In southern China, the genetically improved slash pine (Pinus elliottii) plays a crucial role in timber and resin production, with new shoot density being a key growth trait. Current manual counting methods are inefficient and inaccurate. Emerging technologies such as UAV-based RGB imaging and deep learning (DL) offer promising solutions. However, DL methods face challenges in global feature capture, necessitating additional mechanisms. Innovations like the Vision Transformer and its derivatives (e.g., TransCrowd, CCTrans) show potential in plant trait counting, offering simplified and more effective approaches for large-scale and accurate ...

BALTIMORE, December 14, 2023– In a landmark study led by the University of Maryland School of Medicine, researchers discovered for the first time that a certain kind of protein similar to hemoglobin, called cytoglobin, plays an important role in the development of the heart. Specifically, it affects the correct left-right pattern of the heart and other asymmetric organs. The findings, published today in the journal Nature Communications, could eventually lead to the development of new therapeutic interventions to alter the processes that lead ...

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL FRIDAY DECEMBER 15 AT 11 A.M. EST. U.S. hospitals charge facility fees for colonoscopy procedures covered by private health insurance that are on average approximately 55 percent higher than facility fees billed by smaller clinics known as ambulatory surgical centers, according to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.  The findings appear in a peer-reviewed research letter to be published online December 15 in JAMA Health Forum. Colonoscopies ...

About The Study: The results of this study of data on 57,000 adults who received living donor kidney transplants indicate that additional work is necessary to identify transplant program and center-level strategies to improve racial equity in access to living donor kidney transplant.  Authors: Lisa M. McElroy, M.D., M.S., of the Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina, 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.2023.47826) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, ...

About The Study: In this study of 18,000 academic physicians, approximately one-third reported moderate or greater intention to leave within two years. Burnout, lack of professional fulfillment, and other well-being factors were associated with intention to leave, suggesting the need for a comprehensive approach to reduce physician turnover.  Authors: Mickey T. Trockel, M.D., Ph.D., of the Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, California, is the corresponding author.  To access the embargoed study: Visit ...

About The Study: Fewer calories were purchased in restaurants with calorie labels compared with those with no labels, suggesting that consumers are sensitive to calorie information on menu boards, according to the results of this study of 2,329 Mexican-inspired fast food restaurants in six U.S. locations. Associations differed by location.  Authors: Brian Elbel, Ph.D., M.P.H., of the New York University School of Medicine in New York, 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.2023.46851) Editor’s ...

About The Study: The findings of this diagnostic study of 1,890 eyes of 958 participants support the potential of artificial intelligence as an objective tool in screening for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and possibly for symptom severity using retinal photographs. Retinal photograph use may speed the ASD screening process, which may help improve accessibility to specialized child psychiatry assessments currently strained by limited resources.  Authors: Yu Rang Park, Ph.D., and Keun-Ah Cheon, M.D., Ph.D., ...

Positive tipping points must be triggered if we are to avoid the severe consequences of damaging Earth system tipping points, researchers say. With global warming on course to breach 1.5oC, at least five Earth system tipping points are likely to be triggered – and more could follow. Once triggered, Earth system tipping points would have profound local and global impacts, including sea-level rise from major ice sheet melting, mass species extinction from dieback of the Amazon rainforest and disruption to weather patterns from a collapse of large-scale ocean circulation currents. The new commentary – published in One Earth by researchers from the Global Systems Institute at ...

A paper published today in JAMA Network Open addresses bias in healthcare algorithms and provides the healthcare community with guiding principles to avoid repeating errors that have tainted the use of algorithms in other sectors. This work, conducted by a technical expert panel co-chaired by Marshall Chin, MD, MPH, the Richard Parrillo Family Distinguished Service Professor of Healthcare Ethics at the University of Chicago, supports the Biden Administration Executive Order 14091, Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through The Federal Government, issued on February 16, 2023. President Biden calls for Federal ...

In a rapid communication published in the journal Genes & Diseases, researchers from Chongqing Medical University and Yongchuan Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Chongqing have unveiled crucial insights into the factors that might influence Intervertebral Disc Degeneration (IDD). IDD is a predominant cause of lower back pain, impacting millions worldwide. The focus of this research revolved around nucleus pulposus cells (NPCs), pivotal in IDD, and how oxygen levels and the HIF1A gene could influence them. ...

In a rapid communication published in the journal Genes & Diseases, has shed light on the role of the Wnt signaling pathway in influencing the immune response of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. Researchers from Nankai University discovered that abnormalities in this pathway can affect a patient's response to immunotherapy, paving the way for more tailored treatment strategies. They integrated transcriptome data from 425 CRC patients, aiming to explore the underlying mechanism of MSI. They identified that the Wnt signaling pathway, essential for various cellular processes, showed signs of inhibition in MSI patients. The team also noted a significant down-regulation in mismatch repair ...

Patients struggling with some chronic diseases often must wait years for a proper diagnosis. For example, symptoms such as shortness of breath can be attributed to many pulmonary as well as cardiovascular disorders, so patients may be treated for a misdiagnosed disease that is far from accurate diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, one of the most promising methods to deal with this problem is to track the levels of specific compounds in the body during the development of a specific disease. Moving in this direction, scientists at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Warsaw, Poland) and the National ...

