Effects of Gender and Alcohol Use on US Veterans with HIV
While many people might not think that HIV is a large problem in the United States, at the end of 2015 over 1.1 million Americans were living with HIV. Of these people living with HIV in the United States, 75% are men. However, more women have contracted HIV in recent years, and women are also more susceptible to HIV than men within a heterosexual relationship context. Women may also be more vulnerable than men to alcohol use, which can then affect their HIV-related care and health. Researchers realized this could be a huge issue, and studied this using a subset of military veterans. They specifically used military veterans because the United States Veterans Health Administration (VA) is the nation’s largest health care system and the largest provider of HIV care. Within the VA health care system, researchers studied veterans living with HIV to see if there are differences by gender…
United States Veterans with HIV- Does Gender Matter?
While many people might not think that HIV is a large problem in the United States, at the end of 2015 over 1.1 million Americans were living with HIV. Of these people living with HIV in the United States, 75% are men. However, more women have contracted HIV in recent years, and women are also more susceptible to HIV than men within a heterosexual relationship context. Women may also be more vulnerable than men to alcohol use, which can then affect their HIV-related care and health. Researchers realized this could be a huge issue, and studied this using a subset of military veterans. They specifically used military veterans because the United States Veterans Health Administration (VA) is the nation’s largest health care system and the largest provider of HIV care. Within the VA health care system, researchers studied veterans living with HIV to see if there are differences by gender…
Risk Factors for Heavy Metal Exposure in Children
by Nicole JacobsBlue Marble Space Institute of Science Young Scientist Program Before a baby is born in Taiwan, both the development of its brain and its intellectual performance are already at risk. A 2014 study of 545 pairs of both mothers and infants living in North Taiwan has shown that harmful chemicals and metals can be found in urine, blood, and breast milk. Mothers with traces of metal in their blood can pass these harmful chemicals to their child through the placenta or even through breast feeding. Since early childhood is the stage of the most growth, being exposed to toxic substances including Mercury (Hg), Lead (Pb), and Cadmium (Cd) can stunt a child’s growth and mental development. In order to get this data, researchers recruited a sample population of 398 Taiwan-born mother-baby pairs and 147 foreign born mother-baby pairs that are were living in Taiwan from January 2007 and…
New understanding of an ancient man and his tools
During the last days of the summer of 1991, tourists hiking in the Ötztal Alps near the Italy – Austria border found the remains of an incredibly well-preserved man. This man, dubbed Ötzi, was dated back to the “Copper Age”: an informal name given to the transitional period between stone and iron working, or approximately 3500 to 2300 years ago. Incredibly, once the body was removed, it was found that Ötzi was actually carrying a toolkit – one of the most complete of its kind to be discovered. Recently, the tools found in Ötzi’s kit were analyzed to tell us more about Ötzi’s skills and how resources were obtained throughout Italy during the Copper Age. Ötzi’s toolkit consisted of two arrowheads (not counting the one found in his body), multiple unfinished arrow shafts, a scraper (a rock used to remove thin sections of animal hide and wood), a borer (a…
Ivy can protect buildings from frost
The UK and Ireland were visited by the Beast from the East in 2018 – freezing Arctic winds that dumped inches of snow and brought down temperatures to nearly fatal levels. Such temperatures are catastrophic for buildings as well, which experience severe mechanical damage due to frost. However, a new study by scientists from the University of Oxford shows that the rampant and invasive English ivy can act as a thermal blanket for buildings and protect them from frost, and thus, damage. English ivy, scientifically known as Hedera helix, is an evergreen climbing plant. With the help of small roots on its stems, English ivy quickly grows and thickly covers walls, tree trunks, and any supporting structure it finds. A lesser-known fact is that English ivy can tolerate sub-zero temperatures up to −25 °C, and being evergreen, retains its foliage in such freezing weather. Frost damage is a yearly headache…
Bulking Up: Increasing Muscle Mass in Fish with Gene Editing
There may be concerns with genetically modified organisms (GMO), but the effectiveness of gene editing in developing more productive plants and animals for the agriculture industry can not be argued. With the rise of cheap and simple gene editing technologies, more and more breeds of animals and plants are being bred and raised with edited genetic code. Researchers at Kyoto University in Japan and other affiliated institutions have recently created a genetically modified red sea bream (Pagrus major). Red sea bream is a high-value fish that is found in the north Pacific sea and is consumed widely, especially at events like weddings and festivals, in Korea, Taiwan, and Japan. It is one of the most important aquaculture species in Japan based on the production amount and value. These fish are GMO, but they are not transgenic – some of their own DNA has been deleted but they have not had…
What happens if we send signals into space?
