Science
press releases.

Science23 Apr 2024

Asian monsoon lofts ozone-depleting substances to stratosphere

Asian monsoon lofts ozone-depleting substances to stratosphere Airborne observations discover new link between pollution and climate Powerful monsoon winds, strengthened by a warming climate, are lofting unexpectedly large quantities of ozone-depleting substances high into the atmosphere over East Asia, new research shows. The study, led by the U.S. National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR) and NASA, found that the East Asian Monsoon delivers more than twice the concentration of very short-lived ozone-depleting substances into the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere than previously reported. The research team ...

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Science23 Apr 2024

Don’t be a stranger – study finds rekindling old friendships as scary as making new ones

sychologists from Simon Fraser University (SFU) and the University of Sussex have found that people are as hesitant to reach out to an old friend as they are to strike up a conversation with a stranger, even when they had the capacity and desire to do so. The new research is published today in the journal Nature Communications Psychology. Scientific research has shown that social relationships are important to human happiness, and that the greater the number and range of friendships that we engage with, the better our wellbeing. But once relationships are formed, some ...

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Science23 Apr 2024

Research reveals tools to make STEM degrees more affordable

In a new study in Issues, Dominique J. Baker, an associate professor in the College of Education and Human Development and the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy & Administration at the University of Delaware, explored the role of student loans on hopeful students striving for college degrees, particularly in STEM. The cost of attending a public four-year college in the United States has more than doubled since the early 1990s, when inflation is factored in. Undergraduate student loan debt has become unmanageable for a wide swath of borrowers ...

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Science23 Apr 2024

Livestock abortion surveillance could protect livelihoods and detect emerging global pathogens

A small-scale surveillance system in Tanzania for reporting livestock abortions could help protect livelihoods and provide insights on potential livestock-to-human infections. The research, published April 16 as a Reviewed Preprint in eLife, is described by editors as an important study with convincing findings of potential interest to the fields of veterinary medicine, public health and epidemiology. Loss of livestock through abortion is a major concern for the worldwide livestock industry, resulting in significant ...

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Science23 Apr 2024

AGS honors Dr. William Hall with prestigious Nascher/Manning Award in Geriatrics

New York (April 23, 2024) —The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) will honor William J. Hall, MD, MACP Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the University of Rochester this year with the prestigious Nascher/Manning Award, given biannually at the AGS Annual Scientific Meeting (#AGS24 will be held virtually May 9 – 11 (pre-conference days: Tuesday & Wednesday, May 7-8). The Nascher/Manning Award was named in honor of Ignatz Leo Nascher, MD who was the first clinician to advocate for establishing a specialty focused on the care ...

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Science23 Apr 2024

2 USC faculty members named 2024 Guggenheim Fellows

USC faculty members Paul K. Newton and Nicolás Lell Benavides have been awarded prestigious Guggenheim Fellowships for 2024. Newton, professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering and mathematics at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, and Benavides, a lecturer at the USC Thornton School of Music, were chosen by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation from nearly 3,000 applicants. They are among 188 inductees chosen this year for their excellence in scholarship and the arts. “Humanity faces some profound existential challenges,” said Edward Hirsch, ...

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Science23 Apr 2024

4 USC faculty members named as fellows of prestigious science organization AAAS

The council of the American Association for the Advancement of Science has elected USC faculty members Pinchas Cohen, Andrea Hodge, Jay Lieberman and Gaurav Sukhatme to the ranks of AAAS fellows. The honor, which recognizes researchers whose “efforts on behalf of the advancement of science or its applications are scientifically or socially distinguished,” is among the most prized in academia. The recognition honors excellence in research, technology, industry and government, teaching, and communicating and interpreting science to the public. The new cohort joins more than 40 of their USC peers already inducted into AAAS. The newly elected AAAS ...

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Science23 Apr 2024

Toward unification of turbulence framework – weak-to-strong transition discovered in turbulence

Turbulence is ubiquitous in nature. It exists everywhere, from our daily lives to the distant universe, while being labelled as “the last great unsolved problem of classical physics” by Richard Feynman. Prof. Dr. Huirong Yan and her group from the Institute of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Potsdam and DESY have now discovered a long-predicted phenomenon: the weak-to-strong transition in small amplitude space plasma turbulence. The discovery was made by analyzing data from ESA’s Cluster mission – a constellation of four spacecraft flying in formation around Earth and investigating how the Sun and the Earth interact. The ...

