BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- Mental distress tends to be lower in the summer when compared to the fall, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York. "Our results suggest that summertime is associated with better diet quality, higher exercise frequency and improved mood. This is important for the post-COVID era as we are getting into the summer season," said Lina Begdache, assistant professor of health and wellness studies at Binghamton University. Begdache had previously published research suggesting that mental ...

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is often used to determine the chemical composition of materials. It was developed in the 1960s and is accepted as a standard method in materials science. Researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, however, have shown that the method is often used erroneously. "It is, of course, an ideal in research that the methods used are critically examined, but it seems that a couple of generations of researchers have failed to take seriously early signals that the calibration method was deficient. This was the case also for a long time in our own research group. Now, however, we hope that XPS will be used ...

PULLMAN, Wash. - A tiny bee imposter, the syrphid fly, may be a big help to some gardens and farms, new research from Washington State University shows. An observational study in Western Washington found that out of more than 2,400 pollinator visits to flowers at urban and rural farms about 35% of were made by flies--most of which were the black-and-yellow-striped syrphid flies, also called hover flies. For a few plants, including peas, kale and lilies, flies were the only pollinators observed. Overall, bees were still the most common, accounting for about 61% of floral visits, but the rest were made by other insects and spiders. "We found that there really were a dramatic number of pollinators visiting flowers that were not bees," said Rae Olsson, a WSU post-doctoral ...

For decades, governments and health authorities have tried to steer people away from "vice" products such as tobacco, soda and alcohol through counter-marketing measures -- things like tax increases, usage restrictions and ad campaigns. But which ones are the most effective? And what do they mean for big brands such as Marlboro, Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Budweiser? According to a new study from the UBC Sauder School of Business, they can all help people quit -- but how much they help, and who pays the price, varies significantly. The researchers also found that tax hikes can disproportionately ...

New research is showing that some tiny catalysts being considered for industrial-scaled environmental remediation efforts may be unstable during operation. Chemists from the University of Waterloo studied the structures of complex catalysts known as "nanoscale electrocatalysts" and found that they are not as stable as scientists once thought. When electricity flows through them during use, the atoms may rearrange. In some cases, the researchers found, electrocatalysts degrade completely. Understanding why and how this rearrangement and degradation happens is the first step to using these nanoscale electrocatalysts in environmental remediation efforts such as removing atmospheric carbon dioxide ...

Holding onto everyday items as keepsakes when a loved one dies was as commonplace in prehistory as it is today, a new study suggests. The study from the University of York suggests mundane items like spoons and grinding stones were kept by Iron Age people as an emotional reminder and a 'continuing bond' with the deceased - a practice which is replicated in societies across the globe today. The research focused on "problematic stuff": everyday items used or owned by a deceased person that relatives might not want to reuse but which they are unable to simply throw away. At the Scottish hillfort settlement of Broxmouth, dating from 640BC to AD210, everyday items like quernstones, used for grinding grain, and bone spoons found between roundhouse walls could have been placed there by ...

A smartphone-based eye screening and referral system used in the community has been shown to almost triple the number of people with eye problems attending primary care, as well as increasing appropriate uptake of hospital services, compared to the standard approach. The new findings come from research carried out in Kenya, published in The Lancet Digital Health. The randomised controlled trial included more than 128,000 people in Trans Nzoia County, Kenya, and was carried out by researchers from the International Centre for Eye Health (ICEH) at the London School ...

The initial chemotherapy of aggressive childhood nerve tumors, so-called high-risk neuroblastomas, is crucial for ultimate survival. It has now been shown that the chemotherapy regimen used by the European Neuroblastoma Study Group is equally efficacious but better tolerated than a highly effective regimen from the US. This was the conclusion of an international trial coordinated by St. Anna Children's Cancer Research Institute. The study was published in the prestigious Journal of Clinical Oncology. For particularly aggressive nerve tumors in children, so-called high-risk neuroblastomas, various ...

