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Science 2024-08-21

Study confirms the utility of screening to identify autism in toddlers born preterm

New research published in Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology reveals that children born preterm are more likely to screen positive for autism than full-term children. For the study, 9,725 toddlers were screened at 15-, 18-, or 24-month well child visits using a test called the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised. Screening results that were positive for autism were most common among children born extremely preterm (51.35%) and least common among those born full-term (6.95%). Subsequent ...
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Medicine 2024-08-21

Obese children are more likely to develop skin conditions related to the immune system

Philadelphia, August 21, 2024 – Childhood obesity can contribute to the development of common immune-mediated skin diseases (IMSDs), such as alopecia areata, atopic dermatitis, and psoriasis, new research finds. Maintaining a healthy weight could potentially help lower the chances of developing these skin conditions. A novel study in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, published by Elsevier, details the findings of an analysis of 2,161,900 Korean children from 2009 to 2020 to investigate the relationship between obesity or dynamic changes in body weight and the development of IMSDs. IMSDs have detrimental effects on quality of life, including emotional, physical, social, ...
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Quality control: neatly arranging crystal growth to make fine thin films
Science 2024-08-21

Quality control: neatly arranging crystal growth to make fine thin films

Table salt and refined sugar look white to our eyes, but that is only because their individual colorless crystals scatter visible light. This feature of crystals is not always desirable when it comes to materials for optical and electrical devices, however. Metal-organic frameworks are one such material. Crystalline with micropores, thin films of these nanomaterials have been attracting attention as a next-generation material that could also have an impact on environmental issues such as hydrogen storage and carbon dioxide capture. An Osaka Metropolitan University, Graduate School of Engineering team has found a way to control ...
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Science 2024-08-21

How does organic farming benefit honeybees?

Organic farming and flower strips promote the health of honey bees. In their vicinity, colonies grow stronger and are generally healthier. This is most likely because the insects have a diverse and continuous food supply there and are less exposed to pesticides. These are the findings of a new study by Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and the University of Göttingen, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology. The team analysed data from 32 bee colonies at 16 locations in Germany with different proportions of organic fields, flower strips and semi-natural habitats. According ...
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Survey: Most Americans comfortable with AI in healthcare
Medicine 2024-08-21

Survey: Most Americans comfortable with AI in healthcare

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Artificial intelligence (AI) is all around us – from smart home devices to entertainment and social media algorithms. But is AI okay in healthcare? A new national survey commissioned by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center finds most Americans believe it is, with a few reservations. The national poll of 1,006 people found: 75% believe using AI to minimize human errors is important. 71% would like AI to reduce wait times.  70% are comfortable with AI taking notes during an appointment. 66% believe ...
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Medicine 2024-08-21

Students' toxin research shows public health benefits of citizen science 

Long-term exposure to arsenic, a hidden danger in many New England drinking water supplies, poses serious health risks, including cancer and cognitive challenges. A groundbreaking citizen science initiative called "All About Arsenic" has emerged in response, empowering students and communities to tackle such health threats head-on. The benefits are detailed in a peer-reviewed article published today in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. An accompanying commentary by researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public ...
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Molecular wires with a twist
Science 2024-08-21

Molecular wires with a twist

Osaka, Japan – From the high-voltage wires that carry electricity over long distances, to the tungsten filaments in our incandescent lights, we may have become accustomed to thinking that electrical conductors are always made of metal. But for decades, scientists have been working on advanced materials based on carbon-based oligomer chains that can also conduct electricity. These include the organic light-emitting devices found in some modern smartphones and computers. In quantum mechanics, electrons are not just point particles with definite ...
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Science 2024-08-21

The power of play: Strengthening senior wellbeing through generational bonds

Watching your children frolic through a playground is one of the many joys of being a parent or grandparent, but new research has found that engaging in play with kids could help improve mental health. Researchers from the University of South Australia (UniSA) and the University of Canberra (UC) have explored the benefits of intergenerational play through specially designed playgrounds for kids and adults. Intergenerational play brings young children and older people together to engage in enjoyable and creative activities such as storytelling, using playground equipment, and games. The world is facing an ...
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The underrated impact of humidity
Science 2024-08-21

The underrated impact of humidity

Governments, medical institutions and other bodies require accurate models on health-related matters in order to better organize their activities. Climate change has measurable impacts on society, including on human mortality. However, current models to assess the health impacts of climate change do not account for every environmental parameter, especially humidity, which could influence heat stress perceived by the human body, leaving room for improvement. For the first time, researchers, including those from the University of Tokyo, successfully incorporated humidity data from hundreds of cities into so-called heat stress indicators ...
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Science 2024-08-21

