Science
press releases.

Science27 Jan 2025

If at first you don’t succeed: Virginia Tech researchers ask how many attempts it takes to quit substance abuse

Relapse is common when someone is trying to quit, regardless of whether they’re giving up opioids or alcohol or cigarettes. To better inform treatment, researchers with the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC’s Addiction Recovery Research Center wanted to better understand how the experience of quitting differed across substances. “When we talk about intervention for addiction, we know that we are far from the ideal model of treatment,” said Rafaela Fontes, a research scientist at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute and first author on the study, “Beyond ...

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Science27 Jan 2025

Infant mortality rates declining, but Sudden Unexpected Infant Death is on the rise

RICHMOND, Va. (Jan. 27, 2025) — Infant mortality in the United States decreased by 24.2% between 1999 and 2022. Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University and Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU discovered this improvement in a study published Jan. 27 in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics. In the same study, however, they found mortality rates from Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID) rose significantly – by 11.8% – from 2020 to 2022. “Although a prior CDC study – using data until 2020 – found that Sudden Unexpected Infant Death was increasing for Black infants, ...

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Science27 Jan 2025

Sudden unexpected infant death and disparities in infant mortality in the US

About The Study: This study found that infant mortality from sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) has increased significantly. Previous data through 2020 showed that SUID increased among Black infants. The current analysis, which included 2021 and 2022 data, showed a more generalized increase. Possible explanations include COVID-19 or other respiratory illnesses, maternal opioid use, and social media’s influence on infant sleeping practices. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Elizabeth R. Wolf, MD, ...

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Science27 Jan 2025

Predicting individual pain sensitivity using a novel cortical biomarker signature

About The Study: This study provides evidence for a sensorimotor cortical biomarker signature for pain sensitivity. The combination of accuracy, reproducibility, and reliability suggests the peak alpha frequency/corticomotor excitability biomarker signature has substantial potential for clinical translation, including predicting the transition from acute to chronic pain. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, David A. Seminowicz, PhD, email dseminow@uwo.ca. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this ...

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Science27 Jan 2025

Cameron G. Duncan, Ph.D., named Dean of FAU Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing

Florida Atlantic University has named Cameron G. Duncan, Ph.D., DNP, APRN, FNP-C, PMHNP-BC, CNE, FAANP, as the new Holli Rockwell Trubinsky Eminent Dean of the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing. Duncan is the fourth dean in the college’s 45-year history and will take the helm on Jan. 27. Prior to joining FAU, he served as the interim dean of the Orvis School of Nursing at the University of Nevada, Reno, where he previously served as the director of the Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program since 2017. In his new role at FAU, Duncan will work closely with faculty, staff, and local community partners ...

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Science27 Jan 2025

Electrochemical x-ray scattering unlocks secrets of redox enzymes

Redox enzymes are proteins that catalyze oxidation-reduction reactions, which involve the transfer of electrons between molecules. Redox enzymes are crucial in bioelectrochemical devices, such as biosensors or biofuel cells. For instance, biosensors catalyze reactions that convert biochemical signals into measurable electrical signals, enabling the detection of substances like glucose. In biofuel cells, redox enzymes convert biological energy into electricity, powering small devices like medical implants. Their ability to facilitate the efficient transfer of electrons between molecules makes them indispensable ...

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Science27 Jan 2025

Preterm babies receive insufficient pain management

A large proportion of babies born very early need intensive care, which can be painful. But the healthcare system fails to provide pain relief to the full extent. This is shown by the largest survey to date of pain in neonatal care, now published in the journal Pain. Every day for 4.5 years, neonatal care staff have recorded the occurrence of pain, the causes of pain, and how pain is assessed and treated in premature babies in Sweden. The study covers 3,686 babies born between 22 and 31 weeks of gestation from 2020 to 2024. The total observation time was just over 185,000 days of care. Data were collected in the Swedish ...

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Science27 Jan 2025

Over 1/3 of parents say their child has experienced dental problems that reflect oral hygiene habits

More than one in three parents say their child has faced issues like tooth decay, cavities, stained teeth, gum concerns or tooth pain over the past two years, a national poll suggests. And these problems were linked to children’s oral care routine, more commonly experienced among those who skipped dental hygiene recommendations or followed them less often, according to the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health. “Maintaining oral health from a young age, including regular brushing ...

