Half a year into the pandemic, it’s well-accepted that coronavirus can be spread when an infected person expels respiratory droplets by coughing or sneezing. But can the virus be transmitted in microscopically small droplets that are released into the air by talking or just breathing? And if so, could you contract the virus from across a room, or after the […]
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Like the infrastructure of an apartment building, a fibrous protein known as curli amyloid that is produced by bacteria provides the supportive framework for biofilms—thick extracellular substances made by bacteria that enable multiple bacterial cells to assemble, survive, and thrive together. Curli amyloid, however, is also a key factor in diarrheal illness brought about by bacterial infection, and its harmful […]
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Older, critically ill patients with COVID-19 who received a combination of the antiretroviral medications lopinavir and ritonavir experienced bradycardia, a slow heart rate, more often, according to new research published today in Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, an American Heart Association journal. The combination of antiretroviral medications lopinavir (LPV) and ritonavir (RTV) have been previously used to treat patients with SARS-Cov-1 […]
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When you and your partner live hundreds to thousands of miles apart, it’s a lot harder to satisfy that desire for sex and get that real powerful hit of intimacy than it would be if you lived in the same house (or within driving distance, at least). But some couples don’t have that luxury, for whatever reasons and still need […]
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Researchers at Kumamoto University, Japan have revealed that DNA methylation occurs in the gene that codes serotonin transporter (SERT), a protein that regulates neurotransmitter transmission, in schizophrenia and bipolar patients. Particularly prominent in males and patients with certain genetic polymorphisms, this methylation is inversely correlated with volume of the amygdala in the brain. This work is expected to lead to […]
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A team of Chinese scientists from the State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, along with multi-institutional collaborators, has recently reported a comprehensive proteomic analysis based on 103 Chinese patients with lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), a leading cause of death among all types of cancer worldwide. The research revealed LUAD-related molecular […]
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The human heart is like a sponge, able to expand and grow, increasing its capacity to take up blood. In theory, an enlarged heart can also squeeze out more blood, with more power, than an average-sized heart. But in reality, for most people, this growth—known as cardiac hypertrophy—is abnormal and signals trouble. Cardiac hypertrophy is brought on by various factors, […]
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President Donald Trump insists that schools reopen this fall. Many parents, educators, doctors and economists want the same thing. But getting children back to school safely could mean keeping high-risk spots like bars and gyms closed. A growing chorus of public health experts is urging federal, state and local officials to reconsider how they are reopening the broader economy, and […]
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We are only halfway into the year 2020, but it seems like it has been going on forever. Most people have always found it difficult to strike a work-life balance, which often tends to take its toll on one’s mental health, and it often goes unnoticed. The events of this year have even more so been a source of unrest, […]
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Extending the United States cigarette flavour ban to include menthol products could encourage existing smokers to quit and lower the rates of people starting to smoke, according to a study published in the open access journal BMC Public Health. Under the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned flavours in […]
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