There are said to be 50 million people living with dementia globally and this is expected to triple by 2050.
Research conducted by Dr Hwajin Yang, Associate Professor at Singapore Management University, and colleagues, examines how the risk of developing dementia is affected by one’s sense of loneliness and sense of control.
Read the original paper: https://doi.org/10.1080/07317115.2020.1799891
Sexuality is an intrinsic part of identity. However, intimacy and sexuality in residential aged care are often contested issues, particularly in the case of people living with different types of dementia.
Professor Mark Henrickson, Dr Catherine Cook, Dr Vanessa Schouten and Ms Sandra McDonald are researching consent in this domain.
Read more about their research in Research Features.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2021.1871649
Andrei Khrennikov and Emmanuel Haven discuss their research into the quantum formalism behind political movements, financial markets, and personal relations.
Read more:
- Quantum-like modeling: cognition, decision making, and rationality (2020) : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11299-020-00240-6
- Quantum Mechanical Pragmatic Rules and Social Science (2019): https://doi.org/10.1007/s41470-019-00036-1
- Introduction to quantum probability theory and its economic applications (2018): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmateco.2018.08.004
- Statistical and subjective interpretations of probability in quantum-like models of cognition and decision making (2016): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmp.2016.02.005
- ‘Social Laser’: action amplification by stimulated emission of social energy (2015): http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2015.0094
- An Application of the Theory of Open Quantum Systems to Model the Dynamics of Party Governance in the US Political System (2013): https://doi.org/10.1007/s10773-013-1931-6
Global temperature rises and climate change will not only bring disruption to the planet’s ecosystems, weather systems, and sea levels. It will also have an impact on current and future human societies through economic turmoil.
Dr Patrick Brown of San José State University examines the net economic impact of Paris Agreement global warming targets.
Read more:
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239520
News coverage of the drug overdose crisis gripping America has, for a large part, focused on opioid drug deaths. However, this represents a small part of the ever-shifting landscape of drug use. Away from the mainstream, stimulants - both prescribed and illicit - continue to claim lives at an increasing rate.
Joshua Black and Janetta Iwanicki from Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Safety discuss their institutes role in tracking deaths, informing policy, and attempting to stem the tide of drug related deaths in America.
Read more: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.7850
Delayed sleep-wake phase disorder (DSWPD) is characterised by an inability to fall asleep at a socially acceptable time, and an inability to wake up at conventional early times for school or work.
Dr Gregory Carter from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, is conducting research into 'night owl preference', and what can be done to realign ones circadian rhythm.
Read more: https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.5100
Prof Wiley investigates the emergence of new brain viral infections and their link to dementia.
Read more about his work in Research Outreach, and find his original articles below:
- Emergent Viral Infections of the CNS: https://doi.org/10.1093/jnen/nlaa054
- H1N1, but not H3N2, influenza A virus infection protects ferrets from H5N1 encephalitis: https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.01840-13
- Emerging Infections of CNS: Avian Influenza A Virus, Rift Valley Fever Virus and Human Parechovirus: https://doi.org/10.1111/bpa.12281
- Human Parechovirus 3 Meningitis and Fatal Leukoencephalopathy : https://doi.org/10.1097/NEN.0000000000000215
- Human Zika and West Nile virus neurological infections: What is the difference?: https://doi.org/10.1111/neup.12385
- Systemic distribution of West Nile virus infection: postmortem immunohistochemical study of six cases.: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-3639.2007.00080.x
Over the last 50 years, advances in surgical procedures, clinical understandings and targeted treatments have changed the prospects of many cancer diagnoses from terminal to treatable. However, this progress is not evenly distributed across the many different types of cancer, and nowhere is that more keenly felt than in cancers affecting children. How might the advances and insights in treating blood cancers benefit patients with brain tumours?
To answer that question, I am speaking today with Dr David Walker and Dr Chris Halsey about their research connecting trials and treatments across disease types, for the benefit of all patients.
