Science
press releases.

Science6 Jun 2023

COLOTECT™ 1.0 awarded MDA Certificate in Malaysia

Recently, BGI Genomics' COLOTECT™ 1.0 DNA Methylation Detection Kit for Human SDC2, ADHFE1, and PPP2R5C Genes (Real-Time PCR), Sample Pretreatment Kit for Methylation Detection, DNA Isolation Kit, Stool Sample Collection Kit have received market authorization from Malaysia’s Medical Device Authority (hereinafter referred to as MDA). With this certification, COLOTECT™ 1.0 is now available in over six countries/regions and markets that recognize these certificates. COLOTECT™ 1.0 is eligible for EU market entry, ...

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Science6 Jun 2023

Unraveling brood parasitism in predatory mites

Several animal species display brood care, a phenomenon where ‘caring’ parents provide their offspring with food and protection against predators. However, there are many others that prefer not to do this, and instead sneak in their eggs with those of other ‘caring’ species to avail free brood care. This behavior, called brood parasitism, is observed in fishes, frogs, and birds, with the most famous example being that of the cuckoo. Such brood parasitism has now also been observed in the insect world in tiny organisms called mites. Generally, brood parasitism takes a toll on the host and benefits the parasite. However, ...

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Science6 Jun 2023

Bombardier vs. assassin: Mimetic interactions via a shared enemy

Animals can defend themselves against their natural enemies in various ways. Well-defended species often share conspicuous body colors with other well-defended or undefended species, forming mimetic interactions. Bombardier beetles eject toxic chemicals at a temperature of 100°C to repel enemies such as frogs, and many have warning body colors that function to deter enemies. An assassin bug, Sirthenea flavipes, exhibits a conspicuous body color similar to the bombardier beetle Pheropsophus occipitalis jessoensis which coexist with the assassin bug in the same habitat in Japan (Fig. 1). The assassin bug can stab with its proboscis, ...

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Science6 Jun 2023

Team develops smartphone app to enhance midwifery care in Tanzania

An international research team from Tanzania and Japan created a smartphone app and conducted a pilot study of how the app might be used to improve midwives’ knowledge and skills in Tanzania. Their study focused on the app’s potential effects on the learning outcomes of midwives and birth preparedness of pregnant women in Tanzania. The team’s work is published in the journal PLOS ONE on March 31, 2023. “The smartphone app for midwives showed significant improvements in their learning outcomes, leading to better birth preparations for pregnant women in Tanzania. This study highlights the potential of leveraging technology ...

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Science6 Jun 2023

Breastfeeding for longer may be linked to better exam results in later life

Children who are breastfed for longer appear to be more likely to gain slightly better results in their school GSCEs at age 16 compared with non-breastfed children, suggests a study published online in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood. The evidence of improved educational outcomes is still apparent even when various factors are taken into account such as people’s socio-economic status and their parents’ intelligence. Previous studies have suggested that children breastfed for longer have improved educational outcomes later in life. However these are relatively scarce, and ...

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Science6 Jun 2023

Close contact intervention between a mother and her premature baby may reduce risk of mortality by almost a third

A method of care involving skin-to-skin contact between a mother and her prematurely born or low birth weight baby appears to impact the child’s chances of survival significantly, suggests a study published online in the journal BMJ Global Health. Starting the intervention within 24 hours of birth and carrying it out for at least eight hours a day both appear to make the approach even more effective in reducing mortality and infection, researchers found. The method of care known as ‘Kangaroo mother care’ (KMC) involves an infant being carried, usually by the mother, in a sling with skin-to-skin contact ...

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Science5 Jun 2023

Sleep societies announce 2023 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Leadership Award recipient

DARIEN, IL – Sleep researcher Dayna A. Johnson is the recipient of the 2023 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Leadership Award from the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, a joint initiative of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society. The award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to sleep medicine or sleep and circadian science through their work to increase the diversity, equity, and inclusion of sleep medicine providers, or to develop educational programs, research, or clinical work aimed at reducing disparities. The award presentation occurred Monday, June 5, during the plenary session of the ...

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Science5 Jun 2023

Unraveling the mode of action of tirzepatide

Tirzepatide is a recently approved treatment for type-2 diabetes. Treatment with tirzepatide decreases body weight while improving glucose metabolism in patients with obesity and type-2 diabetes. Although the drug is designed to activate receptors for glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP), the contribution of activating the GIP receptor in the overall efficacy of tirzepatide is not fully understood. A team of researchers demonstrated for the first time that tirzepatide stimulates insulin secretion in the human pancreas via the GIP receptor. These results contrast with findings in ...

