Science
press releases.

Science23 Jun 2023

More exposure needed for cosmetic breast enhancement risks

Complications after cosmetic breast augmentation are more common than other cosmetic plastic surgery yet many women who undergo such procedures are often in the dark about the associated risks say QUT researchers. The authors of a new paper argue the need for more disclosure early (and in much simpler terms) of those risks and the high likelihood of revision surgery being required so when women give their consent, they have a greater understanding of what may happen. “The Australian cosmetic surgery industry is worth billions but there are concerns inside the industry on potential issues surrounding whether patients ...

Read the release

Science23 Jun 2023

New ruling on care of dying will force some to live life “of machine-related suffering”

The newly revised ruling on advance medical directives and withholding/withdrawing medical support for the dying in India will inevitably force some terminally ill patients to “live a life of machine-related suffering” and deprive them of their autonomy and dignity in death, suggest specialist doctors in a letter published online in the journal BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care. While a progressive step, the 2023 ruling still has important shortcomings, they add. In the absence of any specific legislation ...

Read the release

Science23 Jun 2023

Gloss is less effective camouflage in beetles compared to matte, according to latest study

When combined with iridescent colouration, a matt target surface appearance confers greater survival benefits in beetles than a glossy surface, scientists at the University of Bristol have found. The findings, published in Behavioural Ecology, suggest that iridescence provides camouflage independent of glossiness, which means that it is the colour of iridescent surfaces and its changeability, that is the most important aspect of iridescence in enabling camouflage. Iridescence is a type of structural colouration that produces bright, vibrant hues. These are often angle-dependent, meaning the observed colour appears to ...

Read the release

Science23 Jun 2023

Mystery of how leaf-cutting ants gauge leaf portion size revealed

They might not be able to leap tall buildings with a single bound, but leaf-cutting ants are insect superheroes, capable of carrying leaf pieces up to six times their body mass to cultivate fungus in their borrows. But how do the charismatic creatures determine the size of the fragments they carve with their mandibles? Do they use their bodies as a simple ruler, or do they use information about the position of their bodies to adjust how far they cut, adapting to the thickness of a leaf while dismembering it? Knowing that the insects alter the trajectory of a cut when sculpting ®Parafilm of different thicknesses, Flavio ...

Read the release

Science22 Jun 2023

Switch to MR angiography for PE mitigated impact of recent contrast shortage

Leesburg, VA, June 22, 2023—According to an accepted manuscript published in ARRS’ own American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), preferential use of pulmonary MR angiography (MRA) for diagnosing pulmonary embolus (PE) in the general population helped conserve iodinated contrast media during the 2022 shortage. “This single-center experience demonstrates use of pulmonary MRA as a practical substitute for pulmonary CTA in emergency settings,” concluded lead investigator Jitka Starekova, MD, from the radiology ...

Read the release

Science22 Jun 2023

Powerful board allies are a CEO's best weapon

If we’ve learned anything from HBO’s smash hit Succession over the last four years, it’s that, as the authors of a new Strategic Management Journal article state, “Even the most powerful individuals do not work alone.” Given that, whether (SPOILER ALERT!) Tom succeeds in his new role depends less on his business acumen than on who the new CEO has as his allies. In the upcoming article “Can powerful allies protect the CEO against performance declines? The role of the CEO’s subgroup power in CEO dismissal,” authors Jihae You, Taekjin Shin, and Yunhyung Chung, explore ...

Read the release

Science22 Jun 2023

Working toward Black reproductive justice from the Library of Congress

Historian Tamika Nunley can see the U.S. Supreme Court through the window of her office in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., where she is serving as the library’s Cary and Ann Maguire Chair in Ethics and American History this summer. It’s a great vantage point, she said, not only for looking out at landmarks of American government, but also for reflecting on the ways laws and judgements have negatively influenced Black maternal health throughout American history. “I think the Library of Congress is one of the most democratic institutions we have, one of the best examples of what is possible in our democracy,” said Nunley, ...

Read the release

Science22 Jun 2023

Brigham researchers identify factors associated with lower breastfeeding duration for mothers with higher BMIs

A multi-nation cohort analysis found that inflammation and cesarean section delivery in mothers with higher body mass index are connected to shorter duration of breastfeeding, providing potential targets for intervention. Breastfeeding has significant benefits for both maternal and child health. Research has indicated that women with higher body mass index (BMI) have shorter durations of breastfeeding, but few underlying mechanisms have been identified. To address this gap, a new study led by investigators from Brigham and Women’s ...

