Category: Medicine

ENG: New research in mice has identified neurons in the brain that influence competitive interactions between individuals and that play a critical role in shaping the social behavior of groups. Published in Nature by a team led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), the findings will be useful not only for scientists interested in human interactions but also for those who study neurocognitive conditions such as autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia that are characterized by altered social behavior.

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ENG: Advanced techniques in DNA and RNA sequencing have opened up the possibility of studying individual cells in tissue in a more comprehensive way than was previously possible. The big challenge with these sequencing techniques is that they lead to large amounts of data. To make this data comprehensible, each cell is mathematically positioned in three-dimensional space to form a “roadmap” of the cells, and how they relate to each other. However, these maps can be difficult to navigate using a regular desktop computer.

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Fragmente extrase din Manfred Spitzer, 2020. Demența digitală: Cum ne tulbură mintea noile tehnologii. Humanitas SA, capitolul 8. Jocuri digitale: note proaste, pag. 171-173, 176-177.

RO: “În ce privește empatia, trebuie amintit următorul studiu experimental al psihologilor americani Brad Bushman și Craig Anderson despre efectele violenței mediatice asupra comportamentului uman. Lucrarea lor are titlul Comfortably Numb (Confortabil insensibili). La un experiment de laborator au participat 320 de studenți egal împărțiți pe sexe, care au fost supuși următoarei proceduri: mai întâi li s‑a spus că e vorba de un experiment menit să stabilească ce jocuri preferă tinerii. Fiecărui student îi era oferit, la întâmplare, un joc video violent (Carmageddon, Duke Nukem, Mortal Kombat, Future Cop) sau un joc video nonviolent (Glider Pro, 3D Pinball, Ausin Powers, Tetra Madness); conducătorul experimentului fixa un cronometru la 20 de minute, îi înmâna subiectului un chestionar lung și îi spunea: ‘Când sună alarma, completează chestionarul. Între timp, eu trebuie să mă ocup de alt studiu, dar îți promit că mă întorc în 40 de minute. Te rog să nu pleci din cameră înainte să mă întorc, pentru că trebuie să‑ți mai pun câteva întrebări despre jocurile video. Ai înțeles?’

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ENG: Imagine Bach’s “Cello Suite No. 1” played on a strand of DNA. This scenario is not as impossible as it seems. Too small to withstand a rhythmic strum or sliding bowstring, DNA is a powerhouse for storing audio files and all kinds of other media. “DNA is nature’s original data storage system. We can use it to store any kind of data: images, video, music — anything,” said Kasra Tabatabaei, a researcher at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and a coauthor on this study. Expanding DNA’s molecular makeup and developing a precise new sequencing method enabled a multi-institutional team to transform the double helix into a robust, sustainable data storage platform.

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