Anti-inflammatory agents can effectively and safely curb major depressive symptoms

Anti-inflammatory agents, such as aspirin/paracetamol, statins, and antibiotics, can safely and effectively curb the symptoms of major depression, finds a pooled analysis of the available evidence, published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.

UK vets need special training to report suspected animal abuse

UK vets need special training to report cases of suspected animal abuse and neglect, finds research published online in Vet Record.

A deep learning approach to coordinate defensive escort teams

Advancements in robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) are enabling the development of artificial agents designed to assist humans in a variety of everyday settings. One of the many possible uses for these systems could be to escort humans or valuable goods that are being transferred from one location to another, defending them from threats or attacks.

Gold-DNA nanosunflowers for efficient gene silencing and controlled transformation

Developing an efficient delivery system for enhanced and controlled gene interference-based therapeutics is an existing challenge in molecular biology. The advancing field of nanotechnology can provide an effective, cross-disciplinary strategy to facilitate nucleic acid delivery. In a new report, Shuaidong Huo and colleagues in the interdisciplinary departments of Nanoscience, Interactive Materials, Chemistry and Polymer Research in China, Germany and the U.S. used triplex-forming oligonucleotide sequences coupled to its complementary strand to mediate the self-assembly of ultra-small gold nanoparticles.

The hidden traffic impacts of private schooling

In Australia today, just over 40% of secondary school children and almost 30% of primary school children attend a private school. By contrast, in the UK only 7% of children are privately educated.

Student maps Niagara's invasive species

They hitch rides on the soles of people's shoes and in water carried and dumped by ships, enabling them to sneak through borders undetected.

Cyberbullying: Help children build empathy and resilience as their identity develops

Disturbing events related to cyberbullying in recent months and years have raised great concern among parents, youths and educators regarding the everyday lives of children in online spaces —as well as how they develop their capacities to judge right and wrong.

An ultrathin nanoelectromechanical transducer made of hafnium zirconium oxide

Recently developed nanomechanical resonators that can operate at super-high (i.e., three to 30 GHz) and extremely high (30 to 300 GHz) frequency regimes could be extremely valuable for the development of more advanced semiconductor electronics such as wideband spectral processors and high-resolution resonant sensors. Integrated nanoelectromechanical transducers could enable the development of very small sensors and actuators to facilitate mechanical interaction with the outside world at the atomic level with ultra-high resolution. However, realizing integrated electromechanical transduction at the nanoscale has so far proved to be very challenging.

Technology will not save us from climate change, but imagining new forms of society will

Citizen action on climate change has reached a new intensity: school children by the thousands regularly skip school to protest and Extinction Rebellion's civil disobedience recently caused widespread disruption in cities around the world. Challenge and disruption is important in prompting change. But it's also key that we consider—and show—how a zero carbon future could work in practice. This is where the field of social innovation – the development of new ideas that meet social needs—is coming of age.

Gluten-free diets won't help healthy guts

Healthy people who avoid gluten by choice may not get any benefit from the gluten-free restriction on their diet, according to new research.

Preserved pollen tells the history of floodplains

Many of us think about pollen only when allergy season is upon us.

New study reveals important yet unprotected global ocean areas

The largest synthesis of important marine areas conducted to date reveals that a large portion of Earth's oceans are considered important and are good candidates for protection. A first of its kind, the study was conducted by a multidisciplinary team of researchers including Ellen Pikitch, Ph.D., and Christine Santora of Stony Brook University and Dr. Natasha Gownaris, a Ph.D. graduate of Stony Brook University. The team examined 10 diverse and internationally recognized maps depicting global marine priority areas. The findings, published in Frontiers in Marine Science, may serve as a roadmap for the goal set by the United Nations to create 10 percent of the ocean as marine protected areas (MPAs) by 2020.

Biomarker for schizophrenia can be detected in human hair

Working with model mice, postmortem human brains, and people with schizophrenia, researchers at the RIKEN Center for Brain Science in Japan have discovered that a subtype of schizophrenia is related to abnormally high levels hydrogen sulfide in the brain. Experiments showed that this abnormality likely results from a DNA-modifying reaction during development that lasts throughout life. In addition to providing a new direction for research into drug therapies, higher-than-normal levels of the hydrogen sulfide-producing enzyme can act as biomarker for this type of schizophrenia.

Biomarker for schizophrenia can be detected in human hair

Working with model mice, postmortem human brains, and people with schizophrenia, researchers at the RIKEN Center for Brain Science in Japan have discovered that a subtype of schizophrenia is related to abnormally high levels hydrogen sulfide in the brain. Experiments showed that this abnormality likely results from a DNA-modifying reaction during development that lasts throughout life. In addition to providing a new direction for research into drug therapies, higher-than-normal levels of the hydrogen sulfide-producing enzyme can act as biomarker for this type of schizophrenia.

Nerve cell protection free from side effects

The hormone erythropoietin (Epo) is a well-known doping substance that has a long history of abuse in endurance sports such as cycling. In addition to promoting red blood cell production (erythropoiesis), which improves the oxygen supply, Epo also protects nerve cells from cell death. In order to use this effect to cure neurodegenerative diseases, however, the negative effects caused by Epo through the stimulated formation of red blood cells need to be prevented. Researchers at the University of Göttingen have now discovered an alternative Epo receptor that could potentially also trigger protective effects in humans without the side effects on erythropoiesis. The results were published in the journal Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience.

Streaming TV gears up for ad targeting

In the new world of streaming television, advertising is not going away, but is evolving to become more like marketing on the internet—targeted to specific groups or individuals.

Delhi fights hazardous pollution after Diwali party

After India's biggest firework party of the year, Delhi awoke to a pollution hangover Monday with the capital forced to breathe hazardous levels of toxic particles.

State of emergency declared as California wildfires rage

California's governor declared a statewide emergency on Sunday as a huge blaze, fanned by strong winds, forced mass evacuations and power blackouts as it bore down on towns in the famed Sonoma wine region.

Chill your Netflix habit, climate experts say

Movie nights once required driving to the local video store to rent, rewind and return the latest blockbuster. Now on-demand video content providers offer countless binge-worthy options at the touch of a finger.

New species found in whale shark mouth

A whale shark's mouth might not seem like the most hospitable environment for a home, but Japanese researchers have found there's no place like it for a newly-discovered shrimp-like creature.

American Academy of Pediatrics looks at use of nonnutritive sweeteners by children

Nonnutritive or artificial sweeteners are a growing part of U.S. diets, now consumed by at least one in four children. A new American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) policy statement offers a summary of the existing data around nonnutritive sweeteners and recommends future research into how they affect children's weight, taste preferences, the risk for diabetes, and long-term safety.

AAP recommends greater access to surgical treatments for severe obesity

Recognizing that severe obesity is a serious and worsening public health crisis in children and adolescents, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is calling for greater access to metabolic and bariatric surgery, one of the few strategies that has been shown to be effective in treating the most severe forms of the chronic disease.

Soft drinks found to be the crucial link between obesity and tooth wear

A new study published today in the journal Clinical Oral Investigations, has found that sugar-sweetened acidic drinks, such as soft drinks, is the common factor between obesity and tooth wear among adults.

Maternal and newborn health improves in rural Nigeria, Ethiopia and India but inequities still exist

Community-based health programs in parts of rural Nigeria, Ethiopia and India were successful in improving health care for mothers and newborns, but inequities still exist, according to a new study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

Study implicates flavored e-cigs in the teen vaping epidemic

A USC study has found that teens who vape candy- or fruit-flavored e-cigarettes are more likely to stick with the habit and vape more heavily, implicating flavors in the teen vaping epidemic.