Lanthanides are rare-earth heavy metals with useful magnetic properties and a knack for emitting light. Researchers had long assumed that lanthanides' toxicity risk was low and therefore safe to implement in a number of high-tech breakthroughs we now take for granted: from OLEDs (organic light-emitting displays)¬¬ to medical MRIs and even hybrid vehicles. In recent years, however, some scientists have questioned lanthanides' safety. In matters concerning health care, for example, some MRI patients have attributed a litany of side effects, including ...

Most fish rely on water to feed, using suction to capture their prey. A new study, however, shows that snowflake morays can grab and swallow prey on land without water thanks to an extra set of jaws in their throats. After a moray eel captures prey with its first set of jaws, a second set of "pharyngeal jaws" then reaches out to grasp the struggling prey and pull it down into the moray's throat. Rita Mehta, an associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz, first described this astonishing feeding mechanism in a 2007 Nature paper. The new study, published June 7 in the Journal of Experimental Biology, shows that these pharyngeal jaws enable ...

Forty years ago, the first cases of HIV/AIDS in the U.S began to raise public awareness- but new research highlights the struggle people living with the disease still face against stigma, discrimination and negative labelling in their own families, communities and even amongst healthcare professionals. A new study by Flinders University researchers interviewed 20 HIV healthcare providers including doctors, nurses, and counsellors in Yogyakarta and Belu districts, Indonesia to examine their experiences when treating patients with HIV. Their responses indicated admission of ...

A trial using mice has shown that a diet high in sugar from childhood could lead to significant weight gain, persistent hyperactivity and learning impairments Many people on 'western' diets consume four times more the sugar recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Reducing sucrose intake in mice by four-fold prevented sugar-induced increase in weight gain, supporting the WHO's recommendations of 25g per person a day. Children who consume too much sugar could be at greater risk of becoming obese, hyperactive, and cognitively impaired, as adults, according to the results of a new study of mice led by ...

Propylene oxide (PO) is one of the important propylene derivatives with high reactivity, which is used extensively as raw material for the manufacture of numerous commercial chemicals. The titanosilicate-catalyzed hydrogen peroxide propylene oxide process (HPPO) is considered to be most advantageous because it is highly economical and ecofriendly, giving only H2O as the theoretical byproduct and achieving high PO selectivity under mild reaction conditions. The industrial HPPO process is generally carried out in a fixed-bed reactor using the shaped titanosilicate catalysts. Unfortunately, the inert and non-porous binders in shaping ...

The geometric isolation of metal species in single-atom catalysis (SACs) not only maximizes the atomic utilization efficiency, but also endows SACs with unique selectivity in various transformations. The coordination environment of isolated metal atoms in SACs determines the catalytic performance. However, it remains challenging to modulate the coordinative structure while still maintain the single-atom dispersion. Recently, a research group led by Prof. ZHANG Tao and Prof. WANG Aiqin from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences fabricated Ru1/NC ...

CHICAGO --- Having trouble falling or staying asleep may leave you feeling tired and frustrated. It also could subtract years from your life expectancy, according to a new study from Northwestern Medicine and the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom (UK). The effect was even greater for people with diabetes who experienced sleep disturbances, the study found. Study participants with diabetes who experienced frequent sleep disturbances were 87% more likely to die of any cause (car accident, heart attack, etc.) during the 8.9-year study follow-up period compared to people without diabetes or sleep disturbances. They were 12% more likely to die over this period than those who had diabetes but not frequent sleep disturbances. "If you don't have diabetes, your sleep ...

In a paper published by the Journal of Sleep Research, researchers reveal how they examined data* from half a million middle-aged UK participants asked if they had trouble falling asleep at night or woke up in the middle of the night. The report found that people with frequent sleep problems are at a higher risk of dying than those without sleep problems. This grave outcome was more pronounced for people with Type-2 diabetes: during the nine years of the research, the study found that they were 87 per cent more likely to die of any cause than people without diabetes ...

Durham, NC - Critically ill COVID-19 patients treated with non-altered stem cells from umbilical cord connective tissue were more than twice as likely to survive as those who did not have the treatment, according to a study published today in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine. The clinical trial, carried out at four hospitals in Jakarta, Indonesia, also showed that administering the treatment to COVID-19 patients with an added chronic health condition such as diabetes, hypertension or kidney disease increased their survival more than fourfold. All 40 patients who took part in the double-blind, controlled, ...