In two separate articles in the Annals of Neurology, clinicians in India and England report cases of a rare neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre? syndrome after individuals were vaccinated against COVID-19. Both reports describe an unusual variant of Guillain-Barre? syndrome characterized by prominent facial weakness. Seven cases were reported from a regional medical center in Kerala, India, where approximately 1.2 million people were vaccinated with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Four cases were reported from Nottingham, England, in an area in which approximately 700,000 people received the same vaccine. All eleven cases were among people who had received that vaccine 10-22 days earlier. The frequency of Guillain-Barre? ...

WACO, Texas (June 21, 2021) - A new analysis of Venus' surface shows evidence of tectonic motion in the form of crustal blocks that have jostled against each other like broken chunks of pack ice. Published in the PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), the study -- which includes contributions by Baylor University planetary physicist Peter James, Ph.D. -- found that the movement of these blocks could indicate that Venus is still geologically active and give scientists insight into both exoplanet tectonics and the earliest tectonic activity on Earth. "We have identified a previously unrecognized pattern of tectonic deformation on Venus, one that is driven by interior motion just like on Earth," said Paul Byrne, Ph.D., associate professor of planetary ...

Women's electoral candidacies skyrocketed nationwide in the wake of the 2016 presidential election, which many saw as good news for democracy. But behavioral scholars have long maintained that women are more risk-averse than men, and thus are not as likely to sustain a prolonged political career -- involving election losses as well as wins -- the way men candidates traditionally have. But behavioral scholars have long maintained that women are more risk-averse than men, and thus are not as likely to sustain a prolonged political career -- involving election losses as well as wins -- the way men candidates traditionally have. Further, naysayers in a variety of media clips voiced that women were "sore losers," and they ...

The idea that a small number of "bad apples" are responsible for an outsized share of complaints against police officers has gained considerable traction over the last four decades. A new study considered the extent to which police misconduct is likely to be reduced by removing police officers identified early in their careers as being at risk for misconduct. The study concluded that replacing the top 10 percent of police identified as being the most likely to generate use-of-force complaints with officers who have not or are less likely to do so would reduce use-of-force complaints by just 6 percent over a 10 year period. Conducted by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton University, the study appears in Criminology & Public Policy, ...

If you've ever been in a city's central core in the middle of summer, you know the heat can be brutal--and much hotter than in the surrounding region. Temperatures in cities tend to be several degrees warmer than in its rural areas, a phenomenon called the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. Many cities have been observed to be 2-4ºC warmer than the countryside in virtually every inhabited continent. This phenomenon occurs because urban infrastructure, especially pavements, absorbs a lot of heat as compared to natural vegetated surfaces. This heat pollution causes higher air conditioning and water costs, while also posing a public health hazard. One mitigation strategy called gray infrastructure involves the ...

NEW YORK, NY--COVID vaccine surveillance efforts are a global priority, but safety monitoring for vaccines should not reflect a single population. The largest, most extensive international study of the background rates of adverse events of special interest (AESI) that are being tracked in vaccine surveillance efforts show that adverse event rates vary substantially by age, sex, and method of data capture. Led by researchers at Oxford University, Columbia University, Erasmus MC, UCLA, and Janssen, an international team of collaborators from the Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics (OHDSI) network provided a timely reference of the background rates of AESIs in a new study published ...

A research team led by the University of Arizona has reconstructed in unprecedented detail the history of a dust grain that formed during the birth of the solar system more than 4.5 billion years ago. The findings provide insights into the fundamental processes underlying the formation of planetary systems, many of which are still shrouded in mystery. For the study, the team developed a new type of framework, which combines quantum mechanics and thermodynamics, to simulate the conditions to which the grain was exposed during its formation, when the solar system was a swirling disk of gas ...

The USC Stem Cell laboratory of Andy McMahon has identified a type of injured cell that might contribute to the transition from an acute kidney injury to chronic kidney disease, as described in a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The same issue of PNAS also features an accompanying Q&A with McMahon to mark his recent election as a member of the National Academy of Sciences. "Acute kidney injury can be a common side effect of surgery, sepsis or certain prescription drugs, and there is no effective treatment," said McMahon, who is the W.M. Keck Provost and University Professor of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, and Biological Sciences at USC. "Even a mild or moderate injury can progress into chronic ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Women who lose local or state elections are just as likely to run for office again as men, suggesting the recent surge in women running for office may have a long-term impact on women's political representation, according to a new study by researchers from Harvard and the University of California, Davis. Pundits and scholars have argued that women are more likely to abandon politics after a losing campaign than men, citing evidence that women are more risk-averse and more likely to avoid competition than men. Political scientists Rachel Bernhard, assistant professor at UC-Davis, and Justin de Benedictis-Kessner, assistant professor of public policy at Harvard Kennedy School, ...

