How is cooperation affected when people can receive secondhand information about what others are contributing? Ashley Harrell and Tom Wolff investigated this question through an online cooperation game. Participants were recruited from a large subject pool of university students and other adults, maintained by the Interdisciplinary Behavioral Research Center at Duke University. Over 200 participants were placed in groups of 6–10; however, each participant was only linked to some of the other participants. In the control condition, players could only see the contributions ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – New technology has allowed scientists to see how a major sporting event can disrupt public transportation in an entire city for hours before and after the event.   Researchers conducted a case study in Columbus on days that The Ohio State University had home football games, attracting more than 100,000 fans to Ohio Stadium on the university’s campus.   Findings showed that bus service across the entire city was significantly less reliable for more than 7 hours on game days compared to other days, meaning that even bus riders who were not traveling near the university ...

In a perspective, Athanassios S. Fokas considers a timely question: whether artificial intelligence (AI) can reach and then surpass the level of human thought. Typically, researchers have sought to measure the ability of computer models to accomplish complex goals, such as winning the game of Go or carrying on a conversation that seems human enough to fool an interlocutor. According to Fokas, this approach has a key methodological limitation. Any AI would have to be tested on every single conceivable human goal before anyone could claim that the program was thinking as well as a human. Alternative methodologies are therefore needed. In addition, the “complex goal” focus does not ...

In an editorial, Monica M. Bertagnolli assesses the promise of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) to study and improve health. The editorial was written by Dr. Bertagnolli in her capacity as director of the National Cancer Institute. AI/ML offer powerful new tools to analyze highly complex datasets, and researchers across biomedicine are taking advantage. However, Dr. Bertagnolli argues that human judgment is still required. Humans must select and develop the right computational models and ensure that the data used to train ...

Bethesda, MD (Dec. 19, 2023) — The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) has released the first comprehensive evidence-based guideline on the management of pouchitis, the most common complication people with ulcerative colitis experience following surgery to remove their colon.   Between 150,000 and 300,000 people with ulcerative colitis in the U.S. live with a surgically created internal reservoir or “pouch” created from their small intestine as an alternate way to store and pass ...

Scientists have so far identified around 800 different neuromuscular diseases. These conditions are caused by problems in the way muscle cells, motor neurons and peripheral cells interact. These disorders, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and spinal muscular atrophy, lead to muscle weakness, paralysis, and in some cases death. “These diseases are highly complex, and the causes of the dysfunction can vary widely,” says Dr. Mina Gouti, head of the Stem Cell Modeling of Development and Disease Lab at the Max Delbrück Center. The problem might lie with the neurons, the muscle cells or the connections between the two. ...

Addressing climate change has become a central issue in Chile’s public policy. As part of that debate, Dr. Maisa Rojas, researcher in Atmospheric Physics, who currently serves as Chilean Minister for Environment and Marco Billi of the Centre for Climate and Resilience Research, Universidad de Chile, propose a new model of governance at the country level to facilitate the changes needed. The proposal – written before Dr. Rojas’ appointment to the Chilean government – is published in IOP Publishing’s journal Environmental Research Letters.   The model proposed places climate action ...

p38a protein, which is associated with cancer and other diseases, adopts a previously unknown structure regulated by cellular redox conditions. The finding may have implications when designing new drugs to block it. The work developed by IRB Barcelona, ​​in collaboration with the University of Barcelona and the company Nostrum Biodiscovery, has been published in the journal Nature Communications. Barcelona, 19 December 2023 - p38a protein, a key enzyme in the regulation of various cellular functions, plays a crucial ...

Physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, or neglect, either alone or combined with other types of childhood trauma, increases the risk of chronic pain and related disability in adulthood, according to new research.    These new findings underscore the urgency of addressing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) – potentially traumatic events that occur before 18 years of age – and taking steps to mitigate their long-term impact on people’s health.    The study ...

Pandas, long portrayed as solitary beasts, do hang with family and friends – and they’re big users of social media. Scent-marking trees serve as a panda version of Facebook. An article in the international journal Ursus paints a new lifestyle picture of the beloved bears in China’s Wolong Nature Reserve, a life that’s shielded from human eyes because they’re shy, rare, and live in densely forested, remote areas. No one really knows how pandas hang, but a new study indicates pandas are around others ...

Air quality in the office may affect our level of creativity at work, scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have found. Working with the global air filter manufacturer Camfil on a shared research project, the NTU Singapore scientists found in a study that high levels of volatile organic compounds – gases released from products such as detergents, pesticides, perfumes, aerosol sprays and paint – affected the study participants’ creativity when they were asked to build 3D models with LEGO bricks. Using a statistical analysis, the NTU team estimated that reducing total ...

Lexical simplification (LS) aims to simplify a sentence by replacing complex words with simpler words without changing the meaning of the sentence，which can facilitate comprehension of the text for people with non-native speakers and children. Traditional LS methods utilize linguistic databases or word embedding models to extract synonyms or high-similar words for the complex word, and then sort them based on their appropriateness in context. Recently, BERT-based LS methods entirely or partially mask ...

