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Medicine28 Jun 2024

New predictors of metastasis in patients with early-stage pancreatic cancer

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine with an international team have used liver biopsies to identify cellular and molecular markers that can potentially be used to predict whether and when pancreatic cancer will spread to an individual’s liver or elsewhere, such as the lung. The study, published on June 28 in Nature Medicine, proposes that information from a liver biopsy—a small tissue sample collected for lab analysis—when pancreatic cancer is diagnosed may help guide doctors in personalizing treatment, such as liver-directed immunotherapies, before cancer cells have the chance to metastasize. Only 10 percent of people with pancreatic ...

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Environment28 Jun 2024

Climate change to shift tropical rains northward

A study led by a UC Riverside atmospheric scientist predicts that unchecked carbon emissions will force tropical rains to shift northward in the coming decades, which would profoundly impact agriculture and economies near the Earth's equator. The northward rain shift would be caused by complex changes in the atmosphere spurred by carbon emissions that influence the formation of the intertropical convergence zones. Those zones are essentially atmospheric engines that drive about a third of the world’s precipitation, Liu and his co-authors report in a paper published Friday, June 28, in the journal Nature Climate Change. Tropical ...

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Medicine28 Jun 2024

City of Hope study suggests changing the gut microbiome improves health outcomes for people newly diagnosed with metastatic kidney cancer

LOS ANGELES — Physician scientists from City of Hope, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States, found that people with metastatic kidney cancer who orally took a live biotherapeutic product called CBM588 while in treatment with immunotherapy and enzymatic tyrosine kinase inhibitors experienced improved health outcomes. The phase 1 trial was published today in Nature Medicine. Microorganisms in the gut modulate the immune system. City of Hope researchers are now in discussions with the global SWOG Cancer ...

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Space28 Jun 2024

Surprising meteorite impact rate on Mars can act as ‘cosmic clock’

Seismic signals have suggested Mars gets hit by around 300 basketball-sized meteorites every year, providing a new tool for dating planetary surfaces. The new research, led by scientists at Imperial College London and ETH Zurich working as part of NASA's InSight mission, has shed light on how often ‘marsquakes’ caused by meteorite impacts occur on Mars. The researchers found that Mars experiences around 280 to 360 meteorite impacts every year that produce craters larger than eight metres in diameter and shake the red planet’s ...

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Medicine28 Jun 2024

Air pollution exposure during childhood linked directly to adult bronchitis symptoms in new research

A new study brings fresh revelations about the connection between early-life exposure to air pollution and lung health later in life. A research team led by the Keck School of Medicine of USC has shown that exposure to air pollution during childhood is directly associated with bronchitis symptoms as an adult. To date, many investigations in the field have established intuitive links that are less direct than that: Air pollution exposure while young is consistently associated with lung problems during childhood — and childhood lung problems are consistently associated with lung issues as an adult. The current study, published in the American Journal of Respiratory ...

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Technology28 Jun 2024

Kids given ‘digital pacifiers’ to calm tantrums fail to learn how to regulate emotions, study finds

Children learn much about self-regulation – that is affective, mental, and behavioral responses to certain situations – during their first few years of life. Some of these behaviors are about children’s ability to choose a deliberate response over an automatic one. This is known as effortful control, which is learned from the environment, first and foremost through children’s relationship with their parents. In recent years, giving children digital devices to control their responses to emotions, especially if they’re negative, has ...

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Environment28 Jun 2024

No evidence that England’s new ‘biodiversity boost’ planning policy will help birds or butterflies

A new legal requirement for developers to demonstrate a biodiversity boost in planning applications could make a more meaningful impact on nature recovery if improvements are made to the way nature’s value is calculated, say researchers at the University of Cambridge. From 2024, the UK’s Environment Act requires planning applications to demonstrate an overall biodiversity net gain of at least 10% as calculated using a new statutory biodiversity metric. The researchers trialled the metric by using it to calculate the biodiversity value of 24 sites across England. These sites have all been monitored over the long-term, allowing the team to compare biodiversity ...

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Technology28 Jun 2024

Visual explanations of machine learning models to estimate charge states in quantum dots

A group of researchers has successfully demonstrated automatic charge state recognition in quantum dot devices using machine learning techniques, representing a significant step towards automating the preparation and tuning of quantum bits (qubits) for quantum information processing. Semiconductor qubits use semiconductor materials to create quantum bits. These materials are common in traditional electronics, making them integrable with conventional semiconductor technology. This compatibility is why scientists consider them strong candidates for future ...

