Over half of the 60 countries holding national elections this year are experiencing a democratic decline, risking the integrity of the electoral process, as reported in the latest Democracy Report from the V-Dem Institute at the University of Gothenburg. The worsening election quality is concerning, given the pivotal role elections play in either reinforcing or mitigating the trend of autocratization. The wave of democratic backsliding, or autocratization, continues to be noticeable, according to the report. 42 countries are autocratizing, and 71 percent of the world’s population now live in autocracies – up from 48 percent ten years ago. There ...

The frequency and scale of mass mortality events — events where large numbers of organisms die in short periods of time — among farmed salmon have increased since 2012, according to a study published in Scientific Reports. Gerald Singh and colleagues analysed salmon mortality data from Norway, Canada, the UK, Chile, Australia, New Zealand — countries that produced over 92% of the world’s farmed salmon in 2021 — between 2012 and 2022. They identified 865 million instances of salmon mortality during ...

The cacao tree (Theobroma cacao), whose beans (cocoa) are used to make products including chocolate, liquor and cocoa butter, may have spread from the Amazon basin to the other regions of South and Central America at least 5,000 years ago via trade routes, suggests a paper published in Scientific Reports. These findings, based on residues in ancient vessels, reveal how different strains of cacao tree were bred and suggest that cacao products were more widely used among ancient South and Central American cultures than previously thought. The modern cacao tree — whose scientific ...

About The Study: The findings of this analysis of nationally representative data suggest that youth experienced a significant and sustained increase in mental health burden for over a decade preceding the COVID-19 pandemic, and treatment and prevention strategies will need to address preexisting psychiatric needs in addition to the direct effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Authors: Florence T. Bourgeois, M.D., M.P.H., of Boston Children’s Hospital, 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/jamanetworkopen.2024.1468) Editor’s ...

About The Study: Although cigarettes remained the dominant product sold during the study period (2018-2022), their market share decreased, leading to a more diverse marketplace at a range of price points. The fastest growing and only price-stable products were modern oral nicotine (e.g., nicotine pouches). The most expensive products were electronic nicotine delivery systems, yet prices decreased in 2019, coinciding with the emergence of cheap, flavored disposable vapes. Cigars, which are largely flavored, remained the cheapest product, driven by low cost and small pack sizes, which is concerning given that flavored ...

With technology developed at UC Riverside, scientists can, for the first time, make high resolution images of the human spinal cord during surgery. The advancement could help bring real relief to millions suffering chronic back pain. The technology, known as fUSI or functional ultrasound imaging, not only enables clinicians to see the spinal cord, but also enables them to map the cord’s response to various treatments in real time. A paper published today in the journal Neuron details how fUSI worked for six people undergoing electrical stimulation for chronic back ...

A groundbreaking method for measuring the temperature of nanometer-sized samples within a transmission electron microscope (TEM) has been developed by Professor Oh-Hoon Kwon and his research team in the Department of Chemistry at UNIST. This innovative technology, utilizing nano-thermometers based on cathodoluminescence (CL) spectroscopy, opens up new possibilities for analyzing the thermodynamic properties of fine samples and advancing the development of high-tech materials. The transmission electron microscope allows researchers to observe ...

A “game-changing” $1.3m cash injection has been awarded to researchers exploring if doctors can prescribe fishing to treat PTSD.   The vital funding will allow the University of Essex’s Dr Nick Cooper and collaborator Dr Mark Wheeler to expand their influential work which has helped hundreds of military veterans.   Now the Department of Psychology’s Dr Cooper will explore if casting a rod from the bankside can aid police officers, paramedics, firefighters, and the coast guard deal with trauma.     Taking place over the course of three and a half years the National Institute for Health and Care Research-funded ...

Ageing baby boomers are swelling the ranks of elderly across the Western world, with Norway no exception. We know Norway's elderly population will increase, and it's likely there will be far fewer healthcare professionals to take care of them. The last 20 years has seen the population of Norwegians over the age of 80 increase by 40,000; the percentage of people aged 67-79 has grown by 37.9 per cent over the last 10 years. Over the next 20 years, there will be 250,000 more Norwegians over the age of 80. The ageing crisis has been predicted for ...

The oldest fossilised forest known on Earth – dating from 390 million years ago – has been found in the high sandstone cliffs along the Devon and Somerset coast of South West England. The fossils, discovered and identified by researchers from the Universities of Cambridge and Cardiff, are the oldest fossilised trees ever found in Britain, and the oldest known fossil forest on Earth. This fossil forest is roughly four million years older than the previous record holder, which was found in New York State. The fossils were found near Minehead, on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, near what is now a Butlin’s holiday ...

Lugano, Switzerland, 07 March 2024 – The European Lung Cancer Congress 2024 is the annual appointment that brings together various experts in the field of thoracic oncology, including thoracic surgeons, respiratory physicians and pneumologists, medical and radiation oncologists, interventional radiologists and pathologists, to discuss the latest insights into the recent developments in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer.  The event will take place in Prague, Czech Republic, and through a dedicated ...

As any percussionist or fidgety pen-tapper can tell you, different materials make different noises when you hit them. Researchers at Drexel University hope this foundational acoustic phenomenon could be the key to the speedy removal of lead water lines that have been poisoning water supplies throughout the country for decades. A recent study conducted with geotechnical engineering consultant Seaflower Consulting Services, showed that it is possible to discern a buried pipe’s composition by striking ...