Almost all eukaryotic organisms, from plants and animals to fungi, can’t survive without mitochondria – the “powerhouses of the cell,” which generate chemical energy using oxygen. However, a new study by Lukáš Novák and Vladimír Hampl of Charles University, published in the journal PLOS Genetics, finds that multiple members of the oxymonads, a group of single-celled protists that live inside the guts of termites and other animals, have evolved to live quite happily without them. Many groups of protists have evolved simplified mitochondria, but for a long time, scientists ...

December 19, 2023--Routinely collected patient experience surveys provide an opportunity for patients to share their creative ideas for improvement, according to a new study at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Researchers in Health Policy and Management developed and assessed a methodological strategy that validates questions designed to elicit creative ideas from patients. Until now the pace of translating patient insights into innovation has been slow and its effectiveness inadequate.  The findings are ...

The Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and its partners at Hitachi America Energy Solutions Laboratory have released a new open-source software platform for simulating how all the parts of an electric grid work together, along with a graphic interface that makes it much easier for users to understand and apply the results.  Together, these two tools can help utilities harden their distribution systems against extreme weather and wildfires, integrate renewable energy sources like wind and solar into electric grids and set the rates they charge customers, among other things.  The grid ...

In quantum mechanics, particles can exist in multiple states at the same time, defying the logic of everyday experiences. This property, known as quantum superposition, is the basis for emerging quantum technologies that promise to transform computing, communication, and sensing. But quantum superpositions face a significant challenge: quantum decoherence. During this process, the delicate superposition of quantum states breaks down when interacting with its surrounding environment. To unlock the power of chemistry ...

Barbie should consider expanding her medical and scientific careers into areas where women and other under-represented groups remain a minority, suggests a study published in the Christmas issue of The BMJ.  The ever-popular fashion doll has been everything from a construction worker, teacher, and veterinarian to a judge, scientist, and medical doctor, symbolising careers that children can aspire to one day hold. But no previous studies have analysed Barbie medical professional and scientist ...

A new Doctor Who episode shown during the festive period, especially on Christmas Day, is associated with lower death rates in the subsequent year across the UK, finds a study published in the Christmas issue of The BMJ.  The findings highlight the positive effect doctors can have when working during the festive period and may prompt the BBC and Disney+ to broadcast new episodes of Doctor Who every festive period, ideally on Christmas Day, says the author. Sixty years ago, the ...

Healthcare workers will be relieved to know that hospital coffee machines are not responsible for spreading disease and a general ban doesn’t seem necessary, finds a study published in the Christmas issue of The BMJ.  In a bid to eliminate hospital acquired (nosocomial) infections, various objects have been investigated as breeding grounds for bacteria including doctors’ ties and even hospital Bibles. But despite being regularly touched by lots of bare hands, the potential of hospital coffee machines as a source of infection had not previously been explored. To address this, researchers in Germany assessed the microbial population in healthcare associated coffee machines, ...

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is associated with damaging protein aggregates in the brain, with β-amyloid (Aβ) aggregates called plaques being the key pathology. Entresto (sacubitril/valsartan) is a combined neprilysin inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker, approved for the treatment of heart failure. Concerns were raised by the FDA that this neprilysin inhibition treatment may increase the risk of AD, since neprilysin is one of the main enzymes responsible for degrading Aβ in the brain. The PERSPECTIVE trial (NCT02884206) showed that 3-year neprilysin inhibition treatment was not associated ...

The relative underperformance of disadvantaged students at school has little do with them lacking the ‘character’, attitude, or mindset of their wealthier peers, despite widespread claims to the contrary, new research indicates. The study, which analysed data from more than 240,000 15-year-olds across 74 countries, challenges the view often invoked by politicians and educators that cultivating self-belief or ‘growth mindsets’ can reduce class-based learning gaps. Researchers found that no more than 9% of the substantial achievement gap between ...

Origami, traditionally associated with paper folding, has transcended its craft origins to influence a diverse range of fields, including art, science, engineering, and architecture. Recently, origami principles have extended to technology, with applications spanning solar cells to biomedical devices. While origami-inspired materials have been explored at various scales, the challenge of creating molecular materials based on origami tessellations has remained. Addressing this challenge, a team of researchers, led by Professor Wonyoung Choe in the ...

In less than a week’s time, families around the country will be sitting down to tuck into their traditional Christmas dinner. While the festive season is often a time of overindulgence, could parts of a festive banquet actually help improve our health? Experts at Newcastle University, UK, have been researching the different characteristics and compounds of festive trimmings and have found that some of the side-dishes offer significant benefits. Fighting chronic conditions Soggy sprouts should be off the menu say Newcastle researchers – ...

Utilities in the United States have pledged to transition to 100% renewable electricity by 2060, and although state mandates have played a role, it’s the utilities, themselves, that are leading the transition.   “Many people feel the transition on the policy side isn’t going fast enough,” said Matthew Burgess, a CIRES fellow, CU Boulder assistant professor, and co-author of the paper published today in Climatic Change. “But the private sector is moving faster than we thought. A lot has ...

Not all bacteria are created equal. Most are single-celled and tiny, a few ten-thousandths of a centimeter long. But bacteria of the Epulopiscium family are large enough to be seen with the naked eye and 1 million times the volume of their better-known cousins, E. coli. In a study published Dec. 18 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from Cornell and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have for the first time described the full genome of one species of the family of giants, which they’ve named Epulopiscium viviparus. “This incredible giant bacterium is unique and interesting ...