It has been well established that mental health problems increase vulnerability to corona virus, COVID-19, and those contracting the virus are at higher risk of nervous system disorders and mental illness. The Mom2B study, led by Prof Alkistis Skalkidou and colleagues, explores the mental health of pregnant women and those who have recently given birth.
Read their paper here: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.18.20248466
Download the Mom2B app here:
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.mom2b.app2&gl=SE
Huntington's Disease is characterised by a clear line of heritability within families, and an early onset of disease towards the middle of ones life. As such, the more knowledge researchers gain about development of the disease, the earlier interventions may be developed, and the longer their benefits felt.
Dr Jessica Cao is researching the onset of Huntington's Disease in a mouse model, how the sex-dependent differences may reflect in humans, and prospects for therapies to improve the wellbeing of patients facing the disease.
Read the original paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbd.2019.104607
Climate change is real, happening now, and happening the world over. However, it is not an evenly distributed problem - coastal areas are the most susceptible to rising sea levels, and there is one coast that most people in the world will never get to see .
The response of Antarctica to climate change is one of the big research questions facing the British Antarctic Survey. David Barnes, marine ecologist and lecturer, talks about life on the ice, life under it, and what the future may hold for polar regions.
Read his recent blog ahead of the COP26 Expo here.
Read their past papers at:
https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15617
https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15392
https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15055
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2017.0176
Modelling human decisions under uncertainty has become a crucial issue in the field of Artificial Intelligence over recent years. Mathematical models of decision making under risk provide the user with an ‘optimal’ solution. These rational decision models, however, are not always able to describe the typical human approach to making decisions.
Dr Serena Doria, from The Gabriele d'Annunzio University in Italy, presents a new mathematical updating model that can represent the awareness process of the unconscious and conscious thought.
Read her paper here: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11238-019-09699-3
Since its adoption in 1989, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child has become the most widely ratified treaty in history. One of the underlying principles enshrined throughout the Convention is adult respect for children’s views.
Professor Richard Mitchell argues the climate strikes and political activism inspired by Greta Thunberg, Autumn Peltier, and Salvador Gómez-Colón among others, represents an unprecedented human rights-based phenomenon, and one that emphasises millions of young women in leadership roles.
Hear more about his research here, and read the original article at:
https://doi.org/10.1080/02604027.2019.1698235
The Synthesis Center, a unique institutional experiment at Arizona State University created by Professor Sha Xin Wei, brings like minds together to explore the interface between media arts, the environment, engineering and technology.
With the potential for global social impact, the results generate significant insights into how we interact with technology.
Learn more about the The Synthesis Centre here and here, and find more from Prof Wei at his ASU staff page.
Dr Farzan Beroz developed a physical theory of sensing that predicts cell behaviour.
Cells are continuously exposed to mechanical stimuli from their surroundings, causing stresses that can guide cell behaviours throughout development, movement and healing. To ensure normal function, the bodies cells and their microenvironment constantly engage in a reciprocal and dynamic dialogue with one another - Mechanosensing.
Dr Beroz' findings establish a model of cell behaviour and inspire novel ways to engineer high precision sensors.
Read more in Research Outreach.
Find the original article at: https://dx.doi.org/10.1038%2Fs41467-020-18995-4
The rising trends of e-cigarette use pose a new problem for regulators and healthcare providers: who is vaping, and how much nicotine. are they getting?
Among many different brands, formulations, devices and behaviours, Ian Jones presents data from a sweeping review to determine the scientific underpinnings to how much is known, and is left to know, about the the typical puff.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxrep.2020.12.016
Low-cost accessible space technologies are necessary to fulfil the promise of the “New Space” revolution and open the door to space exploration to everyone.
In order to lower the cost of spacecraft propulsion, Dulce Máximo from the Tecnológico de Monterrey in México and Luis Fernando Velásquez-García from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology report on the first 3D-printed electrospray thrusters to be used in nanosatellites. Not only are these cheaper and quicker to manufacture, but they also use propellant fuel very efficiently. This important development is a significant contribution to the democratisation of nanosatellite propulsion technology.
