Every protein in your body is made up of the same 20 building blocks called amino acids. But just because nature is stuck with a limited toolkit doesn’t mean humans can’t expand it. A study published in Science on July 27 by a team including Pitt chemists describes a powerful new way to create “unnatural” amino acids, which could find use in protein-based therapies and open up novel branches of organic chemistry. “This is a completely new transformation: new to nature and new to chemistry,” ...

Social media is a critical marketing tool to help raise awareness when firms launch new products. The platforms can help inform consumers about product characteristics and benefits relative to competitors’ products. New research from the University of Notre Dame analyzes data from the motion picture industry, which often relies on social media promotion, in an effort to understand how marketers could better promote other new products. “The Ripple Effect of Firm-Generated Content on New Movie Releases,” forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing Research ...

Study Shows New Stroke Surgery Eligibility Criteria May Dramatically Increase Lifesaving Stroke Surgery Rates, with Nationwide Implications   SAN DIEGO—A recent study presented today at the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery’s (SNIS) 20th Annual Meeting noted that U.S. rates of endovascular thrombectomy, a lifesaving stroke treatment, are projected to increase dramatically based on new criteria.   In the study, endovascular thrombectomy was shown to improve clinical outcomes in patients with large ischemic strokes. This change has the ...

RICHLAND, Wash. – A novel method to extract lignin could help spin wheat straw into gold. Lignin produced using the new method was color-neutral, odorless and homogenous, an advance that could make this carbon-neutral material a more viable candidate for development of high-value products. Reporting in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Washington State University researchers extracted up to 93% lignin with up to 98% purity from wheat straw, producing a significant amount of material in a uniform way that could make ...

Future therapies to help people live healthy lives for longer could be developed from drugs that release tiny amounts of the gas hydrogen sulfide (H2S), new research has indicated. A study from the University of Exeter, funded by the US Army and charity The United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation, found that targeting tiny amounts of H2S to specific areas of cells in adult worms using a H2S-releasing molecule called AP39, greatly improved health and activity as they aged. The research, published in PNAS, concludes that targeting ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Two of humanity's most ubiquitous historical materials, cement and carbon black (which resembles very fine charcoal), may form the basis for a novel, low-cost energy storage system, according to a new study. The technology could facilitate the use of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and tidal power by allowing energy networks to remain stable despite fluctuations in renewable energy supply.  The two materials, the researchers found, can be combined with water to make a supercapacitor — an alternative to batteries — ...

New York University researchers have discovered new cell types in the visual system of flies, made possible by their creation of a tool that finds and labels neurons during development.   The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), combines single-cell sequencing data with a novel algorithm to identify pairs of genes that point to previously unknown cells in the brains of fruit flies.   Fruit flies (also known as Drosophila) have long been used as a model organism to study fundamental ...

For years, we’ve known that a special kind of molecular assembly known as a “polyelectrolyte complex” helps your cells keep themselves organized. These complexes are very good at forming interfaces to keep two liquids separated: your cells use them to create compartments. These abilities have led scientists to consider them for technological applications, including filtering water, better batteries, and even underwater glue, as well as for better pharmaceutical drugs. But for decades, no one knew exactly ...

Researchers from the University of Tokyo and Stanford University show what differentiates slow and fast earthquakes and how their magnitudes vary with time.     Normally, earthquakes last up to a few minutes and radiate strong seismic waves. But around 23 years ago, scientists discovered an unusual slow-slip phenomena called slow earthquakes. Slow earthquakes last days or even months. Though they involve significant tectonic movement, you may never feel them. Since slow earthquakes could indicate future fast earthquakes, monitoring and ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 31, 2023, 12:00 P.M. PDT CONTACT: Camille Jewell cjewell@vancomm.com or 202-248-5460   Research Shows Filter Tip Stent Retrievers May Allow Neurointerventionalists to Remove Blood Clots on the First Try During Stroke Treatment   SAN DIEGO—Research presented today at the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery’s (SNIS) 20th Annual Meeting shows that different types of stent retriever tips may result in improved patient outcomes when performing mechanical thrombectomy to treat stroke.   Ischemic stroke, one of the most common types of strokes, happens ...

A research team led by Prof. Yossi Paltiel at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with groups from HUJI, Weizmann and IST Austria new study reveals the influence of nuclear spin on biological processes. This discovery challenges long-held assumptions and opens up exciting possibilities for advancements in biotechnology and quantum biology. Scientists have long believed that nuclear spin had no impact on biological processes. However, recent research has shown that certain isotopes behave differently due to their nuclear spin. The team focused on stable oxygen isotopes (16O, 17O, 18O) and found ...

University of Texas at Dallas researchers are using geospatial mapping techniques to identify social and environmental obstacles in communities that might impede burn injury survivors’ reentry into society. The project is designed to help patients with burn injuries better adapt to their lives after medical discharge, including improving patient access to transportation, employment, food and other necessities. “Our study looks at how people who survive burn injuries reenter the community,” said Dr. Richard Scotch, program head of sociology and a professor of public policy and political economy in the School of ...

Environmental change, such as ocean warming, alters resource competition and biodiversity. Thus, it is essential to understand how organisms respond to increased competition because changes in their size and metabolism affect the productivity of ecosystems. Competition has long been recognized as a driving force behind rapid evolution. Still, until now, a mechanistic framework for identifying the specific traits that evolve and their trajectories has yet to be developed. Researchers at Gulbenkian and Monash University turned to metabolic theory, which explicitly predicts how competition shapes the evolution of metabolism ...