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Science23 Apr 2024

Major milestone reached for key weapons component

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories and the Kansas City National Security Campus completed a crucial weapons component development milestone, prior to full rate production. The Mark 21 Replacement Fuze interfaces with the W87-0 warhead for deployment onto the Minuteman III and, eventually, the Sentinel Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. The first production unit of the replacement fuze was approved through the National Nuclear Security Administration’s rigorous Quality Assurance Inspection Procedure ...

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Science23 Apr 2024

New research develops forest extent map for Mexico

To properly protect forests and evaluate the state of natural resources, conservation practices and environmental policies, it is important to have accurate information on an area’s forest extent. One of the challenges facing researchers when it comes to evaluating the accuracy of forest extent, however, is that models use different remote sensing products that may have different definitions for what determines forest extent. In addition, on the ground surveys may sometimes come into conflict with what remote, satellite-based products are describing as forests. To help quantify this problem, a group of researchers from ...

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Science23 Apr 2024

New mitigation framework reduces bias in classification outcomes

We use computers to help us make (hopefully) unbiased decisions. The problem is that machine-learning algorithms do not always make fair classifications, if human bias is embedded in the data used to train them — which is often the case in practice. To ease this "garbage in, garbage out" situation, a research team presented a flexible framework for mitigating bias in machine classification. Their research was published Apr. 8 in Intelligent Computing, a Science Partner Journal. Existing attempts to mitigate classification bias, according to the team, are often held back by their reliance on specific metrics of fairness and predetermined ...

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Science23 Apr 2024

Announcing the second cohort of the Hevolution/AFAR new investigator awardees in aging biology and geroscience research

New York, NY —The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) is pleased to announce the second cohort of the Hevolution/AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology and Geroscience Research, a grant program to enable early-career investigators with labs in the US and Canada to advance research projects in basic biology of aging, as well as geroscience projects that translate advances in basic research on aging biology from the laboratory to the clinic, paving the way for healthspan-expanding therapeutics and treatments. ...

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Science23 Apr 2024

Advances in understanding the evolution of stomach loss in agastric fishes

Living beings can evolve to lose biological structures due to potential survival benefits from such losses. For example, certain groups of ray-finned fishes show such regressive evolution—medakas, minnows, puffera, and wrasses do not have a stomach in the gastrointestinal tract, making them agastric or stomachless fishes. However, the specific evolutionary mechanisms underlying the evolution of agastric fishes remains unclear. Studies about Slc26a9—a molecular transporter highly expressed in the stomach of many species—in fishes provided the initial clue. Researchers ...

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Science23 Apr 2024

Undernourished household members at increased risk for developing TB after exposure

(Boston)—Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria that causes tuberculosis (TB), is distinct from most germs in its capacity to silently infect individuals for months and even years before waking up and causing active disease that can lead to severe illness and death. The immune system plays an important role in controlling the germ and keeping it dormant. Decades of epidemiological data have linked undernutrition to TB. While undernourished individuals have blunted immune systems, a phenomenon which has been dubbed nutritionally acquired ...

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Science23 Apr 2024

RAMP1 protects hepatocytes against ischemia-reperfusion injury by inhibiting the ERK/YAP pathway

Background and Aims Hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury (HIRI) is a prevalent complication of liver transplantation, partial hepatectomy, and severe infection, necessitating the development of more effective clinical strategies. Receptor activity–modifying protein 1 (RAMP1), a member of the G protein–coupled receptor adapter family, has been implicated in numerous physiological and pathological processes. The study aimed to investigate the pathogenesis of RAMP1 in HIRI. Methods We established a 70% liver ischemia-reperfusion model in RAMP1 knockout (KO) and wild-type mice. Liver and ...

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Science23 Apr 2024

Perfecting the view on a crystal’s imperfection

NEW YORK, April 23, 2024 — Single-photon emitters (SPEs) are akin to microscopic lightbulbs that emit only one photon (a quantum of light) at a time. These tiny structures hold immense importance for the development of quantum technology, particularly in applications such as secure communications and high-resolution imaging. However, many materials that contain SPEs are impractical for use in mass manufacturing due to their high cost and the difficulty of integrating them into complex devices. In 2015, scientists discovered SPEs within a material called hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). Since then, hBN has gained widespread attention and ...

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Science23 Apr 2024

ECU researchers call for enhanced research into common post-stroke condition

Lateropulsion, a clinical condition which results in the body leaning to one side, affects about half of all stroke survivors. Edith Cowan University (ECU) PhD graduate Dr Jessica Nolan said while the problem is common, lateropulsion is still severely under recognised and under assessed around the world. “A person with lateropulsion uses the limbs on their stronger side, to push themselves over toward their weaker side. Often those with lateropulsion resist correction back towards their stronger ...

