A new study from the University of Florida's Bureau of Economic and Business Research (BEBR) has found that national elections have a greater impact on consumer sentiment and spending intentions than previously thought, especially during transitions of power between political parties. Led by Hector Sandoval, director of the Economic Analysis Program and research assistant professor at BEBR, the study draws on years of meticulous observation and analysis of monthly sentiments data collected by the UF Survey Research Center. Despite the wealth of data available ...

Artificial intelligence can spot COVID-19 in lung ultrasound images much like facial recognition software can spot a face in a crowd, new research shows. The findings boost AI-driven medical diagnostics and bring health care professionals closer to being able to quickly diagnose patients with COVID-19 and other pulmonary diseases with algorithms that comb through ultrasound images to identify signs of disease. The findings, newly published in Communications Medicine, culminate an effort that started early in the pandemic when clinicians needed tools to rapidly assess legions of patients in overwhelmed emergency rooms. “We developed ...

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2024 MINNEAPOLIS – People who have an influenza infection are more likely to need medical care for neurologic disorders within the next year than people who have a COVID-19 infection, according to a study published in the March 20, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study, funded by the American Academy of Neurology, looked at people who were hospitalized with either influenza or COVID-19. The study did not look specifically at outcomes ...

The first generation of stars transformed the universe. Inside their cores, simple hydrogen and helium fused into a rainbow of elements. When these stars died, they exploded and sent these new elements across the universe. The iron running in your veins and the calcium in your teeth and the sodium powering your thoughts were all born in the heart of a long-dead star.  No one has been able to find one of those first generation of stars, but scientists have announced a unique finding: a star from the second generation that originally formed in a different galaxy from ours. “This ...

Researchers have incorporated a swept illumination source into an open-top light-sheet microscope to enable improved optical sectioning over a larger area of view. The advance makes the technique more practical for nondestructive 3D pathology. 3D pathology is being explored as an alternative to traditional slide-based histology because it can provide detailed 3D insights into pathological structures and cellular interactions without altering the tissue. This approach makes it possible to analyze complex 3D tissue structures and to image thick tissues, which is not possible with slide-based methods. The researchers used their improved open-top ...

In a new Nature study, Columbia Engineering researchers have built a photonic chip that is able to produce high-quality, ultra-low-noise microwave signals using only a single laser. The compact device — a chip so small, it could fit on a sharp pencil point — results in the lowest microwave noise ever observed in an integrated photonics platform. The achievement provides a promising pathway towards small-footprint ultra-low-noise microwave generation for applications such as high-speed communication, atomic clocks, and autonomous vehicles. The challenge Electronic devices for global navigation, wireless communications, radar, and ...

SAN DIEGO—A wave of innovation is hitting California as the Optical Fiber Communications Conference and Exhibition (OFC) gears up to showcase the latest breakthroughs in optical communications and networking. OFC will take place at the San Diego Convention Center from 24 to 28 March 2024 drawing industry leaders, experts, academia, media, analysts and students from around the world to explore the latest in optical technology. Innovative advancements in industrial technologies, as well as research in 800ZR, Coherent PON, Linear Pluggable Optics (LPO), multicore fiber, AI and ...

Killer whales foraging in deep submarine canyons off the coast of California represent a distinct subpopulation that uses specialized hunting techniques to catch marine mammals, Josh McInnes at the University of British Columbia and colleagues report March 20 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE. Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are found in oceans around the world, but they form separate populations, or ‘ecotypes’, that have their own social structure, food preferences and hunting behaviors. One ecotype, known as transient killer whales, specialize in hunting marine ...

More than 7,000 years ago, people navigated the Mediterranean Sea using technologically sophisticated boats, according to a study published March 20, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Juan F. Gibaja of the Spanish National Research Council, Barcelona and colleagues. Many of the most important civilizations in Europe originated on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. During the Neolithic, communities clearly traveled and traded across the water, as evidenced by watercraft in the archeological record and the presence ...

Robotic exoskeletons designed to help humans with walking or physically demanding work have been the stuff of sci-fi lore for decades. Remember Ellen Ripley in that Power Loader in Alien? Or the crazy mobile platform George McFly wore in 2015 in Back to the Future, Part II because he threw his back out? Researchers are working on real-life robotic assistance that could protect workers from painful injuries and help stroke patients regain their mobility. So far, they have required extensive calibration and context-specific tuning, which keeps them largely limited to research labs. Mechanical engineers at Georgia Tech ...

Societal acceptance of autism varies considerably across different countries, with lowest levels of acceptance found in Japan and Belgium, new research shows. A survey of 306 autistic individuals from eight countries revealed that around three quarters of respondents do not feel accepted, or only sometimes feel accepted, as an autistic person. Among these countries, participants in Japan and Belgium reported the lowest levels of acceptance, while those in Canada, the UK, and South Africa reported comparatively higher levels. The study, published in PLOS ONE, is the ...

Whether it’s a powered prosthesis to assist a person who has lost a limb or an independent robot navigating the outside world, we are asking machines to perform increasingly complex, dynamic tasks. But the standard electric motor was designed for steady, ongoing activities like running a compressor or spinning a conveyor belt – even updated designs waste a lot of energy when making more complicated movements. Researchers at Stanford University have invented a way to augment electric motors to make them much more efficient at performing dynamic ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Sometimes planetary physics is like being in a snowball fight. Most people, if handed an already-formed snowball, can use their experience and the feel of the ball to guess what kind of snow it is comprised of: packable and fluffy, or wet and icy. Using nearly the same principles, planetary scientists have been able to study the structure of Europa, Jupiter’s icy moon. Additional Information When worlds collide: Studying impact craters to uncover the secrets of the solar system Breaking in a new planet Purdue scientists and engineers push the boundaries of space knowledge, studying the ...