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Science27 Jan 2025

Colorado’s parental notification law can impede adolescent access to abortion, study says

AURORA, Colo. (Jan. 27, 2025) – A new study led by researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus has shed light on the burdens parental involvement laws impose on adolescents seeking abortion care, even in states like Colorado where abortion is protected. Researchers say these laws contribute to logistical barriers, heightened stress and delays in accessing care, disproportionately impacting vulnerable populations. The study, published today in the Journal of Adolescent Health, analyzed the experiences of adolescents (ages 15-17) and young adults (18-22) who either sought or ...

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Science27 Jan 2025

Botanic Gardens must team up to save wild plants from extinction

A major study of botanic gardens around the world has revealed their struggles with one fundamental aim: to safeguard the world’s most threatened plants from extinction. Researchers analysed a century’s worth of records - from 1921 to 2021 - from fifty botanic gardens and arboreta currently growing half a million plants, to see how the world’s living plant collections have changed over time. The results suggest that the world’s living collections have collectively reached peak capacity, and that restrictions ...

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Science24 Jan 2025

Collaboration to develop sorghum hybrids to reduce synthetic fertilizer use and farmer costs

ST. LOUIS, MO, January 24, 2025 - A new collaborative research team of leading plant scientists are developing sorghums with nitrogen-saving traits by utilizing the genetic diversity of wild relatives to improve resilience and productivity for grain sorghum producers. The project is part of a $38 million investment in nine projects by the U.S. Department of Energy, DOE, Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, ARPA-E, to develop advanced technologies for plants to increase nitrogen-use efficiency and reduce nitrogen pollution from U.S. bioenergy feedstocks. Veena Veena, PhD, MBA, principal investigator and director of the Plant Transformation ...

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Science24 Jan 2025

Surgeon preference factors into survival outcomes analyses for multi- and single-arterial bypass grafting

LOS ANGELES—January 24, 2025—In patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), a novel analysis evaluating surgeon preference for multi- versus single-arterial grafting may help explain the differing results between prior retrospective analyses and randomized controlled trials regarding long-term survival. A study presented this week at The Society of Thoracic Surgeons’ 61st Annual Meeting explores findings in more than a million U.S. Medicare beneficiaries who underwent CABG from 2001 to 2019. The researchers found that patients who received multi-arterial grafting (MAG) had improved survival over those who ...

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Science24 Jan 2025

Study points to South America – not Mexico – as birthplace of Irish potato famine pathogen

Call it a mystery solved. North Carolina State University researchers firmly point the finger at the South American Andes Mountains as the place where the Irish potato famine pathogen, Phtytophthora infestans, originated. In a wide-ranging study of the genetic material found in P. infestans and other members of the Phytophthora species, the NC State researchers provide more evidence that P. infestans spread from South America to North America before wreaking havoc in Ireland in the 1840s. The pathogen still causes late-blight disease on potato and tomato plants around the world. Much ...

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Science24 Jan 2025

VR subway experiment highlights role of sound in disrupting balance for people with inner ear disorder

The vestibular system is a network of organs in the inner ears that detects the motions and position of the head. The brain uses this information, along with inputs from the eyes and joints, to maintain the body’s balance. Visual information has long been proven to affect balance—for example, strobe lights and swirling images can cause instability—but a new study published in PLOS ONE shows that sounds can also be a disruptive factor for those who have vestibular hypofunction, a vestibular system disorder resulting in impaired balance. “People with vestibular hypofunction have ...

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Science24 Jan 2025

Evolution without sex: How mites have survived for millions of years

In collaboration with colleagues from international partner institutions, researchers at the University of Cologne have investigated the asexual reproduction of oribatid mites using genome sequencing techniques. They show that the key to evolution without sex in oribatid mites may lie in the independent evolution of their two chromosome copies – a phenomenon known as the ‘Meselson effect’. The research team identified various mechanisms that may contribute to the genetic diversity of the chromosome ...

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Science24 Jan 2025

City-level sugar-sweetened beverage taxes and changes in adult BMI

About The Study: Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) excise taxes were associated with reduced mean body mass index (BMI) among adults in demographic subgroups, including in young adults who consumed the most SSBs, and in Berkeley, in this cohort study. Future research should examine the mechanisms of these associations to inform how SSB taxes could be more equitable for weight-related outcomes. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Emily F. Liu, MPH, email emily.f.liu@kp.org. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.56170) Editor’s ...

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Science24 Jan 2025

How human activity has shaped Brazil Nut forests’ past and future

The significant decline in genetic diversity in the Amazon Basin, following historical events such as European colonisation, deforestation and the extinction of megafauna such as the sloth – the main seed dispersal agents, is of particular concern for the genetic health of Brazil Nut trees (Bertholletia excelsa). As one of the most impacted keystone species in rainforests, Brazil Nut trees are essential for biodiversity and a vital income source for local economies. A crucial study led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology and the Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen ...