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Technology28 Jun 2024

The future of metals research with artificial intelligence

A research team led by Professor Hyoung Seop Kim from the Graduate Institute of Ferrous & Eco Materials Technology and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Jeong Ah Lee, a PhD candidate, from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, in recent collaboration with Professor Figueiredo from Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais's Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering in Brazil, has developed an optimal artificial intelligence model to predict the yield strength of various metals, effectively addressing traditional cost and time limitations. This research has been published in the online edition of Acta Materialia, an ...

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Engineering28 Jun 2024

Tissue bridges are reliable predictors of recovery from cervical spine injuries

The results of the longitudinal study “Prognostic value of tissue bridges in cervical spinal cord injury” have the potential to change clinical practice. They have just been published in The Lancet Neurology, the world’s leading journal of clinical neurology. The team led by lead author Dr. Dario Pfyffer and senior author Prof. Dr. med. Patrick Freund from Balgrist University Hospital and the University of Zurich, which includes SCI experts from around the world, has successfully developed models that incorporate tissue bridges in the spinal cord in a large, multicenter cohort of patients with cervical SCI for improved prognosis of clinical outcomes. These ...

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Science28 Jun 2024

Junior rank, male sex, younger age strongly linked to ‘harmful gambling’ among UK military

Several indicative factors, including junior rank, male sex, and younger age, are strongly linked to ‘harmful gambling’ among serving UK military personnel, finds an analysis of survey responses, published online in the journal BMJ Military Health. Harmful gambling refers to the toll taken on finances, health, personal relationships, and work: nearly 1 in 4 respondents reported one or other of these effects over the past year. The findings prompt the researchers to call for the prioritisation of better, earlier, and targeted support to stave off the harmful consequences of ...

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Medicine28 Jun 2024

Poorer teen mental ability linked to as much as tripling in stroke risk before age of 50

A lower level of mental ability during the teenage years may be linked to as much as a tripling in the risk of having a stroke before the age of 50, finds research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. The observed associations held true even after factoring in current diabetes and limiting the age of a first stroke up to 40, prompting the researchers to suggest that more comprehensive assessments beyond traditional stroke risk factors are now needed to stave off disability and death. Recent evidence suggests that cases of stroke ...

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Engineering28 Jun 2024

Adults conceived by donors left behind by fertility industry

Children conceived by using egg or sperm donors have the same well-being outcomes as non-donor conceived people. However, they are more likely to have identity difficulties and issues with trust. Secrecy and anonymity about their genetic parentage can have a profound impact on well-being say authors. They warn that children and adults conceived using donor gametes have not been centred in the assisted reproductive industry and more information is needed about adult wellbeing. The study is published today in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology by researchers King’s College London. The study is the first systematic ...

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Science28 Jun 2024

Novel method optimizes extraction of antioxidant and colorant from jabuticaba peel

Scientists at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil and the University of Cadiz (UCA) in Spain have successfully deployed a novel method of extracting high-value-added chemical compounds from the peel of jabuticaba (Plinia cauliflora). The method, which simplifies the process and enhances its efficiency, is described in an article published in Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. The aim was to optimize extraction of anthocyanin, a potent antioxidant found in strawberries, blackberries and raspberries as well as jabuticabas, among other sources. It has anti-inflammatory effects and is also a natural ...

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Medicine28 Jun 2024

Researchers discover how nerve cells in bat brains respond to their environment and social interactions with other bats

Vienna, Austria: Researchers have found that nerve cells in the hippocampus region of the brain encode complex information on numerous characteristics of other individuals in the same social group. The work, which is being carried out in bats, is the first to show this in a large, mixed-sex group of wild, social animals, and is important because it sheds light on how the brain operates and generates thinking processes and behaviour. Professor Nachum Ulanovsky, Head of the Center for Learning, Memory and Cognition at the Weizmann Institute of Science, ...

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Medicine27 Jun 2024

Simulating blood flow dynamics for improved nanoparticle drug delivery

Despite gaining a bad rap in mainstream media in recent years, nanoparticles have been successfully used for decades in targeted drug delivery systems. Drug molecules can be encapsulated within biodegradable nanoparticles to be delivered to specific cells or diseased tissues. However, blood flow dynamics can significantly affect the nanoparticle’s ability to bind at the target site and stay adhered long enough for the drug to be released. Drawing inspiration from civil, mechanical, electrical and chemical engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professors Arif Masud and Hyunjoon Kong have developed and tested a new mathematical model to accurately simulate ...

