In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available paper in PLOS Medicine: http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1004261 Article Title: Age- and sex-specific hospital bed-day rates in people with and without type 2 diabetes: A territory-wide population-based cohort study of 1.5 million people in Hong Kong Author Countries: China Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work. END ...

Bacteria make up more than 10% of all living things but until recently we had little realization that, as in humans, soil bacteria have internal clocks that synchronize their activities with the 24-hour cycles of day and night on Earth. New research shows just how complex and sophisticated these bacterial circadian clocks are, clearing the way for an exciting new phase of study. This work will provide diverse opportunities, from precision timing of the use of antibiotics, to bioengineering smarter gut and soil microbiomes. An international ...

Key Takeaways: When news sites relax paywall access to their sites, they leverage the power of sampling to increase subscribers. Temporarily suspending paywall restrictions on certain major stories or trends serves the public interest while conditioning new visitors to pay for access later.   BALTIMORE, MD, August 1, 2023 – A new study has revealed that when news sites temporarily relax or suspend restrictions tied to paywall access, they eventually see an increase in subscribers. This ...

Marine conservation experts have revealed the extent of marine megafauna catch by small-scale fisheries, in Thailand for the first time. The Newcastle University study provides the first-ever estimate of the annual catch of marine megafauna species, including rays, sharks, sea turtles, dolphins, and dugongs, in Thailand’s small-scale fisheries – those fisheries using small boats, low tech equipment and often haul their fishing gear by hand. Published in the journal Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Research, the results ...

A new study by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill examined nitrogen fixation among diazotrophs—microorganisms that can convert nitrogen into usable form for other plants and animals—living among sargassum. Sargassum, a brown macroalgae in the seaweed family, floats on the surface of the open ocean and provides habitat for a colorful array of marine life such as small fish, brine shrimp and other microorganisms. Previous studies have overlooked diazotrophs associated ...

North Carolina leads the nation for most households relying on private wells as a primary source of drinking water, with one in four households on private wells. These wells are not regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act, and most are not tested for contaminants, especially in low-income areas. A new study published in Environmental Justice by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that private well testing and treatment levels were significantly predicted by race and income, even though high levels of contamination were equally distributed across the research areas. “Although we found alarming levels of well water contamination ...

A Swansea University-led study revealed breastfeeding rates in Wales increased during the pandemic. The research, which included all women in Wales who gave birth between 2018 and 2021, found that breastfeeding rates at six months were higher during Covid compared to the pre-pandemic period - with rates increasing from 16.6 per cent before the pandemic to 20.5 per cent in 2020. The study also found a strong correlation between a mother's intention to breastfeed and the likelihood of exclusively breastfeeding ...

East Hanover, NJ – August 4, 2023 – People with disabilities maintained their job numbers, reflecting all-time highs in July, 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). nTIDE experts stated that more people with disabilities are engaged working and seeking work. Month-to-Month nTIDE Numbers (comparing June 2023 to July 2023) Based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Jobs Report released today, the labor force participation rate for people with disabilities (ages 16-64) ...

DENVER/Aug. 4, 2023 – A recent scientific paper published in the journal Microorganisms highlights the development of the first broad range of reptile cell lines, a significant feat that researchers say will help advance reptile conservation. In the study, which was funded by Morris Animal Foundation and conducted by researchers at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, researchers established cell lines from a variety of reptiles, including crocodilians, snakes, turtles, tortoises and lizards. Cell lines are populations of cells from multicellular organisms that have been grown in a laboratory and can be used for a ...

Sarah Qureshy, a fourth-year medical student at Weill Cornell Medical College, has been selected by the American Society of Hematology (ASH) as one of four medical students nationwide to receive the 2023-24 ASH Medical Student Physician-Scientist (PhySci) Award. The ASH PhySci Awards support first-, second- and third-year medical students looking to gain experience in hematology research under the mentorship of an ASH member and to learn more about the specialty. This award, which provides one-year $42,000 grant funding, will enable Qureshy to take a year off from her schooling to carry out an immersive project conducting laboratory, translational ...

ARLINGTON, Va.—In July 2023, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) partnered with the 144th Airlift Squadron of the Alaska Air National Guard to deploy five different types of weather buoys across more than 1,000 nautical miles of the Arctic Ocean. Such deployments are critical for maintaining the Arctic Observing Network (AON), which provides observations for weather and ice forecasting and related research. The buoy air deployment supported the International Arctic Buoy Programme (IABP), a collaborative program comprising more than 32 different research and operational institutions from 10 different countries and four international agencies — including the International Cooperative ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the selection of 93 early career scientists from across the country who will receive a combined $135 million in funding for research covering a wide range of topics, from artificial intelligence to astrophysics to fusion energy. The 2023 Early Career Research Program awardees represent 47 universities and 12 DOE National Laboratories across the country. These awards are a part of the DOE’s long-standing efforts to develop the next generation of STEM leaders ...

While much of the global concern has subsided, COVID-19 is still a very real threat, especially to people with compromised immune systems or who are over 65. Vaccination offers excellent protection against serious illness and death, but the current vaccines have room for improvement in their ability to stop the spread of SARS-CoV-2 at the point of entry in the upper respiratory tract. A collaborative research effort led by the University of Michigan and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has resulted in a nasal vaccine adjuvant that stops ...