A new study from the University of California, Davis and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai confirms that surgical masks effectively reduce outgoing airborne particles from talking or coughing, even after allowing for leakage around the edges of the mask. The results are published June 8 in Scientific Reports. Wearing masks and other face coverings can reduce the flow of airborne particles that are produced during breathing, talking, coughing or sneezing, protecting others from viruses carried by those particles such as SARS-CoV2 and influenza, said Christopher Cappa, professor ...

Of all the different types of cancer known, a subtype of pancreatic cancer called pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is among the most aggressive and deadly. This disease begins in the cells that make up certain small ducts in the pancreas and progresses silently, usually causing no symptoms until advanced tumors actually obstruct these ducts or spread to other places. PDAC is not only difficult to diagnose, but also very unresponsive to available treatments. In particular, researchers have noted that PDAC cells can usually survive radiotherapy through mechanisms that remain largely unknown. Part of the Radiation and Cancer Biology ...

A new physiological measurement of heart function developed at UVA Health could improve survival for people with heart failure by identifying high-risk patients who require tailored treatments, a new study suggests. The study is the first to show a survival benefit from wireless pressure monitoring sensors implanted in the pulmonary arteries. Pulmonary artery proportional pulse pressure, or PAPP, is a new measure of heart function, developed at UVA, that can identify patients at very high risk of hospitalization or death from systolic heart failure or pulmonary hypertension (high blood pressure in the heart and ...

Tropical cyclones (TCs) are humbling and powerful forces of nature that can have tremendous impacts on people and human populations. Meteorologists have strived to improve TC forecasting skill, hoping to save lives. In the past few decades, TC track forecasts over the western North Pacific (WNP) have progressed considerably. However, TC intensity forecasts have improved insignificantly, with only a 3-5 day lead time. Therefore, improving TC intensity forecast skill and extending lead forecast time are important and urgent issues. To address this critical problem, a research group led by Prof. Ruifen ZHAN from the Department of Atmospheric and Ocean Sciences/Institute of Atmospheric Sciences at Fudan University, along with the Shanghai Typhoon Institute of China Meteorological ...

The incidence rate of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is increasing gradually and the mortality is still high. Recent advances in the genomic profile of LUAD have identified a number of driver alterations in specific genes, enabling molecular classification and targeted therapy accordingly. However, only a fraction of LUAD patients with those driver mutations could benefit from targeted therapy, and the remaining large numbers of patients were unclassified. RNA editing events are those nucleotide changes in the RNA. Currently, the role of RNA editing events ...

Glass is one of the most common subjects we see every day, but the detailed structure of this non-metallic and non-liquid material has always been a major mystery in science. A research team co-led by scientists at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has successfully discovered that the amorphous and crystalline metallic glass have the same structural building blocks. And it is the connectivity between these blocks that distinguishes the crystalline and amorphous states of the material. The findings shed light on the understanding of glass structure. Glass is a non-crystalline amorphous solid which has widespread practical and technological use in daily life. Besides the soda-lime glass used in windows, there are many other ...

Epidemiological and toxicological studies indicate that the adverse outcomes of PM2.5 exposure associated closely with the chemical composition in PM2.5. Metals in PM2.5 are highly concerned for their induced disruption of iron homeostasis in the lung and following oxidative stress, which is one of the key mechanisms underlying the cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction of PM2.5 exposure. However, there is no clear evidence on whether COPD patients are more susceptible to cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction associated with exposure to metals in ambient PM2.5 than individuals without COPD. Based on a panel study, the researchers directly compared metal-associated cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction between COPD patients and healthy controls. "We observed higher levels of heart ...

Supermassive black holes (SMBH) occupy the center of galaxies, with masses ranging from one million to 10 billion solar masses. Some SMBHs are in a bright phase called active galactic nuclei (AGN). AGNs will eventually burn out since there is a maximum mass limit for SMBHs; scientists have long since pondered when that will be. Tohoku University's Kohei Ichikawa and his research group may have discovered an AGN towards the end of its life span by accident after catching an AGN signal from the Arp 187 galaxy. Through observing the radio images in the galaxy using two astronomy observatories - the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Very Large Array (VLA) - ...

