Science
press releases.

Science18 Mar 2024

A new antibody capture method reveals G-quadruplex landscape and its regulation

“[...] we present an improved method for G4 landscape determination and by applying it we show that sequence property-specific constraints of the nuclear environment mitigate G4 formation.” BUFFALO, NY- March 18, 2024 – A new research paper was published in Oncotarget's Volume 15 on March 14, 2024, entitled, “G-quadruplex landscape and its regulation revealed by a new antibody capture method.” In this new study, researchers Subhamoy Datta, Manthan Patel, Chakkarai Sathyaseelan, Chandrama Ghosh, Akanksha Mudgal, Divyesh Patel, Thenmalarchelvi Rathinavelan, ...

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Science18 Mar 2024

ReseNovel sacrificial layer “super-tetragonal” for freestanding oxide membranes

A research team led by Prof. WU Wenbing and Prof. WANG Linfei from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), in collaboration with Prof. SI Liang’ s team from Northwest University, developed a new water-soluble sacrificial layer, “super-tectragonal” Sr4Al2O7 (SAOT), with broad tunability in lattice constants, which can be used to prepare high-quality freestanding oxide membrane. Their work was published in Science. Freestanding oxide membrane is a type of low-dimensional quantum material that maintains single-crystal properties even ...

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Science18 Mar 2024

Keeping in touch: Why businesses are cultivating relationships with former employees

For many people, leaving a job can be like leaving a family — and because of the personal and professional bonds they’ve forged, many naturally stay in touch with their former coworkers and keep apprised of what’s happening in the organization. But what happens when companies make a concerted effort to bolster those bonds, help former employees in their careers and keep them in the loop? According to new research from the UBC Sauder School of Business, it can have big benefits for both employees and employers. For the paper, researchers studied ...

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Science18 Mar 2024

Study estimates nearly 70 percent of children under six in Chicago may be exposed to lead-contaminated tap water

A new analysis led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health estimates that 68 percent of Chicago children under age six live in households with tap water containing detectable levels of lead. For their analysis, the researchers used machine learning, an artificial intelligence technique, to gauge likely levels of lead in tap water in households across Chicago, based on an existing dataset that includes results from 38,385 tap water tests taken from 2016 to 2023. The tests were from households that had registered for a free self-administered testing service for lead exposure. The threshold the researchers ...

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Science18 Mar 2024

Estimated childhood lead exposure from drinking water in Chicago

About The Study: The findings of this study indicate that childhood lead exposure from drinking water is widespread in Chicago, and racial inequities are present in both testing rates and exposure levels. Machine learning may assist in preliminary screening for lead exposure, and efforts to remediate the effects of environmental racism should involve improving outreach for and access to lead testing services. Authors: Benjamin Q. Huynh, Ph.D., of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.0133) Editor’s ...

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Science18 Mar 2024

Middle-aged Americans lonelier than European counterparts

Middle-aged adults in the U.S. tend to report significantly higher levels of loneliness than their European counterparts, possibly due in part to weaker family ties and greater income inequality, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. “Loneliness is gaining attention globally as a public health issue because elevated loneliness increases one’s risk for depression, compromised immunity, chronic illness and mortality,” said lead author Frank Infurna, PhD, an associate professor of psychology at Arizona State ...

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Science18 Mar 2024

Breathe, don’t vent: Turning down the heat is key to managing anger

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Venting about a source of anger might feel good in the moment, but it’s not effective at reducing the rage, new research suggests. Instead, techniques often used to address stress – deep breathing, mindfulness, meditation, yoga or even counting to 10 – have been shown to be more effective at decreasing anger and aggression. Researchers analyzed over 150 studies involving more than 10,000 participants and found that what really works to reduce anger is lowering physiological arousal – in other words, turning down the heat. Activities that increased arousal overall ...

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Science18 Mar 2024

A wetter world recorded in Australian coral colony

Images When climate scientists look to the future to determine what the effects of climate change may be, they use computer models to simulate potential outcomes such as how precipitation will change in a warming world. But University of Michigan scientists are looking at something a little more tangible: coral. Examining samples from corals in the Great Barrier Reef, the researchers discovered between 1750 and present day, as the global climate warmed, wet-season rainfall in that part of the world increased by about 10%, and the rate of extreme rain events more than doubled. Their results are published in Nature, Communications Earth and Environment. "Climate scientists ...

