MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (06/23/2021) -- A new report from the University of Minnesota Medical School's Healthy Youth Development - Prevention Research Center (HYD-PRC) highlights that Minnesota youth continue to contract sexually transmitted infections (STIs) at alarmingly high rates, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 Minnesota Adolescent Sexual Health Report says that chlamydia and gonorrhea rates among Minnesota adolescents in 2020 are likely underreported, as both STI testing and case detection were scaled back during the early stages of the pandemic. However, teen pregnancy rates remain virtually unchanged from 2018, and birth rates are at historic lows for ...

The stink of ammonia in urine, sweat, and rotting meat repels humans, but many insects find ammonia alluring. Now, UConn researchers have figured out how the annoying insects smell it, a discovery that could lead to better ways to make them buzz off. The sense of smell is enormously important. Mammals devote a third of their genetic code to odor receptors found in the nose, and have more than 1,000 different kinds that allow us to smell an estimated trillion different odors. Flies don't have noses. Instead, they smell with their antenna. Each antenna is covered with tiny hairs called sensilla. Each sensilla contains a few neurons--fly brain cells. Each neuron expresses one type of odor receptor, and they all fall into two main ...

A new biocompatible polymer-based composite material could soon replace metal plates in treating difficult and unstable fractures. Developed at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, the newly-developed material is as strong as dental composites yet non-toxic. The material and a surgical method, which were published in Advanced Functional Materials, will be used in clinical studies in 2023 and 2024, with a focus on hand fractures. Michael Malkoch, professor of fibre and polymer technology at KTH, says that the material and method, AdhFix, will enable customized plating for fixation of fractures with a more comfortable, less complicated recovery. Collarbone and rib fractures in particular are ideally suited for the proposed treatment, ...

During the COVID-19 pandemic, cloth face masks became a way to help protect yourself and others from the virus. And for some people, they became a fashion statement, with many fabric choices available. But just how effective are they, especially in containing a sneeze? Now, researchers reporting in ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering used high-speed videos of a person sneezing to identify the optimal cloth mask design. Watch a video of the sneeze cam here. Early in the pandemic, worldwide shortages of surgical masks and N95 respirators led many people to make or purchase cloth face masks. Now, with safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines available, mask restrictions are ...

A new study published in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research posits that increased accessibility to anthropomorphized luck (i.e., "lady luck") can lead consumers to be more likely to pursue higher-risk financial behavior. In "Lady Luck: Anthropomorphized Luck Creates Perceptions of Risk-Sharing and Drives Pursuit of Risky Alternatives," authors Katina Kulow, Thomas Kramer, and Kara Bentley propose that preferences for higher-risk options (like lottery tickets with worse odds or investment opportunities with a low chance of return) are driven by shared risk perceptions that might engender feelings of security provided by the idea of "lady luck." This behavior, the authors note, "bodes ill for consumer welfare, given that many financial maladaptive activities ...

Beyond how much cream and sugar to add to their morning brew, coffee lovers also face more serious decisions: one of those is whether or not to buy ecolabelled coffee, which advertises itself as more ethical and environmentally friendly. But whether customers are willing to pay the extra price for these perks remains an unanswered question. In a study publishing in the journal Heliyon on June 23, researchers combined data from 22 studies to conclude that in general, people are willing to pay $1.36 more for a pound of coffee that's produced in an eco-friendly way and are especially partial to coffee that's labelled "Organic." "We hear in the media or sometimes read in the newspaper that there ...

Researchers have developed a simple lab-based technique that allows them to look inside lithium-ion batteries and follow lithium ions moving in real time as the batteries charge and discharge, something which has not been possible until now. Using the low-cost technique, the researchers identified the speed-limiting processes which, if addressed, could enable the batteries in most smartphones and laptops to charge in as little as five minutes. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, say their technique will not only help improve existing battery materials, ...

Denisova Cave is located in the Altai Mountains in southern Siberia and is famous for the discovery of Denisovans, an extinct form of archaic humans that is thought to have occupied large parts of central and eastern Asia. Neandertal remains have also been found at the site, as well as a bone from a child who had a Neandertal mother and Denisovan father, showing that both groups met in the region. However, only eight bone fragments and teeth of Neandertals and Denisovans have been recovered so far from the deposits in Denisova Cave, which cover ...