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Science23 Apr 2024

SharpeRatio@k: novel metric for evaluation of risk-return tradeoff in off-policy evaluation

Reinforcement learning (RL) is a machine learning technique that trains software by mimicking the trial-and-error learning process of humans. It has demonstrated considerable success in many areas that involve sequential decision-making. However, training RL models with real-world online tests is often undesirable as it can be risky, time-consuming and, importantly, unethical. Thus, using offline datasets that are naturally collected through past operations is becoming increasingly popular for training and evaluating RL and bandit ...

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Science23 Apr 2024

Follow-up 50 years on finds landmark steroid study remains safe

A new study has found there are no adverse long-term cardiovascular health consequences for the now-adult children of mothers who were given corticosteroids because they were at risk of early birth in a landmark trial conducted in Auckland, New Zealand, 50 years ago. The Auckland Steroid Study by obstetrician Professor Graham ‘Mont’ Liggins and paediatrician colleague Dr Ross Howie from 1969 to 1974 in Green Lane Hospital, Auckland, found that two corticosteroid injections given to pregnant women at risk of early (preterm) birth halved the incidence of respiratory distress in the babies and significantly reduced neonatal deaths. Co-author of the new study, Dr ...

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Science23 Apr 2024

Active military service may heighten women’s risk of having low birthweight babies

Active military service may heighten a woman’s risk of having a low birthweight baby, suggests a review of the available scientific evidence published online in the journal BMJ Military Health. The findings highlight the need for more research specifically focused on women in the armed forces, and their reproductive health in particular, conclude the study authors. Worldwide, increasing numbers of women are on active service in their country’s armed forces. The UK Armed Forces, for example, has set a target of 30% female representation by 2030. And more and more countries are deploying women in combat ...

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Science23 Apr 2024

Cost increasingly important motive for quitting smoking for 1 in 4 adults in England

Health concerns are still the primary motive for more than half of those who say they want to stop smoking in England, but cost is now a key factor for more than 1 in 4, finds an analysis of national survey responses, published in the open access journal BMJ Public Health. Given this shift in thinking, making much more of the potential savings to be had might encourage more people to stub out for good, suggest the researchers. Health concerns are generally the primary motive for people trying to stop smoking, with social and ...

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Science22 Apr 2024

Is there an association between HPV vaccination and anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis?

Anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate (Anti-NMDA) receptor encephalitis is an acute autoimmune disorder that develops both neurological symptoms and psychiatric symptoms, including hallucination, cognitive disturbance, epilepsy, movement disorder, and impaired consciousness. This disease may be misdiagnosed at the early stage as a psychosis disease because of primary psychiatric symptoms. The misdiagnosis may delay appropriate therapeutic intervention. Most patients with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis respond to immunotherapy [1, 2]. The pathology of this disease is ...

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Science22 Apr 2024

Eye-opener: Pupils enlarge when people focus on tasks

Working memory is one of the brain’s executive functions, a skill that allows humans to process information without losing track of what they’re doing. In the short term, working memory allows the brain to complete an immediate task, like loading the dishwasher. Long term, it helps the brain decide what to store for future use, such as whether more dishwasher soap will be needed. University of Texas at Arlington researchers know that working memory varies greatly among individuals, but they aren’t sure exactly why. To better understand, Matthew Robison, assistant professor of psychology, and doctoral student Lauren D. Garner conducted an experiment to see if ...

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Science22 Apr 2024

In the United States, the election of progressive prosecutors led to higher relative rates of property and overall crime, but not to higher relative rates of violent crime

In the United States, the number of so-called progressive prosecutors focused on criminal justice reform has risen, but few studies have addressed the relation between these prosecutors’ policies and crime rates. In a new study, researchers examined whether progressive prosecutors in the 100 most populated counties affected crime rates from 2000 to 2020. They found that the inauguration of these prosecutors led to higher relative rates of property crime and total crime, but not to higher relative rates of violent crime. The study was conducted by researchers ...

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Science22 Apr 2024

European Court of Human Rights is “backsliding” on legal protections for asylum seekers, study says

The European Court of Human Rights is “backsliding” by surreptitiously reversing its principles established to protect asylum seekers, a new study says. It is a decade since the Court first established that asylum seekers are inherently and particularly vulnerable in law. The research shows that in recent years the Court has moved away from this position, albeit without actually acknowledging this or explaining why. The research warns that it is now uncertain what exactly is needed for any particular asylum applicant to be judged as sufficiently vulnerable to receive special protection under the European Convention on Human Rights. The ...

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