By Margareth Cheng-CampbellBlue Marble Space Institute of Science, Young Scientist Program For over a hundred years, humans on Earth have been using radio transmissions to communicate with each other. This ability to communicate around the globe has brought people closer together. However, by their very nature, these radio transmissions, such as what leaks from television, cell phones, and satellites, are also detectable from space. This means the Earth is not a closed system. Earth’s ever-expanding detectable radio signature has been coined the radiosphere. Although radio signals weaken the further away they get from the source, faint signals are still detectable with a sensitive enough receiver. In his paper titled “The benefits and harm of transmitting into space,” author Jacob Haqq-Misra explores the potential consequences of broadcasting signals into space. The search for extraterrestrial life (SETI) is ongoing and has yet to turn up concrete proof of life beyond Earth. Some…
How Humans Can Influence Evolution of Other Species
by Matthew D’Ambrosio Guest Contributor In biology, evolution is how populations change over time from their common ancestor. This process has been happening on Earth since life first began, over 3.5 billion years ago. Evolution, however; is not driven by one factor, but many, from climate conditions to predator/prey relationships. And even now, 3.5 billion years since the start of life, humans may play a bigger role than we imagined in the evolution of other than we could have possibly imagined. Since Darwin, many papers have been published on how humans affect the evolution of a species. From infections to hunting ground, these papers usually focus on individual specifics rather than the big picture. A recent paper authored by Andrew Hendry, Kiyoko Gotanda, and Erik Svensson cross analysed multiple studies in an attempt to compare and contrast what human related factors influence evolution and how powerful each factor is. We as a…
Brain Cancer Vaccine Finishes Phase 3 of Clinical Trials
For most types of cancer, survival rates have steadily been improving since the 1970s as medical advancements have been made in both cancer diagnosis as well as in treatment. Some of the largest improvements seen have been in the most common cancer types such as prostate cancer, leukaemia, and female breast cancer. However for cancers of the brain, with an estimated 256 000 new cases diagnosed worldwide each year, improvements in patient outcomes have remained elusive. For patients with glioblastoma (the most aggressive type of brain cancer and second most common), outlook has been particularly grim. The most common length of survival following a diagnosis of glioblastoma ranges from 12 to 15 months, and less than 5% of patients are still alive after 5 years. It is an incredibly lethal disease. Current glioblastoma treatment consists of surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible, followed with radiation therapy,…
Are Microaggressions Based on Good Science?
If you’ve been on the internet in the last five years, you may have come across the word “microaggression.” A microaggression is defined as an unintentional rude statement toward people in historically stigmatized groups, such as women, non-whites, immigrants, or the disabled, revealing underlying prejudice. The discussion of microaggressions began in the 1970s among academics studying racism toward black Americans. The microaggression concept has spread considerably since then to include other kinds of prejudice, such as sexism. Scott O. Lilienfeld, a psychologist at Emory University, decided to explore the scientific basis of the microaggression concept. He claims that while prejudice is still a pervasive human problem, the research justifying the microaggression concept has not yet matured enough to inform policy. While he agrees with the need to explore prejudice and aggression in society, studying these issues through the lens of microaggressions may lead to logical inconsistency. The reason for this…