Read more about their work in Research Outreach.
Read the original article at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2020.101719
Rheumatic heart disease is the most common acquired heart disease in children and adolescents, and is disproportionately prevalent in marginalised communities across sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the Pacific Islands.
Prof Thomas Pilgrim, Dr Prahlad Karki, and colleagues at BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Nepal report on the successes, costs, and challenges of detecting early stages of rheumatic heart disease among children with echocardiographic screening followed by timely treatment with antibiotic prevention.
Read the original article: doi.org/10.1001/jamacardio.2020.7050
Dr Cleve Hicks from the University of Warsaw in Poland has been observing a special group of chimpanzees that have developed their own customs and traditions.
Despite the logistical difficulties involved in reaching a remote part of DR Congo , as well as the ever-present threat of malaria and the dangers of armed conflict, Hicks and his team managed to document how these chimpanzees live – including tool making, feeding habits and sleeping style.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-020-00149-4
In Is Russia Fascist? (Cornell University Press), author Marlene Laruelle argues that the charge of "fascism" has become a strategic narrative of the current world order. The ruling Russian regime has increasingly been accused of embracing fascism, supposedly evidenced by Russia's annexation of Crimea, its historical revisionism, attacks on liberal democratic values, and its support for far-right movements in Europe. But at the same time, Russia has branded itself as the world's preeminent antifascist power because of its sacrifices during the Second World War, while emphasizing how opponents to the Soviet Union in Central and Eastern Europe collaborated with Nazi Germany.
By labeling ideological opponents as fascist, regardless of their actual values or actions, geopolitical rivals are able to frame their own vision of the world and claim the moral high ground. Through a detailed examination of the Russian domestic scene and the Kremlin's foreign policy rationales, Laruelle disentangles the foundation for, meaning, and validity of accusations of fascism in and around Russia.
Buy Is Russia Fascist? now from:
Cornell University Press: bit.ly/rpodrussia
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1501754130
Join the author and experts in discussion on March 26th 2021: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/142568605537
Advances in modern surgery have been dependent upon advances in anaesthetic management. However, anaesthesia can have detrimental effects, as it is usually associated with reduced blood pressure, cardiac output and oxygen delivery.
Drs Green and O’Brien have looked at how the use of intraoperative monitoring and management protocols can mitigate some of the deleterious effects of anaesthesia on the circulation.
Read more about their work in Research Outreach, or find the original article at: https://doi.org/10.1093/bja/aew203
Despite advances in the education of women and girls worldwide, UNICEF reported in 2020 that female students still lag behind in terms of access to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects.
Dr Lu Wang, Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology at Ball State University, Indiana, brings together research and theory on the subjects of gender, spatial ability, math anxiety and math achievement. Her conclusions on the role of spatial ability could be crucial to future policy making to improve access to STEM courses and careers for female students.
Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-019-09487-z
The Serotonin Power Diet is a clinically-proven, practical, and easy to follow 12-week program that gives you the tools to stop weight gain naturally, regain control over cravings, and achieve real, sustainable weight loss.
The Serotonin Power Diet by Dr Judith Wurtman and Dr Nina Frusztajer is available on Amazon and through the website.
Follow them on Instagram and Facebook.
When thinking of tiny fruit flies, one doesn’t usually have their brainpower in mind. But even these small insects, like all animals, can learn behaviours in response to different stimuli.
Prof André Fiala studies the learning behaviour of fruit flies, aiming to dig deeper into the computational principles underlying the encoding of learned information.
Find more from Prof Fiala at his University of Goettingen website, and follow him on Twitter.
Read the original paper this episode is based on : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2020.03.010
Deciphering the patterns of nature is something that has occupied curious minds for countless generations, from swarms of bugs to the flight of birds to the movement of your bodies own cells.
Prof Andrea Cavagna of the Institute for Complex Systems leads a research group bringing together the worlds theoretical physics and experimental biology, building mathematical models of natural systems and uncovering the universal laws that underly the organisation structure of life.
Read the original paper on swarm behaviours: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.268001
