Science
press releases.

Science8 Aug 2023

Opioids, methadone and babies

LOS ANGELES (August 8, 2023) — Whatever the opioid crisis calls to mind, it likely isn’t pacifiers and diapers. But when 1 out of every 5 hospitalized infants receives opioids, and when some infants require methadone treatment, it’s time to widen the scope. A new study led by pediatric surgeons at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles shows that methadone use after surgery can prolong a baby’s recovery and increase an infant’s dependence on ventilators and intravenous (IV) nutrition. To call the opioid problem in the United States a crisis is not hyperbole. The rate of death due to opioid overdose has risen ...

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Science8 Aug 2023

Investors force Black families out of home ownership, new research shows

Investors have been buying houses at a steady rate since the last recession, but how much does it affect availability in the housing market? New research from the Georgia Institute of Technology shows investors are most likely to push out Black, middle-class homeowners from neighborhoods. Data from 800 neighborhoods in the Atlanta metropolitan area between 2007 and 2016 revealed that major investors bought homes in majority-minority neighborhoods far from downtowns and in lower-income areas. These homes were often undervalued because of their minority populations, but they remained desirable and offered good market value. The neighborhoods ...

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Science8 Aug 2023

The “unknome”: a database of human genes we know almost nothing about

Researchers from the United Kingdom hope that a new, publicly available database they have created will shrink, not grow, over time. That’s because it is a compendium of the thousands of understudied proteins encoded by genes in the human genome, whose existence is known but whose functions are mostly not. The database, dubbed the “unknome”, is the work of Matthew Freeman of the Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, England, and Sean Munro of MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England, and ...

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Science8 Aug 2023

Texas A&M's McKay receives NSF CAREER Award

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) can be found in every water body on Earth, encompassing both saltwater and freshwater. It is a significant carbon source and is critical in environmental carbon cycling, which is the circulation of carbon in various forms through the environment and nature that makes the Earth sustainable for life. The interaction between DOM and sunlight is essential for the carbon cycle to function effectively. However, the chemical structure of light-absorbing compounds, also known as chromophores, in DOM remains limited. Dr. Garrett McKay, principal investigator of the Aquatic Chemistry Lab and assistant professor ...

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Science8 Aug 2023

Stroke rehab at home is near

The world of at-home stroke rehabilitation is growing near, incredible news for the 795,000 people in the United States who annually suffer a stroke. A new low cost, portable brain-computer interface that connects the brain of stroke patients to powered exoskeletons for rehabilitation purposes has been validated and tested at the University of Houston. “We designed and validated a wireless, easy-to-use, mobile, dry-electrode headset for scalp electroencephalography (EEG) recordings for closed-loop brain–computer ...

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Science8 Aug 2023

Menstrual equity in the criminal legal system

A new study has shown that among incarcerated women, many have to trade or barter to access menstrual hygiene products. The study, which examines menstrual equity, or the access to menstrual products and safe menstruating environments, in the criminal legal system, is published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Women’s Health. Click here to read the article now. Patricia Kelly, PhD, from Thomas Jefferson University School of Nursing, and coauthors, found that 53.8% of women involved in the criminal legal system received less than five menstrual ...

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Science8 Aug 2023

Scientists spurred by a thirst to transform the field of phytoplankton forecasting

Safe drinking water is threatened globally by the increased toxicity of phytoplankton — or microscopic algae — blooms. The need for a better understanding of when and where the blooms will emerge spurred Virginia Tech researchers to start developing the first automated, real-time lake phytoplankton forecasting system. Working with the University of Florida, Virginia Tech faculty have been awarded a $2.2 million National Science Foundation grant as one of 12 projects funded by the foundation's new Using the Rules of Life to Address Societal Challenges program. "The enormous opportunity to apply biological principles to ...

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Science8 Aug 2023

Pause in recent coral recovery on much of Great Barrier Reef

In-water monitoring by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) shows hard coral cover across the Great Barrier Reef remains at similar levels to that recorded in 2022, with small decreases in the Northern, Central and Southern regions. Published today (Wednesday 9 August), AIMS’ Annual Summary Report on Coral Reef Condition for 2022/23 found that while some reefs continued to recover, their increased hard coral cover was offset by coral loss on other reefs. Most reefs underwent little change in coral ...

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Science8 Aug 2023

Management of acetaminophen poisoning in the US and Canada

About The Study: This study provides a consensus statement on consistent evidence-based recommendations for medical, pharmacy, and nursing education and practice to optimize care of patients with acetaminophen poisoning. Authors: Richard C. Dart, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver, 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/jamanetworkopen.2023.27739) Editor’s Note: Please ...