Sharing risk to avoid power outages in an era of extreme weather

In brief Extreme weather is leading to more frequent power grid strain and electricity outages. There are a range of regional cooperation agreements among utilities to share electricity. Expanding cooperation areas in the West could cut outage risks by as much as 40%. Expanding cooperation among electricity providers could also help ensure public opinion and policy remain favorable for renewable energy growth. This summer’s Western heat waves raise the specter of recent years’ rotating power outages and record-breaking electricity demand in the region. ...
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Gut bioelectricity provides a path for bad bacteria to cause diseases
Medicine 2024-08-21

Gut bioelectricity provides a path for bad bacteria to cause diseases

How do bad bacteria find entry points in the body to cause infection? This question is fundamental for infectious disease experts and people who study bacteria. Harmful pathogens, like Salmonella, find their way through a complex gut system where they are vastly outnumbered by good microbes and immune cells. Still, the pathogens navigate to find vulnerable entry points in the gut that would allow them to invade and infect the body. A team of UC Davis Health researchers has discovered a novel bioelectrical mechanism these pathogens use to find these openings. Their study was ...
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RPI and Hokkaido University sign letter of intent for semiconductor collaboration
Technology 2024-08-21

RPI and Hokkaido University sign letter of intent for semiconductor collaboration

Today, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Hokkaido University of Japan announced their plan to explore collaborative opportunities in semiconductor education and research contributing to semiconductor workforce development initiatives. The two universities recognized the new partnership with a letter of intent signing ceremony held in the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, with representatives from the Hokkaido Prefecture government, the Japanese semiconductor company Rapidus, IBM, NY CREATES, and RPI faculty and students in attendance. Before the signing ceremony, the Japanese delegation toured the IBM Quantum System One ...
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Medicine 2024-08-21

Just 1-2 cigarettes/day before or during pregnancy linked to major newborn health problems

Even light smoking of just 1-2 cigarettes a day either before or at any time during pregnancy is significantly associated with major health problems in the newborn, finds research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. The findings add to the evidence indicating that women hoping to become, or who are, pregnant should stub out smoking to protect their newborn’s health, say the researchers. Deaths and serious health issues among newborns have fallen sharply, largely due to improvements in maternity care. But admission ...
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Social Science 2024-08-21

Social position linked to food delivery preferences in England

Social position—defined by household income and job role—is linked to food delivery preferences in England, suggests an analysis of consumer research published in the open access journal BMJ Public Health. Affluent households are twice as likely as less well off ones to shop online for groceries while households in lower social grades are up to twice as likely to use food delivery apps for take-away meals. And users of these apps are more likely to be living with obesity, the findings indicate. Digital on-demand ...
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Medicine 2024-08-21

20 minutes of mindful breathing can rapidly reduce intensity of cancer pain

Twenty minutes of mindful breathing, which focuses a person’s attention on their breath, can rapidly reduce the intensity and unpleasantness of cancer pain and relieve the associated anxiety, suggest the findings of a small comparative study, published online in the journal BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care. Mindful breathing complements traditional pain relief and broadens the repertoire of options available for cancer patients, say the researchers. Moderate to severe pain affects an estimated 30-40% of patients with cancer worldwide, as a result of the tumour compressing or ...
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Medicine 2024-08-21

Hospital bacteria tracked better than ever before with new technique

Researchers have developed a new genomic technique that can track the spread of multiple superbugs in a hospital simultaneously, which could help prevent and manage common hospital infections quicker and more effectively than ever before. The proof-of-concept study, from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the University of Oslo, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo in Italy, and collaborators, details a new deep sequencing approach that captures all the common infectious bacteria in a hospital at once. Current methods culture and sequence all pathogens separately which takes longer and requires more work.   Published ...
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Medicine 2024-08-21

Red and processed meat consumption associated with higher type 2 diabetes risk, study of two million people finds

Meat consumption, particularly consumption of processed meat and unprocessed red meat, is associated with a higher type 2 diabetes risk, an analysis of data from 1.97 million participants, published today in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, has found. Global meat production has increased rapidly in recent decades and meat consumption exceeds dietary guidelines in many countries.  Earlier research indicated that higher intakes of processed meat and unprocessed red meat are associated with an elevated risk of type 2 diabetes, but the results have been variable and not conclusive. Poultry ...
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Environmental laws failing to slow deforestation
Medicine 2024-08-21

