news 2022

AI can help identify biases in news reporting that we wouldn't otherwise see. Researchers from McGill University got a computer program to generate news coverage of COVID-19 using headlines from CBC articles as prompts. They then compared the simulated news coverage to the actual reporting at the time and found that CBC coverage was less focused on the medical emergency and more positively focused on personalities and geo-politics.

Study by the University of Bonn elucidates important mechanism in the brain Nerve cells can regulate their sensitivity to incoming signals autonomously. A new study led by the University of Bonn has now discovered a mechanism that does just that. The German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases and the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology of Behavior were involved in the work.

Wearing a face mask can temporarily disrupt decision-making in some situations according to University of Queensland research. Dr David Smerdon from UQ's School of Economics analysed almost three million chess moves played by more than eight thousand people in 18 countries before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and found wearing a mask substantially reduced the average quality of player decisions.

Glucocorticoids —such as cortisone— are among the most widely used anti-inflammatory drugs, and are used to treat asthma, psoriasis, organ transplantation and even COVID-19. Regarding their pharmacological action, the activity of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is crucial. The GR is a transcription factor that regulates vital processes in human physiology.

New symptoms may appear in children up to a year after initial infection with Covid-19, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The Children and young people with Long Covid (CLoCk) study, published in The Lancet Regional Health - Europe , is the world's largest study on long Covid in children. Researchers asked children aged 11 to 17 about their health six months and 12 months after taking a PCR test between September 2020 and March 2021.

Up to 78% of walkers would take a more challenging route featuring obstacles such as balancing beams, steppingstones and high steps, research has found. The findings suggest that providing -Active Landscape- routes in urban areas could help tackle an -inactivity pandemic- and improve health outcomes.

The coronavirus has become part of our society. But how exactly does the virus work? In a unique animation, Maastricht scientists have visualized the life cycle of the virus for a broad audience. They did this using real microscopic images of infected cells. In late 2020, Raimond Ravelli received funding from the Science Communication program of the National Science Agenda (NWA).

Treat heart failure in type 2 diabetes with simple nutritional supplements? That seems too easy to be true, but researchers at Maastricht UMC+ have discovered that a particular mixture of amino acids could provide a cure for diabetic heart failure. A crucial step in addressing a problem facing a growing group of patients.

Today, by and large, patients receive a diagnosis of Alzheimer's only after they exhibit well-known signs of the disease, such as memory loss. By that point, the best treatment options simply slow further progression of symptoms. But research has shown that the seeds of Alzheimer's are planted years - even decades - earlier, long before the cognitive impairments surface that make a diagnosis possible.

People who have long COVID-19 can experience many of the same lingering negative effects on their physical, mental and social well-being as those experienced by people who become ill with other, non-COVID illnesses, new research suggests. The findings, which were published in JAMA Network Open, are based on a comparison of people known to have been infected with COVID-19 with individuals with similar symptoms who tested negative for COVID.

Study shows positive perceptions of aging can benefit sexual satisfaction among older adults. Researchers have long known that having a positive outlook can benefit a person's health. Now, a new study by the University of Missouri has found older adults who feel positive about aging have a healthier sex life - a finding that didn't surprise the researcher, who's been studying the benefits of the positive perceptions of aging.

Researchers at the University of Innsbruck investigated the effect of nuclear magnetic resonance on cryptochrome, an important protein of the "internal clock". To their surprise, the results of the experiments could only be explained by quantum mechanical principles - and could enable completely new therapeutic approaches.

Tiny droplets in our cells can accelerate the accumulation of protein deposits in diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, but they can also hinder this accumulation. While they will worsen the accumulation if the proteins stick to the edge of the droplets, the situation actually improves when they are incorporated into the droplets.

Health benefits of using wind energy instead of fossil fuels could quadruple if the most polluting power plants are selected for dialing down, new study finds. Nearly 10 percent of today's electricity in the United States comes from wind power. The renewable energy source benefits climate, air quality, and public health by displacing emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants that would otherwise be produced by fossil-fuel-based power plants.

While great progress has been made in recent years in the understanding of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), its underlying molecular mechanisms remain fairly poorly documented.

Researchers identify genes and markers associated with resistance to a commonly used hormone treatment Researchers at Laval University have discovered markers and genes associated with resistance to a hormone treatment commonly given to people with prostate cancer. These advances, reported in an article published by NAR Cancer , could lead to better use of this treatment and the development of new, more effective cancer treatments.

Things are looking brighter than ever at the Berkeley Lab Laser Accelerator (BELLA) Center run by the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. A recently completed upgrade will expand the center's capabilities into new areas, including studies of particle acceleration, extremely hot plasmas, cancer treatment techniques, and materials for quantum science.

Using the new -smart contact lens- could prevent deaths caused by fungal eye infections in developing countries Currently, detecting which bacteria or fungus is present in an eye infection is an invasive and lengthy process - the new test would involve the patient wearing the special lens for an hour, with the results determined soon afterwards It will also cut down on the misprescribing of antibiotics, helping in the fight to reduce antibiotic resistance A pioneering -smart contact lens- to test for eye infections in a quick, non-invasive way is being developed.

Frequent online communication with best friends and existing friendship groups is associated with better wellbeing in young people, new research by Cardiff University has found. Led by the Centre for the Development, Evaluation, Complexity and Implementation in Public Health Improvement (DECIPHer), the study found that boys and girls communicating with 'real life' friends online had higher levels of wellbeing.

Residue from rinse agents is left behind on dishes after they are cleaned in professional-grade dishwashers. This damages the natural protective layer in the gut and can contribute to the onset of chronic diseases, as demonstrated by researchers working with organoids at the Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research.