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Science8 Aug 2023

Creating pollen-free trees to combat hay fever

Pollinosis, or hay fever, makes people miserable around the world, and Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) pollen is a significant cause of the suffering in the 38.8% of Japanese people who are allergic. Japanese cedar is also the country's most important timber species. A single mature tree produces on the order of three hundred million grains of pollen. Saneyoshi Ueno and colleagues investigated the genes required to produce this massive amount of genetic material. Previous research by Ueno’s team identified ...

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Science8 Aug 2023

Antimicrobial resistance poses threat in all 35 countries in the Americas

***Embargo 14:00 UK / 10:00 BRT / 9:00 ET / 6:00 PT Tuesday, August 8, 2023*** SEATTLE, Wash. August 8, 2023 – 569,000 deaths were linked to bacterial antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in all 35 countries of the WHO Region of the Americas, according to a new peer-reviewed paper published in The Lancet Regional Health – Americas. This analysis on the burden of AMR in the Americas is the most comprehensive yet for the region, providing data for 35 countries, 23 bacterial pathogens, and 88 pathogen-drug combinations. The ...

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Science8 Aug 2023

Study compares youth detained for sex trafficking with more serious offenders

Every year in the United States, about 1.7 million youth run away from home, which places them at risk for sex trafficking and prostitution. Sadly, most youth tend to fall victim to sex trafficking between the ages of 12 to 14. While federal and state laws have been enacted to protect these runaway youth, they continue to be arrested, charged and detained for prostitution. Detaining youth who should not legally be considered offenders and who have extensive histories of victimization and mental health issues only exacerbates their underlying vulnerabilities that may have led them to run away or be sexually exploited in the first place. There is ...

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Science8 Aug 2023

Holidaymakers be warned: Short, intense sun-seeking trips can disrupt skin’s microbiome

Skin, the largest organ of the human body, is home to a vast array of bacteria, fungi, and viruses – microorganisms that compose the skin microbiota. Among other things, these microbial populations, which are organized in complex community structures, protect against pathogens. Prolonged exposure to UVR is associated with damage to DNA in skin cells, inflammation, and premature skin aging, yet intentional sun-seeking behaviors remain common. Due to a lack of studies focusing on how individual behavior influences UVR-associated microbiota shifts, and how this may relate to skin health, ...

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Science8 Aug 2023

Managing domestic and wildcats is likely to remain fraught, new research warns

Current efforts to protect and restore native biodiversity is being threatened by difficulties in identifying wild and domestic cats, and categorisation is likely to remain fraught for the foreseeable future, experts have warned. Efforts to restore the native wildcat (Felis sivestris) are ongoing in Britain and conservationists in New Zealand are also trying to protect native species. Domestic cats pose a threat to other species in both countries. The study shows New Zealanders are much less sentimental about pest management to protect native species. As a result domestic cats are treated very differently in the two countries. Dr Alexandra Palmer, ...

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Science7 Aug 2023

Consumers should have more visual cues when making online purchases, experts say

Consumers should have more visual information about terms and conditions when making purchases online, experts have said. Making information more accessible and transparent helps improve understanding and memory, a new study shows. Researchers have found people are more interested in and more likely to read legalities if they were given this information after their purchase. Pre-purchase reading times were only about half as long as post-purchase reading times, evidencing the lack of attention and interest in disclosures pre-purchase. Shifting the obligation for companies to give more information after purchase could help to alleviate the current information apathy. Asking people ...

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Science7 Aug 2023

Smart devices: Putting a premium on peace of mind

DURHAM , N.C. -- Two out of five homes worldwide have at least one smart device that is vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Soon, that new smart TV or robot vacuum you’ve been considering for your home will come with a label that helps you gauge whether the device is secure and protected from bad actors trying to spy on you or sell your data. In July, the White House announced plans to roll out voluntary labeling for internet-connected devices like refrigerators, thermostats and baby monitors that meet certain cybersecurity standards, such as requiring data de-identification and automatic security ...

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Science7 Aug 2023

Paper addresses ethics of bioethics conference in Qatar

The decision by a global bioethics association to hold its 2024 congress in Qatar, a nation with laws against LGBTQ+ people, provoked controversy, including objections from some of its own members. The outcry motivated the organization’s president and colleagues to draft an ethics framework to guide future site selection. The framework, published today in The American Journal of Bioethics, might also help global organizations make decisions about ethically appropriate conference sites. [The paper is available in PDF by request.] “Many organizations around the world are addressing these questions,” ...