“Antimicrobial resistance is a major problem, and being able to help solve it is really great,” says Amanda Holstad Singleton, a PhD candidate at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Singleton is the lead author of a study that shows how a combination of two new substances effectively kills methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). These substances have been developed at NTNU and may become a completely new antibiotic that is effective against a wide group of bacteria. “It's ...

Frontiers for Young Minds, the award-winning, open-access scientific journal for kids, has published the first articles in a new collection in collaboration with CERN, one of the world’s largest centers for scientific research. The collection, entitled SPARK-ing big questions: what is the future of health technology?, addresses key questions on how ground-breaking health technologies and science can improve human health for future generations.   The articles are written by researchers who attended the SPARKS! Serendipity Forum at CERN in 2022, an event for scientific and ...

José Ricardo Paula, researcher at the Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (Portugal), will receive 300.000 euros in funding in three years to develop a project that aims to improve the understanding of the role of cleaning mutualisms in the conservation of Atlantic biodiversity, using emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence. In the global ocean, there are several fish species, known as cleaners, that specialize in providing ...

GYA and 30 Young Academies and Associations release statement suggesting actionable steps to connect fundamental science with sustainable development during Closing Ceremony of IYBSSD meeting  In a collective statement endorsed by 30 Young Academies and Associations, the Global Young Academy (GYA) underscored the pivotal role of fundamental science in achieving the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). The statement (link here) was delivered during the closing ceremony of the International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development (IYBSSD) at CERN in Switzerland on 15 December 2023. The joint statement acknowledges the historical ...

(Boston)—Teaching is an integral communication skill central to the practice of medicine. The art of teaching extends beyond disseminating information. The skill directly translates to health provider-patient communication, the success of which is positively correlated with improved patient outcomes.   “Teaching is a large part of medicine - patient education is critical to providing high quality patient centered care. Education helps patients understand the 'why' and 'what' of their treatments and allows them to be better participants in their ...

DALLAS, December 15, 2023 — Devon Mitchell, an American Heart Association local volunteer and franchise owner at Anytime Fitness in Delaware, is the 2023 National Leaders of Impact™ Winner. Mitchell, one of the 295 leaders in cities across the country, worked to improve heart health in his community while raising funds to fuel the mission of the Association. The Leaders of Impact campaign pairs community leaders in a head-to-head competition to support the health equity work of the American ...

Increased sedentary time from childhood through young adulthood significantly increased cholesterol levels in a new follow-up study. However, the results also showed that light physical activity (LPA) may completely reverse the adverse process. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) may also reduce cholesterol levels, but its effect is diminished by body fat. The study was conducted in collaboration between the University of Bristol in the UK, the University of Exeter in the UK, and the University of Eastern ...

Similarly as for electronics, photonic circuits can be miniaturized onto a chip, leading to a so-called photonic integrated circuit (PIC). Although these developments are more recent than for electronics, this field is rapidly evolving. One of the main issues, however, is to turn such a PIC into a functional device. This requires optical packaging and coupling strategies to bring light into and to get light out of the PIC. For example, for optical communication a connection needs to be made with optical fibers, which then transport the light ...

People who abandon New Year’s resolutions or other commitments can maintain the respect of their peers by blaming external factors such as lack of money, new research suggests. Studies have found that people were more likely to be seen as having good self-control despite abandoning a commitment to live a healthier life if they claimed they did not have the money for a gym membership or expensive new cooking equipment. People who instead claimed they didn’t have the time to exercise or to replace a takeaway ...

The Third Pole, which spans the Tibetan Plateau and the surrounding Himalayas, Hindu Kush, and Tianshan Mountain ranges, is extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Warming temperatures and altered rainfall patterns have caused over 10,000 glaciers in the region to retreat over the past three decades, facilitating the formation of thousands of glacial lakes. Though they appear harmless, these water bodies have a tremendous destructive potential, particularly due to their ability to cause glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). When triggered ...

Scientists at Klick Applied Sciences have created an artificial intelligence framework that can rapidly identify new use cases for existing therapeutics, according to findings presented Friday at the NeurIPS conference that could greatly improve the drug repurposing process and transform the pharmaceutical industry. The team debuted their algorithm, called LOVENet, a Large Optimized Vector Embeddings Network which integrates two cutting-edge AI technologies: large language model (LLM), and structured knowledge graph technology, which mathematically represents the relationships between drugs and diseases to offer a fresh ...

The efficient storage of clean energy is a critical component to achieving carbon neutrality.  Capacitors are devices that store energy by separating positive and negative electrical charge, and supercapacitors (SC) are capacitors that can store and release large amounts of energy.  A specialized supercapacitor, called a redox electrolyte-enhanced SC (RE-SC), places liquid redox electrolytes, a source of ions that can be electrically charged, next to a carbon-based electrical conductor, or electrode, to achieve high energy storage density and power output.  Despite this increase in performance, RE-SCs suffer from self-discharge of stored energy, limiting their practicality.  ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Snacks constitute almost a quarter of a day’s calories in U.S. adults and account for about one-third of daily added sugar, a new study suggests. Researchers analyzing data from surveys of over 20,000 people found that Americans averaged about 400 to 500 calories in snacks a day – often more than what they consumed at breakfast – that offered little nutritional value. Though dietitians are very aware of Americans’ propensity to snack, “the magnitude of the impact ...