Nature Communications Published October 16, 2018 11:00 EDT (News release from Nature Research Press) Of 57 volunteers, participants who did well in a test to identify odours performed better when they were asked to navigate between landmarks in a virtual town. Brain imaging revealed that increased thickness of the left medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) and volume […]
Category: Paper of Interest
New reservoir computer advances AI
Journal of Applied Physics Published October 16, 2018 11:00 EDT (News release from American Institute of Physics) Researchers have constructed the first reservoir computing device using a microelectromechanical system (MEMS). The device is a virtual neural network that physically mimics the human brain, allowing the network to perform the highly complex calculations required by emerging artificial […]
Smallest diplodocid dinosaur skull provides clues about sauropod life
Scientific Reports Published October 11, 2018 09:00 EDT (News release from Nature Research Press) The smallest skull yet discovered of a long-necked dinosaur ― with a total cranial length of approximately 24 centimetres ― suggests young sauropods may have had different diets, shown different physical features, and lived in separate groups from their parents. Compared to […]
Planned intermittent fasting may help reverse type 2 diabetes
BMJ Case Reports Published October 9, 2018 18:30 EDT (News release from BMJ) Planned intermittent fasting may help to reverse type 2 diabetes, suggest doctors after three patients in their care, who did this, were able to cut out the need for insulin treatment altogether. In addition, the patients also lost weight, reduced their waist circumferences and reduced their […]
Polar bears ate whales to survive past warm periods; won’t suffice as climate warms
Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment Embargoed until October 9, 2018 12:00 EDT (News release from University of Washington) Researchers drew upon years of field observations to assess the importance of whale carcasses and how they might help polar bears survive an ice-free Arctic. Although whale carcasses provided critical fat and protein stores that helped […]
Immigrant, refugee youth most likely to visit emergency departments with new, crisis mental health problems
Canadian Medical Association Journal Published October 9, 2018 00:15 EDT (News release from CMAJ) Refugee and immigrant youth in Ontario face barriers to accessing mental health services through primary care. Rather than presenting first to primary care, 61.3 per cent of refugee youth, 57.6 per cent of non-refugee immigrants, and 51.3 per cent of non-immigrant youth […]
Wild birds learn to sing new tunes
Current Biology Embargoed until October 4, 2018 11:00 EDT (News release from Cell Press) Researchers show for the first time that they can teach young, wild sparrows how to sing new tunes. The wild birds then passed the new songs on to the next generation. The findings also provide the first experimental evidence that timing of […]
Gluten-free industry a double-edged sword for individuals with celiac disease
Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics Published October 3, 2018 00.01 EDT Adults with celiac disease living in Canada experience the recent proliferation of the gluten-free industry as a “double-edged sword.” While study participants were grateful for more palatable gluten-free options, they were increasingly faced with misunderstandings about the severity of celiac disease due to many non-celiac disease […]
Warming climate shifts feeding relationships among Arctic predators
Royal Society Open Science Published October 2, 2018 During a 22-year period (1990–2012) of increasing sea temperature (1.0°C) and decreasing sea ice extent (12%) in Cumberland Sound, Nunavut, researchers examined how the feeding relationships between beluga whales, ringed seals, Greenland halibut and Arctic char have changed with the prevalence of capelin, a forage fish associated with the […]
Canada’s first ‘state of the nation’ report on children’s physical literacy
BMC Public Health Embargoed until October 2, 2018 06:00 EDT (News release from Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute) Two-thirds of Canadian children are physically illiterate. Physical literacy includes fitness and motor skill, as well as the motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge and understanding to value and take responsibility for engaging in physical activities […]
Caring for the sick may have contributed to human evolution
Scientific Reports Published September 27, 2018 09:00 EDT (News release from Nature Research Press) Caring for individuals with diseases may have enabled prehistoric humans to prevent disease transmission as social networks became more complex and the threat from socially transmitted diseases increased. Researchers used computer modelling to simulate evolution of care-giving in four different social systems […]
Plants use fruit colour to communicate to fruit-eating animals
Biology Letters Published September 26, 2018 Researchers exploited a natural experiment setting in which plants have found themselves depending on the seed-dispersal services of animals with different colour-vision capacities in Uganda and Madagascar. They found that fruit colour is optimized to the visual system of the primary seed disperser. This indicates that fruit colour has evolved as […]
An evolving jet from a strongly magnetized accreting X-ray pulsar
Nature Published September 26, 2018 Researchers report an evolving jet launched by a strongly magnetized, accreting neutron star. The jet’s radio luminosity is two orders of magnitude fainter than those seen in other neutron stars with similar X-ray luminosities, implying an important role for the properties of the neutron star in regulating jet power. The […]
Canadian clinics market unproven stem cell treatments
Regenerative Medicine Published September 26, 2018 (News release from Future Science Group) A survey of the Canadian direct-to-consumer marketplace reveals 30 Canadian businesses advertise unproven stem cell therapies at 43 clinics in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan. The most commonly marketed therapies are for orthopedic and musculoskeletal conditions, pain relief, and sports-related injuries, but one […]
How parasitic plants lose the ability to photosynthesize
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Published September 19, 2018 (Brief from the Royal Society) The loss of photosynthesis genes in parasitic plants alternates between rapid loss of gene families and periods with little change. However, parasitic plants can integrate host genes into their own genomes. Lead author: Adam Schneider, University of Toronto Mississauga – […]
Bloated bodies and hairy legs attract dance-fly guys
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Published September 19, 2018 (Brief from the Royal Society) When researchers monitored physical models of female dance flies adorned with the species’ exclusively female sexual ornaments — swollen bodies and hairy legs — they found male flies like both large bodies and hairy legs, but prefer large bodies. Inflatable […]
