Science
press releases.

Science3 Mar 2025

Tele-buprenorphine initiations for opioid use disorder without in-person relationships

About The Study: A proposed U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration rule could impede buprenorphine initiation for a substantial number of patients with opioid use disorder. In this study, more than 4,500 tele-buprenorphine initiations from 2020 to 2022—20% of tele-initiations overall—would have been prohibited under requirements for an in-person visit with the tele-initiating clinician prior to or within 30 days after tele-initiation. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding ...

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Science3 Mar 2025

Who carries and uses Naloxone in the U.S.?

A new USC-led study provides the first nationwide picture of who knows about, carries, and uses naloxone to reverse deadly opioid overdoses. Mireille Jacobson, professor of gerontology at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology and a senior fellow at the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics, said the study was conducted to address the lack of comprehensive data on access to the lifesaving medication and eventually to support work on how it affects the number of deaths attributed to opioid overdoses in the U.S. “There ...

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Science3 Mar 2025

We feed gut microbes sugar, they make a compound we need

Gut microbes that were thought to feed exclusively on dietary fiber also get fed sugar from our guts, from which they produce short-chain fatty acids that are crucial to many body functions. The Kobe University discovery of this symbiotic relationship also points the way to developing novel therapeutics. Gut microbes produce many substances that our body needs but cannot produce itself. Among them are short-chain fatty acids that are the primary energy source for the cells lining our guts but have other important roles, too, and ...

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Science3 Mar 2025

It’s not just what you say – it’s also how you say it

EVANSTON, Ill. --- You’ve probably heard the phrase, “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it,” and now, science backs it up. A first-of-its-kind study from Northwestern University’s School of Communication, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Wisconsin-Madison reveals a region of the brain, long known for early auditory processing, plays a far greater role in interpreting speech than previously understood. The multidisciplinary study being published Monday, March ...

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Science3 Mar 2025

Hallucinogen use linked to 2.6-fold increase in risk of death for people needing emergency care

People seeking emergency care for hallucinogen use were at 2.6-fold higher risk of death within 5 years than the general population, according to a new study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.241191. The use of hallucinogens, such as ketamine, psychedelics, psilocybin, LSD, ayahuasca, and MDMA (Ecstasy), has rapidly increased since the mid-2010s, especially in Canada and the United States. In the US, the percentage of people reporting they used hallucinogens more than doubled from 3.8% in 2016 to 8.9% in 2021. “In Canada, an estimated 5.9% of people used a psychedelic ...

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Science3 Mar 2025

Pathogenicity threshold of SCA6 causative gene CACNA1A was identified

Niigata, Japan - The Department of Neurology at Niigata University and National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry（NCNP） has identified pathogenic thresholds for the CAG repeat units (RU) of the CACNA1A gene that causes SCA6. They investigated the SCA6 causative gene in 2,768 patients. They carefully examined the relationship between RU, age of onset, and family history. First, in cases with 18 or fewer RU, the proportion of family history was low. For 19 or more RU, the proportion of family history ...

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Science2 Mar 2025

Sleep apnea linked to increased risk of Parkinson’s, but CPAP may reduce risk

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 P.M. ET, SUNDAY, MARCH 2, 2025 Media Contacts: Renee Tessman, rtessman@aan.com, (612) 928-6137 Natalie Conrad, nconrad@aan.com, (612) 928-6164 Sleep apnea linked to increased risk of Parkinson’s, but CPAP may reduce risk Risk reduced if treatment started within two years of diagnosis MINNEAPOLIS – People with obstructive sleep apnea have an increased risk of Parkinson’s disease, but if started early enough, continuous positive airway pressure ...

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Science1 Mar 2025

Biomimetic synthesis of natural products: Progress, challenges and prospects

In a recent publication in Engineering, researchers from Jinan University in China and the University of Illinois Chicago in the US presented an in-depth perspective on the biomimetic synthesis of natural products. This research area, which bridges chemistry, biology, and pharmacy, has seen significant progress in recent years. Natural products are crucial in drug discovery, providing essential scaffolds for developing new medications. However, obtaining sufficient quantities of these compounds for research and production is challenging due to resource limitations. Traditional chemical synthesis and biosynthesis methods also face their own set of ...