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Science18 Mar 2024

Mimicking exercise with a pill

NEW ORLEANS, March 18, 2024 — Doctors have long prescribed exercise to improve and protect health. In the future, a pill may offer some of the same benefits as exercise. Now, researchers report on new compounds that appear capable of mimicking the physical boost of working out — at least within rodent cells. This discovery could lead to a new way to treat muscle atrophy and other medical conditions in people, including heart failure and neurodegenerative disease. The researchers will present their ...

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Science17 Mar 2024

Animal hair structure changes from summer to winter to fend off freezing weather

NEW ORLEANS, March 17, 2024 — Unique adaptations allow wild animals to survive temperature extremes that would quickly kill an unprotected human. For example, certain animals can withstand bitterly cold weather, thanks to the insulating properties of the hollow hairs that make up their coats. Little has been known about the hairs, but now, researchers have discovered that their inner structure changes with the seasons. The researchers will present their results today at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ACS Spring 2024 is a hybrid meeting being held virtually and in person March ...

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Science17 Mar 2024

The many flavors of edible ants

NEW ORLEANS, March 17, 2024 — Insects are typically unwelcome visitors to a picnic, but they could be a flavorful, nutritious and sustainable addition to the menu. Eating insects is common in some parts of the world, and some species are even considered delicacies. Ants are one example, sometimes roasted whole for a snack or ground and used to add flavor and texture to dishes. Researchers now report the unique aroma profiles of four species of edible ants, which taste markedly different from one another. The researchers will present their results today at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ACS Spring 2024 is a hybrid meeting being held ...

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Science17 Mar 2024

Better kombucha brewing through chemistry

NEW ORLEANS, March 17, 2024 — Kombucha is a fermented tea known for its health benefits and tangy kick. But brewers can find it challenging to keep kombucha’s alcohol levels low because the bacteria and yeast used in the fermentation process vary from batch to batch. Now, chemists from Shippensburg University are investigating ways to reliably minimize alcohol, tailor taste profiles and speed up the kombucha fermentation process to help home and commercial producers optimize their funky brews. The ...

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Science16 Mar 2024

Less is more: Not placing a drain improves distal pancreatectomy outcomes

Research led by Amsterdam UMC across ten Dutch hospitals and two Italian hospitals has found that not placing a drain during surgery improves outcomes in patients undergoing a left-sided pancreatic resection, also known as ‘distal pancreatectomy’. The study, today published in Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, set out to confirm the safety of drainless surgery, as compared to the current routine practice of leaving a surgical drain. Ultimately, the study not only confirmed the safety of ‘drainless ...

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Science15 Mar 2024

Oregon State researchers take deep dive into how much water is stored in snow

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A heavy snowpack is fun for skiers and sledders, and it also acts like an open-air storage tank that melts away to provide water for drinking, irrigation and other purposes during dry months. But exactly how much water is held in snowpacks, and for how long? That information, critical to water managers around the globe, has taken on new clarity thanks to a new, more holistic calculation technique developed by researchers in the Oregon State University College of Engineering. “Water managers tend to consider a portfolio of infrastructure options – surface water reservoirs, groundwater ...

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Science15 Mar 2024

Sylvester researchers, collaborators call for greater investment in bereavement care

MIAMI, FLORIDA (March 15, 2024) – The public health toll from bereavement is well-documented in the medical literature, with bereaved persons at greater risk for many adverse outcomes, including mental health challenges, decreased quality of life, health care neglect, cancer, heart disease, suicide, and death. Now, in a paper published in The Lancet Public Health, researchers sound a clarion call for greater investment, at both the community and institutional level, in establishing support for grief-related suffering. The authors emphasized that increased mortality worldwide caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, suicide, drug overdose, homicide, ...

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Science15 Mar 2024

Groundbreaking study reveals extensive leatherback turtle activity along U.S. coastline

A new study led by a team of marine scientists at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Southeast Fisheries Science Center, provides groundbreaking findings that offer insights on the migration and foraging patterns of leatherback sea turtles along the Northwest Atlantic shelf. Scientists have known that leatherbacks commonly swim from the South and Mid-Atlantic Bights during the warmer months to reach feeding areas near New England and Nova Scotia, Canada where food is plentiful. ...

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Science15 Mar 2024

Lesbian, gay and bisexual women smoke more, are less likely to quit

People who identify as lesbian, gay and bisexual – particularly women – respond more positively to tobacco marketing, are more inclined to smoke cigarettes daily and may have a more difficult time quitting, according to two studies by a Rutgers Health researcher. The studies, published in the Annals of LGBTQ Public and Population Health and Preventive Medicine Reports, investigated how some among the LGBTQ population respond to tobacco marketing, how they use tobacco and their history of quitting using two large national datasets, including the Population Assessment of Tobacco and ...

