A new study suggests that children who felt lonely for more than 6 months before the age of 12 are more likely to experience an episode of psychosis than children who did not, with women more affected than men. Psychosis refers to a collection of symptoms that affect a person’s mind, where there has been some loss of contact with reality.[1] During an episode of psychosis, a person may have difficulty recognising what is real and what is not.[1] Symptoms of psychosis include hallucinations, delusions and confused thoughts.[2] In some instances, psychosis may be a symptom of other mental health conditions, such as schizophrenia, ...

A collaborated research team led by The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and Tsinghua University has theoretically proposed a new mechanism of electrical 180° switching of Néel vector and experimentally realized it in antiferromagnetic materials with spin-splitting band structure featuring the C-paired spin-valley locking, also named as altermagnet. The team also demonstrated the material's capability to manipulate Néel vector, paving the way for the manufacturing ...

Interviews with military veterans who expressed support for extremist groups or related beliefs on a prior survey show that many experienced a significant negative event during their military service, according to a new RAND report.   Researchers found that these veterans also often faced difficulties transitioning to civilian life and sometimes shared their beliefs with a wider social network.   RAND researchers conducted 21 interviews with veterans who had indicated support for one or more extremist groups or related beliefs to understand possible drivers and patterns of extremism among veterans. That support ...

Peregrine falcon populations across North America are heavily contaminated with harmful flame retardants–including those that have been phased out for years–according to a new study published in Environmental Science & Technology. Flame retardants are chemicals added to furniture, electronics, and other everyday products to meet flammability standards, though they often do not work as intended. They also migrate out of products they are added to and end up in wildlife and people and many are linked to serious health and environmental harms.  “Our ...

The increasing demand in the embedded field has led to the emergence of several impressive Instruction Set Architectures (ISAs). However, when processors migrate from one ISA to another, software compatibility issues are unavoidable. Despite the availability of software binary translation systems for ensuring software compatibility, these systems have limitations (e.g. performance and power) in low-cost embedded systems. To solve the problems, a research team led by Professor Libo HUANG published their new research on 18 Mar 2024 in ...

A research team consisting of Professor Kyoung-Duck Park and Hyeongwoo Lee, an integrated PhD student, from the Department of Physics at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) has pioneered an innovative technique in ultra-high-resolution spectroscopy. Their breakthrough marks the world's first instance of electrically controlling polaritons—hybridized light-matter particles—at room temperature.   Polaritons are "half-light half-matter" hybrid particles, having both the characteristics of photons—particles of light—and those of solid matter. Their unique characteristics exhibit properties distinct from both traditional ...

A mutation in a protein regulating natural killer (NK) cells’ function is at the root of immune deficiency in some people with a rare genetic condition characterized by cognitive and developmental delay, seizures, and other manifestations, new UCLA-led research suggests. The researchers found that loss or mutations in a gene called MEF2C disrupted the ability of NK cells to take up chemical compounds called lipids that are used to fuel crucial functions such as tumor cell killing and creating inflammatory molecules. They found that people with the rare neurological syndrome called (MCHS) who have the mutation in this gene are particularly ...

Chromatin accessibility, a fundamental property of DNA that plays a critical role in gene regulation and cell identity, refers to the degree that nuclear macromolecules can access and interact with DNA. With the rapid advances in single-cell chromatin accessibility sequencing (scCAS) technologies, the importance of cell type annotation in scCAS data is on the rise due to its potential to capture the chromatin regulatory landscape that controls gene transcription in each cell type. However, there are still significant limitations of existing automatic annotation methods, including low annotation accuracy, failure ...

Brain organoids, though often referred to as “mini brains,” are not truly human brains. But the concerns over these lab-grown brain tissues, especially when they are developed from human fetal tissues, can be very human indeed. Researchers from the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Hiroshima University offer valuable insights into the complexities inherent in brain organoid research, making significant contributions to the ongoing discourse surrounding this innovative biotechnology and paving the way for informed decision-making and legal and ethical stewardship in the pursuit of scientific advancement. Their paper was published on March ...

In findings published in Cell Reports, senior author Jerold Chun, M.D., Ph.D., and team also discovered that the biological instructions within these vesicles differed significantly in postmortem brain samples donated from patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers call the tiny brain bubbles under scrutiny in this study small extracellular vesicles (sEVs). These tiny biological water balloons are produced by most cells in the body to ferry a wide variety of proteins, lipids and byproducts of cellular metabolism, as well as RNA nucleic acid codes used by recipient cells to construct new proteins. Because this biologically active cargo can easily elicit changes in other ...

The American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2024 awards, which honor distinction in service, outreach, education, and research. ASPB-Carnegie Winslow Briggs Mentorship Award Judy Brusslan, California State University, Long Beach, CA Joanne Chory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA Charles Albert Shull Award Robert Schmitz, University of Georgia, Athens, GA Charles Reid Barnes Life Membership Award Julia Bailey-Serres, University of California, Riverside, ...

University of Cambridge media release   Early medieval money mystery solved   UNDER STRICT EMBARGO UNTIL 00:01 AM (UK TIME) ON TUESDAY 9TH APRIL 2024   Byzantine bullion fuelled Europe’s revolutionary adoption of silver coins in the mid-7th century, only to be overtaken by silver from a mine in Charlemagne’s Francia a century later, new tests reveal. The findings could transform our understanding of Europe’s economic and political development.   Between 660 and 750 AD, Anglo-Saxon England witnessed a profound revival in trade involving a dramatic ...

