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Environment15 Nov 2023

Roaming seabirds need ocean-wide protection

Seabirds roam far and wide in the Indian Ocean – so they need ocean-wide protection, new research shows. All other oceans are known to contain “hotspots” where predators including seabirds feast on prey. But the new study – by a team including Exeter, Heriot-Watt and Réunion universities, and ZSL – found no such concentrations in the Indian Ocean. With seabirds facing numerous threats due to human activity, their survival depends on protecting the open ocean. “Efforts are being made to protect key breeding colonies, but until now little was known about where Indian Ocean seabirds ...

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Medicine15 Nov 2023

New process for screening old urine samples reveals previously undetected ‘designer drugs’

Researchers from the University of B.C. and the BC Provincial Toxicology Centre (BCPTC) have developed a more efficient way to find out which new ‘designer drugs’ are circulating in the community. In a study published today in Analytical Chemistry, they showed how high-resolution mass spectrometry can be used to analyze urine samples at scale and uncover molecules from emerging designer drugs that have been missed by conventional testing. The approach can support public health and safety by enabling swift identification of new substances, potentially saving lives and guiding timely clinical responses to drug-related ...

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Engineering15 Nov 2023

This 3D printer can watch itself fabricate objects

With 3D inkjet printing systems, engineers can fabricate hybrid structures that have soft and rigid components, like robotic grippers that are strong enough to grasp heavy objects but soft enough to interact safely with humans. These multimaterial 3D printing systems utilize thousands of nozzles to deposit tiny droplets of resin, which are smoothed with a scraper or roller and cured with UV light. But the smoothing process could squish or smear resins that cure slowly, limiting the types of materials that can be used. Researchers from MIT, the MIT spinout Inkbit, and ETH Zurich have developed a new 3D inkjet printing system that works ...

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Science15 Nov 2023

A new kind of magnetism

For a magnet to stick to a fridge door, inside of it several physical effects need to work together perfectly. The magnetic moments of its electrons all point in the same direction, even if no external magnetic field forces them to do so. This happens because of the so-called exchange interaction, a combination of electrostatic repulsion between electrons and quantum mechanical effects of the electron spins, which, in turn, are responsible for the magnetic moments. This is common explanation for the fact that certain materials like ...

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Science15 Nov 2023

Researchers identify the variants responsible for a rare and serious disorder

A research team, led by Tokyo Medical and Dental University（TMDU）, identifies disease-associated variants in a rare case of RAD50 deficiency/Nijmegen breakage syndrome-like disorder Tokyo, Japan – Many disorders are caused by genetic variants; to make matters worse, the genetic origin of most disorders remains unknown. Now, in a study recently published in the Journal of Clinical Immunology, researchers have shed light on the specific variants responsible for one rare and serious disorder: ‘RAD50 deficiency/Nijmegen breakage syndrome-like ...

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Science15 Nov 2023

Do extracurricular activities always give children a head start? Research says maybe not

In China, there is an old saying: "Don't let your children lose on the starting line." It highlights parents' desire to jumpstart their child's early development. Especially in recent years, parents have become increasingly anxious about their children's education, making it a trend to encourage children to participate in extracurricular activities from an early age. But is participating in extracurricular classes always advantageous for young children? Recently, a study published in the Journal of School Psychology found that extracurricular activities don't always improve a child's skills or behaviour. The ...

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Medicine15 Nov 2023

$3.37 million NIH grant backs effort to optimize online obesity programs for rural residents

University of Virginia School of Medicine public health researchers, together with colleagues at the University of South Carolina, have received a $3.37 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to determine if online behavioral weight-management programs for rural residents can be improved by adding a human touch. Online obesity programs have typically failed to yield the same benefits as in-person programs, the researchers note, so they will test three approaches to add human involvement. More than 600 volunteer participants will be enrolled in a core online 24-week weight-loss ...

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Science15 Nov 2023

The American Pediatric Society names Dr. Rachel Katzenellenbogen as the recipient of the 2024 Norman J. Siegel New Member Outstanding Science Award

The American Pediatric Society (APS) is pleased to announce Rachel Katzenellenbogen, MD, as the 2024 Norman J. Siegel New Member Outstanding Science Award recipient for her considerable contributions to pediatric science. The award will be presented to Dr. Katzenellenbogen during the APS Presidential Plenary at the Pediatric Academic Societies 2024 Meeting. The award was created in honor of one of the world’s leading nephrologists, Norman J. Siegel, MD, FASN. Dr. Siegel was an outstanding teacher and mentor, nurturing the early careers of numerous fellows and residents. He was a leader within the medical community and educated the ...