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Science7 Aug 2023

Tiny, flexible spinal probe system could lead to better therapies

HOUSTON – (Aug.7, 2023) – The spinal cord is harder to access and study than even the brain. The challenges posed by its mobility and anatomical structure have made understanding exactly how it functions difficult. Rice University engineers will work with collaborators to optimize an array of nanoelectronic threads, or NETs ⎯ already used successfully for gathering high-fidelity, long-term data from neurons in the brain ⎯ for use in the spine, supported by a $6.25 million, four-year grant from the National Institutes of Health. In addition to neuronal activity recordings, NET probes can provide tunable, localized stimulation of adjacent neurons. Rice ...

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Science7 Aug 2023

Current estimates of Lake Erie algae toxicity may miss the mark

COLUMBUS, Ohio – There is more to a harmful algal bloom than the green stuff in water that meets the eye – specifically, a changing hazard level of toxins produced by the microbes that make up the scummy mess. A new study analyzing toxins produced by Microcystis, the main type of cyanobacteria that compose the annual harmful algal bloom (HAB) in Lake Erie, suggests that the toxicity of the bloom may be overestimated in earlier warm months and underestimated later in the summer. The research is part of a large project, led by The Ohio State University, designed to develop a more accurate harmful algal bloom toxicity forecast ...

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Science7 Aug 2023

Dogs with less complex facial markings found to be more expressive in their communication with humans

WASHINGTON (August 7, 2023) – The domestication of canines and their co-evolution with humans has fostered an incredibly unique relationship with these animals. Over time, our four-legged friends have adapted well to understanding human modes of communication, both verbal and nonverbal. However, researchers at the George Washington University say humans could do more to better understand our furry companions, and a dogs’ facial markings may be one key to meeting them halfway. In a new paper published in the journal Animals, ...

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Science7 Aug 2023

Flock together: Sparrows drift from favored spots after losing friends

Losing long-lasting flockmates may drive a golden-crowned sparrow to stray from its favorite overwintering spot, a new study says, suggesting that friendly, familiar faces help anchor it to familiar spaces. Led by ecologists at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the study found that a golden-crowned sparrow returning to California after a winter migration — one that can stretch as many as 3,000 miles — resettled an average of just 90 feet away from the center of its previous year’s range. But golden-crowned sparrows appearing for at least their third consecutive winter began ...

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Science7 Aug 2023

Cummings receives funding for project focused on synthesizing temporal logic & human performance models for deception mitigation

Mary L. Cummings, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical & Computer, Computer Science, received funding for the project: "Synthesizing temporal logic and human performance models for deception mitigation." Deception is a key element in attacks on military and civilian cyber-physical systems. With increasing use of automation and autonomy in such systems, such vulnerabilities to deception are growing, with catastrophic outcomes, as evidenced by recent major breaches in cybersecurity across the U.S. Department of Defense. There is a pressing need to understand long-term adversarial strategies where one hostile action is largely harmless ...

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Science7 Aug 2023

Black individuals have significantly more pre-term births than white individuals

· Cardiovascular health and social determinants of health explain racial differences · Premature babies have more cardiovascular disease as adults · Being born early is linked to neurodevelopment deficits CHICAGO --- Non-Hispanic Black individuals have a significantly higher rate of pre-term births than non-Hispanic white individuals, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study. In 2019, nearly 12% of non-Hispanic Black individuals experienced preterm births compared with 7% of non-Hispanic white individuals. “This is important because this ...

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Science7 Aug 2023

Associations of different combinations of aerobic and muscle-strengthening activity with mortality

About The Study: This study of 500,000 participants demonstrated that balanced levels of moderate aerobic physical activity, vigorous aerobic physical activity, and muscle strengthening activity combined may be associated with optimal reductions of mortality risk. Higher-than-recommended levels of moderate aerobic physical activity and vigorous aerobic physical activity may further lower the risk of cancer and all-cause mortality, respectively. Authors: Rubén López-Bueno, Ph.D., of the University of Zaragoza in Zaragoza, Spain, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at ...

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Science7 Aug 2023

Fanning the flames

As Canadian wildfire smoke continues to impact large swaths of the United States, resulting in poor air quality and negative health outcomes for millions of Americans, more people than ever are feeling the effects of longer fire seasons and a changing climate. Now, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have discovered that wildfires may have even bigger climate impacts than previously thought. In a new study published Aug. 7 in Nature Geoscience, researchers led by Rajan Chakrabarty, the Harold D. Jolley Career Development Associate Professor in the ...

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