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Research published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health has measured the relationship between restrictions in different settings - such as leisure and catering - taken in Spain between September 2020 and May 2021, with covid-19 transmission. The authors conclude that, overall, increased restrictions decreased disease transmission.
The Participation Council of Doñana has analysed this Monday in an extraordinary meeting the bill presented in the Andalusian Parliament that aims to extend the legal irrigation in the area. The Andalusian Government maintains its support for the new regulation, which will begin its parliamentary debate tomorrow, Wednesday, with the proposal to take the bill into consideration. For his part, the director of the Doñana Biological Station, Eloy Revilla, in his speech to the Council warned of the general deterioration of the lagoon system and pointed out that "the current exploitation of the aquifer is not sustainable". "Spain has been condemned by the European Court of Justice for failing to comply with its obligations under the Water Framework Directive and the Habitat Directive," he said. The Ministry for Ecological Transition has warned that it will take the law to the Constitutional Court.
A study says that ChatGPT makes contradictory moral judgements, and that users are influenced by them. Researchers asked questions such as: Would it be right to sacrifice one person to save five others?” Depending on the phrasing of the question, ChatGPT sometimes answered in favour of sacrifice, and sometimes against. Participants were swayed by ChatGPT's statements and underestimated the chatbot's influence on their own judgement. The authors argue that chatbots should be designed to decline giving moral advice, and stress the importance of improving users' digital literacy.
Chinese researchers have succeeded in developing macaque embryo-like structures from embryonic stem cells. They have also managed to implant them in the uterus of female macaque monkeys and develop a hormonal response similar to that of a gestation, although they have only survived for about a week. According to the authors, whose research is published in Cell Stem Cell, these models could be used to improve our understanding of embryonic development and to investigate the causes of some early miscarriages.
The functioning of the heart can be studied by the percentage of blood it pumps with each beat, deduced by imaging techniques. Based on analyses by cardiologists, a US clinical trial concludes that an artificial intelligence model outperforms examinations initially performed by imaging technicians in terms of accuracy. According to the authors, the tool could "save physicians time and minimise the most tedious parts of the process".
An international group of researchers has conducted an epidemiological study to investigate the correlation between fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution and certain types of lung cancer. The authors have confirmed their findings in animal models, according to research published in Nature.
Research published in Nature shows that the Eurasian ice sheet may have retreated up to 600 metres a day on the Norwegian continental shelf during the last deglaciation at the end of the last Ice Age, around 20,000 years ago. This would indicate that retreat rates in this region may have far exceeded previous estimates and would be much greater than any observed from satellites. According to the authors, the research "is a warning from the past about the rate at which ice sheets are physically capable of retreating".
Drinking less than 25 grams of alcohol a day (2.5 standard drinking units, the equivalent of two and a half pints) does not reduce mortality, according to an analysis that aggregates data from 107 previous studies and 4.8 million people. Some studies claim that people who drink alcohol in low doses live longer and are less likely to die of cardiovascular disease than those who abstain completely. This meta-analysis published in JAMA Network Open, which brings together studies published between 1980 and 2022 in several countries, found no such protective effect. It did find a significant increase in the risk of mortality at 25 g per day for women and 45 g per day for men. In Spain, the Ministry of Health sets the limits for low-risk consumption at 10 g of alcohol per day for women and 20 g for men.
Glycine is an amino acid that also acts as a neurotransmitter, transmitting signals between neurons. According to a study published in Science, glycine's signalling in the brain and its antidepressant properties may be mediated by a receptor the authors call mGlyR. The research describes this mechanism using computational models, in vitro assays and experiments in mice. According to the authors, this receptor could be a new target for developing antidepressant drugs.
Three studies published today in Nature explore the link between the cases of childhood hepatitis of unknown origin that have occurred since 2022 mainly in the UK and the US and an adeno-associated virus. The papers do not settle the question and further studies will be needed to confirm or exclude the hypothesis.