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Science15 Mar 2024

RPI researchers awarded $1.5 million to produce hemp-based insulated siding

Researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) will use hemp to develop a commercially viable, durable, and low-embodied-carbon insulated siding product to address what the U.S. Green Building Council says is a “crucial need for building retrofits to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.” The three-year, $1.5 million award given as part of the Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontiers and Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT) funding opportunity from the United States Department of Energy (DOE) will support RPI faculty and industry partners in creating Hemp Retrofit Structural Insulated Panel (HeRS), a hemp-based insulated siding system that ...

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Science15 Mar 2024

Newly discovered receptor influences gut development in fruit flies

Adhesion GPCRs belong to the large family of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). There are about 700 variants in humans, which are responsible for sensory impressions, hormonal cycles, controlling the cardiovascular system and more. GPCRs translate stimuli that hit a cell from outside into an intracellular biochemical signal. The use of the fruit fly as a model animal allows researchers in this field to gain a deep understanding of human diseases, because the animals are genetically very similar to humans. Scientists estimate that around 75 per cent of the genes involved in human diseases ...

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Science15 Mar 2024

A breakthrough in tiny tool tuning: making microscopic measurements more accurate

A study introduces a novel method for calibrating the spring constant of FluidFM micropipette cantilevers, crucial for the accurate measurement of forces in microfluidic environments. This method addresses the limitations of current calibration techniques, offering a significant advancement in the field of force microscopy. Fluidic force microscopy (FluidFM) combines the sensitivity of atomic force microscopy with microfluidics' capabilities, necessitating precise calibration of its cantilevers for reliable data. Traditional methods, however, struggle with the unique internal structure of FluidFM cantilevers, leading to ...

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Science15 Mar 2024

Shark-bitten orcas in the Northeastern Pacific could be a new population of killer whale

UBC researchers believe a group of killer whales observed hunting marine mammals including sperm whales, as well as a sea turtle, in the open ocean off California and Oregon could be a new population. Based on available evidence, the researchers posit in a new study published in Aquatic Mammals that the 49 orcas could belong to a subpopulation of transient killer whales or a unique oceanic population found in waters off the coast of California and Oregon. “The open ocean is the largest habitat on our planet and observations of killer whales in ...

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Science15 Mar 2024

Global warming may intensify the modulation of tropical cyclone genesis by summer intraseasonal oscillation

Global warming, the long-term warming of Earth’s overall temperature, has greatly accelerated in the last 100 years due to human factors such as the burning of fossil fuels. Along with this trend, certain atmospheric phenomena have also changed, such as typhoons and other types of disastrous weather becoming more intense than before and bringing about more serious impacts. The Boreal Summer Intraseasonal Oscillation (BSISO), one of the most pronounced subseasonal variabilities in the tropics during boreal summer, provides an important basis for subseasonal forecasting. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the BSISO and its changes under global warming. Recently, ...

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Science15 Mar 2024

Study of fatal and nonfatal shootings by police reveals racial disparities, dispatch risks

A new study from researchers at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions and Vanderbilt University found that an average of 1,769 people were injured annually in police shootings from 2015 to 2020, 55 percent of them or 979 people, fatally. The study covered a total of 10,308 incidents involving shootings by police. The Center is based at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The majority of victims in shootings by police—84 percent overall—were reported as armed with a firearm or other weapon, such as a knife or vehicle, during ...

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Science15 Mar 2024

Not just a lodger: Novel host-guest assembly provides enhanced reactivity

By design, synthetic molecules typically have specific jobs to prevent or accelerate reactions between other molecules. To help control more complicated reactions, researchers may harness spare space in one molecule to synthesize another chemical structure. The host-guest assembly can better induce the specific desired reaction than either component individually — if the scientists designing the assembly get it right. A multi-institution team based in China has reported a novel cluster — the guest — that nucleated ...

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Science15 Mar 2024

What a view: Rice scientists develop a new system to record 2D crystal synthesis in real time

HOUSTON – (March 15, 2024) – Materials scientists at Rice University are shedding light on the intricate growth processes of 2D crystals, paving the way for controlled synthesis of these materials with unprecedented precision. Two-dimensional materials such as graphene and molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) exhibit unique properties that hold immense promise for applications in electronics, sensors, energy storage, biomedicine and more. However, their complex growth mechanisms — inconsistent correlations ...

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