Team used Argonne's GREET model to simulate changes, predict outcomes. Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory participated in a study that shows innovation in technologies and agricultural practices could reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from grain production by up to 70% within the next 15 years. Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, the study identifies a combination of readily adoptable technological innovations that can significantly reduce emissions and fit within current production systems and established grain markets. The study, "Novel ...

A species of butterfly found in Sub-Saharan Africa is able to migrate thousands of miles to Europe, crossing the Saharan Desert, in years when weather conditions are favourable, scientists have found. The striking Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) butterfly has been shown for the first time to be capable of making the 12,000-14,000km round trip - the longest insect migration known so far - in greater numbers, when wetter conditions in the desert help the plants on which it lays eggs. The international research team's findings increase understanding of how insects, including pollinators, pests and the diseases they carry could spread between continents in ...

Lead levels in London's atmosphere have dropped drastically since lead additives in petrol were phased out, and currently meet UK air quality targets. However despite this drop, airborne particles in London are still highly lead-enriched compared to natural background levels, according to new Imperial research published today in PNAS. The study found that up to 40 per cent of lead in airborne particles today comes from the legacy of leaded petrol. The researchers say this highlights the long-term persistence of contaminants introduced by human activities in the environment. Lead author of the study Dr Eléonore Resongles, who carried out the work at Imperial's Department of Earth Science and Engineering, said: "Petrol-derived lead deposited decades ago remains an important ...

One vision that is currently driving material scientists is to combine organic molecules (and their diverse functionalities) with the technological possibilities offered by extremely sophisticated semiconductor electronics. Thanks to modern methods of micro- and nanotechnology, the latter designs ever more efficient electronic components for a wide variety of applications. However, it is also increasingly reaching its physical limits: Ever smaller structures for functionalizing semiconductor materials such as silicon cannot be produced using the approaches of classical technology. Scientists ...

Think about how many different pieces of technology the average household has purchased in the last decade. Phones, TVs, computers, tablets, and game consoles don't last forever, and repairing them is difficult and often as expensive as simply buying a replacement. Electronics are integral to modern society, but electronic waste (e-waste) presents a complex and growing challenge in the path toward a circular economy--a more sustainable economic system that focuses on recycling materials and minimizing waste. Adding to the global waste challenge is the prevalence of dishonest recycling practices by companies who claim to be recycling electronics but actually dispose of them by other means, such as in ...

BEER-SHEVA, Israel, June 21, 2021 - A team of scientists at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) have invented an artificial nose that is capable of continuous bacterial monitoring, which has never been previously achieved and could be useful in multiple medical, environmental and food applications. The study was published in Nano-Micro Letters. "We invented an artificial nose based on unique carbon nanoparticles ("carbon dots") capable of sensing gas molecules and detecting bacteria through the volatile metabolites the emit into the air," says lead researcher Prof. Raz Jelinek, BGU vice president ...

In recent years, many juvenile courts have adopted in-home detention with electronic monitoring tethers as an alternative to institutional incarceration. A new study examined whether this approach reduces recidivism among girls involved in the juvenile justice system. The study found that tethers failed to reduce reoffending among the girls; in fact, they may be harmful because in-home detention limits girls' access to treatment programs. The study, by researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and Michigan State University, appears in Justice Evaluation Journal, a publication of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. "We believe this ...

HOUSTON - (June 21, 2021) - Rice University bioengineers collaborated on a six-year study that systematically analyzed how the surface architecture of breast implants influences the development of adverse effects, including an unusual type of lymphoma. Every year, about 400,000 people receive silicone breast implants in the United States. According to FDA data, most of those implants need to be replaced within 10 years due to the buildup of scar tissue and other complications. A team including researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Rice, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Baylor College of Medicine published its findings online ...