Measuring between 3 to 3.5 meters, 16 million years old: Paleontologists from the University of Zurich have announced the discovery of a new species of freshwater dolphin in the Peruvian Amazon region. Surprisingly, its closest living relatives can be found in the river dolphins of South Asia. River dolphins are among the rarest modern cetaceans, with most extant species critically endangered. Despite their similar appearance, however, these animals are not directly related, but represent the late survivors of different cetacean groups that once inhabited our planet. An international ...

Using data from both mice and humans, a Johns Hopkins Medicine research team has found that a cell surface protein that senses odors and chemicals may be responsible for — and help explain — sex differences in mammalian blood pressure. The unusual connection between such protein receptors and sex differences in blood pressure, reported in the March 20 issue of Science Advances, may lead to a better understanding of long known differences in blood pressure between females and males.  Blood ...

Repairing patients’ dura more durably Highly adhesive and mechanically strong Dural Tough Adhesive addresses multiple limitations in the repair of the dural membrane lining the brain and spinal cord after trauma and surgeries. By Benjamin Boettner (BOSTON) — The dural membrane (dura) is the outermost of three meningeal layers that line the central nervous system (CNS), which includes the brain and spinal cord. Together, the meninges function as a shock-absorber to protect the CNS against trauma, circulate nutrients throughout the CNS, as well as remove waste. The dura also is a critical biological barrier that contains cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) surrounding ...

Quantum computers promise to tackle some of the most challenging problems facing humanity today. While much attention has been directed towards the computation of quantum information, the transduction of information within quantum networks is equally crucial in materializing the potential of this new technology. Addressing this need, a research team at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) is now introducing a new approach for transducing quantum information: the team has manipulated quantum bits, so called qubits, by harnessing the magnetic field ...

Frequent musculoskeletal pain is linked with an increased risk of exiting work and retiring earlier, according to a new study from the University of Portsmouth. The paper published this week in open-access journal PLOS ONE found the association between musculoskeletal pain and retiring earlier persisted even after accounting for working conditions, job satisfaction and sex. Dr Nils Niederstrasser and colleagues used data on 1,156 individuals aged 50+ living in England who took part in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Over the course of the 14-year data collection period, 1,073 of the individuals retired. The researchers found that people with musculoskeletal ...

A millimeter-scale, chip-less and battery-less implant can wirelessly monitor a series of parameters within your body and communicate with a wearable device attached on the skin. In a recent study published in the journal Science Advances, researchers from Peking University have unveiled a miniaturized implantable sensor capable of health monitoring without the need of transcutaneous wires, integrated circuit chips, or bulky readout equipment, thereby reducing infection risks, improving biocompatibility, and enhancing portability. Han Mengdi from Peking University, the lead researcher of ...

Published in Nature, a new study has identified recurring, ‘toxic’ human conversation patterns on social media, which are common to users irrespective of the platform used, the topic of discussion, and the decade in which the conversation took place. In particular, the study suggests that prolonged conversations on social media are more prone to toxicity, and polarisation, when divergent viewpoints from debate lead to an escalation of online disagreement. Contrary to the prevailing assumption, the study suggests that toxic interactions do not deter users from engagement, they actively participate in conversations. It also suggests that toxicity ...

Immunological memory — the ability to respond to a previously encountered antigen, or foreign substance, with greater speed and intensity on re-exposure is a hallmark of adaptive immunity. Innate immune cells also develop metabolic and epigenetic memories that boost their responses, but it was previously unknown if non-immune cells like astrocytes, which interact with immune cells and contribute to inflammation in the central nervous system (CNS), acquire aspects of immune memory of encountering ...

Quebec City, March 20, 2024–Canada should ban marketing of unhealthy foods wherever children may be exposed, whether on TV, social media or billboards. This is one of the main conclusions of a Canada-wide study involving more than fifty food and nutrition experts made public today by a team from Université Laval's Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences.   The study, conducted as part of a research program funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, also recommends better funding ...

The 7th World Conference on Targeting Phage Therapy 2024 is set to take place on June 20-21 at the Corinthia Palace Malta, introducing the latest advancements within the field of phage research and therapy. Robert T. Schooley, M.D., Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, and Co-Director of the Center for Innovative Phage Applications and Therapeutics, will lead the discourse, presenting insights and strategies essential to Phage Therapy in his talk titled "Phage Therapeutics 2024: Essential Translational Research Components for Clinical Trials."   Agenda at a Glance Day One: will focus on Phages, Hosts & Microbiome, exploring ...

Many companies proclaiming ethical credentials resist paying a premium to test their suppliers’ sustainability claims, new research suggests. A team from Bayes Business School (formerly Cass), City, University of London, studied responses from 234 managers with procurement decision-making powers. While buyers’ purchasing decisions are not solely price-driven, the team found, they are often happy to accept suppliers’ reassurances about sustainability rather than pay a premium for third party verification. Despite accepting ...

To “breathe” in an environment without oxygen, bacteria in the ground beneath our feet depend upon a single family of proteins to transfer excess electrons, produced during the “burning” of nutrients, to electric hairs called nanowires projecting from their surface, found by researchers at Yale University and NOVA School of Science and Technology, NOVA University Lisbon (NOVA-FCT).  This family of proteins in essence acts as plugs that power these nanowires to create a natural electrical ...