Read the release

Science22 Jun 2023

Muhammad Rabnawaz to be inducted into National Academy of Inventors

For creating technologies that have the potential to change the world and providing opportunities for future inventors, Muhammad Rabnawaz, an associate professor and Faculty Laureate in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University, will be inducted into the National Academy of Inventors as a senior member on June 26. The NAI senior member program was established to highlight academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that hold the promise of making a tangible impact on the public’s quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society. Election ...

Read the release

Science22 Jun 2023

The impact of populism on multinational corporations’ investment

A stable economic and political environment is necessary for firms to feel secure while making long-term investment decisions, such as those related to investing in foreign countries (also known as foreign direct investment or FDI). Any threat to change legislative procedures in the foreign country can make it difficult for firms to predict the outcomes of such decisions. Populist leaders, who claim to represent the will of the people, often come to power by threatening to alter the established rules and procedures, generating ...

Read the release

Science22 Jun 2023

Is the U.S. ready for an African swine fever outbreak?

In a new study, researchers from North Carolina State University used a computer model to understand how African swine fever (ASF) might spread among swine farms in the southeastern U.S. – and examined the effectiveness of existing response plans. They found that although control actions would help, an outbreak could still prove persistent and costly. ASF is a highly contagious viral disease in pigs, with a mortality rate that can reach 100%. Additionally, infected pigs may not show symptoms before they die, potentially allowing the ...

Read the release

Science22 Jun 2023

Laws restricting abortion have ethical, legal and practical impacts for research on people who may become pregnant

In this Policy Forum, Jeremy Sugarman and colleagues describe the risks that increasingly limited access to abortion may pose to clinical research participants and staff, one year after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Woman’s Health Organization. People who may become pregnant are already an understudied population in clinical research. The authors suggest that new laws restricting abortion access may lead to ethical, legal and practical problems that make the risk of conducting research with this population unreasonable ...

Read the release

Science22 Jun 2023

The clue is in the glue - Nature’s secret for holding it together

An obscure aquatic plant has helped to explain how plants avoid cracking up under the stresses and strains of growth. The finding by researchers Dr Robert Kelly-Bellow and Karen Lee in the group of Professor Enrico Coen at the John Innes Centre, started with a curious observation in a dwarf mutant of the carnivorous plant Utricularia gibba. The stems of this floating plant are filled with airspaces and this hollowness means that the vascular column inside the stem can buckle when under stress. This effect would not be apparent in most plants, which have solid stems. The researchers saw that in a dwarf mutant the central column was wavy instead of straight. They hypothesised that ...

Read the release

Science22 Jun 2023

Plant-based food packages linked to reduced BMI in children

A new study led by researchers from the Mass General Brigham healthcare system suggests that taking a “food is medicine” approach could increase nutrition security for families and lead to reductions in body mass index (BMI) in children. Working together with the MGH Food Pantry, researchers from the Massachusetts General for Children and Boston Children’s Hospital examined whether providing weekly plant-based foods to families seeking food assistance during the pandemic led to weight changes among children. The team found an association between increasing receipt of food packages and decreased BMI. The findings, published ...

Read the release

Science22 Jun 2023

Rethink funding by putting the lottery first

The allocation process of funding to researchers is far from optimal. A recent project of the Open Science Initiative at the University of Lübeck (Germany) has put forward a new proposal to challenge and rethink the funding system. This proposal by researchers from Lübeck University, Humboldt University Berlin, the Academy of Fine Arts Munich, and the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods in Bonn involves an initial lottery determining which researchers can submit funding applications in a ...

Read the release

Science22 Jun 2023

Never-before-seen way to annihilate a star

Most stars in the Universe die in predictable ways, depending on their mass. Relatively low-mass stars like our Sun slough off their outer layers in old age and eventually fade to become white dwarf stars. More massive stars burn brighter and die sooner in cataclysmic supernova explosions, creating ultradense objects like neutron stars and black holes. If two such stellar remnants form a binary system, they also can eventually collide. New research, however, points to a long-hypothesized, but never-before-seen, fourth option. While searching for ...

Read the release

Science22 Jun 2023

More positive outcomes when elderly are treated locally

Older people with health problems often need some form of intermediate level monitoring, care and treatment services. They may not need the resources of a hospital but do require somewhat more advanced help than a nursing home can usually offer. "Intermediate care units" are primarily intended to replace an acute hospital admission, but are occasionally also used following admission. “Intermediate care units are the newest trend in health policy, and Norway is way ahead of the curve in this regard,” says Pål Erling Martinussen, a professor in the Department of Sociology and Political ...

