A specific gene may play a key role in new treatments that prevent muscle in the body from breaking down in serious muscle diseases, muscular dystrophies. This is shown in a new study at Umeå University, Sweden. Protein expressed by the gene naturally prevents the muscles around the eye from being affected when other muscles in the body are broken down during muscular dystrophies. In the study, the so-called genetic scissors were used and the gene is expressed in all muscles. The effects were that muscular dystrophin was alleviated throughout the body. "You could say that the eye muscles function as both an eye-opener for understanding the disease and as a door ...

WASHINGTON (March 6, 2024)--Despite progress toward cleaner air in the US, a new study suggests that communities of color across the nation are shouldering a growing burden of diseases linked to air pollution. A paper published today by researchers at the George Washington University suggests that racial and ethnic disparities in cases of pollutant-linked diseases like asthma increased during the last decade.   “Redlining and systemic racism have resulted in the least white areas of the US being located near factories, congested roadways or shipping routes with heavily ...

If you recently had trouble figuring out if an image of a person is real or generated through artificial intelligence (AI), you're not alone.  A new study from University of Waterloo researchers found that people had more difficulty than was expected distinguishing who is a real person and who is artificially generated.  The Waterloo study saw 260 participants provided with 20 unlabeled pictures: 10 of which were of real people obtained from Google searches, and the other 10 generated by Stable Diffusion or DALL-E, two commonly used AI programs that generate ...

In a groundbreaking study published in Engineering, a collaborative team of researchers from Shanghai University and international experts have unveiled a cutting-edge approach to optimizing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) inspection routes and schedules for engineering projects. The research, led by Lu Zhen, Zhiyuan Yang, Gilbert Laporte, Wen Yi, and Tianyi Fan, introduces an innovative mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model combined with a variable neighborhood search (VNS) algorithm, constructing a new approach in the field of engineering management. The rapid development and adoption of UAV technology have opened new horizons for various industries, particularly ...

Basic Human–Robot Interaction by Dr David O Johnson offers practical guidance and insights for conducting experiments in Human–Robot Interaction (HRI) and publishing the results in scientific journals. It includes a detailed explanation of how to conduct an HRI experiment and what to do and what not to do to get an article accepted for publication. It is tailored to those seeking to deepen their understanding of HRI methodologies, statistical measurements, and research design. The book begins with an overview of HRI, unravelling the basics of how robots function, with a specific focus on the verbal and non-verbal aspects of influencing their interactions ...

Raman spectral preprocessing Raman spectroscopy detects the molecular bond information of the chemical components of the sample in situ in a non-destructive and label-free manner (Terms >>>). It is an emerging metabolic-related spectromics technology in biological and clinical medical research and is expected to promote the evolution of precision medicine. At present, Raman spectroscopy is applied in biomedical detections of body fluids, exosomes, cells/microbes, and tissues, among which Raman ...

This article was directed and written by Dr. Lucía Pérez Sánchez, Ldi. Misael A. Ortiz de la O, Dr. Marco Antonio Álvarez Pérez and Dr. Janeth Serrano Bello (Laboratorio de Bioingeniería de Tejidos, División de Estudios de Posgrado e Investigación, Facultad de Odontología, UNAM) Dra. Monserrat Llaguno Munive (Laboratorio de Física Médica, Subdirección de Investigación Básica, Instituto Nacional de Cancerología) and Dr. Osmar A. Chanes Cuevas (Laboratorio de Investigación ...

Holography technology can restore the complete light field information of the recorded object, which has important applications in fields like biological microscopic imaging and optical micromanipulation. One important frontier of holography is the reconstruction of realistic 3D scenes. However, the development and application of holographic technology have been hindered by the huge amount of data of the 3D scenes and the laser coherence, which leads to the slow capturing speed of the real 3D scenes ...

Under real-world haze conditions, the captured images not only suffer from the haze but also are affected by the noise, which significantly deteriorates the visibility of images. However, most of existing haze removal methods mainly focus on the haze degradation and fail to consider the noise interference. To address the above issue, a research team led by Hailing XIONG and Yun LIU published their new research on 15 Feb 2024 in Frontiers of Computer Science co-published by Higher Education Press and Springer Nature. The team proposed a novel unified variational model consisting of multiple effective constraints that simultaneously ...

SAN DIEGO–—Elephants are the natural carriers of a virus called Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus (EEHV) that can, for yet unknown reasons, cause profound clinical signs in some young elephants and be rapidly fatal. For nearly two decades, zoos and university partners have been working to study the virus and develop early detection protocols and treatment options. Veterinarians and clinical pathology researchers at San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (SDZWA) and the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, have recently made an important discovery, now published in the March 2024 Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine. They found that population-based reference ...

Sports coaches could strengthen athletes’ mental health and protect them from mental illness – by adopting an ‘authentic leadership’ style, a new study reveals. Researchers found when athletes perceived that their coach engaged in behaviours such as openly sharing information, showing understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, acting in an ethical manner, and listening to alternative perspectives, they felt happier and dealt with problems more easily. Publishing their findings today (6 March) in Psychology of Sport and Exercise, experts from the University of Birmingham reveal ...

Every year, more than one million deaths globally occur because of exposure to short-term (hours to days) fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in air pollution, according to a new report, with Eastern Asia reporting more than 50% of deaths attributable to short-term PM2.5 globally. To date most studies have focused on the health impacts of living in cities where pollution levels are consistently high, ignoring the frequent “spikes” in pollution that can impact smaller urban areas that occur for instance landscape fires, dust, and other intermittent ...