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Environment15 Nov 2023

Climate engineering could slow Antarctic ice loss, study shows

Scattering sunlight-reflecting particles in the atmosphere could slow rapid melting in West Antarctica and reduce the risk of catastrophic sea-level rise, according to a study led by Indiana University researchers. The study, one of the first to look at how climate engineering might impact Antarctica, comes as scientists sound the alarm over the increasing likelihood of accelerated ice loss in West Antarctica this century. The work appears in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. “Even if the world meets the ambitious target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels — which we are not on track ...

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Environment15 Nov 2023

New report outlines microbial solutions to mediate methane emissions

Washington, D.C.—The American Academy of Microbiology, the scientific think tank and honorific leadership group at the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), has released a new report, The Role of Microbes in Mediating Methane Emissions. The report highlights recommendations to further the scientific community’s understanding of microbial processes of methane production and consumption to mitigate methane emissions and address climate change. Microbes can influence climate change through biogeochemical cycles that ...

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Technology15 Nov 2023

NYU Tandon takes a quantum leap with new minor

NYU Tandon School of Engineering is poised to become one of an extremely select group of American universities offering an undergraduate program in quantum technology, situating it at the forefront of a fast-growing field in which high employer demand significantly outpaces available talent. Beginning in the spring 2024 semester, NYU Tandon students can start earning credits towards the new quantum tech minor, offered through the Department of Applied Physics. In the past decade, quantum technology – the use of ...

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Medicine15 Nov 2023

Stand Up To Cancer announces three teams focused on gastroesophageal cancer

LOS ANGELES – Nov. 15, 2023 – Stand Up To Cancer® (SU2C) today announced three Research Teams focused on bringing new therapies to clinical trials for the treatment of gastroesophageal cancer (GEC). The Research Teams, a part of a Dream Team Collective supported by the Torrey Coast Foundation, will unite top researchers from 11 institutions to address critical problems in GEC prevention, diagnosis and treatment. The Dream Team Collective aims to foster new and inclusive cancer research on the causes and treatments of GEC, mentor a new generation of scientists focused on GEC, bring ...

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Medicine15 Nov 2023

Should a hospital invest toward specializing in an area? Or diversify? The impact of a hospital’s portfolio strategy on patient demand

Researchers from Indiana University and Texas Christian University published a new Journal of Marketing study that examines the impact of a hospital’s portfolio strategy on patient demand. The study, forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing, is titled “Hospital Portfolio Strategy and Patient Choice” and is authored by Sarang Sunder and Sriram Thirumalai. Structural changes in the healthcare industry (e.g., the institution of the Affordable ...

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Medicine15 Nov 2023

Surveilling wetlands for infectious bird flu — and finding it

Recently, morning omelets and holiday dinners have gotten more expensive. One likely cause is bird flu, outbreaks of which led to the deaths of millions of chickens and turkeys from infection or culling in 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and which still demands rigorous monitoring of wild populations. Now, reporting in Environmental Science & Technology Letters, researchers have developed a method that detected infectious bird flu virus in wetlands frequented by waterfowl. Wild birds represent a significant reservoir of avian influenza ...

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Environment15 Nov 2023

Not so silver lining: Microplastics found in clouds could affect the weather

From the depths of the seas to snow on mountains and even the air above cities, microplastics are turning up increasingly often. Now, in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology Letters, researchers have analyzed microplastics in clouds above mountains. They suggest that these tiny particles could play a role in cloud formation and, in turn, affect weather. Microplastics — plastic fragments smaller than five millimeters — originate from a myriad of items used daily, such as clothing, packaging and car tires. As research in the field evolves, scientists are not only detecting microplastics in the atmosphere but also investigating how they may play a role in cloud formation. ...

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Medicine15 Nov 2023

Association of molecular subtypes in bladder cancer with response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, progression, and survival

Considering the molecular subtype of muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) based on differences in tumor RNA expression can improve the ability of an existing tumor biomarker such as the COXEN score to predict which patients’ tumors are likely to respond to chemotherapy given before surgery. Individual molecular subtypes, however, were not associated with significant differences in patients’ overall survival (OS) or progression-free survival (PFS) times. Those are the conclusions from a secondary analysis of data from the S1314 clinical trial, a large study in patients with MIBC that was conducted by the SWOG Cancer Research Network, a clinical trials group funded by ...

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Medicine15 Nov 2023

Colliding ribosomes activate RNA repair

Aldehydes are toxic compounds that are produced in the body by metabolic processes, especially upon alcohol consumption. They are dangerous because they bind to cellular macromolecules such as DNA, RNA, and proteins, and crosslink them. Crosslinking damage to DNA must be repaired by the cell to prevent premature aging and cancer. However, it was previously unknown whether and how cells sense and resolve crosslinking damage to single-stranded RNA. A team led by Professor Julian Stingele from ...

