A new organoid model of the dopaminergic system sheds lights on its intricate functionality and potential implications for Parkinson’s disease. The model, developed by the group of Jürgen Knoblich at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, replicates the dopaminergic system’s structure, connectivity, and functionality. The study, published on December 5 in Nature Methods, also uncovers the enduring effects of chronic cocaine exposure on the dopaminergic circuit, even after withdrawal.   A completed run, the early morning hit of caffeine, the smell of cookies in the oven - these ...

Recent advances allow imaging of neurons inside freely moving animals. However, to decode circuit activity, these imaged neurons must be computationally identified and tracked. This becomes particularly challenging when the brain itself moves and deforms inside an organism’s flexible body, e.g. in a worm. Until now, the scientific community has lacked the tools to address the problem. Now, a team of scientists from EPFL and Harvard have developed a pioneering AI method to track neurons inside moving and deforming animals. The study, now published ...

UC San Diego Health is recognized as a 2023-2024 High Performing Hospital for Maternity Care, which is the highest award a hospital can earn by U.S. News & World Report for obstetric and infant care.  To be recognized as High Performing in Maternity Care, hospitals must meet high standards in caring for patients with uncomplicated pregnancies, such as low cesarean section rates, low newborn complication rates, offering transparency on racial and ethnic disparities, and other measures.  “It is an honor to receive this prominent recognition, ...

The ongoing mental health crisis is causing significant challenges for many psychologists as they grapple with demand fueled by patients presenting with increasingly severe symptoms year after year, according to APA’s 2023 Practitioner Pulse Survey. The survey, which was completed by 561 licensed practicing psychologists between Aug. 30 and Sept. 29, 2023, found that not only did more than half of psychologists (52%) say that they were seeing an increase in severity of symptoms among their patients, but 41% said that they were seeing ...

SYDNEY, Dec. 5, 2023 – Millions suffer from musculoskeletal injuries every year, and the recovery process can often be long and difficult. Patients typically undergo rehabilitation, slowly rebuilding muscle strength as their injuries heal. Medical professionals routinely evaluate a patient’s progress via a series of tasks and exercises. However, because of the dynamic nature of these exercises, obtaining a clear picture of real-time muscle function is extremely challenging. Parag Chitnis of George Mason University led a team that developed a wearable ultrasound system that can produce clinically relevant information about muscle function during dynamic physical activity. He ...

Ashley Dayer hopes to peck away at the notion that bird feeding is simply for the birds. Associate professor in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation at Virginia Tech, Dayer is the lead author of an article published in People and Nature that argues not only for the acknowledgment of the activity’s benefit to humans, but that it should play a role in public guidance and policy. “Wildlife agencies and others making decisions on managing bird feeding need to be considering not only what the science is behind what’s going on with birds, but also the science behind what’s going on with people,” ...

An interdisciplinary research team from the University of Waterloo is using artificial intelligence (AI) to identify microplastics faster and more accurately than ever before. Microplastics are commonly found in food and are dangerous pollutants that cause severe environmental damage – finding them is the key to getting rid of them. The research team’s advanced imaging identification system could help wastewater treatment plants and food production industries make informed decisions ...

An innovative, ecofriendly glue designed by a Cal Poly chemistry research team in collaboration with an East Coast company has been approved for a U.S. government patent. The patent, approved Nov. 21, creates a pathway for proprietary commercial production of the glue innovation under the direction of the Massachusetts-based company Geisys Ventures with involvement of Cal Poly chemistry faculty and students in research and development as part of a memorandum of understanding between the university and Geisys. The new adhesive has potential to reduce landfill waste and positively impact the environment on a broad scale. The product, to be formally commercialized under the ...

Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) are used around the world to conduct difficult environmental, remote, oceanic, defence and rescue missions in often unpredictable and harsh conditions.  A new study led by Flinders University and French researchers has now used a novel bio-inspired computing artificial intelligence solution to improve the potential of UUVs and other adaptive control systems to operate more reliability in rough seas and other unpredictable conditions.   This innovative approach, using the Biologically-Inspired Experience Replay (BIER) method, has been published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers journal IEEE Access.  Unlike conventional ...

Aquaporins, which move water through membranes of plant cells, were not thought to be able to permeate sugar molecules, but University of Adelaide researchers have observed sucrose transport in plant aquaporins for the first time, challenging this theory. The finding, made by researchers from the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, widens the concept of aquaporins’ role in plant biology and will have implications for the bioengineering of plants for food production and plant survival. Aquaporins, which belong to a class of membrane ...

Research led by Hiromi Shiraishi, researcher at Chuo University, indicated a steep rise in the importation of American Eel (Anguilla rostrata) live fry to East Asia for aquaculture purposes. This surge poses a potential threat to the already endangered species, further depleting the resources of this species. Japan relies on imports for two-thirds of its eel consumption and it is believed that a significant quantity of American Eel is included in these imports. As a major consumer of eels, Japan is urged to take a leading role in ensuring the sustainable utilisation of eel species, including ...

Superior knee and hip replacements are a step closer after Flinders University and Chinese researchers further test and develop a new orthopedic implant coating which has the strong ability to ward off infection – as well as stimulate bone growth.   The technology, which has been patented after more promising results just detailed in the lead scientific journal Advanced Functional Materials, consists of novel Silver-Gallium (Ag-Ga) nano-amalgamated particles that can be easily applied to medical device surfaces.   “The antibacterial capabilities of compounds derived from silver have been extensively researched. ...