Globally, the Earth system has thousands of terragrams (Tg) (1 Tg = 10 12 g) of mineral nanoparticles moving around the planet each year. These mineral nanoparticles are ubiquitously distributed throughout the atmosphere, oceans, waters, soils, in and/or on most living organisms, and even within proteins such as ferritin. In natural environments, mineral nanozymes can be produced by two pathways: "top down" and "bottom up" processes. Specifically, the weathering or human-promoted breakdown of bulk materials can result in nanomaterials directly (a top-down process), or nanomaterials ...

A team of researchers from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore (NP), and the National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS) have invented a tool that could speed up the diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases. Powered by artificial intelligence (AI), their innovation uses electrocardiograms (ECGs) to diagnose coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction and congestive heart failure to an accuracy of more than 98.5 per cent. The joint development of the diagnostic tool is timely, as the number of deaths caused by cardiovascular disease in Singapore has increased over the past three years. According to the Singapore Heart Foundation, 29.3 per cent of all deaths in Singapore in 2019, or almost 1 out of 3 deaths in Singapore, was due to heart ...

Osteoporosis is a condition that does not exhibit symptoms until there is a bone fracture, so it is said that there is a high percentage of people who remain unaware of their condition. When people are unaware their bones have weakened, the condition is left untreated, and the recent rise of the elderly population has caused an increase in bone fractures. This has a large societal impact, such as overwhelming medical costs and long-term care. Simple screenings at resident health exams are one way for an increase in osteoporosis detecting without having to go to the hospital. When suspected osteoporosis and osteopenia is properly detected and patients are encouraged to get further evaluation at the hospital, ...

Scientists have observed for the first time what it looks like in the key memory region of the brain when a mistake is made during a memory trial. The findings have implications for Alzheimer's disease research and advancements in memory storage and enhancement, with a discovery that also provides a view into differences between the physiological events in the brain during a correct memory versus a faulty one. The study was published today in the journal Nature Communications. In both correct and incorrect recall of a spatial memory, researchers could observe patterns of cell activation in the brain that were similar, though the pace of activation differed. "We could see the memories activating," said Laura Colgin, an associate professor of neuroscience at The University ...

SAN RAMON, Calif., June 8, 2021--CooperVision today announced its scientific research program for the 2021 British Contact Lens Association Virtual Clinical Conference and Exhibition, which begins Sunday, June 13. For the first time, the biennial event will be streamed live over the course of 30 hours, welcoming members of the global eye care community to experience and discuss the latest category advancements. More than 20 CooperVision-authored and sponsored investigations were accepted by the conference committee. The papers and posters span a range of topics that underpin the contact lens industry's evolution, including new data and insights on the complex lifestyle factors involved with addressing presbyopia, misperceptions surrounding soft toric lens fitting, ...

An unprecedented analysis of almost 10,000 Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) events worldwide over the past 33 years was launched today by UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. The first-ever global statistical analysis examined ~9,500 HABs events over 33 years and found that the harm caused by HABs rises in step with growth of the aquaculture industry and marine exploitation and calls for more research on linkages. Conducted over seven years by 109 scientists in 35 countries, the study found that reported HAB events have increased in some regions and decreased or held steady in others. ...

UPTON, NY--Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have published the first detailed atomic-level model of the SARS-CoV-2 "envelope" protein bound to a human protein essential for maintaining the lining of the lungs. The model showing how the two proteins interact, just published in the journal Nature Communications, helps explain how the virus could cause extensive lung damage and escape the lungs to infect other organs in especially vulnerable COVID-19 patients. The findings may speed the search for drugs to block the most severe effects of the disease. "By obtaining atomic-level details of the protein interactions we can explain why the damage occurs, and search for inhibitors ...

Natural selection can reverse evolution that occurs through sexual selection and this can lead to better females, new research shows. The study - led by the University of Exeter and Okayama University - examined broad-horned flour beetles, whose males have exaggerated mandibles, while females do not. Male beetles with the largest mandibles win more fights and mate with more females - an example of "sexual selection", where certain characteristics (like a male peacock's tail) improve mating success. However, having bigger mandibles requires a masculinised body (large head and neck), ...