Science
press releases.

Science19 Sep 2023

USPSTF recommendation on screening for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy

Bottom Line: The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends screening for hypertensive disorders in pregnant persons with blood pressure measurements throughout pregnancy. Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are among the leading causes of maternal morbidity and mortality in the U.S. The rate has been increasing from approximately 500 cases per 10,000 deliveries in 1993 to 1,021 cases per 10,000 deliveries in 2016 to 2017. The USPSTF routinely makes recommendations about the effectiveness of preventive care services and this recommendation is consistent with its 2017 recommendation statement. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website ...

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Science19 Sep 2023

New research unveils pseudomonas cyclic lipopeptide medpeptin’s role in modulating plant immunity

A groundbreaking research study conducted by Hai-Lei Wei's research team at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in China has revealed significant insights into the biosynthesis and modulation of plant immunity by a novel cyclic lipopeptide called medpeptin, produced by Pseudomonas mediterranea. The findings, published in Engineering, shed light on the intricate structure–function interactions of cyclic lipopeptides (CLPs) and open new avenues for the development of plant disease resistance strategies. CLPs, multifunctional secondary metabolites produced by various bacteria, have emerged as key elicitors of plant ...

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Science19 Sep 2023

Novel ligands for transition-metal catalysis of photoreactions

Transition metals form catalytic complexes that can speed up various chemical processes, especially in the production of pharmaceuticals as well as various pigments, dyes, and laboratory reagents like sulfuric acid. The use of light emitting diodes (LEDs) has boosted the use of visible light in reaction catalysis, and scientists have developed photo-redox catalysts made of iridium and ruthenium, which facilitate catalysis when irradiated with specific wavelengths of light. Further, scientists have even demonstrated visible light photoreactions with palladium complexes without the use of photo-redox catalysts. While several such transition metal-catalyzed ...

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Science19 Sep 2023

Ability to drive a car influences quality of life of older adults in Japan

Physical health and cognitive function declines as we age. Aging impacts people’s ability to perform routine tasks, which affects their well-being and sense of independence. One such routine activity that is frequently affected is driving. For older adults, the inability to drive themselves can mean that they become unable to access basic needs or engage in social activities. In a recent study that was made available online on 29 August 2023 and is all set to be published in volume 176 of Transportation Research in October 2023, researchers ...

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Science19 Sep 2023

Yogurt may be the next go-to garlic breath remedy

COLUMBUS, Ohio – It turns out yogurt may have a previously unknown benefit: eliminating garlic odors. A new study conducted in a lab – with follow-up human breath tests being planned – showed that whole milk plain yogurt prevented almost all of the volatile compounds responsible for garlic’s pungent scent from escaping into the air. Researchers tested the garlic deodorizing capacity of yogurt and its individual components of water, fat and protein to see how each stood up to the stink. Both fat and protein were effective at trapping garlic odors, leading the scientists to suggest high-protein ...

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Science19 Sep 2023

Gene required for root hair growth, nitrate foraging found in grasses

PULLMAN, Wash. -- Scientists have found a plant gene that drives the growth of root hairs, the tiny structures that help plants find water and nutrients in the soil. Identified by a team led by Washington State University researcher Karen Sanguinet, the gene, dubbed “BUZZ,” causes faster-growing, denser webs of roots and may also determine how plants find and use nitrates, a prime source of nitrogen essential to plant growth. Nitrates are also used in fertilizers that can pollute the environment as runoff, and this genetic discovery could ultimately help plant scientists find ways to grow crops more sustainably. “Nitrate ...

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Science19 Sep 2023

Breaking in the black box of pedagogical authority

How does pedagogical authority operate in the classroom? A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the University of Teacher Education, State of Vaud (HEP Vaud) has produced one of the first in-depth field studies on this subject. By filming teachers in training over a period of several months, the researchers identified different ways of exercising teaching authority and assessed their effectiveness. They found that strategies based on double addressing - i.e. addressing several students or groups of students simultaneously, using two different communication channels - were particularly effective. These results ...

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Science19 Sep 2023

Witchcraft accusations an ‘occupational hazard’ for female workers in early modern England

While both men and women have historically been accused of the malicious use of magic, only around 10–30% of suspected witches were men by the 16th and 17th centuries.* This bias towards women is often attributed to misogyny as well as economic hard times. Now, a Cambridge historian has added another contributing factor to the mix. Dr Philippa Carter argues that the types of employment open to women at the time came with a much higher risk of facing allegations of witchcraft, or maleficium. In a study published in the journal Gender & History, Carter uses the casebooks of Richard ...

