Avsnitt
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Whether policymaking can develop solutions for the inevitable problems that capitalism creates has long been a concern of political economists. One of these issues is rising inequality across the USA and other countries. Inequality is a significant risk for political stability, so it is vital to understand how democratic societies respond to it. Progressive taxation policies, which tax the rich at higher rates, can help to equalize incomes and wealth. Despite this, over the last four decades while inequality has increased, successive US governments have introduced falling tax rates for top earners. Why is this?
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Today, the success of businesses and technologies relies on their ability to make quick decisions to address complex problems. To make matters more complex, these problems often involve a vast amount of data. Dr Marius Nagy at Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, together with Dr Naya Nagy, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, investigate the ability of quantum computers to act as an ‘oracle’, and provide quality decisions even after just one invocation. Dr. Nagy and Nagy showed that quantum oracles give richer decision proposals and outperform classical computing oracle versions.
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In a novel exploration of human radicalism, defined by governments as violent attacks, Dr Jerome Premmereur, a cardiologist and a clinical research expert based in the United States, draws on the philosophy of Baruch Spinoza to propose innovative solutions to the pressing societal issue of terrorism. His new book, “A Biological, Psychological and Philosophical Approach to Human Nature and Radicalism”, examines radicalism through the lens of human biology and Spinoza's concepts, offering a comprehensive approach to understanding and mitigating extremism. Premmereur argues that radicalism is an inherent part of human nature, but can be addressed through a holistic strategy encompassing education, politics, balanced laws, healthcare, and economic stability. By revisiting ancient Greek democracy and applying Spinoza's ideas to modern challenges, Premmereur presents an optimistic vision, although challenging in practice, to reduce extremism and create a better world.
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In the world of chemistry, solvate-assisted grinding is a new method that could revolutionize how we make important chemical compounds. Researchers Henry DeGroot and Dr. Timothy Hanusa at Vanderbilt University have developed this technique, which uses mechanical energy instead of traditional liquids. This not only makes the process more efficient, but also reduces pollution. It could lead to better medicines, advanced materials, and cleaner chemical production methods.
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克里斯托弗•巴克是一名来自美国马里兰州贝塞斯达国家癌症研究所的病毒学家，他一直都在努力向公众宣传：越来越多的科学文献都提出了 “薄荷和相关草本植物在抵抗新冠病毒感染方面发挥着重要的作用”这一发现。在他最新发表的一篇文献综述《薄荷与新冠病毒的假说》中，他为这一发现提出了一个论据：去中心化临床试验可以更清晰地揭示“薄荷和相关草本植物在抵抗新冠病毒感染方面发挥着重要的作用”。
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Dr. Christopher Buck, Virologe am US National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, setzt sich dafür ein, eine wachsende Zahl wissenschaftlicher Studien bekannt zu machen, die darauf hinweisen, dass Minze und verwandte Kräuter bei der Bekämpfung von COVID -Infektionen helfen können. In seinem jüngsten Übersichtsartikel "Die Minze-gegen-Covid-Hypothese" argumentiert er, dass dezentralisierte klinische Studien genutzt werden könnten, um diese aufregende Idee gründlicher zu erforschen.
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Pressing environmental challenges, such as soil degradation, biodiversity loss, and climate change, can negatively affect agriculture, while also being driven by common agricultural practices. To tackle this predicament and ensure food security while promoting environmental sustainability, innovative agricultural practices are essential. Permaculture, a holistic approach to farming that mimics the stability and resilience of natural ecosystems, offers a promising solution. A recent study conducted by Julius Reiff of the Institute for Environmental Science, RPTU University of Kaiserslautern-Landau, Germany, and colleagues, provides compelling evidence of the benefits of permaculture in enhancing carbon stocks, improving soil quality, and boosting biodiversity.
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The role of EU trade policy is evolving in today's complex global landscape. Dr. Andrea Christou and Professor Chad Damro at the University of Edinburgh have studied how the EU balances traditional market-oriented goals with emerging geopolitical pressures. Their analysis explores how different EU bodies frame trade policy, highlighting the contrast between the EU's broader geopolitical strategy and its trade department's narrower approach.
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We are facing a climate crisis that threatens our entire world and life as we know it. Despite this, scientists have found it difficult to engage people on the issue and inspire effective action. Dr Alan Cottey at the University of East Anglia explores the history of scientists’ climate warnings and suggests a four-register model of communication that he believes has the potential to reach people with varying degrees of scientific literacy and different lifestyles.
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Developing therapies to effectively treat cancerous tumors is challenging, due to the hostility of the tumor microenvironment and the potential to unintentionally damage surrounding tissues. Infusions of immune cells can improve immune function and assist the body in fighting disease, although this approach increases the risk of inducing dangerous inflammatory responses. Dr. Archana Thakur and her colleagues at the Universities of Virginia and Pennsylvania have engineered a pioneering immunotherapy system that precisely targets cancerous cells. This new immunotherapy poses minimal risk of adverse reactions, and can be used against a wide range of tumor types.
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Motor neurone disease is a currently incurable and progressive neurological disorder that severely impacts muscle function. As the disease progresses, individuals with motor neurone disease experience significant difficulties in movement, speech, swallowing, and breathing. Home mechanical ventilation can be used to support breathing and improve the quality of life. However, while this can alleviate symptoms and extend survival, it does not stop disease progression, and patients and caregivers must confront difficult decisions in their treatment journey. In a new UK study, Dr Eleanor Wilson of the University of Nottingham and colleagues have explored end-of-life decision-making in motor neurone disease patients using home mechanical ventilation.
