UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A milliliter of blood contains about 15 individual drops. For a person with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), each drop of blood could contain anywhere from fewer than 20 copies of the virus to more than 500,000 copies. Called the viral load, this is what is measured to allow clinicians to understand how patients are responding to anti-viral medications and monitor potential progression.  The time-consuming viral load testing needs to be repeated several times as a patient undergoes treatment. Now, a Penn State research team has developed a time and cost-efficient digital assay that can directly measure the presence of HIV in ...

Having a seat at the table, and voices heard, makes a world of difference when it comes to natural resources. It sounds intuitive, but experts didn’t have enough data to prove it until now. A team of researchers from across the country pored over 108 groundwater management plans in California to see how well they protect stakeholders like domestic well users, farmers and ecosystems. They found that the plans that incorporated stakeholder input offered greater protection from groundwater depletion. Unfortunately, only 9% of the sustainability plans integrated these users in a comprehensive manner. The findings have broad implications for resource management, both in California and ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Acoustic waves may be able to control how particles sort themselves. While researchers have been able to separate particles based on their shape — for example, bacteria from other cells — for years, the ability to control their movement has remained a largely unsolved problem, until now. Using ultrasound technology and a nozzle, Penn State researchers have separated, controlled and ejected different particles based on their shape and various properties.   They ...

WASHINGTON, June 27, 2023 – With their unique appearance, texture, and mouthfeel, fondants have intrigued bakers and physicists for years. They present an appetizing enigma in the world of confectionery, an intriguing combination of sugar, water, and heat that, when manipulated correctly, yields a delectably creamy product. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research and Technische Universität Berlin studied the kinetic and thermodynamic processes of sugar crystallization in the making of fondant. In Physics of Fluids, by AIP Publishing, they combined a controlled kneading machine with light microscopy ...

About The Study: Among 12- to 21-year-old U.S. females between 2003 and 2020, iron deficiency affected almost 40% and iron deficiency anemia affected 6%, with variation by the ferritin or hemoglobin thresholds used. Menstruation was a risk factor for both, but more than one-quarter of premenarchal individuals had iron deficiency.  Authors: Angela C. Weyand, M.D., of the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, 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/jama.2023.8020) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for ...

In their paper the team discusses their novel view of euchromatin in the cell and shows how the revealed organization is relevant to genome functions. “Our ultimate goal is to reveal how genomic information is searched and read out in living cells,” said Kazuhiro Maeshima, a leading author and a professor with the National Institute of Genetics and SOKENDAI, Japan. Chromatin describes the combination of DNA and proteins in the cells of humans and other eukaryotes. According to typical textbook models, chromatin occurs in two forms— euchromatin, that is less condensed and can be transcribed, and heterochromatin, that is more condensed and usually not transcribed. ...

Researchers who found novel coronaviruses in UK bats say genetic surveys of the viruses should be regularly conducted, even if none of those viruses can infect humans yet. Working with a network of bat conservationists, a research team led by Imperial College London and University College London researchers screened faecal samples from UK bats for coronaviruses. Their results, published today in Nature Communications, report circulation of four species of coronaviruses, including two novel ones, among the 16 UK bat species sampled. While some of these ...

Using a high-powered MRI scanner, scientists have discovered an imbalance between neurochemicals in parts of OCD patients’ brains key to decision-making and habit. Chemical imbalances were related to OCD symptom severity, as well as habitual tendencies in a decision-making task. A similar but less pronounced neurochemical imbalance was also detected in healthy individuals with milder compulsive tendencies.     Neuroscientists argue that the findings are a “major piece of the puzzle” in understanding OCD, and could open up new ...

GAO Caixia's group from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has pioneered the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted methods to discover novel deaminase proteins with unique functions through structural prediction and classification. This approach has opened up a range of applications for the discovery and creation of desired plant genetic traits. The results were published in Cell. The discovery of new proteins and the exploitation of diverse engineered enzymes have contributed to the rapid advancement of biotechnology. Currently, efforts to mine novel proteins ...

Key points: Scientists have been mystified as to why animals are missing in much of the fossil record; Researchers have developed a new method to determine if animals really were absent during certain geological eras, or if they were present but too fragile to be preserved; The findings establish a new maximum point at which animals first evolved on Earth. A study led by the University of Oxford has brought us one step closer to solving a mystery that has puzzled naturalists since Charles Darwin: when did animals first appear in the history of Earth? The results have been published ...

About The Study: Neighborhood and household contexts were associated with white matter development in children, and findings suggested that obesity and cognitive performance were possible mediators in these associations. Future research on children’s brain health may benefit from considering these factors from multiple socioeconomic perspectives. Authors: Scott Marek, Ph.D., and Tamara Hershey, Ph.D., of the Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, are the corresponding authors.  To access the embargoed study: Visit our For ...

A Cretaceous origin for placental mammals, the group that includes humans, dogs and bats, has been revealed by in-depth analysis of the fossil record, showing they co-existed with dinosaurs for a short time before the dinosaurs went extinct. The catastrophic destruction triggered by the asteroid hitting the Earth resulted in the death of all non-avian dinosaurs in an event termed the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction. Debate has long raged among researchers over whether placental mammals were present alongside the dinosaurs before the mass extinction, ...

A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that growing up in poverty may influence the wiring of a child’s brain. The study, published June 27 in JAMA Network Open, indicates a link between both neighborhood and household poverty and the brain’s white matter tracts, which allow for communication between brain regions. White matter plays a critical role in helping the brain process information. The findings stem from the largest long-term study of brain development and child health conducted in the U.S. — ...