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Science19 Sep 2023

China global Merged Surface Temperature dataset (CMST) reveals 2023 on Track to Be Hottest Year Ever

The climate crisis is reaching unprecedented levels of urgency as global temperatures soar to record-breaking heights, with July 2023 marking another alarming milestone. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres declared it a "disaster for the whole planet," emphasizing that the era of "global warming" has given way to an era of "global boiling." This alarming assessment is supported by recent findings from Professor Qingxiang Li 's team at the School of Atmospheric ...

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Science19 Sep 2023

Study finds the placenta holds answers to many unexplained pregnancy losses

New Haven, Conn. — Yale researchers have shown that placental examination resulted in the accurate pathologic determination of more than 90% of previously unexplained pregnancy losses, a discovery that they say may inform pregnancy care going forward. The findings were reported Sept. 19 in the journal Reproductive Sciences. There are approximately 5 million pregnancies per year in the United States, with 1 million ending in miscarriage (a loss occurring prior to 20 weeks of gestation) and over 20,000 ending in stillbirth at or beyond 20 ...

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Science19 Sep 2023

How does smoking tobacco and cannabis affect depression risk?

People who use both cannabis and tobacco have significantly higher rates of depression and anxiety than those who use either substance alone or not at all, according to a new study by UC San Francisco researchers. The study, published Sept. 13, 2023 in the online journal PLOS ONE, comes amid expanding legalization of cannabis products, resulting in more dual use with tobacco nationwide. Earlier studies relied on data collected before the legalization trend, prompting the need for a new analysis. Understanding the association between the use of both drugs and mental health ...

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Science19 Sep 2023

Researchers find association between vaping and asthma among US adolescents

A new study from the Texas A&M University School of Public Health suggests that vaping increases the risk of asthma in adolescents who have never smoked conventional tobacco products. Vaping, or the use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), among adolescents has grown dramatically over the past several years. Although e-cigarettes have fewer toxins than regular cigarettes, they still contain a mixture of harmful chemicals and raise the risk of respiratory diseases. In this new study, which was published in Preventive Medicine, researchers analyzed data from a national survey of youth to ...

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Science19 Sep 2023

Weight loss? ‘Nuting’ to worry about with almonds

When it comes to weight loss, nuts can get a bad rap – while they’re high in protein, they’re also high in fats, and this often deters those looking to shed a few kilos. But new research from the University of South Australia shows that you can eat almonds and lose weight too. In the largest study of its kind, researchers found that including almonds in an energy restricted diet not only helped people to lose weight, but also improved their cardiometabolic health. Examining the effects of energy restricted diets supplemented with Californian almonds or with carbohydrate- rich snacks, researchers found that both diets ...

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Science18 Sep 2023

Canopy gaps help eastern hemlock outlast invasive insect

A new study finds that creating physical gaps in the forest canopy give eastern hemlocks more access to resources and help those trees withstand infestation by an invasive insect. The approach adds another tool to the toolkit that foresters can use to protect these trees. Eastern hemlocks are an ecologically important tree species found from eastern Canada to the Great Lakes states and south along the entire Appalachian mountain range. The hemlock woolly adelgid – an invasive insect that was introduced to North America 70 years ago and has spread along the East Coast – can kill a hemlock tree in as little as four years. “An ...

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Science18 Sep 2023

Eureka baby! Groundbreaking study uncovers origin of ‘conscious awareness’

Living things act with purpose. But where does purpose come from? How do humans make sense of their relation to the world and realize their ability to effect change? These fundamental questions of agency – acting with purpose – have perplexed some of the greatest minds in history including Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Erwin Schrödinger and Niels Bohr. A Florida Atlantic University study reveals groundbreaking insight into the origins of agency using an unusual and largely untapped source – human babies. Since goal-directed action appears in the first months ...

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Science18 Sep 2023

Study finds human-driven mass extinction is eliminating entire branches of the tree of life

The passenger pigeon. The Tasmanian tiger. The Baiji, or Yangtze river dolphin. These rank among the best-known recent victims of what many scientists have declared the sixth mass extinction, as human actions are wiping out vertebrate animal species hundreds of times faster than they would otherwise disappear. Yet, a recent analysis from Stanford University and the National Autonomous University of Mexico, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows the crisis may run even deeper. Each of the three species above was also the ...