Humans perceive the world around them with five senses - vision, hearing, taste, smell and touch. Many other animals are also able to sense the Earth's magnetic field. For some time, a collaboration of biologists, chemists and physicists centred at the Universities of Oldenburg (Germany) and Oxford (UK) have been gathering evidence suggesting that the magnetic sense of migratory birds such as European robins is based on a specific light-sensitive protein in the eye. In the current edition of the journal Nature, this team demonstrate that the protein cryptochrome 4, found in birds' retinas, is sensitive to magnetic fields and could well be the long-sought magnetic sensor. First ...

Researchers rescued mice from early death caused by a muscle-weakening disease, not by correcting the flawed gene that causes it, but instead by targeting another protein in the same signaling pathway. Led by NYU Grossman School of Medicine researchers, a new study found that an antibody treatment not only rescued young mice from a form of congenital myasthenia (CM) but also reversed disease relapse in adult mice. Published online in the journal Nature on June 23, the study revealed new details of the cause of CM, with the better understanding guiding ...

ITHACA, N.Y. - Scientists at Cornell University and the American Museum of Natural History have identified 2,034 nearby star-systems - within the small cosmic distance of 326 light-years - that could find Earth merely by watching our pale blue dot cross our sun. That's 1,715 star-systems that could have spotted Earth since human civilization blossomed about 5,000 years ago, and 319 more star-systems that will be added over the next 5,000 years. Exoplanets around these nearby stars have a cosmic front-row seat to see if Earth holds life, the scientists said in research published June 23 in Nature. "From the exoplanets' point-of-view, we are the aliens," said Lisa Kaltenegger, professor of astronomy and director of Cornell's Carl Sagan ...

What The Study Did: Hospital employees were surveyed about symptoms such as a rash, itching, hives or swelling around the face after receiving a messenger RNA COVID-19 vaccine. Authors: Lacey B. Robinson, M.D., M.P.H., of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, 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/jamadermatol.2021.2114) Editor's Note: The article includes conflicts of interest and funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, ...

BOSTON - Skin problems such as itchiness, rashes, hives and swelling can occur in some individuals after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, but it's not clear how common these reactions are or how frequently they recur with a subsequent vaccination. Research by led by allergists at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) now provides encouraging indications that the reactions are rare, and that even when they do occur with an initial COVID-19 vaccination, they seldom recur after receiving a second vaccine dose. For the study, which is published in JAMA Dermatology, a team led by Kimberly G. Blumenthal, MD, MSc, co-director of the Clinical Epidemiology Program within MGH's ...

What The Study Did: Researchers investigated the association between counties that adopted state mask mandates in Kansas with COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Authors: Donna K. Ginther, Ph.D., of the University of Kansas in Lawrence, 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.2021.14514) Editor's Note: The article includes funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions ...

What The Study Did: The hours worked and patterns of work activities among U.S. physicians before and during the COVID-19 pandemic were examined in this study. Authors: Xiaochu Hu, Ph.D., of the Association of American Medical Colleges in Washington, D.C., 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.2021.14386) Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict ...

What The Study Did: Researchers examined family voucher-based kidney donations and the capability of voucher redemption to provide timely kidney transplants. Authors: Jeffrey L. Veale, M.D., of the University of California, Los Angeles, 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/jamasurg.2021.2375) Editor's Note: The article includes conflict of interest disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and ...

Migratory birds carry most seeds in the wrong direction to help plants cope with climate change, new research shows. The study, published in Nature, reveals that the vast majority of plants from European woodlands are dispersed by birds migrating to warmer latitudes in the south, while far fewer are dispersed by birds migrating north. As a consequence of global warming, the optimal climatic conditions of species are moving towards cooler latitudes, forcing the redistribution of life on Earth. Mobility allows many animals to reach new areas with a suitable climate. However, movement of plant species depends on the dispersal of their seeds at long ...

