Community size matters when people create a new language

Why are languages so different from each other? After comparing more than 2000 languages, scientists noticed that languages with more speakers are usually simpler than smaller languages. For instance, most English nouns can be turned into plurals by simply adding -s, whereas the German system is notoriously irregular.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/community-size-matters-when-people-create-a-new-language

New HIV program increased viral suppression, decreased new infections in Botswana

In Botswana, an intervention in 15 communities to test for and treat HIV infection in all adult residents was effective in increasing population viral suppression to very high levels (meaning that the virus becomes undetectable and can't be transmitted while patients are taking effective treatment), according to a new study led by researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Botswana-Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership, and collaborators at several other institutions. The intervention likely also contributed to a nearly one-third reduction in the incidence of HIV infection in participating communities.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/new-hiv-program-increased-viral-suppression-decreased-new-infections-in-botswana

Sustainable savings on medical care

One popular idea for lowering the nation's ballooning health care spending is to change the way insurers pay provider organizations for their care. Instead of paying a fee for each service rendered—a model that can encourage the unscrupulous use of more services even when the benefit is dubious—reformers suggest giving clinical practices a global yearly budget to care for a population of patients. The rationale is that operating with a capped budget would incentivize greater use of preventive care and discourage wasteful services.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/sustainable-savings-on-medical-care

Exercise offers protection against Alzheimer's

Higher levels of daily physical activity may protect against the cognitive decline and neurodegeneration (brain tissue loss) from Alzheimer's disease (AD) that alters the lives of many older people, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have found. In a paper in JAMA Neurology, the team also reported that lowering vascular risk factors may offer additional protection against Alzheimer's and delay progression of the devastating disease. The findings from this study will be presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) in Los Angeles by the first author of the study, Jennifer Rabin, Ph.D., now at the University of Toronto, Sunnybrook Research Institute.

* This article was originally published here