Engaging in music throughout your life is associated with better brain health in older age, according to a new study published by experts at the University of Exeter. Scientists working on PROTECT, an online study open to people aged 40 and over, reviewed data from more than a thousand adults over the age of 40 to see the effect of playing a musical instrument – or singing in a choir - on brain health. Over 25000 people have signed up for the PROTECT study, which has been running for 10 years. The team reviewed participants’ musical experience and lifetime exposure ...

A study of pediatric heart surgery centers across the United States has demonstrated that, when it comes to successful surgery, it’s not just the size of the program that matters in determining quality outcomes. Historically, hospitals with a “low volume” of pediatric heart operations—in this case, those that perform 103 surgeries or fewer a year—have been associated with worse outcomes for patients. However, a team led by D. Chauhan, MD, from WVU Medicine Children’s ...

Despite national guidelines recommending surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) for patients under age 65 with severe aortic stenosis, many hospitals are still opting for a nonsurgical approach in patients under 60—possibly with poorer survival rates. In a study presented at The Society of Thoracic Surgeons’ 2024 Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, researchers from the department of cardiac surgery in the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles and the department of population health science and policy at Mount Sinai New York compared ...

Pet owners forced to be separated from their animals in crisis situations, including those who are victims of domestic violence, are suffering from a lack of support services needed to protect them. These are the findings of a new review of 27 years of international research, published in the peer-reviewed journal Anthrozoös, which unveils the increased risks to both safety and psychological well-being when people are faced with the threat of forced separation from their pets. The results provide important insights towards addressing the challenges arising from domestic violence, homelessness or natural disasters that can threaten the bond between humans and ...

Boston – For the first time in fifty years, results from a phase 3 randomized, placebo-controlled trial have shown an overall survival benefit from an adjuvant therapy in patients with kidney cancer. Treatment with pembrolizumab, an immunotherapy drug, after surgery significantly prolonged overall survival in patients with clear-cell renal-cell carcinoma (ccRCC) at high risk for recurrence, according to an analysis of results from the KEYNOTE-564 study. Pembrolizumab was associated with a 38% reduction in risk of death compared with placebo. “We can now ...

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons has released late-breaking research scheduled for presentation at the 2024 Annual Meeting taking place January 27 - 29 in San Antonio. The conference, healthcare’s leading scientific and educational convening specializing in cardiothoracic surgery, has a rich history of showcasing clinical trials with a strong foundation of detailed methodology and trusted data collection governed by ethical clinical principles. The event’s late-breaking trial sessions focus on studies anticipated to significantly influence advances in cardiothoracic patient care. In this fast-paced healthcare landscape, ...

A new study presented at The Society of Thoracic Surgeons’ 2024 Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, examines the ongoing controversy surrounding the choice between multi-arterial grafting (MAG) and single arterial grafting (SAG) in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) for multivessel coronary revascularization. The research, spanning from 2008 to 2019 and involving over one million patients undergoing isolated CABG with more than two bypass grafts, found that multi-arterial grafting CABG ...

Tokyo, Japan – Scientists from Tokyo Metropolitan University have been studying the strength and toughness of sand columns made of a mixture of sticky and non-sticky grains. They have uncovered the mechanism behind how the strength changes as grains are mixed in different ratios, and how a mixture can help keep the column more resilient to deformation. Non-sticky grains are also easily replaceable with other materials, enabling the design of stronger, tougher, functional matter.   Granular matter consists of vast numbers of small grains, like sand and powders. Such grains can be made to stick to each other, yielding strong materials ...

Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah (the U) has received a $20 million land donation from the developers of Utah City, a new walkable mixed-use city center. This significant contribution from Woodbury Corporation and Flagship Companies, in partnership with the City of Vineyard, will pave the way for the establishment of the state-of-the-art Huntsman Cancer Institute campus in Utah County. Huntsman Cancer Institute is the National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center for Utah, Idaho, ...

Building on $180 million in joint energy-related research, EPB and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) marked 10 years of collaboration Friday with the announcement of the new Collaborative for Energy Resilience and Quantum Science (CERQS). The new joint research effort will focus on utilizing Chattanooga’s highly advanced and integrated energy and communications infrastructure to develop technologies and best practices for enhancing the resilience and security of the national power grid while accelerating the commercialization of quantum technologies.  U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann (TN-03), ...

Validating its status as a leader in power electronics for grid and aviation applications, the University of Tennessee has been awarded a grant from the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) of the US Department of Energy (DOE) to help modernize the nation’s power grid. ARPA-E is distributing $42 million for 15 projects across 11 states to improve the reliability, resiliency, and flexibility of the domestic power grid through the development of next-generation semiconductor technologies. Funded through ARPA-E’s Unlocking Lasting Transformative Resiliency Advances by Faster Actuation of power ...

Pregnant women exposed to specific classes of flame-retardant chemicals may face an increased risk of preterm birth, especially for baby girls, or higher birth weights, according to a Rutgers Health researcher. Emily Barrett, professor and vice chair of the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the Rutgers School of Public Health and a member of the Rutgers Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, took part in a study that was published in Environmental Health Perspectives and funded by the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program at the National Institutes of Health. Manufacturers commonly use organophosphate esters (OPEs) ...

