DURHAM, N.C. – Scientists don't just want their results to be published; they want them to be published in the most influential journal they can find. This focus on a high 'impact factor' is driven by their concerns about promotion and tenure, but it may be overlooking the important role that smaller publications can play in the advancement of their science. A new paper, “Role of low-impact-factor journals in conservation implementation,” appearing Oct. 17 in the journal Conservation ...

In its first three years of operation, Medicaid’s primary care-focused Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) in Massachusetts showed “no clear evidence of success” in improving asthma care for children, according to research led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst and UMass Chan Medical School-Baystate Health. The study, published recently in JAMA Pediatrics, compared the asthma care of Medicaid-insured children affiliated with a Medicaid ACO to that of children with private insurance. Senior author Dr. Sarah Goff, a practicing pediatrician and internist ...

FOR MORE INFORMATION Michael San Filippo Senior Media Relations Manager American Veterinary Medical Association Cell/Text: 847-732-6194 msanfilippo@avma.org   New study sheds light on lily toxicity in cats; outpatient treatment may be viable option   (SCHAUMBURG, Illinois) October 17, 2024—A study published recently in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) has revealed new insights into the treatment of cats exposed to toxic lilies, offering hope for pet owners facing this common household hazard. The study (“Prevalence of acute kidney ...

Scientists hope that quantum computing will help them study complex phenomena that have so far proven challenging for current computers – including the properties of new and exotic materials. But despite the hype surrounding each new claim of “quantum supremacy”, there is no easy way to say when quantum computers and quantum algorithms have a clear and practical advantage over classical ones.  A large collaboration led by Giuseppe Carleo, a physicist at the Swiss Federal Institute for Technology (EPFL) in Lausane and the member of the National Center for Competence in Research NCCR MARVEL, has now ...

If you’ve ever struggled to reduce your carb intake, ancient DNA might be to blame. It has long been known that humans carry multiple copies of a gene that allows us to begin breaking down complex carbohydrate starch in the mouth, providing the first step in metabolizing starchy foods like bread and pasta. However, it has been notoriously difficult for researchers to determine how and when the number of these genes expanded. Now a new study led by The University of Buffalo (UB) and The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) showcases how early duplications of this ...

The biosynthetic pathway of specific steroidal compounds in nightshade plants (such as potatoes, tomatoes and eggplants) starts with cholesterol. Several studies have investigated the enzymes involved in the formation of steroidal glycoalkaloids. Although the genes responsible for producing the scaffolds of steroidal specialized metabolites are known, successfully reconstituting of these compounds in other plants has not yet been achieved. The project group ‘Specialized Steroid Metabolism in Plants’ in the Department of Natural Product Biosynthesis, led by Prashant Sonawane, who is now Assistant ...

A major new study reveals that carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from forest fires have surged by 60% globally since 2001, and almost tripled in some of the most climate-sensitive northern boreal forests.  The study, led by the University of East Anglia (UEA) and published today in Science, grouped areas of the world into ‘pyromes’ - regions where forest fire patterns are affected by similar environmental, human, and climatic controls - revealing the key factors driving recent increases in forest fire activity.  It is one of the first studies to look globally at the differences between forest ...

A new study shows that an artificial intelligence (AI) tool can help people with different views find common ground by more effectively summarizing the collective opinion of the group than humans. By producing statements that convey the majority opinion, while incorporating the minority’s perspective, the AI produced outputs that participants preferred—and that they rated as more informative, clear, and unbiased, compared to those written by human mediators. Human society is enriched by a plurality of viewpoints, but agreement is a prerequisite for people to act collectively. ...

The health of American democracy is facing challenges, with experts pointing to recent democratic backsliding, deepening partisan divisions, and growing anti-democratic attitudes and rhetoric. In this issue of Science, Research Articles, a Policy Forum, a Science News feature, and a related Editorial highlight how the tools of science and technology are being used to address this growing concern and how the upcoming U.S. presidential election could impact U.S. science.    In one research study in this special issue, Jonathan Chu and colleagues sought to understand whether understandings ...