CHAPEL HILL, NC--Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center have uncovered a new mechanism that activates specific genes, leading to the development of cancers. They showed that a mutation that fuses two unrelated genes can promote a process similar to that observed when oil and water are mixed but do not blend together. The process, called liquid-liquid phase separation, occurs inside a cell's nucleus and enables the formation of compartments with various physical properties that can promote cancers such as acute leukemias. Their findings will be published online June 23, 2021, in Nature. "Phase separation and its role in cancer has been a missing puzzle piece in understanding this disease," said UNC Lineberger's ...

A joint research team led by Prof. LIU Zhongmin, Prof. WEI Yingxu, and Prof. XU Shutao from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) revealed the mechanism underlying the formation of the first carbon-carbon (C-C) bond formation during the methanol-to-olefins (MTO) process. This study was published in Chem on June 23. Prof. ZHENG Anmin's group from Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology of CAS was also involved in the study. The first C-C bond in the MTO process is formed at the initial stage of the reaction. There is no direct method to elucidate the bond formation /reaction mechanism due to the difficulty in capturing intermediate species. "We investigated the ...

A paper published in the prestigious journal Nature Medicine on long-COVID, describes persistent symptoms six months after acute COVID-19, even in young home isolated people. The study from the Bergen COVID-19 Research Group followed infected patients during the first pandemic wave in Bergen Norway. "The main novel finding is that more than fifty per cent of young adults up to 30 years old, isolated at home, still have persistent symptoms six months after mild to moderate disease", the leader of the group, Professor Nina Langeland explains. The most common symptoms were loss of smell and/or taste, fatigue, ...

Pioneering research has shown marine ecosystems can start working again, providing important functions for humans, after being wiped out much sooner than their return to peak biodiversity. The study, led by the University of Bristol and published today in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, paves the way for greater understanding of the impact of climate change on all life forms. The international research team found plankton were able to recover and resume their core function of regulating carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere more than twice as fast as they regained full levels of biodiversity. Senior author Daniela Schmidt, Professor ...

An accurate, non-invasive, and low-cost method of testing for COVID-19 using samples taken from the screens of mobile phones has been developed by a team led by UCL researchers at Diagnosis Biotech. The study, published in eLife and led by Dr Rodrigo Young (UCL Institute of Ophthalmology), analysed swabs from smartphone screens rather than directly from people, and found that people who tested positive by the regular nasal swabbing PCRs were also positive when samples were taken from phone screens. The new method - known as Phone Screen Testing (PoST) - detected the COVID-19 virus on the phones of 81 to 100% of contagious people with a high viral load, suggesting it is as accurate as antigen lateral flow tests. Globally active screening for COVID-19 is still a priority ...

Modern weather forecasts rely heavily on data retrieved from numerical weather prediction models. These models continue to improve and have advanced considerably throughout more than half a century. However, forecast reliability depends on the quality and accuracy of initialization data, or a sample of the current global atmosphere when the model run is started. This process of bringing surface observations, radiosonde data, and satellite imagery together to create a picture of the initial atmospheric state is called data assimilation. Satellite upgrades have significantly improved this process, providing more data than ever before. Several recent studies show ...

A rare genetic defect that affects the so-called ALG2 gene can cause serious metabolic diseases in humans. It does so through the defective formation of proteins and sugar molecules. Until now, its rareness and complexity made it difficult to study this congenital glycosylation disorder. A research team led by Prof. Dr Joachim Wittbrodt and Dr Thomas Thumberger from the Centre for Organismal Studies (COS) of Heidelberg University has finally succeeded in introducing the underlying mutation in the ALG2 gene in a fish model, thus allowing the causes of these complex diseases to be studied at the molecular level. Human cells are kept alive by the activity of millions of proteins. As they mature, these proteins ...

What do pipes and anchors have to do with storing energy? More than you might think! A new IIASA-led study explored the potential of a lesser known, but promising sustainable energy storage system called Buoyancy Energy Storage. There is general consensus that renewable energy sources will play an important role in ensuring a healthier and more sustainable future for the planet and its people, and many countries are indeed already seeing such technologies displacing "dirty" fossil fuels in the power sector in an effort to lower emissions. The biggest problem with renewable energy sources, however, is that power supply is intermittent, meaning that the energy output at any given time does not necessarily meet the demand at that time. ...