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Science24 Jan 2025

Doctors test a new way to help people quit fentanyl

During the COVID-19 pandemic, when fentanyl overdoses surged, doctors were desperate to find ways of helping their patients. They knew that buprenorphine could help people stop using opioids, but it was much harder to start the treatment for those who used fentanyl, which lasts longer in the body. Taking buprenorphine while fentanyl is still active can push someone abruptly into withdrawal. So, they started giving patients small doses of the drug over a series of days to slowly build up the drug in their systems until their bodies could handle a higher dose of buprenorphine. Now, ...

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Science24 Jan 2025

AAAS and ASU launch mission-driven collaborative to strengthen scientific enterprise

Today, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Arizona State University announced a five-year partnership, the AAAS + ASU Collaborative. Together, the institutions will elevate and amplify strategies and practices that advance scientific excellence and enable a boldly inclusive scientific enterprise serving society. In its first phase, the Collaborative includes a joint prize, an invitation for the ASU STEMM community to join AAAS as Elemental Members, and events in Washington, D.C., addressing policy-relevant science topics. “Focusing science and scientific advances on the challenges we face is essential to the advancement ...

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Science24 Jan 2025

Revolutionizing ammonia synthesis: New iron-based catalyst surpasses century-old benchmark

NH3 is one of the most important chemicals in today’s world, as it is used in the production of fertilizers to boost agricultural yields and sustain the ever-growing global population. For over 100 years, NH3 production has relied on the Haber–Bosch (HB) process, which combines nitrogen (N2) and hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst. Interestingly, an iron-based catalyst developed a century ago (called ‘Promoted-Fe’) still remains at the forefront of mass NH3 production, despite countless efforts to find more energy-efficient alternatives. In the HB process, where NH3 is produced by a catalyst-filled reactor with a limited volume, ...

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Science24 Jan 2025

Calculating error-free more easily with two codes

Computers also make mistakes. These are usually suppressed by technical measures or detected and corrected during the calculation. In quantum computers, this involves some effort, as no copy can be made of an unknown quantum state. This means that the state cannot be saved multiple times during the calculation and an error cannot be detected by comparing these copies. Inspired by classical computer science, quantum physics has developed a different method in which the quantum information is distributed across several entangled quantum bits and stored redundantly in this ...

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Science24 Jan 2025

Development of next-generation one-component epoxy with high-temperature stability and flame retardancy

Two-component epoxies, which require mixing resin and curing agent before use, often suffer from issues such as mixing ratio errors, limited working times, and inconsistent curing. Additionally, they must be used immediately after mixing, leading to wasted residue. To address these challenges, one-component epoxies have gained attention. One-component epoxies come pre-mixed, making them easy to use, reducing processing time, and ensuring consistent quality without mixing. In particular, using latent curing agents allows curing to be triggered only under specific conditions (e.g., heat or UV exposure), significantly improving storage stability. However, ...

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Science24 Jan 2025

Diamonds are forever—But not in nanodevices

Ultrawide-bandgap semiconductors—such as diamond—are promising for next-generation electronics due to a larger energy gap between the valence and conduction bands, allowing them to handle higher voltages, operate at higher frequencies, and provide greater efficiency compared to traditional materials like silicon. However, their unique properties make it challenging to probe and understand how charge and heat move on nanometer-to-micron scales. Visible light has a very limited ability to probe nanoscale properties, and moreover, it is not absorbed ...

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Science24 Jan 2025

Likely 50-fold rise in prevalence of gender related distress from 2011-21 in England

The prevalence of psychological distress caused by a mismatch between birth sex and gender identity, formally known as gender dysphoria, likely rose 50-fold nationwide between 2011 and 2021, suggests an analysis of primary care data in England and published online in Archives of Disease in Childhood. This means the condition is still uncommon, with fewer than 1 in 200 17-18 year olds affected, but levels of concurrent anxiety, depression, and self harm are high. And access to timely care is a live issue for young people and their families, a second feedback study shows. Most previously ...

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Science23 Jan 2025

Marcus Freeman named 2024 Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year

HOUSTON, January 22, 2025 — Marcus Freeman, head coach at the University of Notre Dame, was named college football Coach of the Year at the American Heart Association’s Paul “Bear” Bryant Awards, presented by Marathon Oil. The 39th annual awards program benefits the American Heart Association, the world’s leading voluntary health organization devoted to a world of longer, healthier lives for all. “We are honored to award Coach Freeman this year’s Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award, recognizing his exemplary efforts ...

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