As climate change promotes fire-favorable weather, climate-driven wildfires in extratropical forests have overtaken tropical forests as the leading source of global fire emissions, researchers report. The findings raise urgent concerns about the future of forest carbon sinks under climate change. Fire has long played a role in shaping Earth's forests and regulating carbon storage in ecosystems. However, anthropogenic climate change has intensified fire-prone weather, leading to an increase in burned areas and carbon emissions, particularly in forested regions. These fires not only reduce forests' ability to absorb carbon but also disrupt ecosystems, harm biodiversity, and pose significant ...

Studies of chemicals in our blood typically capture only a small and unknown fraction of the entire chemical universe. Now, a new approach aims to change that. In a study involving blood samples of pregnant women collected between 2006 and 2008, researchers report having quantified many complex mixtures of chemicals that may pose neurotoxic risks, even when the individual chemicals were present at seemingly harmless levels. “The quantification of 294 to 473 chemicals in plasma is a major improvement compared with the usual targeted analysis focusing on only few selective analytes,” wrote the authors. ...

A multi-institutional group of researchers led by the Hubrecht Institute and Roche’s Institute of Human Biology has developed strategies to identify regulators of intestinal hormone secretion. In response to incoming food, these hormones are secreted by rare hormone producing cells in the gut and play key roles in managing digestion and appetite. The team has developed new tools to identify potential ‘nutrient sensors’ on these hormone producing cells and study their function. This could result in new strategies to interfere with the release of these hormones and provide avenues for the treatment of a variety of metabolic or gut motility disorders. The work will be presented ...

Countless bacteria call the vastness of the oceans home, and they all face the same problem: the nutrients they need to grow and multiply are scarce and unevenly distributed in the waters around them. In some spots they are present in abundance, but in many places they are sorely lacking. This has led a few bacteria to develop into efficient hunters to tap into new sources of sustenance in the form of other microorganisms. Although this strategy is very successful, researchers have so far found only a few predatory bacterial species. One is the soil bacterium Myxococcus xanthus; ...

"In our everyday lives, we are exposed to a wide variety of chemicals that are distributed and accumulate in our bodies. These are highly complex mixtures that can affect bodily functions and our health," says Prof Beate Escher, Head of the UFZ Department of Cell Toxicology and Professor at the University of Tübingen. "It is known from environmental and water studies that the effects of chemicals add up when they occur in low concentrations in complex mixtures. Whether this is also the case in the human body has not yet been sufficiently investigated - this is precisely where our study comes in." The extensive research work was based on over 600 blood samples from ...

Mpox in Africa was neglected during the previous outbreak, and requires urgent action and investment by leaders now to prevent global spread, claim experts from The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, ex-NZ Prime Minister Helen Clark, former Liberian President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and other global health specialists.  #### Article URL: https://journals.plos.org/globalpublichealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgph.0003714 Article Title: Mpox: Neglect has led to a more dangerous virus now spreading across borders, harming and killing people. Leaders must take action to stop mpox now Author Countries: ...

SAN FRANCISCO—The question of what causes complex neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s or multiple sclerosis continues to confound scientists and doctors, with the unknowns standing in the way of early diagnoses and effective treatments. Even among identical twins who share the same genetic risk factors, one may develop a particular neurological disease while the other does not. That’s because unlike diseases such as cystic fibrosis or sickle-cell anemia, which are caused by a single gene, most neurological disorders are associated with many—sometimes hundreds—of rare genetic variants. ...

A quasar is the extremely bright core of a galaxy that hosts an active supermassive black hole at its center. As the black hole draws in surrounding gas and dust, it blasts out an enormous amount of energy, making quasars some of the brightest objects in the universe. Quasars have been observed as early as a few hundred million years after the Big Bang, and it’s been a mystery as to how these objects could have grown so bright and massive in such a short amount of cosmic time. Scientists have proposed that the earliest quasars sprang from overly dense ...

