Socioecology Research Today

We present a novel “Lab-on-DVD” system and demonstrate its capability for rapid and low-cost HIV diagnostics by counting CD4+ cells isolated from whole blood. We show that a commercial DVD drive can, with certain modifications, be turned into an improved DVD-based laser scanning microscope (DVD-LSM). The system consists of a multi-layered disposable polymer disc and [...]

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory disease in which interleukin 17 (IL-17)-producing T helper 17 (TH17) cells have been critically involved. We show that in patients with RA, the expression of a multifunctional regulator β-arrestin1 was significantly up-regulated in peripheral and synovial CD4+ T cells, which correlated well with active phases of RA. In collagen-induced [...]

Both studies at the Antung hot spring in eastern Taiwan and at the Paihe spring in southern Taiwan confirm that groundwater radon can be a consistent tracer for strain changes in the crust preceding an earthquake when observed in a low-porosity fractured aquifer surrounded by a ductile formation. Recurrent anomalous declines in groundwater radon were [...]

The 2012 U.S. Peace Index ranks 50 states and 61 city areas according to their peacefulness. The 2012 United States Peace Index (USPI) has found that the U.S. is more peaceful now than at any other time over the last twenty years.The second annual edition of the index, produced by Institute for Economics and Peace, [...]

Elastin is an intriguing extracellular matrix protein present in all connective tissues of vertebrates, rendering essential elasticity to connective tissues subjected to repeated physiological stresses. Using piezoresponse force microscopy, we show that the polarity of aortic elastin is switchable by an electrical field, which may be associated with the recently discovered biological ferroelectricity in the [...]

The causal relationship between happiness and air pollution is examined using a sample of 14 European countries. Two sets of results are presented using the notion of Granger causality. For individual countries, the existence of a unidirectional or bidirectional causal structure for almost half of the countries can be observed. The panel approach, on the [...]

Here we announce the challenge to develop genetic predictors of response to immunosuppressive therapy in a common autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs such as those that block the inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-α (known as anti-TNF therapy) are not effective in all patients with RA, with up to one-third of such patients [...]

Impulsiveness is a pivotal personality trait representing a core domain in all major personality inventories. Recently, impulsiveness has been identified as an important modulator of cognitive processing, particularly in tasks that require the processing of large amounts of information. Although brain imaging studies have implicated the prefrontal cortex to be a common underlying representation of [...]

A study with low statistical power has a reduced chance of detecting a true effect, but it is less well appreciated that low power also reduces the likelihood that a statistically significant result reflects a true effect. Here, we show that the average statistical power of studies in the neurosciences is very low. The consequences [...]

Epidemiological and preclinical evidence supports that omega-3 dietary fatty acids (fish oil) reduce the risks of macular degeneration and cancers, but the mechanisms by which these omega-3 lipids inhibit angiogenesis and tumorigenesis are poorly understood. Here we show that epoxydocosapentaenoic acids (EDPs), which are lipid mediators produced by cytochrome P450 epoxygenases from omega-3 fatty acid [...]