Recording the activity of large populations of single neurons in the brain over long periods of time is crucial to further our understanding of neural circuits, to enable novel medical device-based therapies and, in the future, for brain–computer interfaces requiring high-resolution electrophysiological information. But today there is a tradeoff between how much high-resolution information an implanted device can measure and how long it can maintain recording or stimulation performances. Rigid, silicon ...

Our sensory systems are highly adaptable. A person who cannot see after turning off a light in the night slowly achieves superior power to see even small objects. Women often attain a heightened sense of smell during pregnancy. How can the same sensory system that was underperforming can also exceed the expectation based on its prior performance? Since nature has perfected its sensory systems over evolutionary time scales, an interdisciplinary team of researchers in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis tapped into ...

The University of Ottawa is proud to announce it has received a $5 million donation from Patricia Saputo, a multi-generational family enterprise leader and advocate, to provide thought leadership and training through the Family Enterprise Legacy Institute at the Telfer School of Management.   The gift has created the endowed Patricia Saputo Distinguished Chair in Family Enterprise, which will support academic leadership for the institute and nurture long-term research projects aimed at developing best practices on critical topics for family enterprises.   “This generous gift makes ...

About 55 million people worldwide are living with dementia, according to the World Health Organization. The most common form is Alzheimer’s disease, an incurable condition that causes brain function to deteriorate. In addition to its physical effects, Alzheimer’s causes psychological, social and economic ramifications not only for the people living with the disease, but also for those who love and care for them. Because its symptoms worsen over time, it is important for both patients and their caregivers to prepare for the eventual need to ...

 The United States House of Representatives held more than 700 votes in 2023, but fewer than 30 bills were signed into law. Partisan politics may explain why, with polarization potentially causing enough friction to slow down the legislative process and make the passage of fewer, farther-reaching public laws likelier, according to researchers. The collaborators from Penn State and Colorado State University studied levels of polarization and patterns in the passage of budget bills and public laws from 1948 through ...

Scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) have found direct evidence that exposure to common cold coronaviruses can train T cells to fight SARS-CoV-2. In fact, prior exposure to a common cold coronavirus appears to partially protect mice from lung damage during a subsequent SARS-CoV-2 infection. The new research, published recently in Nature Communications, provides an important first look at how "cross-reactive" T cells—which can fight multiple viruses from the same family—develop in an animal model. "We are learning how these immune cells develop ...

Understanding the neuroscience and physiological basis of the brain and training its networks to combat anxiety and life’s stressors Professor Andra Smith, from the School of Psychology at the Faculty of Social Sciences, has combined her research and her personal experience with mindfulness to teach the course Neuroscience of Mindfulness: Neurons to Wellness. Her interest in neuroscience explores how to optimize cognitive processes behind decision-making, organizing behaviour, setting goals while taking the necessary steps ...

A recently discovered solar system with six confirmed exoplanets and a possible seventh is boosting astronomers’ knowledge of planet formation and evolution. Relying on a globe-spanning arsenal of observatories and instruments, a team led by researchers at the University of California, Irvine has compiled the most precise measurements yet of the exoplanets’ masses, orbital properties and atmospheric characteristics. In a paper published today in The Astronomical Journal, the researchers share ...

If life ever existed on Mars, the Perseverance rover’s verification of lake sediments at the base of the Jezero crater reinforces the hope that traces might be found in the crater.   In new research published in the journal Science Advances, a team led by UCLA and The University of Oslo shows that at some point, the crater filled with water, depositing layers of sediments on the crater floor. The lake subsequently shrank and sediments carried by the river that fed it formed an enormous delta. As the lake dissipated over time, the sediments in the crater were eroded, forming ...

As people age or become ill, their immune systems can become exhausted and less capable of fighting off viruses such as the flu or COVID-19. In a new mouse study funded in part by the National Institutes of Health and published in Science Advances, researchers from the USC Stem Cell lab of Rong Lu describe how specific gene activity could potentially enhance immune cell production. “Hematopoietic stem cells, or HSCs, produce blood and immune cells, but not all HSCs are equally productive,” said the study’s corresponding author Rong Lu, PhD, ...

They are among the most productive and biodiverse areas of the world's oceans: coastal upwelling regions along the eastern boundaries of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. There, equatorward winds cause near-surface water to move away from the coast. This brings cold, nutrient-rich water from the depths to the surface, inducing the growth of phytoplankton and providing the basis for a rich marine ecosystem in these regions. In some tropical regions, however, productivity is high even when the upwelling favourable winds are ...

JANUARY 23, 2024, NEW YORK – A Ludwig Cancer Research study has found that the circadian clock—which synchronizes physiological and cellular activities with the day-night cycle and is generally thought to be tumor suppressive—in fact has a contextually variable role in cancer. “A lot of evidence suggests that the biological clock is broken in cancer cells, so we expected its disruption would fuel tumor growth in mouse models of melanoma,” said Chi Van Dang, scientific director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, who led the study with Research Associate Xue Zhang. “But, contrary to our expectations, ...

An assistant professor and consumer economics specialist with University of Tennessee Extension has been recognized by the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education (AFCPE) as the organization’s Educator of the Year for 2023. Christopher Sneed was among ten individuals, organizations, special projects and initiatives expanding access to personal finance resources and education across the country recognized as part of the 2023 AFCPE Awards late last year. The AFCPE’s Mary Ellen Edmondson Educator of the Year Award honors ...