PHILADELPHIA (October 17, 2024) – A new study, conducted by a group of researchers led by Penn Nursing and Perelman School of Medicine and funded by the Centers for Disease Control, found a strong association between handheld cellphone use and risky driving behaviors among newly licensed teen drivers. The study, published online first in JAMA Open, used a smartphone telematics application to track the driving habits of hundreds of teens and identify potential safety risks. The investigation found that teens who used their cellphones while driving were significantly more likely to engage in risky driving behaviors, such as hard braking and rapid acceleration. These behaviors can ...

The increasing incidence of sexually transmitted bacterial infections (STIs) is a major public health problem worldwide. Currently, among the therapies being studied is the use of the antibiotic doxycycline as a method of post-exposure prophylaxis after unprotected sex — known as DoxyPEP. Now, the University of Barcelona and the NGO Stop have carried out the first study in Spain on the use of DoxyPEP as a preventive strategy among the gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBHSH) community in Spain. “The results suggest that, although medical and scientific associations rarely endorse the community use of DoxyPEP as a prevention strategy, ...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Oct. 17, 2024 – Researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine have received a three-year, $4.5 million grant from the Department of Defense to study cervical spine injuries in military personnel. Musculoskeletal injuries, such as those that occur to the cervical spine (neck), are problematic for military personnel. This is especially true for military personnel who must perform missions in demanding environments with head-supported mass. This head-supported mass includes the baseline protective helmet, communications, specialized night vision technology and other attachments. “These injuries can lead to a significant number of lost-duty ...

In a peer-reviewed study believed to be the first of its kind published, a research team led by Johns Hopkins Medicine provides scientific evidence that a healthy diet may reduce the chance of low risk prostate cancer progressing to a more aggressive state in men undergoing active surveillance — a clinical option in which men with lower risk cancer are carefully monitored for progression in lieu of treatments that could have undesired side effects or complications.  The findings are reported today in the journal JAMA Oncology.  “Many men diagnosed with low grade prostate cancer are interested in changes they can ...

Foreign animal diseases are a global threat to swine production with the potential for detrimental economic implications. Recently, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign received a three-year grant of $650,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop sensitive, rapid, low-cost, and portable point-of-use biosensors to improve on-farm detection and surveillance of African swine fever virus. ASFV is a large DNA virus that infects swine and can result in a lethal hemorrhagic fever, spread rapidly to neighboring pigs, and cause excessive morbidity ...

The National Tax Journal is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2024 Musgrave Prize and the 2024 Referee Award.  The Richard A. Musgrave Prize was created in 1999 and is presented each year to the author(s) of the best article published in the National Tax Journal. The award is a tribute to Richard Musgrave, whose work throughout his luminous career was characterized by a powerful blend of analytical clarity, insight drawn from the historical record, and respect for the importance of administrative issues. With this award, the National Tax Association recognizes his many contributions to public policy theory, research, and practice. This year, ...

(Boston)—Cannabis is one of the most widely used drugs, with an estimated 219 million users globally in 2021, with the highest number of users in the Americas. It is also the most used drug among young people. In the U.S., cannabis use among young adults (age 19 to 22) reached a historically high level in 2021, with 42.6% reporting use in the past year.   Effects and impact of recreational cannabis legalization and decriminalization on societies is a topic of global relevance and increasing scientific interest. Despite a rapidly growing body of published evidence, findings remain mostly ...

The Autism Transitions Research Project, funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration and led by Drexel University’s A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, has released new findings that underscore critical challenges and opportunities in transitioning autistic youth into adulthood. As approximately 1.2 million autistic individuals are expected to reach adulthood in the coming decade, these insights are vital for shaping future research and services. The study, “Challenges and Opportunities in Transitioning Autistic Individuals into Adulthood,” led by Anne M. Roux, a research scientist and director at the Policy Impact Project in the ...