The REPLANT Act provides money for the US Forest Service to plant more than a billion trees in the next nine years. The World Economic Forum aims to help plant a trillion trees around the world by 2030. Many US cities have plans to shade their streets with millions of trees. Major government and private funding is being invested in planting trees as a powerful tool to fight climate change, protect water, clean air, and cool cities. In short, trees are hot. But new research shows a troubling bottleneck that could threaten these efforts: U.S. ...

Raymond N. DuBois, M.D., Ph.D., director of MUSC Hollings Cancer Center, has been inducted as a fellow into the Royal College of Physicians (RCP). DuBois traveled to London, England, for the ceremony in July. He had been elected to the prestigious body prior to the COVID pandemic, which delayed the induction ceremony. The Royal College of Physicians was established in 1518 by a royal charter from King Henry VIII. The college's founding aim was to professionalize physicians through an academic body that required a degree and an exam before ...

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE Monday, July 31, 2023 Noon EDT Contact NIH Office of Communications and Public Liaison NIH News Media Branch  301-496-5787 NIH launches long COVID clinical trials through RECOVER Initiative, opening enrollment Today, the National Institutes of Health launched and is opening enrollment for phase 2 clinical trials that will evaluate at least four potential treatments for long COVID, with additional clinical trials to test at least seven more treatments expected in the coming months. Treatments ...

Brittany Johnson-Matthews, Assistant Professor, Computer Science, received funding from the National Science Foundation for: "Conference: VL/HCC 2023 Graduate Consortium." This award will support the Graduate Consortium at this year's IEEE Conference on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VL/HCC), which will be held in Washington, D.C. October 2-6, 2023.  Johnson-Matthews said, "This funding will support the ability for students across the country to come together, network, share their research, and curate advice on completing their PhD from senior members of the VL/HCC community." VL/HCC ...

Wang Conducting Finite Temperature Simulation Of Non-Markovian Quantum Dynamics Fei Wang, Assistant Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry, received funding from the National Science Foundation for the project: "Finite temperature simulation of non-Markovian quantum dynamics in condensed phase using quantum computers." For this research, Wang will develop efficient quantum algorithms to perform condensed phase quantum dynamics simulations on quantum computers.  Many important physical and chemical processes occur in the condensed phase, spanning chemical reactions in solutions, charge transfer at semiconductor interfaces, ...

(Boston) – Tuberculosis (TB) disproportionately affects vulnerable populations including those with limited economic resources, HIV patients, those whose diet is deficient in nutrients and others. Resistant TB (MDR TB) does not respond to first line medications and is difficult to treat, requiring long regimens of 15-20 months that are associated with significant side effects and poor outcomes. Recently, new six-month regimens have been shown to have better results than the long-term treatments, with improved quality of life and health equity. But these novel regimens have not yet been adopted widely in the United States. ...

WASHINGTON, July 31, 2023 — Concrete is the most important building material on Earth, but its production causes a MASSIVE amount of global carbon emissions. Join George as he discovers how a surprising discovery in 1973 could dramatically change how we make concrete forever. https://youtu.be/fEt92F1c730 Reactions is a video series produced by the American Chemical Society and PBS Digital Studios. Subscribe to Reactions at http://bit.ly/ACSReactions and follow us on Twitter @ACSReactions. The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS’ ...

People solve new problems readily without any special training or practice by comparing them to familiar problems and extending the solution to the new problem. That process, known as analogical reasoning, has long been thought to be a uniquely human ability. But now people might have to make room for a new kid on the block. Research by UCLA psychologists shows that, astonishingly, the artificial intelligence language model GPT-3 performs about as well as college undergraduates when asked to solve the sort of reasoning problems that typically appear on intelligence tests and standardized tests such as the SAT. The study is published in Nature Human Behaviour. But the paper’s authors ...

About The Study: In this study including 860,000 soldiers, rates of new-onset mental health conditions were higher among individuals with a history of military-related traumatic brain injury (TBI) compared with those without. Moreover, risk for suicide was both directly and indirectly associated with history of TBI.   Authors: Lisa A. Brenner, Ph.D., of the VHA Rocky Mountain Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center in Aurora, Colorado, is the corresponding author.  To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link ...

About The Study: This study found significant racial and ethnic disparities in attrition from M.D.-Ph.D. training, where Black students had greater than 50% higher odds of leaving M.D.-Ph.D. training than their peers. Notably, compared with 17% of white students, 29% of Black M.D.-Ph.D. students did not complete their training.  Authors: Mytien Nguyen, M.S., of the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, 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/jamainternmed.2023.2822) Editor’s ...

About The Study: The findings of this study of more than 500,000 children suggest that there is no evidence of a difference in math and reading scores over grades 2 to 11 among children born between 39 and 40 weeks’ gestation, and overall no evidence of better scores among those born at 41 weeks’ gestation compared with 40 weeks’ gestation. The results can further inform decisions on delivery timing at term birth by offering insights into long-term associations of delivery timing with cognitive development and school achievement.  Authors: George L. Wehby, M.P.H., Ph.D., of ...

Using energy from light to activate natural enzymes can help scientists create new-to-nature enzymatic reactions that support eco-friendly biomanufacturing — the production of fuels, plastics, and valuable chemicals from plants or other biological systems. Applying this photoenzymatic approach, researchers have developed a clean, efficient way to synthesize crucial chemical building blocks known as chiral amines, solving a longstanding challenge in synthetic chemistry. The study, published in Nature Catalysis, ...