In a study published on January 18, 2024 in the journal Physics of Fluids, researchers from Tohoku University theoretically linked ignition and deflagration in a combustion system, unlocking new configurations for stable, efficient combustion engines due to the possible existence of any number of steady-state solutions. "This research directly tackles the challenge of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by enhancing the efficiency of combustion engines, a significant source of these emissions," said Youhi Morii from the ...

In 1879, Edison invented the incandescent lamp, which brought light to the night. In 1969, the first red light emitting diodes (LEDs) lamp came out. However, as the key to making white light bulbs, high-energy blue light has not been successfully commercialized. Until 1998, the Japan’s Nakamura Shoji made white LEDs, which marked the official entry of LEDs into the lighting era. LEDs have the advantages of high efficiency, environmental protection and energy saving. Metal halide perovskites (MHPs) have become a powerful candidate for new LEDs ...

In our digital networked society, random bit generators (RBGs) are vital for services and state-of-the-art technologies such as cryptographically secured communication, blockchain technologies, and quantum key distribution. An ever-increasing demand to improve the security of digital information has shifted the generation of random bits from sole reliance on pseudorandom algorithms to the use of physical entropy sources. Shannon’s theorem establishes that it is required for the ultimate security to achieve bit rate matching that of the true RBGs with that of the communication systems. For this purpose, optical chaos has been widely studied in the past decades as a means for the ...

Peer-reviewed / Modelling study / People Embargoed access to the paper and contact details for authors are available in Notes to Editors at the end of the release. Most comprehensive study to date finds the burden of nervous system (neurological) conditions is much greater than previously understood, with this diverse group of conditions affecting 43% of the world’s population (3.4 billion individuals) in 2021. Neurological conditions were responsible for 443 million years of healthy life lost due to illness, disability, and premature death (disability-adjusted life years) in 2021, making them the ...

A positive relationship with a teacher at an early age may help children to feel more engaged with school, but not necessarily in the long term, new research shows. The finding comes from a University of Cambridge study of more than 3,600 young people in Australia, using data gathered at several points between the ages of eight and 15. The students’ levels of school engagement – meaning their interest in school and willingness to learn – fluctuated during this period, especially during the ...

Liver disease specialists at the University of Chicago Medicine will soon begin prescribing a first-of-its-kind drug for treating advanced metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) — formerly known as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Resmetirom (to be sold under the brand name Rezdiffra), received FDA approval on March 14, 2024. It is the first medication approved for treating metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), a more advanced stage of MASLD characterized by liver inflammation and scarring known as fibrosis. “Until now, liver disease has ...

**Note: the release below is a special early release from the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2024, Barcelona, Spain, 27-30 April). Please credit the congress if you use this story** Long COVID appears to manifest as a post-viral syndrome indistinguishable from seasonal influenza and other respiratory illnesses, with no evidence of increased moderate-to-severe functional limitations a year after infection, according to new research being presented at this year’s European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2024) in ...

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) can be a life-saving therapy for patients with acute heart or lung failure. During ECMO therapy, a patient’s blood flows out of their veins through tubes and into a machine that does both the actions of the heart and lungs. The oxygenated blood is then returned to the body allowing the heart and lungs to rest. While ECMO can stabilize a critically ill patient in an intensive care unit, the procedure carries significant risks, including brain injury. Often these patients are comatose, and current neuromonitoring techniques are too risky and invasive to perform routinely. Now, researchers at the University ...

Kurdish uprisings have become a way for people to assert their identity and challenge their historical and structural erasure in modern Iran, a new study shows. Protests following the death of Jina (Mahsa) Amini in police custody in Iran led to “remarkable” acts of resistance built on decades of activism, according to the research. The study, published in the International Journal of Middle East Studies, outlines how the growing resistance that up to “Jîna's uprising” had been largely unnoticed by many Iranians. Dr ...

Inhaling nontuberculous mycobacteria is common for most people. The bacteria are found in water systems, soil and dust worldwide and, for many, cause no harm. For those with underlying conditions, nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) can infect the lungs, causing symptoms similar to tuberculosis. Inflammation can cause a chronic and sometimes bloody cough as well as scarring, which can make respiratory infections like bronchitis and pneumonia more common. Due to the slow growth of the bacteria, proper diagnosis and treatment can take months. In a new study, Tulane University researchers have developed a CRISPR-based platform for diagnosing NTM infections where blood testing ...

Electrical engineers at Duke University have determined the theoretical fundamental limit for how much electromagnetic energy a transparent material with a given thickness can absorb. The finding will help engineers optimize devices designed to block certain frequencies of radiation while allowing others to pass through, for applications such as stealth or wireless communications. “Much of the physics of the known universe already have fundamental solutions or are too complex to get an exact answer,” said Willie Padilla, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Duke. “In any field, finding a truly novel, fundamental, exact ...

AMHERST, Mass. – A team of researchers including University of Massachusetts Amherst engineers have proven that their analog computing device, called a memristor, can complete complex, scientific computing tasks while bypassing the limitations of digital computing.   Many of today’s important scientific questions—from nanoscale material modeling to large-scale climate science—can be explored using complex equations. However, today’s digital computing systems are reaching their limit for performing these computations in terms of speed, energy consumption and infrastructure.   Qiangfei Xia, ...