Effective today, Himabindu Vidula, MD, MS, FACC, will serve as chair of the American College of Cardiology Board of Governors (BOG) and secretary of the Board of Trustees. Her term will run one year from 2024-2025. Vidula will lead governors from chapters representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico and representatives from the U.S. health services. The BOG serves as the grassroots governing body of the ACC, a leading cardiovascular organization representing over 56,000 cardiovascular care team members around the world. “As ...

      MEDIA INQUIRES   WRITTEN BY Laura Muntean   Gabe Saldana laura.muntean@ag.tamu.edu   gabe.saldana@ag.tamu.edu 601-248-1891     A ...

UC Davis Health cardiology team members are among the first in the country to treat patients with tricuspid regurgitation, or a leaky heart valve, by using a groundbreaking catheter. The minimally invasive procedure, a transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER), is made possible with a new medical device called the Abbott TriClip™ system. UC Davis Medical Center is one of the first sites nationwide to have commercial access to TriClip and is the first hospital in Western United States to utilize the system since it was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week. UC Davis also hosted clinical trials for the procedure in 2023. “We are excited to offer our ...

Home-schooling and caring for children during the COVID-19 school and daycare closures left many working mothers physically and mentally exhausted and with little or no time to switch off, a new study shows. The experience left working women with children feeling stressed, guilty, and worried, researchers found. Mothers often felt overly stressed trying to balance work and family responsibilities, guilty for not meeting their child’s needs, and were worried over their child’s well-being and academic progress and increasing work demands. Most of those who took part in ...

In a recent study, researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah (the U) found a surprising trend in families with male infertility: an increased risk of certain cancers. This discovery could lead to a more personalized approach to cancer risk assessments, making cancer prevention more effective.  According to the National Institutes of Health, around 9% of men at reproductive age have experienced fertility problems.  “We know that men who experience infertility tend to have more health issues like cardiovascular disease, autoimmune conditions, earlier mortality, ...

A new study by Upstate Medical University researchers shows that recreational cannabis use may offer protection against cognitive decline. The study, done by Master of Public Health (MPH) student Zhi Chen and Professor Roger Wong, Ph.D., MPH, MSW, analyzed a large data set from the CDC and found that compared to non-users, non-medical cannabis use, such as for recreational purposes, was significantly associated with 96 percent decreased odds of subjective cognitive decline (SCD). Medical and dual (medical and non-medical) use were also associated with ...

Coronary artery disease and major depression may be genetically linked via inflammatory pathways to an increased risk for cardiomyopathy, a degenerative heart muscle disease, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Massachusetts General Hospital have found.   Their report, published April 5 in the journal Nature Mental Health, suggests that drugs prescribed for coronary artery disease and depression, when used in combination, potentially may reduce inflammation and prevent the development of cardiomyopathy.   “This work suggests that chronic low-level inflammation may be a significant contributor to both depression ...

URBANA, Ill. – Carbon monoxide emissions from industrial production have serious consequences for human health and are a strong indicator of overall air pollution levels. Many countries aim to reduce their emissions, but they cannot control air flows originating in other regions. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign looks at global flows of air pollution and how they relate to economic activity in the global supply chain. “Our study is unique in combining atmospheric transport of air pollution with supply chain analysis as it tells us where the pollution is coming ...

Holographic displays offer a promising avenue for achieving lifelike 3D reproductions with continuous depth sensation, holding potential applications in fields such as entertainment, medical imaging, and virtual reality. However, the conventional methods for generating computer-generated holograms (CGHs) rely on repetitive computations, leading to increased computational complexity and impracticality for real-time applications. To tackle this issue, researchers from the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology (China) have introduced a novel method for CGH generation that significantly reduces computational overhead while ...

A recent analysis shows that renewable energy could be a viable alternative to diesel fuel for science at the South Pole. The analysis deeply explores the feasibility of replacing part of the energy production at the South Pole with renewable sources. For almost as long as humans have spent time in Antarctica, the continent has been a home for science. One of the research outposts located there is the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. The science done there includes studies of climate change and cosmology. Currently, ...

Cathie Biga, MSN, FACC, today became president of the American College of Cardiology and made history as the organization’s first non-physician president. She will serve a one-year term representing over 56,000 cardiovascular care team members around the world and leading the cardiovascular organization in its mission to transform cardiovascular care and improve heart health for all. “I’m excited to bring my own set of leadership skills and perspectives to the ACC as we kick off the first year of our new Strategic Plan and celebrate the College’s 75th ...

Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 8 April 2024     Annals of Internal Medicine Tip Sheet      @Annalsofim     Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not only on their own behalf, ...

  The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) selected Texas Innovates, a non-profit organization focused on hydrogen and carbon innovation and expansion in the greater Houston and Gulf Coast region, as one of 23 phase 1 winners of the Energy Program for Innovation Clusters (EPIC) Round 3 competition. Notably, Texas Innovates is the only Texas entity to advance to phase 2 of the competition. “We have been working towards this day since we identified the need for energy hardware incubation in 2017 and were a finalist in 2019 for C40 Cities global competition to make Houston’s Velasco Incinerator ...