Science
press releases.

Science10 Jun 2024

Study shows first evidence of sex differences in how pain can be produced

Research suggests that males and females differ in their experience of pain, but up until now, no one knew why. In a recent study published in BRAIN, University of Arizona Health Sciences researchers became the first to identify functional sex differences in nociceptors, the specialized nerve cells that produce pain. The findings support the implementation of a precision medicine-based approach that considers patient sex as fundamental to the choice of treatment for managing pain. “Conceptually, this paper is a big advance in our ...

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Science10 Jun 2024

Taking the fall: How stunt performers struggle with reporting head trauma

In the heart-pounding action scenes of your favorite blockbuster, it's not always the A-list actor taking the risks but the unsung heroes—stunt performers—who bring those breathtaking moments to life. However, behind the glamour lies a grim reality: the reluctance of these daredevils to report head trauma, fearing it could jeopardize their careers. In the recently released blockbuster, “The Fall Guy,” audiences get a behind-the-scenes look at what stunt professionals go through to create those most thrilling moments, and although this film celebrates these skilled professionals, it does not highlight the impact the stunts can have on their health. Ohio ...

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Science10 Jun 2024

Yuan elevated to IEEE senior member

Jinghui Yuan, an R&D staff member in the Applied Research for Mobility Systems group at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been elevated to a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, or IEEE. Senior member status is the highest grade of IEEE and requires extensive experience that reflects professional accomplishments. Only 10% of IEEE’s more than 450,000 members achieve this level. As a transportation engineer in the Buildings and Transportation Science Division, Yuan’s research focuses on intelligent transportation systems, crash risk prediction, big data analytics, deep learning, traffic simulation and ...

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Science10 Jun 2024

Depression, antidepressants, epigenetic age acceleration, and mortality in postmenopausal women

“The study examined the impact of depressive symptoms, antidepressant use, and epigenetic age acceleration on all-cause mortality in postmenopausal women.” BUFFALO, NY- June 10, 2024 – A new research paper was published in Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science) Volume 16, Issue 10, entitled, “Relationships of depression and antidepressant use with epigenetic age acceleration and all-cause mortality among postmenopausal women.” In this new study, researchers May A. Beydoun, Hind A. Beydoun, Jason Ashe, Michael F. Georgescu, Steve Horvath, Ake Lu, Anthony S. Zannas, ...

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Science10 Jun 2024

UTA honors two faculty for distinguished scholarship

The University of Texas at Arlington is honoring two faculty for their outstanding contributions to scholarship with the Distinguished Record of Research or Creativity Award. Sam W. Haynes, professor of history, and Jaehoon Yu, professor of physics, are the 2024 recipients of the award, which recognizes faculty who have achieved a distinguished record of scholarship over an extended period. “Jae and Sam have each been at UTA for more than 20 years, and they have each truly made an impact in the lives of the students we prepare for future careers,” said Kate C. Miller, vice president of research and innovation. "In addition, their contributions ...

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Science10 Jun 2024

New research describes the leisure motivations that underpin young U.S. adults' recreational cannabis use

As of 2024, 24 states including Virginia and Maryland, and DC have legalized the adult recreational use of cannabis. As laws change, citizens' perceptions of the drug and reasons for using the drug have also shifted. In 2020, 34.5% of adults aged 18-25 reported using cannabis in the previous 12 months, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Health experts seek to better understand the broader implications of legalizations and individuals’ motivations and attitudes related to cannabis use. New ...

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Science10 Jun 2024

NSF awards additional $9.8 Million for Delta, DeltaAI

The National Center for Supercomputing Applications was recently awarded $4.9 million of supplemental funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) for Delta and an additional $4.9 million for DeltaAI to expand the potential capabilities of the soon-to-launch system by nearly 50 percent. NCSA originally received nearly $25 million from NSF in 2023 to deploy and operate DeltaAI, an advanced computing and data resource that will be a companion system to Delta. DeltaAI will triple NCSA’s AI-focused computing capacity and ...

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Science10 Jun 2024

Two can play that game: juvenile dolphins who play together are more successful as adults

Juvenile social play predicts adult reproductive success in male bottlenose dolphins, a new study has found. Fresh findings published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences led by researchers from the University of Bristol and University of Western Australia, show that juvenile male dolphins with strong social bonds practice adult-like reproductive behaviours when playing together, and those juvenile males who spend more time practicing will father more offspring as adults. The study provides rare evidence for a link between juvenile social play and reproductive success in a wild animal. In collaboration with international colleagues, the ...

