Research published today in the open access Nature journal Translational Psychiatry, found patients with severe mental disorders who had experienced childhood abuse to have shorter telomeres, a predictor of biological age. Here, Monica Aas, lead author of the study, tells us about the findings and what the next steps are for the field.
In the 1990’s and early 2000’s, 65% of workplace homicides occurred during robberies. Now, new research published in Injury Epidemiology, finds that this figure has fallen to 46%, with 54% being attributable to non-robbery events, such as an interpersonal arguments or mass shootings. Mitchell Doucette, lead author of the study, speculates on the causes of this shift towards non-robbery related crimes and argues that prevention measures must also shift accordingly.
Carbon black nanoparticles are manufactured for use in rubber products, as a color pigment in plastics, paint and ink and used to model exposure to air pollution particles. These particles have been shown to have toxic effects and previous mice studies have shown that maternal exposure can affect the sperm count in male offspring. In this Q&A, Dr Karin Sørig Hougaard and PhD student Astrid Skovmand discuss their recently published paper in Particle and Fibre Toxicology which shows that in contrast to previous studies, maternal exposure to carbon black nanoparticles does not affect future (fourth) generations of male mice sperm counts.
The impact of digital technology on healthcare is explored in a Special Issue of BioMedical Engineering Online, introduced by Associate Editor, Alessia Paglialonga.