The range of COVID-19 symptoms varies—some feel a mild cold, others are hospitalized, while others perish. Many studies have linked the severity of COVID-19 symptoms with an individual’s biological factors, but less is known about the impact of non-biological factors, such as the environment in which people live. A new study that published on June 14, 2023, in the journal PLoS ONE, is the first to show that the neighborhood-built environment might pose an independent risk determining the individuals hospitalized due to COVID-19 illness. The authors found that in a cohort of more than 18,000 individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infections, living in ...

Many landscapes in the tropics consist of a mosaic of different types of land use. How people make use of these different ecosystems, with their particular plant communities, was unclear until now. Researchers, many of them from Madagascar, have now investigated this in an interdisciplinary Malagasy research project at the University of Göttingen. When considering biodiversity, forests often get the most attention. But this research shows that rural households use a wide range of plant species ...

Neuroscientists from the Faculty of Medicine of the Catholic University, Rome Campus, and the A. Gemelli IRCCS Polyclinic Foundation found that intensive exercise could slow the course of Parkinson's disease and described the biological mechanisms. The finding could pave the way for new non-drug approaches. The study "Intensive exercise ameliorates motor and cognitive symptoms in experimental Parkinson's disease by restoring striatal synaptic plasticity" is published in the journal Science Advances. The research was led by Catholic University, Rome Campus ...

Using an approach based on computer vision technology, researchers can work back from COVID-19 mortality data to see how infection rates changed on the day a lockdown or similar measure was introduced. The approach could be generally useful in future epidemics and pandemics. The work is published July 14 in Science Advances.  Coauthors Leonor Saiz, professor of biomedical engineering at the University of California, Davis, and Jose Vilar, University of the Basque Country, Spain, wanted to see the effects of non-pharmaceutical interventions such as social distancing, lockdowns and masking in the first year of the pandemic. They looked at daily death reports from European ...

Block ciphers, a branch of modern cryptography, are playing a more prominent role in protecting information security as 5G technology develops. Although encryption algorithms of the traditional Feistel structure have great advantages in terms of consistent encryption and decryption, they have poor diffusion effects. Besides, they cannot adapt to the high throughput communication environment and resource-constrained devices. The S-box is the crucial nonlinear component in the block cipher and significantly determines the security of an algorithm. Unfortunately, the vast proportion of S-boxes exist in a static manner, which ...

CHICAGO --- Aerobic glycolysis, the process by which cells transform glucose into lactate, is key for eye development in mammals, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study published in Nature Communications. While it has been well known that retinal cells use lactate during cell differentiation, the exact role that this process plays in early eye development was not previously understood. The findings further the field’s understanding of the metabolic pathways underlying organ development, according to ...

July 14, 2023 – High rates of smoking among people with HIV are associated with high rates of comorbid health problems – which are associated with characteristics including gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, according to a study in the July issue of The Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (JANAC). The official journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, JANAC is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer. "People with HIV who smoke are at high risk of accompanying physical and mental health conditions," comments lead author Jessica L. Elf, PhD, of Colorado ...

“[...] in many cases [of chronic sinusitis] only symptom control is achieved.” BUFFALO, NY- July 14, 2023 – A new research perspective was published in Oncoscience (Volume 10) on May 27, 2023, entitled, “Think outside the box – atypical infections in chronic sinusitis.” Inflammations of the paranasal sinuses represent a common clinical picture. The annual prevalence of chronic sinusitis in Europe is up to 10%. Sinusitis can be divided into acute and chronic forms. In particular, the chronic forms (>12 weeks duration) are often challenging in the context of therapy.  Generally, all ventilation disorders of the paranasal sinuses (concha bullosa, ...

CLEVELAND – A new study from University Hospitals (UH) Connor Whole Health describes the scope and integration of their music therapy program within10 UH medical centers. The study, entitled “Effectiveness of Medical Music Therapy Practice: Integrative Research using the Electronic Health Record (EMMPIRE): Rationale, Design, and Population Characteristics” is the largest such observational study of medical music therapy practice to date. Unlike other music therapy programs, which may be limited to specific hospital units, the program at UH Connor ...

A team of scientists led by researchers from the University of Leicester have discovered that the genes required for learning, memory, aggression and other complex behaviours originated around 650 million years ago. The findings led by Dr Roberto Feuda, from the Neurogenetic group in the Department of Genetics and Genome Biology and other colleagues from the University of Leicester and the University of Fribourg (Switzerland), have now been published in Nature Communications. Dr Feuda said: “We’ve known for a long ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Monitoring dairy calves with precision technologies based on the “internet of things,” or IoT, leads to the earlier diagnosis of calf-killing bovine respiratory disease, according to a new study. The novel approach — a result of crosscutting collaboration by a team of researchers from Penn State, University of Kentucky and University of Vermont —will offer dairy producers an opportunity to improve the economies of their farms, according to researchers.  This ...

An estimated 1,200 Americans, on average, are diagnosed with Lyme disease each day. Some of those patients continue to experience negative effects, even after treatment. Lyme disease researcher Brandon Jutras, associate professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and affiliated faculty of the Fralin Life Sciences Institute, recently received a $2.7 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, to study what causes the disease to linger long after treatment. “Using a series of sophisticated molecular techniques, in combination with both bacterial and host genetics, we’re working ...