Restored salmon habitat should resemble financial portfolios, offering fish diverse options for feeding and survival so that they can weather various conditions as the climate changes, a new study shows. The researchers looked at threatened spring-run Chinook salmon in tributaries of the Sacramento River. It found that restored sites that produce lots of fish may be especially vulnerable to changes such as drought. Such sites should be coupled with other varying sites that support the salmon population in diverse ways. “The fish need all the different ...

AURORA, Colo. (March 14, 2024) – Managing circadian rhythms through intense light and chronologically timed therapy can help prevent or treat a variety of circulatory system conditions including heart disease, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. The study was published today in Circulation Research, an official journal of the American Heart Association. “The impact of circadian rhythms on cardiovascular function and disease development is well established,” ...

Even in tech-heavy Washington state, the numbers of students with access to computer science classes aren’t higher than national averages: In the 2022-2023 school year, 48% of public high schools offered foundational CS classes and 5% of middle school and high school students took such classes. Those numbers have inched up, but historically marginalized populations are still less likely to attend schools teaching computer science, and certain groups — such as Latinx students and young women — are less likely than their peers to be enrolled in the classes even if the school offers them. To reach a greater diversity of grade-school ...

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — The Association for Psychological Science (APS), the leading organization serving psychological researchers, practitioners, teachers, and students from around the world, has announced a new partnership that will expand the training and career development resources available to its members.   APS has partnered with Instats, a virtual learning platform offering live and on-demand research training seminars, courses, and workshops. Instats provides its PhD-level programming through its global network of ...

A recent study from the lab of Dr. Hugo J. Bellen, distinguished service professor at Baylor College of Medicine and investigator at the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (Duncan NRI) links the FRYL gene to a new neurodevelopmental disorder in humans. They used fruit flies to establish that the loss of a functional copy of the FRY-like transcription coactivator (FRYL) gene is the underlying cause of this new disorder in fourteen individuals. The study was published in the American Journal of Human Genetics. FRYL ...

A person’s age, sex and location are correlated with the chance that they have a bloodstream infection that is resistant to antibiotics, according to a new study published March 14th in PLOS Medicine by Gwenan Knight of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, and colleagues. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), in which infections cannot be treated with antibiotics, is a major global public health threat. Little has been known about how the prevalence of resistance varies with age and sex even though antibiotic usage, changes in immune function, and exposure to high-risk settings are all linked to age and sex. In the new study, researchers analyzed ...

Coronavirus envelope protein is a drug target for new platform for the identification and optimization of peptides against SARS-CoV-2   ##### In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available paper in PLOS Biology:   http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002522 Article Title: Developing inhibitory peptides against SARS-CoV-2 envelope protein Author Countries: United States Funding: This work was supported by Columbia University Dean’s ...

Our nervous systems are naturally wired to sense fear. Whether prompted by the eerie noises we hear alone in the dark or the approaching growl of a threatening animal, our fear response is a survival mechanism that tells us to remain alert and avoid dangerous situations. But if fear arises in the absence of tangible threats, it can be harmful to our well-being. Those who have suffered episodes of severe or life-threatening stress can later experience intense feelings of fear, even during situations that lack a real threat. Experiencing this generalization of fear is psychologically damaging and can result in debilitating long-term mental health conditions ...

Materials that are incredibly thin, only a few atoms thick, exhibit unique properties that make them appealing for energy storage, catalysis and water purification. Researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, have now developed a method that enables the synthesis of hundreds of new 2D materials. Their study has been published in the journal Science. Since the discovery of graphene, the field of research in extremely thin materials, so-called 2D materials, has increased exponentially. The reason is that 2D materials have a large surface area in relation to their volume or weight. This ...

Previously undescribed human gut bacteria that aid in the digestion of plant cellulose are scarce in urban societies but abundant in ancient and hunter-gatherer microbiomes, according to a new study. The findings provide insight into the poorly understood cellulosome-producing bacteria that inhabit the human gut and their response to modern urban diets and lifestyles. Like all mammals, humans rely on the gut microbiome to digest cellulose – the main component of plant fiber and a common element in diets that include plant-based material. Fermentation of dietary fiber via cellulosome-producing ...

In a Policy Forum, Diane Hoffman and colleagues argue that direct-to-consumer (DTC) microbiome tests lack analytical and clinical validity and require more federal regulation to prevent consumer harm. A growing body of research has suggested the potential for improving human health by better understanding the microbiome, leading to the emergence of a global industry selling DTC microbiome services. However, despite its impact on the lifestyle health and wellness market, regulation of the DTC microbiome testing industry has been virtually ignored. According to Hoffman et al., these companies’ claims of having ...

Researchers have developed a more sustainable method to do the work required to make plastics that are comparable to widely used low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plastics. They  say their method is industrially viable. LDPE is a soft, flexible, and lightweight plastic material that is widely used in a variety of commercial applications, including plastic films, bottles and other pliable products. LDPE’s unique properties are derived from its tree-branch-like molecular structure, bestowing flexibility. The material is also ductile due to its lower crystallinity. These properties set it apart from other, more linear varieties of polyethylene. ...

Researchers report they have boosted the performance of a thermoelectric device using an approach that doesn’t require tellurium. The findings reveal a path toward more efficient and sustainable commercial applications of thermoelectric cooling based on Earth-abundant compounds. Efficient and sustainable cooling is crucial to modern living, particularly in our warming world. However, current cooling strategies require substantial energy, which can exacerbate anthropogenic climate impacts. Thermoelectric cooling is an attractive solid-state heat-pump technology that could reduce energy consumption ...