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Science10 Jun 2024

Wire-cut forensic examinations currently too unreliable for court, new study says

A research article published June 10 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences highlights the importance of careful application of high-tech forensic science to avoid wrongful convictions. In a study with implications for an array of forensic examinations that rely on “vast databases and efficient algorithms,” researchers found the odds of a false match significantly increase when examiners make millions of comparisons in a quest to match wires found at a crime scene with the tools allegedly used to cut them. The rate of mistaken identifications could be as high as one in 10 or more, concluded ...

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Science10 Jun 2024

SNMMI elects Jean-Luc C. Urbain, MD, Ph.D., FASNC, as President-Elect at 2024 Annual Meeting

Toronto, Ontario—Jean-Luc C. Urbain, MD, PhD, FASNC, professor of Radiology/Nuclear Medicine and Medicine, has been named president-elect of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI). SNMMI introduced a new slate of officers during its 2024 Annual Meeting, held June 8-11 in Toronto. “As SNMMI president-elect, I plan to focus on bringing and integrating radiopharmaceutical theranostics into the clinic to benefit as many patients as possible. This will require an emphasis ...

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Science10 Jun 2024

Kepplinger, Vidyashankar to receive funding for conference

David Kepplinger, Assistant Professor, Statistics, and Anand Vidyashankar, Professor, Statistics, are set to receive funding from the National Science Foundation for: “Conference: Building a robust community: Joint International Conference on Robust Statistics and Conference on Data Science, Statistics, and Data Science.” Kepplinger and Vidyashankar will receive $20,993 from NSF for this award. Funding will begin in July 2024 and will end in late June 2025. The funding will support 15–20 students and early-career researchers to participate in the joint International Conference on Robust Statistics (ICORS) and the Conference ...

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Science10 Jun 2024

Imposing cost-efficient trade sanctions

By Alistair Jones SMU Office of Research – Global condemnation of Russia over its invasion of Ukraine has prompted the imposition of trade sanctions. Such measures are a form of economic coercion, commonly used for reasons of foreign policy. Trade sanctions can be put in place in an attempt to alter objectionable behaviour – in Russia's case, waging a war – or to punish an offending state through the disruption of economic exchange. "Sanctions can be in many forms and raising ...

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Science10 Jun 2024

Elephants have names for each other like people do, new study shows

Colorado State University scientists have called elephants by their names, and the elephants called back. Wild African elephants address each other with name-like calls, a rare ability among nonhuman animals, according to a new study published in Nature Ecology and Evolution. Researchers from CSU, Save the Elephants and ElephantVoices used machine learning to confirm that elephant calls contained a name-like component identifying the intended recipient, a behavior they suspected based on observation. When the researchers played back recorded calls, elephants responded affirmatively ...

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Science10 Jun 2024

Benefits of failure are overrated

The platitude that failure leads to success may be both inaccurate and damaging to society, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. Researchers conducted 11 experiments with more than 1,800 participants across many domains and compared national statistics to the participants’ responses. In one experiment, participants vastly overestimated the percentage of prospective nurses, lawyers and teachers who pass licensing exams after previously failing them. “People expect success to follow failure much more often than it actually does,” said lead researcher Lauren Eskreis-Winkler, PhD, an assistant ...

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Science10 Jun 2024

Gut microbes from aged mice induce inflammation in young mice, study finds

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — When scientists transplanted the gut microbes of aged mice into young “germ-free” mice — raised to have no gut microbes of their own — the recipient mice experienced an increase in inflammation that parallels inflammatory processes associated with aging in humans. Young germ-free mice transplanted with microbes from other young mice had no such increase. The findings suggest that changes to the gut microbiome play a role in the systemwide inflammation that often occurs ...

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Science10 Jun 2024

Peers crucial in shaping boys’ confidence in math skills

Boys are good at math, girls not so much? A study from the University of Zurich has analyzed the social mechanisms that contribute to the gender gap in math confidence. While peer comparisons seem to play a crucial role for boys, girls’ subjective evaluations are more likely to be based on objective performance. Research has shown that in Western societies, the average secondary school girl has less confidence in her mathematical abilities than the average boy of the same age. At the same time, no significant difference ...

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Science7 Jun 2024

Antioxidant gel preserves islet function after pancreas removal

Northwestern University researchers have developed a new antioxidant biomaterial that someday could provide much-needed relief to people living with chronic pancreatitis. The study will be published on June 7 in the journal Science Advances. Before surgeons remove the pancreas from patients with severe, painful chronic pancreatitis, they first harvest insulin-producing tissue clusters, called islets, and transplant them into the vasculature of the liver. The goal of the transplant is to preserve a patient’s ability to control their own blood-glucose levels without insulin injections. Unfortunately, the ...