Environmental laws failing to slow deforestation

Australia’s environmental laws are failing to stop high rates of tree clearing to make way for agriculture, development and mining, according to University of Queensland research. PhD candidate Hannah Thomas from UQ’s School of the Environment led a team which used satellite mapping and land clearing data to analyse vegetation loss across northern Australia, including Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia. “We mapped clearing greater than 20 hectares and then investigated which national or state and territory laws were likely to apply,” Ms Thomas said. “Of the 1.5 million hectares ...
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Mother’s gut microbiome during pregnancy shapes baby’s brain development
Medicine 2024-08-21

Mother’s gut microbiome during pregnancy shapes baby’s brain development

A study in mice has found that the bacteria Bifidobacterium breve in the mother’s gut during pregnancy supports healthy brain development in the fetus. Researchers have compared the development of the fetal brain in mice whose mothers had no bacteria in their gut, to those whose mothers were given Bifidobacterium breve orally during pregnancy, but had no other bacteria in their gut. Nutrient transport to the brain increased in fetuses of mothers given Bifidobacterium breve, and beneficial changes were also seen in other cell processes relating to growth. Bifidobacterium breve is a ‘good bacteria’ that occurs naturally in our ...
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Humpbacks are among animals who manufacture and wield tools
Engineering 2024-08-21

Humpbacks are among animals who manufacture and wield tools

In a study published today in Royal Society Open Science, researchers at the Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP) at UH Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) and Alaska Whale Foundation (AWF) consider a new designation of the humpback whales they study: tool wielders. Researchers have known that humpback whales create “bubble-nets” to hunt, but they have learned that the animals don’t just create the bubble-nets; they manipulate this unique tool in a variety of ways to maximize their food intake in Alaskan feeding grounds. This novel research demystifies a behavior key to the whales’ survival and offers a compelling case for including humpbacks among the rare ...
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UTA federal research expenditures doubled in 2023
Science 2024-08-20

UTA federal research expenditures doubled in 2023

In 2023, federally sponsored research at The University of Texas at Arlington accounted for $77 million in expenditures, with about $40.7 million spent on research-related goods and services in Texas. That more than doubles the total for 2022, when federally sponsored research at UTA contributed $38 million to the economy. The $77 million is a portion of UTA’s $122 million in total research expenditures from all sources last year. This number includes federally sponsored research awards as well as those from local and state governments, private institutions, and other sources. Overall, UT Arlington and its 270,000 alumni contribute $29 billion ...
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Researchers teaching artificial intelligence about frustration in protein folding
Medicine 2024-08-20

Researchers teaching artificial intelligence about frustration in protein folding

Scientists have found a new way to predict how proteins change their shape when they function, which is important for understanding how they work in living systems. While recent artificial intelligence (AI) technology has made it possible to predict what proteins look like in their resting state, figuring out how they move is still challenging because there is not enough direct data from experiments on protein motions to train the neural networks. In a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Aug.20, ...
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Novel molecular imaging tool objectively measures and diagnoses smell disorders
Medicine 2024-08-20

Novel molecular imaging tool objectively measures and diagnoses smell disorders

Reston, VA (August 20, 2024) -- A new fluorescent imaging probe can for the first time objectively and non-invasively measure loss of smell, clinically known as anosmia. Targeting the olfactory nerve, the new tool has potential to eliminate biopsies used to diagnose certain anosmia conditions and to aid in the development of therapeutic interventions. This research was published in the August issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Research shows that an estimated 13.3 million adults in the United States have a vast range of smell disorders and that ...
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Tiny killers: How autoantibodies attack the heart in lupus patients
Medicine 2024-08-20

Tiny killers: How autoantibodies attack the heart in lupus patients

New York, NY—August 20, 2024—Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in patients suffering from lupus, an autoimmune disease in which our immune system attacks our own tissues and organs, the heart, blood, lung, joints, brain, and skin. Lupus myocarditis--inflammation of the heart muscle-- can be very serious because the inflammation alters the regularity of the rhythm and strength of the heartbeat. However, the mechanisms underlying this complex disease are poorly understood and difficult to study. A long-standing question about lupus is why some patients develop myocarditis while others remain unaffected. And why the clinical manifestations of affected ...
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Science 2024-08-20

Study: Temporarily removing firearms from people at risk of harm saves lives

DURHAM, N.C. – An estimated one life was saved for every 17 times an extreme risk protection order removed guns from people who presented a risk of harming themselves or others, according to a Duke Health-led analysis of the laws in four states. Extreme risk protection orders -- known as ERPOs or “red flag laws" -- are civil court orders that temporarily prevent people from accessing firearms after a judge determines that they pose an imminent risk of harming themselves or others. Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia have enacted ERPO laws, mostly in ...
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