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Science5 Jun 2023

Amid volumes of mobile location data, new framework reduces consumers’ privacy risk, preserves advertisers’ utility

The use of mobile technologies to collect and analyze individuals’ location information has produced massive amounts of consumer location data, giving rise to an elaborate multi-billion-dollar system in which consumers can share personal data in exchange for economic benefits. But privacy risks prevail. In a new study, researchers used machine learning to create and test a framework that quantifies personalized privacy risks; performs personalized data obfuscation; and accommodates a variety of risks, utilities, and acceptable levels of risk-utility tradeoff. The framework ...

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Science5 Jun 2023

CRISPR/Cas9 reveals a key gene involved in the evolution of coral skeleton formation

Baltimore, MD—New work led by Carnegie’s Phillip Cleves uses cutting-edge CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing tools to reveal a gene that’s critical to stony corals’ ability to build their reef architectures. It is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Stony corals are marine invertebrates that build large skeletons, which form the basis of reef ecosystems. These biodiversity hotspots are home to about a quarter of known marine species. “Coral reefs have ...

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Science5 Jun 2023

Human factors affect bees’ communication, researchers find

Human influences have the potential to reduce the effectivity of communication in bees adding further stress to struggling colonies, according to new analysis. Scientists at the University of Bristol studying honeybees, bumblebees and stingless bees found that variation in communication strategies are explained by differences in the habitats that bees inhabit and differences in the social lifestyle such colony size and nesting habits. The findings, published today in PNAS, reveal that anthropogenic change, such as habitat conversion, climate change and the use of agrochemicals, are altering the world bees occupy, and it is becoming increasingly clearer that this affects communication ...

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Science5 Jun 2023

Cure Mito Foundation launches resource on Leigh syndrome

McKinney, TX., June 5, 2023 - The Cure Mito Foundation, a parent-led organization dedicated to advancing research and treatments for Leigh syndrome, has launched the first-of-its-kind online resource about Leigh syndrome, the most common type of pediatric mitochondrial disease. The free resource, “About Leigh Syndrome” (https://www.aboutleighsyndrome.com), serves as a central place where patients, caregivers and doctors can find information on Leigh syndrome, including its symptoms, diagnosis, treatment options, and more. Translation ...

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Science5 Jun 2023

Tirzepatide has unique activity to stimulate insulin secretion

DURHAM, N.C. – Tirzepatide, a drug approved for diabetes and on the fast track for approval as a weight loss therapy, works through a unique ability to activate two different mechanisms the body uses to control insulin secretion and energy balance, Duke Health researchers report. The finding, reported June 5 in the journal Nature Metabolism, is the first study to use cells from human donors to demonstrate how tirzepatide stimulates insulin secretion, an important action utilized by this drug to lower blood glucose in patients with type 2 diabetes. “Understanding the potential of drugs ...

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Science5 Jun 2023

Scientists expand understanding of limb evolution in earliest birds

The assembly of the volant bird body plan from the ancestral bulky dinosaurian condition is an enduring topic of evolutionary biology. The body plan of volant birds demonstrates a pronounced decrease in body size and proportionate elongation of the forelimbs. Given the scaling relationship between limb and body size, changes to the former were likely clouded by changes to the entire body size. Since changes to individual limb elements provides the direct basis for natural selection, they are essential to comprehending branch- and lineage-specific evolutionary patterns across the transition from terrestrial to ...

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Science5 Jun 2023

Tracing Chile’s indigenous roots through genetics and linguistics

How do today’s indigenous communities of South America trace back to the history of human migration and contact in the continent? An international team has worked to reconstruct the legacy of Chile’s largest indigenous community, the Mapuche, in a quest to strengthen their representation in the history of the continent. It appears the Mapuche long lived in relative isolation but do bear some influences from other populations of the Central Andes and the far south of Chile. South America was the last continent ...

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Science5 Jun 2023

Refining surge protector in crops could boost yields

Awash in a rowed sea of its brethren, a corn leaf relegated to the lowest rung of its stem spends much of a June afternoon doused in shade cast by the higher-ups. Then a gust begins pushing, pulling and twisting the waxy wings in concert, cracking a window to the fireball roiling 93 million miles away. It’s a prime, precious opportunity for photosynthesis to transform the sunlight into food. Unfortunately, the photosynthetic equivalent of a surge protector — one evolved to help plants mitigate damage driven by sudden spikes of high-intensity light — is slow to reset after so much time in the shade. The gust dissipates, the moment ...

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Science5 Jun 2023

Patchwork of mutations contributing to bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a major psychiatric condition that afflicts about 1% of people. Symptoms of BD include sudden onset of depressive mood with loss of interest which alternates with a manic state of hyperactivity. The suffering of the patients and societal cost of this disorder requires the use of continued therapeutic management. Current medications—although vital for patients with BD—are not perfect solutions, given their potential side-effects and treatment resistance. This necessitates ...