The Department of Energy’s Office of Science has selected five Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists for Early Career Research Program awards. Since its inception in 2010, the program bolsters national scientific discovery by supporting early career researchers in fields pertaining to the Office of Science's eight major program offices: Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Biological and Environmental Research, Basic Energy Sciences, Fusion Energy Sciences, High Energy Physics, Nuclear Physics, Accelerator R&D and Production and Isotope R&D and Production.  Award ...

LOGAN, UTAH, USA - When we think of soil, most of us think of dirt on the ground. But a surprising amount of the planet’s soil thrives in the treetops of old-growth forests, high above terra firma. This organic matter, composed of decaying leaves and branches, airborne particulates and moisture, is called canopy soil or arboreal soil. Its study is relatively new, says Utah State University ecologist Jessica Murray. She’s among researchers unraveling mysteries of the dense, mossy humus that provides rich habitat for insects, birds, fungi, worms and plants, as well as a generous reservoir for carbon storage. Murray and colleagues from Texas ...

Neuroscientists from HSE University have criticized the famous studies that question the free will of our decisions. You can’t shift responsibility for your actions to the brain. The results of the new work were published in the Neuropsychologia journal.   The dispute about how much free will people have in making their decisions has been going for decades. Neuroscientists have joined this discussion thanks to the electroencephalographic (EEG) experiments of Benjamin Libet. In the 1970-1980s, he showed that 0.5–1.5 seconds before conscious awareness of the intention to perform a movement, subjects ...

For immediate release Friday 4 August 2023 Kordofan giraffes face local extinction if poaching continues Poaching of two Critically Endangered Kordofan giraffes per year could result in extinction in just 15 years within Cameroon’s Bénoué National Park without intervention. These are the alarming new findings of a University of Bristol and Bristol Zoological Society-led study published in the African Journal of Ecology. One of the last populations of Kordofan giraffes roam Cameroon's Bénoué ...

Scientists are looking for ways to use the low-value energy widely distributed in natural environments to generate electricity. A research team has created a power generator that collects the natural atmospheric humidity and produces continuous electrical signals. This is the first humidity generator designed using a nano-sized material called polyoxometalates. It holds the potential of being a new research direction for polyoxometalates in the sustainable utilization of low-value energy.   The team’s work is published in the journal Nano Research on August 01.   The team set out to solve ...

Researchers have developed a pair of modules that gives a boost to the use of artificial neural networks to identify potentially cancerous growths in colonoscopy imagery, traditionally plagued by image noise resulting from the colonoscopy insertion and rotation process itself.   A paper describing the approach was published in the journal CAAI Artificial Intelligence Research on June 30.   Colonoscopy is the gold standard for detecting colorectal growths or ‘polyps’ in the inner lining of your colon, also known as the large intestine. ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — In temperate climates, like North America and Europe, flu season starts in the fall, peaks in the winter and ends in the spring. While public health officials have generally assumed that influenza is also seasonal in tropical climates, new research led by Penn State has found little evidence of a repeatable pattern in influenza cases in Vietnam. The findings suggest that influenza is likely unpredictable throughout the tropics, posing substantial challenges for prevention and management of cases for the one-third of the global population living in tropical areas. “The World ...

About The Study: In this study of Massachusetts schools, the secondary attack rate for SARS-CoV-2 among school-based contacts was low during two periods, and factors associated with transmission risk varied over time. These findings suggest that ongoing surveillance efforts may be essential to ensure that both targeted resources and mitigation practices remain optimal and relevant for disease prevention.  Authors: Sandra B. Nelson, M.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, 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/jamahealthforum.2023.2310) Editor’s ...

About The Study: In this study of 230,000 persons with second primary cancers in the U.S., the Black population had a higher risk of death from both cancer and cardiovascular disease compared with the white population, whereas the Hispanic population had a higher risk of death from cancer. These results suggest that research priorities to address survival disparities in the growing population of survivors of multiple primary cancers are warranted.  Authors: Hyuna Sung, Ph.D., of the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, is ...

ATLANTA, August 4, 2023 — In new findings from researchers at the American Cancer Society (ACS), non-Hispanic Black individuals diagnosed with a second primary cancer (SPC) experienced 21% higher cancer-related death rates and 41% higher cardiovascular-related death rates compared with their non-Hispanic White counterparts. The study also showed that Hispanic individuals diagnosed with a second primary cancer also experienced 10% higher cancer-related death rates compared with their non-Hispanic White counterparts, but 10% lower cardiovascular-related death rates. The paper was published ...

Ishikawa, Japan -- Liquid metals (LM) such as pure gallium (Ga) and Ga-based alloys are a new class of materials with unique physicochemical properties. One of the most prominent applications of LMs is photothermal therapy against cancer, in which functional LM nanoparticles convert light energy to heat energy, thus killing cancerous cells. LM-based phototherapy is superior to traditional cancer therapy owing to its high specificity, repeatability, and low side effects. In a new cutting-edge study, Associate Professor Eijiro Miyako and his colleagues from Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST) synthesized multifunctional Ga-based nanoparticles that combine cancer ...

Breastfeeding for six months or more appears to reduce the risk of cardiovascular problems developing in mothers for at least three years after delivery, a new South Australian study has found.    The surprising cardio-metabolic benefit for maternal health is particularly important for women who experienced a complicated pregnancy, which can increase their chance of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) later in life.    The new results – published this month in the International Breastfeeding Journal by experts from the University of Adelaide ...