Friday 31 May 2019

Is it fatigue or a stroke? Women shouldn't ignore these warning signs

Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability in the U.S., and women make up nearly 60% of all stroke deaths.

* This article was originally published here

Physicists create stable, strongly magnetized plasma jet in laboratory

When you peer into the night sky, much of what you see is plasma, a soupy amalgam of ultra-hot atomic particles. Studying plasma in the stars and various forms in outer space requires a telescope, but scientists can recreate it in the laboratory to examine it more closely.

* This article was originally published here

G20 digital tax takes step closer

Global efforts to impose a unified tax policy on Google, Facebook and other internet giants have cleared a major hurdle ahead of a G20 summit in Japan, officials said Friday.

* This article was originally published here

Hydrogen-power electric flying vehicle: Long road to liftoff

A transportation company is betting its sleek new hydrogen-powered electric flying vehicles will someday serve as taxis, cargo carriers and ambulances of the sky, but experts say they will have to clear a number of regulatory hurdles before being approved for takeoff years in the future.

* This article was originally published here

Occupational hazards account for more than one in ten people with range of lung diseases

More than 1 in 10 people with a range of non-cancerous lung diseases may be sick as a result of inhaling vapors, gas, dust or fumes at work, according to a joint American Thoracic Society and the European Respiratory Society statement published in the ATS's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

* This article was originally published here

From viruses to social bots, researchers unearth the structure of attacked networks

The human body's mechanisms are marvelous, yet they haven't given up all their secrets. In order to truly conquer human disease, it is crucial to understand what happens at the most elementary level.

* This article was originally published here

FDA approves first test for Zika in human blood

(HealthDay)—The first test to detect the Zika virus in human blood has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

* This article was originally published here

Researchers try to recreate human-like thinking in machines

Researchers at Oxford University have recently tried to recreate human thinking patterns in machines, using a language guided imagination (LGI) network. Their method, outlined in a paper pre-published on arXiv, could inform the development of artificial intelligence that is capable of human-like thinking, which entails a goal-directed flow of mental ideas guided by language.

* This article was originally published here

Flexible generators turn movement into energy

Wearable devices that harvest energy from movement are not a new idea, but a material created at Rice University may make them more practical.

* This article was originally published here

How much coffee is too much?

(HealthDay)—From cappuccinos to cold brew, coffee is a morning must for many Americans, but is it healthy and how much is too much?

* This article was originally published here

Many immunosuppressed persons join in hurricane cleanup

(HealthDay)—About half of immunosuppressed persons reported participating in cleanup activities following Hurricane Harvey, and less than half of those who performed heavy cleanup reported wearing a respirator, according to research published in the May 31 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

* This article was originally published here

A prosthetic foot that tackles tough terrain

Taking on a hiking trail or a cobblestone street with a prosthetic leg is a risky proposition—it's possible, but even in relatively easy terrain, people who use prostheses to walk are more likely to fall than others. Now, Stanford University mechanical engineers have developed a more stable prosthetic leg—and a better way of designing them—that could make challenging terrain more manageable for people who have lost a lower leg.

* This article was originally published here

We don't have a cure for monkeypox virus, but the body can heal itself

News of a recent case of monkeypox in Singapore has made countries in Southeast Asia wary about the spread of the disease.

* This article was originally published here

ExoMars orbiter prepares for Rosalind Franklin

On 15 June, the ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) will follow a different path. An "Inclination Change Maneuver' will put the spacecraft in an altered orbit, enabling it to pick up crucial status signals from the ExoMars rover, Rosalind Franklin, due to land on the Red Planet in 2021.

* This article was originally published here

Chicago winter without a furnace or gas bill: Passive houses make it possible and are slowly catching on

In the 1970s, long before the Prius and Green New Deal, a small group of engineers and architects at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was already going green.

* This article was originally published here

Bacteria's protein quality control agent offers insight into origins of life

May 30—Our cells' process for transforming genes into useful proteins works much like an automobile factory's assembly line; there are schematics, parts, workers, motors, quality control systems and even recycling crews. If the cell's recycling process falters, abnormal protein fragments accumulate, potentially causing the cell's death. In nerve cells, the process is linked to a variety of neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS and dementia.

* This article was originally published here

New framework helps gauge impact of mosquito control programs

Effective methods of controlling mosquito populations are needed to help lower the worldwide burden of mosquito-borne diseases including Zika, chikungunya, and dengue. Now, researchers reporting in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases have described a new statistical framework that can be used to assess mosquito control programs over broad time and space scales.

* This article was originally published here

Research deepens understanding of gut bacteria's connections to human health, disease

Researchers at Oregon State University have made an important advance in understanding the roles that gut bacteria play in human health.

* This article was originally published here

Clinical calculator could spare breast cancer patients five years of unnecessary hormone therapy

New research confirms that an algorithm, called CTS5, can accurately identify patients who are at a significantly low risk of their breast cancer returning at a later stage. In doing so it means some patients may need to take hormone therapy for five years, rather than 10, something that researchers say could have a huge impact both psychologically and physically.

* This article was originally published here