Read the release

Science22 Jun 2023

The ACMG Releases 2023 Update to Secondary Findings Gene List; SF v3.2

The American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) has released its highly anticipated 2023 update to the recommended minimum gene list for the reporting of secondary findings (SF): “ACMG SF v3.2 List for Reporting of Secondary Findings in Clinical Exome and Genome Sequencing: A Policy Statement of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG).” In 2021, the ACMG Board of Directors and Secondary Findings Working Group (SFWG) stated that the College would update the list annually. Today’s update (SF v3.2) is being published in ACMG’s flagship journal, Genetics ...

Read the release

Science22 Jun 2023

New 3D-printing method builds structures with two metals

PULLMAN, Wash. – Taking a cue from the structural complexity of trees and bones, Washington State University engineers have created a way to 3D-print two types of steel in the same circular layer using two welding machines. The resulting bimetallic material proved 33% to 42% stronger than either metal alone, thanks in part to pressure caused between the metals as they cool together. The new method uses commonplace, relatively inexpensive tools, so manufacturers and repair shops could use it in the ...

Read the release

Science22 Jun 2023

Global analysis on pollinators in cities: Wild bees and butterflies are at particular risk

Butterflies are being hit hardest by urban growth. Shrinking habitats and food availability are causing their populations to decline. The same applies to many wild bees that fly early in spring. According to a new study by the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in "Ecology Letters", pollination has not yet been impacted by this because honeybees, for example, can compensate for the reduction of urban pollinators. The study is the first comprehensive analysis of the subject and includes data from 133 studies. The results underline the importance ...

Read the release

Science22 Jun 2023

IADR announces 2023 recipients of the IADR Centennial Travel Awards for New Investigators

Alexandria, VA – The International Association for Dental Research (IADR) announced nine recipients of the 2023 IADR Centennial Travel Awards for New Investigators. The recipients were recognized during the Opening Ceremonies of the 101st General Session of the IADR, which was held in conjunction with the 9th Meeting of the Latin American Region and the 12th World Congress on Preventive Dentistry, that took place on June 21, 2023, in Bogotá, Colombia. The recipients are: Sebastián ...

Read the release

Science22 Jun 2023

IADR announces 2023 recipients of the IADR Colgate Research Travel Awards

Alexandria, VA – The International Association for Dental Research (IADR) announced six recipients of the 2023 IADR Colgate Research Travel Awards. The recipients were recognized during the Opening Ceremonies of the 101st General Session of the IADR, which was held in conjunction with the 9th Meeting of the Latin American Region and the 12th World Congress on Preventive Dentistry, that took place on June 21, 2023, in Bogotá, Colombia. The recipients are: Alaa Al Atta, University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates Leonardo Libardi Pagotto, ...

Read the release

Science22 Jun 2023

IADR announces 2023 recipients of the IADR Kulzer Travel Awards

Alexandria, VA – The International Association for Dental Research (IADR) announced five recipients of the 2023 IADR Kulzer Travel Awards. The recipients were recognized during the Opening Ceremonies of the 101st General Session of the IADR, which was held in conjunction with the 9th Meeting of the Latin American Region and the 12th World Congress on Preventive Dentistry, that took place on June 21, 2023, in Bogotá, Colombia. The recipients are: Alaa Al Atta, University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates Apurva Mishra, National University of Singapore Clarice Sabino, São Paulo State University, Brazil Po-Chun Tseng, Ludwig Maximilian ...

Read the release

Science22 Jun 2023

Marina Miteva named winner of the 2023 IADR Newell W. Johnson Travel Award

Alexandria, VA – The International Association for Dental Research (IADR) has announced that Marina Miteva is the 2023 recipient of the IADR Newell W. Johnson Travel Award. Miteva, from Medical University of Sofia, Bulgaria, was recognized during the Opening Ceremonies of the 101st General Session of the IADR, which was held in conjunction with the 9th Meeting of the Latin American Region and the 12th World Congress on Preventive Dentistry, that took place on June 21, 2023, in Bogotá, Colombia. Miteva’s ...

Read the release

Science22 Jun 2023

Domenick Zero named recipient of the 2023 IADR Distinguished Scientist William H. Bowen Research in Dental Caries Award

Alexandria, VA, USA – The International Association for Dental Research (IADR) announced that Domenick Zero is this year’s recipient of the IADR Distinguished Scientist William H. Bowen Research in Dental Caries Award. Zero, from Indiana University, Indianapolis, USA, was recognized during the Opening Ceremonies of the 101st General Session of the IADR, which was held in conjunction with the 9th Meeting of the Latin American Region and the 12th World Congress on Preventive Dentistry, that took place on June 21, 2023, in Bogotá, Colombia. Zero is Professor, Department of Cariology, Operative Dentistry and Dental Public Health, Indiana University. A central theme ...

Read the release