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When the pandemic forced scientists to consider remote working strategies, many groups turned to online bioinformatic research. A team led by Dr. Christopher Buck at the US National Cancer Institute turned lockdown lemons into lemonade. They reoriented away from their usual work directly discovering viruses in clinical specimens to a broader, more comprehensive search aimed at finding viruses lurking in publicly available deep sequencing datasets. The remote-work project uncovered hundreds of previously unknown virus species associated with a wide range of animals. The discoveries shed new light on the deep evolutionary roots of viruses.
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Reconciliation and peace are emerging themes in tourism, with various post-conflict countries offering tours focused on peacebuilding. In the last few years, reconciliation tourism initiatives, which are defined as tourism services in which reconciliation is a major theme, have been also introduced in Israel and the Palestinian territories in the West Bank, amidst ongoing conflicts. Professor Yaniv Belhassen, of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, explores eight organizations that have offered such tours. His analysis suggests that ideas about reconciliation in these tours have shared characteristics in the way they are manifested in the travel experiences offered to tourists. In doing so, this study illuminates the symbolic role of tourism as a cultural arena with a transformative potential where ideas about peacebuilding can be imagined even in the places where conflicts are still active.
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Premature birth puts infants at a greater risk of developing various medical conditions, including a chronic lung disease known as bronchopulmonary dysplasia – or BPD for short. Dr. Rebecca Rose, a neonatologist at Indiana University, recently explored how modulating ventilator settings used for very premature newborns can significantly improve their outcomes.
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Filicide, the killing of a child by a parent or a parental figure, is a heinous and incomprehensible crime. Professor Thea Brown, with her colleagues Associate Professor Danielle Tyson and Dr Paula Fernandez Arias from the Monash Deakin Filicide Research Hub shared between Monash and Deakin Universities, has been studying filicide for years, in the hope of uncovering common factors linked to filicide that could be included in future prevention initiatives. Her studies identified common social, familial, and personal circumstances that characterised many cases of filicide in Australia over the past decades.
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The development of safe and effective medicines that meet strict regulatory requirements has traditionally involved extensive experimentation, which can be laborious and costly. Incorporating digital processes, which can be used to produce individual pharmaceutical components, may provide a solution to manufacturing challenges by reducing development time, resource requirements, and costs. The Future Continuous Manufacturing and Advanced Crystallisation Hub, a flagship project at CMAC, at the University of Strathclyde, along with collaborators throughout the UK, has investigated the feasibility of using digital models to reduce costs, time and waste for high quality pharmaceutical production.
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Tuberculosis – or TB – is a global health threat, with 10 million new cases annually. Diagnosing TB can be a challenge, as there is a lack of rapid, point-of-care diagnostic tests. It can also be difficult to distinguish between TB and other inflammatory diseases, such as Sarcoidosis. One option may be to identify antibodies in patient samples that can reveal the presence of TB. However, current antibody tests for TB lack accuracy. Professor Lobelia Samavati and colleagues at the Wanye State University School of Medicine in Michigan are tackling this challenge to cast light on the immune signature of these diseases. Their aim is to develop new diagnostic techniques for TB and Sarcoidosis.
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Many diseases become more likely to emerge as we age, with metabolic disorders such as diabetes, and neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease, representing two frequent manifestations of poor health in old age. While many age-related diseases present very differently, many share common underlying mechanisms. These include inflammation, a build-up of reactive oxygen molecules that can damage cellular components, and a lack of sensitivity to insulin. Treatments that can effectively target these mechanisms could have transformational effects on the age-related diseases that are fueled by them, including potentially preventing such diseases from developing in the first place. Prof. Christian Bréchot and colleagues at The Healthy Aging Company have developed a drug candidate: ALF5755, the pharmacological name of a protein called Hepatocarcinoma-Intestine-Pancreas, or HIP for short, also named Reg3A, that has shown exciting evidence of effectiveness on the cognitive disorders which occur during Alzheimer’s disease and the peripheral nerve damage that often occurs in diabetes, which is called diabetic neuropathy.
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With a history as rich as its flavour, chocolate in its various forms has been loved by people for over 5000 years. Currently, however, chocolate is facing a serious threat. The improper disposal of cocoa waste products is spreading devastating diseases through cocoa crops across the world. To address this serious problem, Dr Piergiorgio Gentile from Newcastle University and Dr Joel Girón-Hernández from Northumbria University with their collaborators have been exploring new uses for cocoa waste products, to increase sustainability and prevent the spread of crop diseases.
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Brazil, Russia, India and China, often known as the BRICs, have seen explosive growth in the past two decades and have asserted themselves as drivers of globalisation. Many scholars have researched the effects of this growth and development, and how these factors have affected domestic labour conditions. But are they asking the right questions? For instance, if developing countries invest in developed economies, will this lead to improved working conditions in the investing developing nation? Dr Patrick Wagner of the University of Konstanz, Germany, and Professor Damian Raess of the Catholic University of Lille, France, have conducted a study investigating whether Brazilian direct investment in Europe leads to improved working conditions back in Brazil.
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