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Science28 Feb 2025

Kicking yourself: Going against one’s better judgment amplifies self-blame

ITHACA, N.Y. – When people go along with opinions that go against their better judgment, they feel more culpable for the decision if things go wrong than if they hadn’t received another opinion, new research from Cornell University finds. The effect may seem counterintuitive, but going against one’s better judgment increases thoughts about better decisions that could have been made, which amplify feelings of control over the situation. “If you have another person in the ...

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Science28 Feb 2025

Micro-expression detection in ASD movies: a YOLOv8-SMART approach

Researchers have unveiled a groundbreaking AI-driven approach to improve the early diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder by analyzing micro-expressions in movies. Micro-expressions, which are fleeting facial movements that reveal hidden emotions, are particularly challenging to detect in individuals with ASD. By employing the Cinemetrics method, the team successfully extracted micro-expressions from films featuring ASD patients and utilized an enhanced YOLOv8-SMART algorithm for precise detection. This advanced model significantly outperformed existing methods, achieving remarkable ...

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Science28 Feb 2025

Racial and ethnic differences in out-of-pocket spending for maternity care

About The Study: In this study, differences in out-of-pocket maternity spending among the commercially insured were associated with differences in coinsurance rates. These costs could lead people to forgo needed health care or other basic needs that support health (e.g., food or housing). Changes to health plan benefit design could improve equity in out-of-pocket maternity spending and its consequences. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Anna D. Sinaiko, PhD, MPP, email asinaiko@hsph.harvard.edu. To access the embargoed study: ...

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Science28 Feb 2025

Study reveals racial and ethnic disparities in maternity care spending

COLLEGE PARK, MD – A new study out today in JAMA Health Forum is the first to show that Black, Hispanic and Asian people with private insurance tend to pay more out-of-pocket for maternity care than white people. “The average additional spending on medical care from pregnancy through postpartum paid by people who are Black, Hispanic and Asian is significantly more than white people,” said Dr. Rebecca Gourevitch, the study’s lead author and an assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the University of Maryland School of Public Health (UMD SPH). “We found that out-of-pocket costs were highest ...

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Science28 Feb 2025

After NIH decision to cap indirect costs, prominent molecular biologist calls for swift action, petition signatures

On February 7, 2025, the U.S. National Institutes of Health announced a decision to cap indirect cost reimbursement—which supports the critical infrastructure and staff that make biomedical research possible—at 15%. In a commentary published February 28 in the Cell Press journal Cell, molecular biologist Tom Maniatis of the New York Genome Center (NYGC) and Columbia University's Zuckerman Institute reflects on the impact NIH funding has had on his own career and science, explores the value indirect investment has brought to U.S. science over the last five decades, and calls for urgent, unified action from the scientific community ...

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Science28 Feb 2025

Omitting race from lung function equations increases detection of asthma in Black children

Despite ongoing progress, structural racism and health disparities continue to shape healthcare practices in ways healthcare providers may not even realize. A recent study in JAMA Network Open, published Feb. 28, 2025, shows that continued use of race-specific equations in the diagnostic process of children with asthma symptoms limits the identification of reduced lung function in Black children. “This finding is important because when these children are not identified as having reduced lung function, they may not receive further testing. This can lead to under-diagnosis, ...

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Science28 Feb 2025

The role of solute carrier family transporters in hepatic steatosis and hepatic fibrosis

Hepatic steatosis, often triggered by non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), is a leading cause of liver dysfunction globally, affecting approximately 30% of the population. The progression from steatosis to hepatic fibrosis, which may ultimately lead to cirrhosis, is a significant concern in liver disease management. This review highlights the critical role of solute carrier (SLC) family transporters in both hepatic steatosis and fibrosis. SLC transporters are membrane-bound proteins responsible for transporting a variety of molecules, including fatty acids, ...

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Science28 Feb 2025

Cold sore discovery IDs unknown trigger for those annoying flare-ups

Scientists have a new target to prevent cold sores after University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers discovered an unexpected way the herpes virus re-activates in the body. The finding could also have important implications for genital herpes caused by the same virus. The discovery from UVA’s Anna Cliffe, PhD, and colleagues seems to defy common sense. She and her team found that the slumbering herpes virus will make a protein to trigger the body’s immune response as part of its escape from dormancy. You’d think this would be bad for the virus – that activating the body’s ...

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Science28 Feb 2025

Armsworth receives SEC Faculty Achievement Award

Paul Armsworth, Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has received a 2025 Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award for excellence in teaching, research and service. He and the 15 other recipients this year — one from each SEC member university — are now nominated for the SEC Professor of the Year Award, which will be announced later in the spring. “I am thrilled to receive this recognition, but it is also very humbling to be celebrated in this ...