(Boston)—Noyan Gokce, MD, professor of medicine at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, has been awarded a $453,750 National Institutes of Health (NIH) R-21 grant for his research study “Impact of Per/Polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) pollutants on vascular disease mechanisms.” This work will be performed in collaboration with co-investigator Jennifer Schlezinger, PhD from the Boston University School of Public Health.   Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are manmade chemicals that are extensively used in industrial and consumer products such as stain- and ...

Professor Matt Rosseinsky, from the University’s Department of Chemistry and Materials Innovation Factory, has won the 2023 Eni Energy Frontiers Award for the digital design and discovery of next-generation energy materials. A globally-prestigious prize for research in the fields of energy and environment, previous Eni Award winners include Nobel laureates such as Harold W. Kroto and Alan Heeger. Professor Rosseinsky’s research is pushing new boundaries in how new energy materials are designed and discovered through the use of digital tools. For the past 50 years, the scientific approach ...

A study led by a Florida State University researcher that was published in Nature Human Behavior shows how colonization has contributed to the distribution of plants specimens stored in herbaria collections around the world. Plant diversity in nature is generally highest in tropical regions around the equator, with decreasing diversity closer to the poles. FSU Department of Geography Assistant Professor Xiao Feng and Purdue University Assistant Professor Daniel Park showed that the plant specimens housed in herbaria in Europe and North America are more comprehensive and diverse than the collections housed in the countries ...

INDIANAPOLIS – Regenstrief Institute’s Brian Dixon, PhD, MPA, and Shaun Grannis, M.D., M.S., have been elected as Fellows of the International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics. The organization is an honor society recognizing expertise in biomedical and health informatics around the world. Election to membership is one of the highest honors in the field. Drs. Dixon and Grannis are two of 21 informatics leaders from around the globe elected to the International Academy in 2023. In 2021, the two were members of a Regenstrief team whose work to support the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic was recognized by the ...

Due to the unclear distribution characteristics and causes of fluoride in groundwater of Mihe-Weihe River Basin (China), there is a higher risk for the future development and utilization of groundwater. Based on the systematic sampling and analysis, a team of researchers from Shandong University of Science and Technology studied the distribution features and enrichment mechanism for fluoride in groundwater by the graphic method, hydrogeochemical modeling, the proportionality factor between conventional ions and factor analysis. Their analysis is published in the journal Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering ...

In 2020, Japan performed the first successful test extracting cobalt crusts from the top of deep-sea mountains to mine cobalt—a mineral used in electric vehicle batteries. Not only do directly mined areas become less habitable for ocean animals, but mining also creates a plume of sediment that can spread through the surrounding water. An investigation on the environmental impact of this first test, published July 14th in the journal Current Biology, reports a decrease in ocean animals both in and around the mining zone. The International ...

Tucked into the hillsides of Italy, Portugal, and Spain, some of the world’s most famous—and most difficult to maintain—vineyards are heralded for their unique flavor profiles and centuries of tradition. But as extreme weather and changing socioeconomic conditions make this so-called “heroic viticulture” even more challenging, scientists worry these grapes and their cultural histories are at risk. In a Backstory publishing on July 14 in the journal iScience, researchers argue that farmers and scientists must work together to protect ...

In the animal world, you don't need to learn a numeral system – such as the ten-digit Indo-Arabic system we commonly use – to be able to count. Animals constantly use numerical information from their environment to make decisions. Estimating the number of conspecifics in a competing group before engaging in conflict, the amount of food available in a difficult-to-reach location, or the number of potential sexual partners in a new territory is essential for survival and reproduction. This skill can reach an astonishing level of refinement; for example, certain species of ants orient themselves ...

About The Study: In this secondary analysis of an 18-month randomized trial that included 135 older adults, meditation and non-native language training did not confer salutary cognitive effects. Although further analyses are needed to explore the effects of these interventions on other relevant outcomes related to aging and well-being, these findings did not support the use of these interventions for enhancing cognition in cognitively healthy older adults.  Authors: Natalie L. Marchant, Ph.D., of University College London, 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.2023.17848) Editor’s ...

About The Study: This nationwide cross-sectional study demonstrated that residing in a highly segregated neighborhood was associated with a statistically significantly lower life expectancy by four years, which was partially mediated by neighborhood-level socioeconomic factors. These findings help to quantify the contribution of residential segregation as a key structural driver of racial inequities.  Authors: Sadiya S. Khan, M.D., M.Sc., of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, 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/jamahealthforum.2023.1805) Editor’s ...

About The Study: In this study of 10,000 older individuals in Australia, more frequent participation in adult literacy activities (taking education classes, using a computer, and writing letters or journals) and in active mental activities (playing games, cards, or chess and doing crosswords or puzzles) was associated with reduced dementia risk over 10 years. However, social outings and interactions were not associated with dementia risk.  Authors: Joanne Ryan, Ph.D., of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, is ...

BENTLEY UNIVERSITY The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) contributed $8.1 billion in project funding for phased clinical trials involving drugs approved by the FDA from 2010-2019, according to a new study from Bentley University’s Center for Integration of Science and Industry. The study, published in JAMA Health Forum, shows that NIH funding for clinical trials represents <3.5% of total NIH spending for basic or applied research related to these products and was significantly less than reported industry spending on clinical development. ...

The electric grids of the future will need to handle much bigger loads due to electrification of transportation and other sectors. This could mean expensive infrastructure upgrades to ensure their reliable operation, but a new study from Stanford University says most of those upgrades may be unnecessary. Better grid reliability could be achieved instead by installing software in homes and businesses that coordinates various consumer demands and resources. Such coordination not only improves reliability of the electric grid, but also ...