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Science27 Jun 2024

Research and efforts to combat schistosomiasis earn geographer David López-Carr several high-profile awards

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — What if you could take an ecologically degraded environment that presents a public health problem, and devise a powerful and elegant solution that not only restores its functionality but also reduces its health impacts while addressing food and water access and alleviating poverty? An international team of biologists, social scientists and medical researchers in the U.S. and Senegal did just that, and for their innovation and research, published in the journal Nature, has received several prestigious awards. “It feels gratifying to be recognized for work finding win-win solutions for the environment and people,” said UC Santa ...

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Science27 Jun 2024

US states shape foreign policy amid national China unease, research shows

State-level officials such as governors, state legislators and attorneys general are shaping U.S.-China relations as the two countries navigate a strained geopolitical relationship, according to new research by political scientist Kyle Jaros. “The state level has independent importance in the U.S.-China relationship — it’s not just a reflection of what’s happening at the national level,” said Jaros, associate professor of global affairs in the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame. “The actions taken by state and local officials — and their Chinese counterparts — not only affect their own communities, ...

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Medicine27 Jun 2024

Midwest Center for AIDS Research to help end regional HIV epidemic

Since the peak of the AIDS epidemic, the U.S. has achieved significant advancements in preventing and treating HIV, though progress has been uneven across regions and slower than necessary. In Missouri, where the number of new HIV diagnoses and deaths has not improved since 2017, there is a need to recapture momentum in addressing the disease. In a bid to jump-start the stalled campaign against HIV in the region, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Saint Louis University plan to establish the Midwest Developmental Center for AIDS Research with funding from the National ...

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Science27 Jun 2024

WIC enrollment reduces poor pregnancy outcomes for parents and babies, study finds

More than one in 10 households in the United States last year did not have access to adequate and nutritious food, according to the U.S. government. Further, food and nutrition insecurity lead to a higher risk of poor pregnancy outcomes. The U.S. Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is one of the main federal food assistance programs that aims to reduce food insecurity for eligible pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding people and their children. WIC helps improve the health of participants and their families by providing access to food, nutrition education, and referrals ...

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Social Science27 Jun 2024

Northwestern researchers propose a new, holistic way to teach synthetic biology

The field of synthetic biology, the science of manipulating biology, has a lot of “cooks in the kitchen,” which has both helped it flourish and made it unusually difficult to create a cohesive, consistent curriculum for students at every level of study. Each discipline involved — from chemical engineering to ethics — has a unique approach to teaching and literature, which creates inconsistencies between what scientists learn. Now, Northwestern University researchers propose a new way to teach synthetic biology that uses different levels of organization — starting at the molecular scale and growing ...

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Technology27 Jun 2024

Is ChatGPT the key to stopping deepfakes? Study asks LLMs to spot AI-generated images

BUFFALO, N.Y. — When most people think of artificial intelligence, they’re probably thinking of — and worrying about — ChatGPT and deepfakes. AI-generated text and images dominate our social media feeds and the other websites we visit, sometimes without us knowing it, and are often used to spread unreliable and misleading information. But what if text-generating models like ChatGPT could actually spot deepfake images? A University at Buffalo-led research team has applied large language models (LLMs), including OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, toward spotting deepfakes of ...

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Medicine27 Jun 2024

NIH funds critical center in Detroit to lead efforts to investigate and mitigate health impacts of community-voiced chemical and non-chemical stressors

DETROIT — Wayne State University received a four-year, $5.2 million P30 environmental health sciences core center (EHSCC) grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in support of the “Center for Urban Responses to Environmental Stressors (CURES).” This grant will allow the interdisciplinary CURES team of researchers, educators and community partners to continue its ongoing quest to understand the basis for urban environmental health disparities and the human health impact of environmental exposure to complex chemical and non-chemical stressors in Detroit's urban landscape. CURES is one of ...

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Science27 Jun 2024

TREC director Jennifer Dill named editor-in-chief of Transportation Research Record

Jennifer Dill, director of Portland State University's Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC), has been named the inaugural editor-in-chief of the Transportation Research Record (TRR). The TRR—the flagship journal of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Transportation Research Board (TRB)—is one of the most cited and prolific transportation journals in the world, offering wide coverage of transportation-related topics. While maintaining her current role as the director of TREC, Dill will begin her duties ...

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Science27 Jun 2024

SUNY College of Optometry focuses on diversity and inclusion in optometry

New York, NY— This week, the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry held a continuation of their annual webinar series, Race in Optometry which started in 2020. Aimed at fostering a national dialogue that leads to necessary changes to increase diversity in the optometric profession and education, the annual webinar focused on Headwinds: Navigating Barriers to Success. This webinar was the seventh installment in a series hosted annually around the Juneteenth holiday by the College’s Office of Continuing Professional ...

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