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Science28 Feb 2025

Novel network dynamic approach presents new way for aeroengine performance evaluation

A recent study published in Engineering presents a groundbreaking method for comprehensively evaluating the performance of aeroengines, the crucial components powering aircraft. Authored by Shubin Si and other researchers from esteemed institutions in China, this research addresses long-standing challenges in aeroengine performance assessment. Aeroengines are complex systems, and their performance directly impacts flight safety and efficiency. Traditional evaluation methods, such as airlines relying on single-parameter indicators like exhaust gas temperature or manufacturers conducting ...

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Science28 Feb 2025

Development of 'transparent stretchable substrate' without image distortion could revolutionize next-generation displays

Stretchable display materials, which are gaining traction in the next-generation display market, have the advantage of being able to stretch and bend freely, but the limitations of existing materials have resulted in distorted screens and poor fit. General elastomeric substrates are prone to screen distortion due to the 'Poisson's ratio' phenomenon, in which stretching in one direction causes the screen to shrink in the vertical direction. In particular, electronics that are in close contact with the skin, such as wearable devices, are at risk of wrinkling or pulling on the skin during stretching and shrinking, resulting in ...

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Science28 Feb 2025

Zeroing in: SMU project to boost indoor localization capabilities for the public agencies

By Vince Chong SMU Office of Research – With the surfeit of trackable, wearable devices in modern life, there is little problem locating things and people outdoors by leveraging Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) solutions (GPS is an example of this type of solution) that use signals from satellites. Indoors on the other hand, is a different matter as GNSS signals are unavailable and other possible signals such as those from Wi-Fi systems are inconsistent, and often distorted. And when this ability to swiftly, accurately locate indoor objects is starkly crucial to essential services that make the difference between life and death, upgrading ...

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Science28 Feb 2025

Employee burnout can cost employers millions each year

New York, NY | February 27, 2025: Employee burnout is likely costing companies millions of dollars each year, ranging from approximately $4,000 to $21,000 per employee in the U.S., according to a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. That means a 1,000-employee company in the U.S. would on average be losing about $5 million annually. These estimates are based on a computational simulation model developed by the Public Health Informatics, Computational, and Operations Research (PHICOR) team based at ​​the CUNY Graduate ...

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Science27 Feb 2025

Fat transport deficiency explains rare childhood metabolic crises

Researchers studying a protein linked to a rare, severe disease have made a discovery that sheds light on how cells meet their energy needs during a severe metabolic crisis. The findings could lead to new treatments for the disease and open new avenues of research for other conditions involving impaired fat metabolism. When scientists at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona first identified a handful of protein-coding genes called TANGO in 2006, they had no idea that one of them, TANGO2, would eventually be linked to a life-threatening ...

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Science27 Feb 2025

Remote work “a protective shield” against gender discrimination

February 27, 2025 Remote work “a protective shield” against gender discrimination Survey of more than 1000 women shows incidence higher on-site versus out of the office Toronto - Having staff physically in the workplace benefits companies and employees through stronger team collaboration and informal mentorship. But as organizations continue to corral employees back into the office, they should recognize that women pay a price through increased exposure to gender discrimination, says a new study from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. In ...

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Science27 Feb 2025

Leading the charge to better batteries

From laptops to electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries power everyday life. However, as demand for longer-lasting devices threatens to outstrip the energy that lithium-ion supplies, researchers are on the hunt for more powerful batteries. A team led by Kelsey Hatzell, an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, has uncovered insights that could help power a new type of battery, called an anode-free solid-state battery, past lithium-ion’s limitations. By understanding how ...

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Science27 Feb 2025

Consequences of overplanting rootworm-resistant maize in the US Corn Belt

Widespread use of genetically engineered Bt maize, designed to combat rootworm pests, has led to overplanting and pest resistance, jeopardizing the crop’s long-term effectiveness, according to a new study. The findings – informed by data from ten U.S. “Corn Belt” states – estimate that this overuse has cost U.S. farmers $1.6 billion in economic losses, emphasizing the need for improved seed diversity, transparency, and farmer decision-making to sustain transgenic crop benefits. “If current and future related innovations are managed as Bt maize hybrids have been,” say the authors, “we risk entering ...

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