A research team, affiliated with UNIST has unveiled a cutting-edge catalyst with exceptional oxidizing power, capable of extracting electrons from compounds. Anticipated to revolutionize various fields, including the development of metal catalysts and synthetic chemistry, this catalyst marks a significant breakthrough in catalytic research. Led by Professor Jaeheung Cho in the Department of Chemistry at UNIST, the research team successfully synthesized the pioneering manganese-fluorine catalyst, utilizing the Macrocyclic Pyridinophane System. This catalyst demonstrates the ability to induce oxidation reactions, ...

One in four older adults take aspirin at least three times a week, mostly in hopes of preventing heart attacks and strokes, a new poll shows. But many people aged 50 to 80 who said they take aspirin may not need to, the findings from the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging suggest. In all, 57% of people aged 50 to 80 who say they take aspirin regularly also said they don’t have a history of cardiovascular disease. Such people should have a conversation with their health care provider about what’s best for them before stopping or starting aspirin use. National guidelines have changed in recent years for using aspirin for prevention, ...

Antimicrobial resistance is a story of constantly moving parts and players. With every new or tweaked antibiotic or antimicrobial drug, the targeted pathogens begin the evolutionary dance of acquiring resistance, prompting researchers to constantly develop workarounds or entirely new classes of medicine. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of acquired antimicrobial resistance is critical to the fight, a case of knowing one’s enemy. In a new paper published March 2, 2024 in npj Antimicrobials and Resistance, part of the Nature Portfolio, researchers at Sanford Burnham Prebys, working with Roche Pharma Research and Early Development, ...

Before a robot can grab dishes off a shelf to set the table, it must ensure its gripper and arm won’t crash into anything and potentially shatter the fine china. As part of its motion planning process, a robot typically runs “safety check” algorithms that verify its trajectory is collision-free.  However, sometimes these algorithms generate false positives, claiming a trajectory is safe when the robot would actually collide with something. Other methods that can avoid false positives are typically too slow for robots in the real world. Now, MIT researchers have developed a safety check technique which can prove with 100 percent accuracy ...

Background and objectives Obesity is a chronic metabolic disease associated with the development of several other diseases, including cancer. The present study aims to evaluate the eating habits, physical activity, and clinical profiles of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients with overweight/obesity.   Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted with data collected from the medical records of patients diagnosed with CRC (n = 41) from June 2019 to June 2022. Additionally, a questionnaire (n = 35) was applied to gather information on eating habits and physical activity. The data were ...

Endometriosis is a chronic condition affecting women, often resulting in painful symptoms such as menstrual cramps and pelvic pain. Pain caused by endometriosis significantly lowers the quality of life and reproductive health of affected women, with around one-third of women still experiencing pain and discomfort despite treatment. While hormonal therapies and surgeries are common treatments, they often do not result in complete alleviation of symptoms. Effectively managing pain is, therefore, crucial for managing ...

The global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare systems has been significant. The sudden surge in infected cases overwhelmed hospitals and disrupted routine healthcare services, thus further worsening public health. Managing patients, too, has been challenging due to the variation of COVID-19 symptoms, ranging from mild to severe, that require medical intervention.   To help hospitals prioritize patients in need of care, researchers have been looking into various biological markers that can determine the risk of the disease becoming more severe. Among these, proteins in the blood related to blood clot formation, increased inflammation, and ...

Spintronics is a field that deals with electronics that exploit the intrinsic spin of electrons and their associated magnetic moment for applications such as quantum computing and memory storage devices. Owing to its spin and magnetism exhibited in its insulator-metal phase transition, the strongly correlated electron systems of nickel oxide (NiO) have been thoroughly explored for over eight decades. Interest in its unique antiferromagnetic (AF) and spin properties has seen a revival lately, since NiO is a potential material for ultrafast spintronics devices.   Despite this rise in popularity, exploration of its surface magnetic properties using ...

As role models and mentors for the youth, teachers play an important role in guiding children into well-rounded adults. However, excessive workloads and high skill expectations have allegedly led to teacher shortages in Japan. In 2022, the Ministry of Education Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) reported a record low in applicants for primary school teaching positions, and a survey from the same year revealed that 65.8% of 924 full-time educators expressed a desire to quit due to overwhelming demands. To address the teacher shortage, Associate Professor Akihiro Saito from ...

The James Webb Space Telescope makes one of the most unexpected findings within its first year of service: A high number of faint little red dots in the distant Universe could change the way we understand the genesis of supermassive black holes. The research, led by Jorryt Matthee, Assistant Professor in astrophysics at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), is now published in The Astrophysical Journal. A bunch of little red dots found in a tiny region of our night sky might be an unexpected breakthrough for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) within its first year of service. These objects were indistinguishable from normal galaxies through the ...

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and Los Alamos National Laboratory have used machine learning to create a model that can simulate reactive processes in a diverse set of organic materials and conditions. "It's a tool that can be used to investigate more reactions in this field," said Shuhao Zhang, a graduate student in Carnegie Mellon University's Department of Chemistry. "We can offer a full simulation of the reaction mechanisms." Zhang is the first author on the paper that explains the creation and results of this new machine learning model, ...

Common inherited genetic factors that predict cancer risk in the general population may also predict elevated risk of new cancers among childhood cancer survivors, according to a study led by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health. The findings, published March 7, 2024, in Nature Medicine, provide additional evidence that genetics may play an important role in the development of subsequent cancers in survivors of childhood cancer and suggest that common inherited variants could potentially inform screening and long-term ...

[Vienna, March 5 2024] — The world population is aging at an increasing pace. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2023, one in six people were over 60 years old. By 2050, the number of people over 60 is expected to double to 2.1 billion. “As age increases, the risk of multiple, often chronic diseases occurring simultaneously—known as multimorbidity—significantly rises,” explains Elma Dervic from the Complexity Science Hub (CSH). Given the demographic shift we are facing, this poses several challenges. On one hand, multimorbidity diminishes ...