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 27, 2023 – A trove of more than 160 eBooks in insect science is now available on the BioOne Digital Library, through an extension of BioOne’s partnership with the Entomological Society of America (ESA).   With the launch of the ESA eBook Collection, BioOne and ESA have partnered to source, digitize, and make fully searchable critical books from ESA’s catalog. Through this collaboration, BioOne and ESA share a commitment to make scientific research more accessible with the preservation of over 100 years ...

Cambridge scientists have created a stem cell-derived model of the human embryo in the lab by reprogramming human stem cells. The breakthrough could help research into genetic disorders and in understanding why and how pregnancies fail. Published today in the journal Nature, this embryo model is an organised three-dimensional structure derived from pluripotent stem cells that replicate some developmental processes that occur in early human embryos. Use of such models allows experimental modelling ...

(WASHINGTON, June 27, 2023) – Ask the average American what their blood type is, and you will likely receive a blank look. For most people, blood type only becomes an issue if they need a blood transfusion. Beginning in the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, results from previous work published in Blood Advances suggested that people with blood group A (about a third of the US population) seemed to be more vulnerable to infection with the novel coronavirus, while those with blood group O (about 38% of the population) seemed to be somewhat less susceptible. Until now, however, ...

OAK BROOK, Ill. – Assistance from an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm with high diagnostic accuracy improved radiologist performance in detecting lung cancers on chest X-rays and increased human acceptance of AI suggestions, according to a study published in Radiology, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). While AI-based image diagnosis has advanced rapidly in the medical field, the factors affecting radiologists’ diagnostic determinations in AI-assisted image reading remain underexplored. Researchers at Seoul National University looked at how these factors might influence the detection of malignant lung nodules during ...

Orangutans can make two separate sounds simultaneously, much like songbirds or human beatboxers, according to a study led by the University of Warwick. Academics say the findings provide clues around the evolution of human speech, as well as human beatboxing. Scientists observed two populations of vocalising orangutans in Borneo and Sumatra across a total of 3800 hours and found primates within both groups used the same vocal phenomenon. Dr Adriano Lameira, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Warwick said: “Humans use the lips, tongue, and jaw to make the unvoiced sounds ...

Orangutans can make two separate sounds simultaneously, much like songbirds or human beatboxers, according to a study. Adriano Lameira and Madeleine Hardus observed vocalizing orangutans in the wild. Humans use the lips, tongue, and jaw to make the unvoiced sounds of consonants, while activating the vocal folds in the larynx with exhaled air to make the voiced, open sounds of vowels. Orangutans are capable of producing both types of sounds—and both at once. For example, large male orangutans in Borneo will produce noises known as “chomps” in combination with “grumbles” in combative situations. Females in Sumatra produce “kiss squeaks” atop ...

In a time of income inequality and ruthless politics, people with outsized power or an unrelenting willingness to browbeat others often seem to come out ahead. New research from Dartmouth, however, shows that being uncooperative can help people on the weaker side of the power dynamic achieve a more equal outcome—and even inflict some loss on their abusive counterpart. The findings provide a tool based in game theory—the field of mathematics focused on optimizing competitive strategies—that could be applied to help equalize the balance of power in labor negotiations or international ...

INDIANAPOLIS – Colorectal cancer incidence and deaths are declining for individuals age 50 and older, but are increasing for those under 50. A new study, led by researcher-clinician Thomas Imperiale, M.D., of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University School of Medicine, identifies seven risk factors for early onset colorectal cancer in males. The risk evaluation model the researchers developed may help 45- to 49-year-olds accept and adhere to new national screening recommendations and may also identify younger men for whom earlier screening should be considered. “This study is important because ...

Diminished anthropogenic pollutant emissions during 2020 Covid-19 lockdowns reduced snowmelt in the Himalayas, according to a study. Liqiang Zhang and colleagues used multiple satellite data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), as well as a coupled atmosphere-chemistry-snow model (GEOS-Chem-SNICAR) to explore how the sudden, dramatic reduction in particulate pollution in the region affected snow and ice melt. Snow and ice on the Tibetan plateau act as a water source for over 20% of the global population. However, ice and snow in the Himalayas have been melting at an accelerating rate in recent decades. ...

Iron is the most abundant element by mass on Earth. Despite being so common and well-studied, iron still manages to puzzle scientists by exhibiting electric and magnetic behaviors that are not fully comprehensible. In particular, the physical properties of liquid iron—which makes up most of the Earth’s core—have been the subject of much debate among physicists and geoscientists. The problem is that certain predictions about liquid iron’s properties are difficult to experimentally verify due to the extreme conditions required to ascertain them. For example, liquid iron’s resistivity, which is the inverse of electrical conductivity, has ...

Supramolecular polymers are a new class of polymers that are currently being evaluated for material applications. These interesting compounds also play an important role in cellular activities in the body. "Supra," as the name suggests, is attributed to some unique properties that go beyond those of conventional polymers. Unlike traditional polymers, which are held together by strong, irreversible covalent bonds, supramolecular polymers are held together by weaker, reversible hydrogen bonds. They can reversibly assemble and disassemble, are highly versatile, and can be used for developing targeted drug delivery therapies, sensors to detect pollutants, diagnostic ...

WASHINGTON—People who have just one or two drinks per day are not protected against endocrine conditions such as obesity and type 2 diabetes, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. Alcohol consumption is a significant public health concern because it is related to many medical conditions such as diabetes, obesity, liver conditions and heart disease. While it is widely accepted that excessive alcohol consumption causes a wide range of health issues, whether modest alcohol consumption has beneficial health effects remains controversial. “Some research ...