factors are taken into account, challenging long-held concerns and providing reassurance for the clinically indicated use of paracetamol during pregnancy.Large population-based cohort study published in a journal JAMA Internal Medicine After accounting for familial confounders, they found that prenatal use of acetaminophen (paracetamol) did not appear to increase the risk of autism or ADHD. Familial factors complicate prenatal paracetamol research Acetaminophen (paracetamol) is the most commonly recommended treatment for pain and fever during pregnancy and is considered first…
WASHINGTON — The presidential physical fitness test, which was a divisive feature of children’s education from the 1960s to the 2010s, is being revived as part of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign to promote health among young people and combat chronic disease. Experts on youth physical activity say this is just a positive step toward getting kids active, not a solution to the rise in sedentary children. Experts STAT spoke to said fitness measurement needs to be combined with additional strategies to capture and maintain children’s interest in exercise and avoid unpleasant associations with physical activity. “The bottom…
A prominent climate scientist has hit back at claims he described as “patently false” in a major U.S. government climate report, claiming the report misrepresents his research and downplays the role of human activity in global warming. Professor Benjamin Santer, Emeritus Professor at the University of East Anglia (UEA), was one of the first researchers to identify a distinct human ‘fingerprint’ in the Earth’s climate system. His research helped shape the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) landmark 1995 report. The report concluded for the first time that there is sufficient evidence to support a “clear human impact” on the…
Nuttida Rungratsameetaweemana challenges the narrative that neuroscience has been telling us for decades. According to the traditional explanation, our eyes collect raw information and transmit it through a series of nerves and relay stations deep into the brain, eventually reaching the cortex. There, thinking begins when information is processed and used for higher-order tasks such as reasoning, judgment, and decision-making. Her group’s activities complicate that explanation. Last year, the team published fMRI scans showing unexpected levels of activity in the cortex’s earliest visual areas, the areas that first receive visual signals. Rather than passively communicating what the eye received, these…
Water has been studied more than almost any other substance, and scientists have long debated a surprisingly simple problem. That is, what happens to the chemistry of water when it is squeezed into a space just a few molecules wide. These tiny spaces exist throughout nature and technology, including nanoscale pores, membranes, and biological channels. A new study reveals that the answer is more nuanced than researchers once believed, helping to resolve years of contradictory results. Why water splitting is important One of the characteristic chemical properties of water is its ability to break down into two charged particles: H3O+…
Results from the ongoing eNRGy trial, a single-arm, multicenter, international phase 2 clinical trial evaluating xenocutuzumab in neuregulin-1-positive solid tumors (NRG1) gene fusion, with manageable side effects and clinically meaningful efficacy (including nearly twice the progression-free survival compared to expected with standard therapy) reported in patients with previously treated advanced disease NRG1-Positive cholangiocarcinoma. Based on these results, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved xenocutuzumab as a next treatment. NRG1-I tested positive for bile duct cancer on May 8th. “Second-line chemotherapy is only marginally effective for most patients with this disease, and better treatment options are desperately needed,” says…
When a patient requires a stem cell transplant, finding a registered donor is only the first step. Some potential donors drop out before confirmation typing, reducing the number of candidates available to physicians from. Researchers at Osaka University and their collaborators tested whether a small change in wording could encourage more donors to stick around. This study Economic Behavior and Organization Journal. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is an important treatment for leukemia and other blood cancers, but donor availability remains a challenge worldwide. In Japan, many coordination processes stop before confirmatory typing (CT), a pre-donation test used to confirm whether…