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Science18 Sep 2023

Buried ancient Roman glass formed substance with modern applications

Some 2,000 years ago in ancient Rome, glass vessels carrying wine or water, or perhaps an exotic perfumes, tumble from a table in a marketplace, and shatter to pieces on the street. As centuries passed, the fragments were covered by layers of dust and soil and exposed to a continuous cycle of changes in temperature, moisture, and surrounding minerals. Now these tiny pieces of glass are being uncovered from construction sites and archaeological digs and reveal themselves to be something extraordinary. On their surface is a mosaic of iridescent colors of blue, green and orange, with some displaying shimmering gold-colored ...

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Science18 Sep 2023

Key to solving Libyan conflict lies within the country, analysis says

The key to solving the Libyan political conflict lies within the country rather than with the international community, analysis says. Electoral and governance deadlock has been blamed for the devastating impact of the flooding in the country. The “contentment” of the political elite and others with the status quo - given the currently limited levels of violence and the rising global prices of energy since the outbreak of Russia’s war on Ukraine - explains the general lack of a genuine commitment to relaunch the transition and electoral roadmap, ...

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Science18 Sep 2023

State grant allows for UC’s continued research on firefighter protective gear

A team of UC researchers across three colleges has been awarded an additional $1.5 million state grant to continue research on improving firefighter protective gear. In 2022, the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) awarded a UC team an initial $1.2 million to provide proof of concept on the development of a firefighter jacket liner that brings a firefighter’s body temperature down through advanced cooling technology and protects the body from other external hazards. That grant, and the new $1.5 million grant to carry the proof of concept to commercialization, ...

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Science18 Sep 2023

Researchers create “lipidomic map,” offering insights into immunology

An international team of scientists has developed a method for simultaneously detecting thousands of lipid molecules that are displayed to T cells in the human immune system. The study, co-led by D. Branch Moody, MD, of the Division of Rheumatology, Immunity and Inflammation at Brigham and Women's Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, represents a collaboration among researchers from Oxford, United Kingdom, Melbourne, Australia and Groningen, Netherlands. Results are published in Cell. The team developed a new and sensitive method to detect more than 2,000 lipids bound to CD1 ...

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Science18 Sep 2023

Tracking down the formation of cardenolides in plants

Plants produce an impressive array of metabolites, including many medically valuable steroids. Well-known examples of this class of substances obtained from plants are cardenolides. As early as 1785, the British physician William Withering (1741-1799) published a book on the red foxglove and its use in medicine (An account of the foxglove, and some of its medical uses: with practical remarks on dropsy, and other diseases. Birmingham 1785). He had found out in experiments that taking extracts ...

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Science18 Sep 2023

Research identifies new potential hurdle for nano-based therapies

HOUSTON ― Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have discovered that certain nano-based cancer therapies may be less effective in younger patients, highlighting the need for further investigation into the impact of aging on the body’s ability to respond to treatment. The researchers found age-related differences are due to how effectively the liver filters the bloodstream. Younger livers are more efficient at this process, which helps limit toxins in the blood but also filters out beneficial treatments, potentially rendering them ineffective. The study, published today in ...

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Science18 Sep 2023

Ohio State researchers publish national guidelines for ALS genetic testing, counseling

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine led the creation of evidence-based consensus guidelines for genetic testing and counseling for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a neurodegenerative disease that affects the cells in the brain and spine. These evidence-based, consensus guidelines provide clinicians with a framework for the offer of genetic testing and outline the information that should be provided to persons with ALS before and after testing. In addition, the guidelines provide specific recommendations regarding ...

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Science18 Sep 2023

Study: Admissions policies that consider grades and test scores in context of available opportunities are linked to college success

Indicators of high school grades and standardized test scores that take into account the levels of school, neighborhood, and family resources available to students are strongly associated with those students’ success in college, according to new research published today. The study, published in AERA Open, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research Association, emerges against the backdrop of the recent Supreme Court decision to ban race-conscious admissions in higher ...

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Science18 Sep 2023

Societal collapse is underway and museums can be unlikely heroes, suggests expert

Museums and Societal Collapse: The Museum as Lifeboat presents evidence and theories around collapse and extinction, while locating the responsibility of museums in our changing world Stressors like climate trauma, corporate deceit and political incompetence signal the threat of societal collapse, a new book asserts. This claim lays the foundation for exploring arguments of ‘collapsology’ in new work by Robert R. Janes Ph.D., Museums and Societal Collapse: The Museum as Lifeboat. The book also contends with the unique role that can be played by museums during a mounting climate crisis. “Social ...

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