Amid the rubble of large-sale earthquake, war or other disaster – and as ageing buildings and infrastructure are replaced – mountains of concrete are often taken to landfill or pounded into rubble for roads. For a more sustainable approach, Flinders University and The University of Melbourne experts are developing a ‘value add’ for old broken concrete to ‘upcycling’ coarse aggregate to produce a strong, durable and workable  concrete using a small amount of a secret ingredient – graphene. The novel method is gaining ground ...

You need only to remember last summer’s wildfires in the United States and Canada, which fouled the air from coast to coast, to know the effects these blazes can have on the environment and human health.  A new study has tabulated the toll from two decades of wildfires on air quality and human health in the continental U.S. The authors report that from 2000 to 2020, the air has worsened in the western U.S., mainly due to the increase in frequency and ferocity of wildfires causing an increase of 670 premature deaths per year in the region during that time period. Overall, the study’s authors report fires have undercut ...

Many emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, especially zoonotic diseases such as ebola or new coronaviruses, emerge as the result of intensified human activities such as deforestation, expansion of agricultural land, and increased hunting and trading of wildlife.  In a new study, published in the scientific journal Lancet Planetary Health, researchers identified public and private companies operating in economic sectors associated with increased risks of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.  Where data was available, the researchers analyzed the financial ...

SYDNEY, Dec. 5, 2023 – Modern living may be contributing to an epidemic of nearsighted vision and related blindness. By 2050, it is estimated that half the world’s population will suffer from low vision due to myopia, a condition where the eye grows too large and can no longer focus on objects in the distance. Human eyes, honed by evolution to survive in the wild, are ill-adapted to city living, contributing to increased cases of myopia, among other factors. For decades, researcher Sally McFadden from the University of Newcastle has investigated eyes and eyesight in ...

A new report outlines the dismal state of England’s physical and “social” infrastructure – from public services in health and education to the parks, cinemas and train stations that prop up communities – when compared to similar regions in what was once East Germany.   The report’s authors call for a “universal basic infrastructure” (UBI) if the UK is to ‘level up’ its regions and lift itself out of “flatlining” productivity rates. This UBI would see a minimum ...

Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels have risen again in 2023 – reaching record levels, according to new research from the Global Carbon Project science team. The annual Global Carbon Budget projects fossil carbon dioxide (CO2 emissions of 36.8 billion tonnes in 2023, up 1.1% from 2022. Fossil CO2 emissions are falling in some regions, including Europe and the USA, but rising overall – and the scientists say global action to cut fossil fuels is not happening fast enough to prevent dangerous climate change. Emissions from land-use change ...

An entirely new way to probe how active black holes behave when they eat has been discovered by an international team of astronomers. A sample of active black holes at the centre of 136 galaxies were found to shine in microwave and X-ray light in the same way, no matter their appetite for the surrounding galactic matter like gaseous clouds of dust and plasma. Led by scientists at Cardiff University, the team says the process is not something predicted by our current understanding of how black holes ...

Katie Konans, NASA’s audio and podcasting lead at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is one of two NASA employees named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Class of 2024. The other agency honoree, Clare Luckey, is a systems engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list is a selection of young, creative, and bold minds the magazine’s experts consider revolutionaries, changing the course of business and society. Forbes evaluated more than 20,000 nominees to decide on 600 business and industry figures, with 30 selected in each of 20 industries. “When I joined ...

Fatima Bagheri, a National Science Foundation (NSF) postdoctoral fellow at The University of Texas at Arlington, was one of 75 students selected to attend an intensive program on supercomputing at the Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago. With support from the Department of Energy’s Exascale Computing Program, Bagheri participated in the Argonne Training Program on Extreme-Scale Computer (ATPESC) aimed at teaching attendees the ins and outs of using the latest supercomputers. Bagheri said she came to ATPESC to expand her knowledge of high-performing computers (HPC) like ...

Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 4 December 2023  Annals of Internal Medicine Tip Sheet   @Annalsofim  Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not only on their own behalf, but also on behalf of the organization they represent.  ----------------------------  1. ...

EMBARGOED: December 4, 2023, 5PM EST Contact: Nicole Oliverio, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute 617-257-0454, nicole_oliverio@dfci.harvard.edu CAR-T not cost-effective as second-line therapy for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma at current prices, study finds RESEARCH SUMMARY Study Title: Peripheral blood TCR clonotype diversity as an age-associated marker of breast cancer progression Publication: Annals of Internal Medicine, Click here for link Dana-Farber Cancer Institute authors include: Amar H. Kelkar, MD, MPH (first author); Edward R. Scheffer Cliff, MBBS, MPH; Caron A. Jacobson, MD; Gregory A. Abel, MD, MPH; Corey Cutler, MD, MPH (senior author); and Robert Redd, MS. Summary: Chimeric ...

For a century fire ecologists have worked to decipher a complex question — what does a “normal'' wildfire year look like in the West? That’s a hard question to answer for many reasons, but new research from a team in the Quinney College of Natural Resources shows that thanks to the state’s unique landscapes, Utah’s wildfire patterns may never fit into what is considered “normal” for other Western states. Utah landscapes are diverse — from dense forests of pinyon-juniper to scattered patches of sagebrush and grasslands, Utah’s variable topography produces ...

You see posts like these on neighborhood Facebook pages all the time: “An owl just flew into my window and appears stunned! Help!” or “I found a baby squirrel on the ground after the wind storm last night. Who do I call?” The answer is a local wildlife rehabilitation center—licensed individuals and organizations that take in hundreds of thousands of sick and injured wild animals nationwide each year. Wildlife rehabilitators see the highest number and greatest range of species of any government or nonprofit organization in the country, giving them unique insight into animal health—and making them great bellwethers of what’s ...