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Science5 Jun 2023

Saving moths may be just as important as saving the bees

Night-time pollinators such as moths need protecting as effectively as bees, as new research found they could be less resilient to the pressures of urbanisation Moths account for a third of the pollinator visits to crops, flowers and trees in urban areas More moths were found to be carrying pollen than previously thought, and visiting more types of plant and fruit crops than previously identified Moth abundance has declined by 33 per cent in the last 50 years and this represents a threat to the plants and crops that rely on insects for pollination Night-time pollinators such as moths may visit just as many ...

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Science3 Jun 2023

Can movie reviews predict box office success?

When one thinks of movie reviews, one might see them as harbingers of success or failure at the box office. Some researchers have previously found that both positive and negative reviews correlate to box office revenues, and the effect of negative reviews diminishes over time. However, researchers at the University of California, Davis, suggest that is not the case. Researchers analyzed pre-release commentary and opening weekend box office revenue, turning the impact of movie reviews on its head and revealing an unexpected harbinger of failure phenomenon in the movie industry. The study, ...

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Science2 Jun 2023

Multiple sclerosis more prevalent in Black Americans than previously thought

Multiple sclerosis has traditionally been considered a condition that predominantly affects white people of European ancestry. However, a new analysis conducted by a North American team led by University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) researchers suggests that the debilitating neurological condition is more prevalent in Black Americans than once thought. It is also far more prevalent in Northern regions of the country including New England, the Dakotas, and the Pacific Northwest. Findings from the new study were recently published in the journal JAMA Neurology. “We found a much higher prevalence of multiple sclerosis in Black Americans than previously ...

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Science2 Jun 2023

nTIDE May 2023 Jobs Report: Job numbers rebound bringing people with disabilities close to previous high in employment

East Hanover, NJ – June 2, 2023 – In a sharp reversal, employment indicators rebounded for people with disabilities in May, according to today’s National Trends in Disability Employment – semi-monthly update (nTIDE), issued by Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability (UNH-IOD). Employment appears to be remaining strong despite the threats to the labor market posed by the debt ceiling crisis and ongoing efforts to control inflation. Month-to-Month nTIDE Numbers (comparing April 2023 to May 2023) Based ...

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Science2 Jun 2023

American Tinnitus Association elects Wayne State researcher as new chair

DETROIT – The American Tinnitus Association (ATA) has elected Jinsheng Zhang, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders in Wayne State University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, as the new chair of its board of directors. With decades of experience in tinnitus research and work with the ATA, Zhang aims to assist with proactive recruitment of scientists to the field of tinnitus and engage more researchers in ATA grant opportunities that will spur progress toward more effective treatments and cures. Tinnitus ...

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Science2 Jun 2023

Hispanic women still at higher risk for births with neural tube defects after voluntary folic acid fortification of corn masa flour

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandated folic acid fortification of all enriched cereal grains in 1996, and this regulation resulted in a reduction of neural tube defect (NTD)–affected pregnancies for the population in the United States. While this mandatory food fortification strategy is an example of a public health success, Hispanic women in the US continued to be twice as likely to give birth to a child affected by NTD compared to non-Hispanic women. It was not until the year 2016 that the FDA approved voluntary, but not mandatory, folic acid fortification for corn masa flour products in the US to focus on the Hispanic diet staples, such ...

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Science2 Jun 2023

Reentry services may help stabilize substance use risks after mass prison release

Contrary to expectations, the risk for relapses, overdoses and deaths related to substance use disorder didn’t increase after a large-scale prison release in New Jersey, according to a Rutgers study. The study, published in JAMA Health Forum, examined whether post-release overdose deaths and drug-related hospital and emergency department visits increased after more than 2,000 individuals were released from prison in late 2020 as the result of a pandemic-era policy. “Risk of relapse and adverse health events is high following prison release, with risk of fatal overdose ...

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Science2 Jun 2023

Mysterious dashes revealed in Milky Way’s center

New radio telescope images reveal hundreds of filaments along the galactic plane, each measuring 5 to 10 light-years in length These structures likely originated a few million years ago when outflow from our supermassive black hole interacted with surrounding materials Researcher: ‘I was actually stunned when I saw these’ EVANSTON, Ill. — An international team of astrophysicists has discovered something wholly new, hidden in the center of the Milky Way galaxy. In the early 1980s, Northwestern University’s Farhad Yusef-Zadeh discovered gigantic, one-dimensional filaments dangling vertically near Sagittarius A*, our ...

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