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Science7 Jun 2024

Cascadia Subduction Zone, one of Earth’s top hazards, comes into sharper focus

Off the coasts of southern British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and northern California lies a 600 mile-long strip where the Pacific Ocean floor is slowly diving eastward under North America. This area, called the Cascadia Subduction Zone, hosts a megathrust fault, a place where tectonic plates move against each other in a highly dangerous way. The plates can periodically lock up and build stress over wide areas―eventually to be released when they finally lurch against each other. The result: the world’s greatest earthquakes, shaking both seabed and land, and generating tsunamis 100 feet high or more. Such a fault ...

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Science7 Jun 2024

Unlocking another piece of the Parkinson’s puzzle – scientists reveal workings of vital molecular switch

Scientists at the University of Dundee have uncovered the inner relay of a molecular switch that protects the brain against the development of Parkinson’s disease. The research provides new potential strategies to develop drugs that may benefit patients with Parkinson’s. Parkinson’s is the fastest growing brain disorder in the world, however, there are currently no treatments that can slow or arrest the condition. Previous research conducted at the University had found a gene called PINK1 is central to protecting brain cells against stress. In patients ...

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Science7 Jun 2024

Study shows link between photo filter use and muscle dysmorphia among teens, young adults

Toronto, ON, Canada - A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Toronto has unveiled a significant association between the use of photo filters on social media and increased symptoms of muscle dysmorphia among adolescents and young adults in Canada. This study, which analyzed data from 912 participants from the Canadian Study of Adolescent Health Behaviors, emphasizes the growing concern over the impact of digital image manipulation on body image and mental health. The research reveals that the use of photo filters, commonly found on apps like Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok, is linked to greater muscle dysmorphia symptomatology, a condition marked ...

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Science7 Jun 2024

nTIDE May 2024 Jobs Report: People with Disabilities Succeeding in Finding Jobs

East Hanover, NJ – June 7, 2024 –May job numbers showed gains for people with disabilities, who continue to engage with the labor market at historic levels, according to today’s National Trends in Disability Employment – semi-monthly update (nTIDE), issued by Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability (UNH-IOD). Increases in both labor force participation and employment indicate that people with disabilities are not only striving to work but succeeding in finding jobs. ...

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Science7 Jun 2024

Flavor unleashed: a scientific journey into the world of table grapes

In a recent study, scientists have unlocked the secrets behind the diverse flavors of table grapes. By examining 38 different cultivars, the research offers unprecedented insights into the volatile compounds that shape our taste experiences, paving the way for enhanced grape quality and flavor. The flavor of table grapes, influenced by various volatile compounds, plays a significant role in consumer preference and marketability. Traditional flavor analysis methods often fail to capture the complexity and diversity of grape flavors, especially in hybrid varieties. Conventional flavor classifications like muscat and foxy are insufficient for describing the wide range of flavors ...

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Science7 Jun 2024

Shrinking statures, growing insights: unraveling the genetic underpinnings of dwarfism in squash

Unlocking the secrets of nature, a pioneering study has pinpointed a gene mutation with profound implications for plant height and stress tolerance. The discovery lies in the CpDWF5 gene, whose alteration leads to a compact squash plant with a unique resistance to salt stress, marking a leap forward in agricultural science. In the quest to bolster crop yields and fortify plants against environmental stressors, the delicate interplay of phytohormones stands as a keystone. Yet, our grasp of these genetic levers, particularly those dictating plant stature and resilience to salinity, remains tenuous. Bridging ...

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Science7 Jun 2024

Prevalence of iron deficiency using 3 definitions among women in the US and Canada

About The Study: Three definitions of iron deficiency were associated with significantly different prevalence of iron deficiency in women, regardless of self-reported age, pregnancy, or race and ethnicity. Using higher serum ferritin thresholds to define iron deficiency could lead to diagnosis and treatment of more women with iron deficiency and greater reduction of related morbidity. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, James C. Barton, M.D., email bartonjames336@gmail.com. To access the embargoed study: ...

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Science7 Jun 2024

Primary cilia restrict autoinflammation by mediating PD-L1 expression

Ciliopathies are multisystem disorders characterized by the dysfunction of motile and/or non-motile cilia, which show common clinical manifestations of ciliopathies include retinal degeneration, mental retardation, renal abnormality, obesity, and skeletal dysplasia. Fibrosis of vital organs, characterized by the extensive deposition of extracellular matrix components, represents another complication frequently observed in patients and animal models of ciliopathies. However, the precise mechanism that connects ciliary defects to fibrosis remains largely elusive. The recent study led by Dr. Min Liu (Haihe Laboratory of Cell Ecosystem) and Dr. Yunfan Yang (Shandong University) showed ...

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