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Environment15 Nov 2023

On two small islands in the Indian Ocean, an endangered palm with the world’s largest seed sows a lesson about landscape restoration

Every tree species has its story. Unraveling all 73,000 of them is a significant undertaking for science, in no small part because a considerable proportion of tree biodiversity is tropical, rare, remote and subject to the ravages of deforestation. And an estimated 9,200 tree species have yet to be discovered. Even trees well-known to science have mysteries. One is the Seychelles’ endangered coco de mer, or sea coconut palm tree, which is now relegated to parts of two small Indian Ocean islands and in decline. Only some 8,200 individuals remain. What Lodoicea madivica lacks in range it makes ...

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Environment15 Nov 2023

New scientific study reveals the crucial role of herbivorous fishes and sea urchins in restoring Caribbean coral reefs

A new study by Dr. Lindsay Spiers (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission) and Professor Thomas Frazer (College of Marine Science at the University of South Florida), published in PeerJ Life & Environment, presents crucial findings on the feeding preferences of herbivorous fishes and the sea urchin Diadema antillarum in Little Cayman. The study, titled "Comparison of feeding preferences of herbivorous fishes and the sea urchin Diadema antillarum in Little Cayman," sheds new light on the dynamics of these herbivores and their impact on the resilience of Caribbean coral reefs. Caribbean coral reefs face significant challenges, ...

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Environment15 Nov 2023

The Future of Future Earth: How global science programs can navigate the complex, shifting challenges in sustainability science

The global change program Future Earth is an international alliance of organizations and agencies that was launched by the UN in June 2012. The Future Earth 2025 Vision identified eight global challenges for scientific research to accelerate progress in sustainability, improve collaboration, and mobilize resources. After more than a decade of this global change program, researchers are analyzing the challenges Future Earth has faced and the path forward. Discussion presented in a recently published paper reviews these challenges faced by the coalition and proposes solutions to help these programs meet the many needs of the global community. The paper was published on ...

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Medicine15 Nov 2023

Georgetown Global Health Center launches first open-access wildlife disease database

WASHINGTON (November 15, 2023) – Georgetown University Medical Center’s Center for Global Health Science and Security (GHSS) today announces the launch of a first-of-its-kind wildlife disease database -- a system for collecting records of viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites, etc. -- designed to support an early warning system for potential viral emergence. The Pathogen Harmonized Observatory, or PHAROS, is open to the global community and free to access. Scientists in GHSS’ Verena program, a collaborative ...

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Medicine15 Nov 2023

University of Basel delivers first biological implants for treatment of cartilage lesions and osteoarthritis in humans

The Department of Biomedicine at the University of Basel and the University Hospital Basel, today announced that it delivered the first surgical procedure to treat Osteoarthritis (OA) in humans. The procedure called Nasal Chondrocyte Tissue-Engineered Cartilage, or N-TEC, provides an innovative alternative to cure confined knee cartilage lesions as well as to address degenerative OA cases that have to date required knee joint replacements – prosthetics that routinely need replacing after 15-20 years. The team at Basel is spearheading the next-generation human clinical trials that will ...

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Medicine15 Nov 2023

From 2018 to 2022, eating disorder claim lines increased 65 percent nationally as a percentage of all medical claim lines

NEW YORK, NY—November 15, 2023—From 2018 to 2022, eating disorder claim lines increased 65 percent nationally as a percentage of all medical claim lines.[1] All eating disorders studied increased during this period, but at different rates: avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) by 305 percent,[2] binge-eating disorder by 81 percent, anorexia nervosa (anorexia) by 73 percent and bulimia nervosa (bulimia) by 3 percent. These and other findings on eating disorders are reported in a FAIR Health white paper released today: Spotlight on Eating Disorders: An Analysis of Private Healthcare Claims. Eating ...

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Medicine15 Nov 2023

NTU Singapore’s strength in research excellence sees it ranked 22nd globally and first in Singapore with most number of highly cited researchers

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) is up one spot to 22nd globally in this year’s Highly Cited Researchers list by Clarivate, a United Kingdom-based data company. For the sixth year running, the University has the largest number of influential scientists among Singapore institutions recognised, with 42 NTU researchers that have significant and broad influence in their fields of research named. These 42 scientists account for 44 mentions in the list, with two individuals recognised more ...

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Science15 Nov 2023

New study finds association between insecticide exposure and lower sperm concentration in adult men

EMBARGOED until November 15, 2023 Contact: Michelle Thompson George Mason University mthomp7@gmu.edu 703-993-3485 New study finds association between insecticide exposure and lower sperm concentration in adult men Comprehensive systematic review of 25 studies over nearly 50 years reveals consistent evidence of associations between insecticide exposure and lower sperm concentration FAIRFAX, Va – Melissa J. Perry, Sc.D., MHS, dean of the George Mason University ...

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