‘Dogs are better suited for cancer studies than lab mice as they’re exposed to similar living environments as humans’

‘Dogs are better suited for cancer studies than lab mice as they’re exposed to similar living environments as humans’

Dogs also respond to treatments in similar ways to humans, as several clinical studies in recent years have shown. In 2019, scientists at Colorado State University completed a trial of 28 dogs with osteosarcoma that had spread to the lungs. In addition to a commercially available cancer drug, they prescribed the dogs a common blood pressure drug, losartan, which acts on the immune system by blocking the recruitment of a type of white blood cell that stimulates tumour growth.

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America: A nation built on loneliness, where millions struggle in the shadows to find a shoulder to lean on

America: A nation built on loneliness, where millions struggle in the shadows to find a shoulder to lean on

Perhaps many Americans are alone in a crowd, awash in a sea of voices both physical and virtual yet by themselves much of the time, seeking community but suspicious of it. Some of the modernising forces that stitched the United States together in the first place – commerce, communication, roads – are, in their current forms, part of what isolates people today.

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Vatican experts uncovering gilded glory of Roman god of strength statue hit by lightning

Vatican experts uncovering gilded glory of Roman god of strength statue hit by lightning

Visitors drawn to the ancient wonder at the time included Pope Pius IX, who later added the work to the papal collection. The statue depicting Hercules after he finished his labours had the last names of the pope — Mastai — and of the banker, Pietro Righetti, added to its title.

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Foreign military sales and direct commercial sales data show US is selling weapons to world’s autocracies

Foreign military sales and direct commercial sales data show US is selling weapons to world’s autocracies

Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has been the world’s biggest weapons dealer, accounting for about 40 per cent of all arms exports in a given year. In general, these exports are funded through grants or sales. There are two pathways for the latter category: foreign military sales and direct commercial sales.

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Mother’s Day: How Massachusetts daughters without moms find solace and comfort together

Mother’s Day: How Massachusetts daughters without moms find solace and comfort together

The prevailing wisdom today tends to be the “continuing bonds” theory, which says grief is to be carried, and relationships continue and change with a loved one, even after their death.

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Explaining suicide decline: Restricted access to dangerous pesticides, but firearm suicide rates surge in US

Explaining suicide decline: Restricted access to dangerous pesticides, but firearm suicide rates surge in US

Means restriction works in part because suicide is often an unplanned act. The time between a suicidal impulse arising and a person acting on that impulse can be as little as five minutes. A person who dies by suicide has traditionally been represented as someone at the end of a long, tortured battle with depression, but this is generally not the case.

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How Nintendo’s concept of ‘Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’ transformed film making

How Nintendo’s concept of ‘Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’ transformed film making

Anyone with even a cursory interest in Zelda could recite these facts in their sleep, but stating them plainly hammers home a simple truth: There was not a snowball’s chance on Death Mountain that Nintendo would reinvent the series a second time. Duly, Breath’s follow-up, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, out tomorrow, is very much a sequel.

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Sudan war forces South Sudanese to return to a country unable to support them, itself riddled with fighting

Sudan war forces South Sudanese to return to a country unable to support them, itself riddled with fighting

More than 40,000 people – mostly South Sudanese – have crossed the border since Sudan erupted in conflict nearly a month ago. Many are returning to areas unable to support them and still riddled with fighting. Five years of war and unprecedented floods have pushed South Sudan into a dire situation with more than 75 per cent of the nation’s 12 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and nearly three million on the brink of starvation.

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How sugar creates junk brains: Bingeing on sweets and sweetened beverages for as little as six weeks can make you ‘stupid’

How sugar creates junk brains: Bingeing on sweets and sweetened beverages for as little as six weeks can make you ‘stupid’

A BBC documentary The Truth About Sugar, revealed one serving of Pad Thai noodles has nearly 9.5 teaspoons of sugar; a package of sweet and sour chicken with rice has 12.5 teaspoons; and a serving of dry bran flakes, a breakfast that many think is a healthier choice, has 3 teaspoons.

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US gun violence culture: All people in America send their children to school but always worry if they are going to get shot

US gun violence culture: All people in America send their children to school but always worry if they are going to get shot

Experts point to a few contributing factors: a general increase in all types of gun violence in recent years; the proliferation of firearms amid lax gun laws; the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, including the stress of long months in quarantine; a political climate unable or unwilling to change the status quo in meaningful ways; and an increased emphasis on violence in US culture.

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