Living in leafy areas near gardens, parks, and green spaces, may boost bone density and lower the risk of osteoporosis, finds research published online in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.   Lower levels of air pollution in green spaces is a significant contributory factor to the associations found, conclude the researchers. Osteoporosis weakens bones, making them fragile and prone to fracture. It can lead to chronic pain, diminished mobility, and poorer quality of life. Already a major health issue worldwide, its global prevalence is set to rise with the rapid ageing of the population and changes in ...

Every additional step up to around 10,000 steps per day reduces the risk of death and cardiovascular disease (CVD), regardless of how much remaining time is spent sedentary, reports a large population-based study published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.   Some previous studies have shown that greater daily step counts are associated with lower levels of death and CVD, while others have linked high levels of sedentary behaviour with increased risks of CVD and death. However, none of these studies investigated whether high levels of physical activity may offset or lessen the higher risk of death and CVD ...

Even people whose physical activity levels fall short of recommended guidelines, but who manage to do some during their leisure time, are likely to have a lower risk of stroke than their sedentary peers, suggests a pooled data analysis of the available evidence, published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.   The effects are independent of age and sex, the findings show, prompting the authors to suggest that everyone should be encouraged to do whatever level of physical activity they can manage in their leisure time. There’s no doubt that ...

In good news for office workers, a new study from the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre (Australia) has found increasing your step count may counteract the health consequences of too much sedentary time each day. The study of over 72,000 people, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, found every additional step up to around 10,000 steps a day was linked to reduced risk of death (39 percent) and cardiovascular disease (21 percent) regardless of how much remaining time was spent sedentary. Previous studies have shown an association between greater daily step count and lower levels ...

The endoscopic mapping device, developed over more than a decade by scientists at the Auckland Bioengineering Institute, consists of an inflatable sphere covered in sensors, delivered down the oesophagus and able to measure electrical activity in the gut. In the same way abnormal heart electrical signals can cause serious heart problems, so research has found faulty bioelectric gut waves can lead to stomach pain, nausea, vomiting and bloating. But often doctors can’t find out what the problem is. ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Scientists led by an Oregon State University chemistry researcher are closing in on a new tool for tackling the global problem of weedkiller-tainted groundwater. Kyriakos Stylianou of the OSU College of Science led an international team that identified a material known as a metal-organic framework, or MOF, that showed an ability to completely remove, and also break down, the oft-used herbicide glyphosate. The MOF, one of four tested in a collaboration among scientists from Oregon State and Tiangong University in China, is based on scandium, chemical symbol Sc, ...

EL PASO, Texas (March 5, 2024) – Health researchers at The University of Texas at El Paso are launching a clinical trial to improve walking in the El Paso community, thanks to a $4.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The project will enroll local school district employees in 50K 4 Life, a program that challenges them to improve their health by walking at least 50,000 steps per week.  “This is an exciting opportunity to improve our community’s health through the simple, free and life-changing ...

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- Anoles are the scuba-diving champions of the lizard world, able to stay underwater for more than 16 minutes. For animals whose body temperature depends on the environment, time spent in a cool running stream can have some tradeoffs, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York. A recent study by Binghamton University doctoral candidate Alexandra M. Martin, Christopher K. Boccia of Queens University in Canada, and Binghamton University Assistant Research Professor of Biological Sciences Lindsey ...

Since it was created in 2001, Wikipedia has become a key element of the modern public sphere, which has revolutionized the way we create and share information. However, it has defects when it comes to its decentralization and flexibility, specially regarding inclusion and diversity. Some gender biases that stand out are shown in its content and its editorial participation. It has a low percentage of women’s biographies and an unequal representation in editing. Also, there are gaps in the gender representation regarding its content, biases in editing and participation, as well as imbalances in readership. These ...

A pedometer measures your steps, but what if you had a similar automated device to measure your eating behavior? Evidence from nutritional studies has long shown that the speed, timing and duration of an individual’s eating behavior are strongly related to obesity and other health issues. While eating behaviors can be accurately measured in a controlled laboratory setting, a blind spot exists when researchers attempt to study how participants actually eat “in the wild.” A new National Institutes ...

Reston, VA — Radioguided surgery can detect and remove metastatic pelvic lymph nodes in patients newly diagnosed with prostate cancer, according to research published in the March issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Targeting the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), which is overexpressed in most prostate cancer patients, radioguided surgery can improve nodal staging to guide treatment recommendations for this important patient population. In newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients, nodal involvement correlates with recurrence, and determining if lymph node metastases are present and where they ...

HOUSTON – (March 5, 2024) – Catalysts unlock pathways for chemical reactions to unfold at faster and more efficient rates, and the development of new catalytic technologies is a critical part of the green energy transition. The Rice University lab of nanotechnology pioneer Naomi Halas has uncovered a transformative approach to harnessing the catalytic power of aluminum nanoparticles by annealing them in various gas atmospheres at high temperatures. According to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Rice ...

1. An international research group consisting of NIMS and the Finnish University of Jyväskylä has discovered through its electrode-electrolyte system research that electron and proton (i.e., hydrogen ion) transfer mechanisms during oxygen reduction reactions (ORRs) on electrode surfaces vary depending on the types of cations dissolved in the electrolytic solution. These results suggest that the energy conversion efficiencies and selectivity of electrochemical systems (e.g., fuel cells and water electrolysis hydrogen production systems) can be improved by selecting optimal reaction pathways and that this could be achieved without using expensive electrode ...