Effective energy storage is paramount to society’s transition to renewable energy.  Lithium metal batteries (LMBs) have the potential to double the amount of energy stored in a single charge compared to current lithium ion batteries (LIBs), but lithium dendrite growth and electrolyte consumption in current LMB technologies are hindering battery performance. Substrates for solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) offer a potential solution to current LMB limitations, but SPEs require their own optimization prior to integration into all-solid-state LMB (ASSLMB) systems.  A ...

As an international study involving University of Gothenburg researchers has shown, a decision tool for health professionals has proved capable of halving the use of antibiotics against urinary tract infections while maintaining patient safety. The study, now published in The BMJ, comprises a total of 1,041 frail older people at 38 senior care homes in the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Sweden. A group of researchers at the University of Gothenburg and Region Västra Götaland has been running the Swedish part of the study, ...

A promising cancer drug that targets only cancer cells has been developed by researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and a university spin-off company, APIM Therapeutics. NTNU has been responsible for the basic research. APIM Therapeutics has used the basic research to develop the medicine. It has taken 18 years and more than EUR 20 million. The medicine has now been tested on 20 cancer patients who were terminally ill. They had tried all available treatments, and as a last resort they opted ...

Fukuoka, Japan—Researchers from Kyushu University have found how a single mechanosensitive protein induces the process that thickens and scars tissue, known as fibrosis. The protein, called VGLL3, was shown to contribute to fibrosis in multiple organs. The team hope their findings will lead to new treatments against fibrosis, a pathology that is attributed to 45% of all deaths in industrial nations. Their study was published in Nature Communications. In response to any injury, the body immediately begins a stream of events. Blood coagulates, the tissue ...

CHICAGO – March 21, 2023 – A new study from VillageMD Research Institute, in collaboration with a scientist from Harvard-affiliated Marcus Institute for Aging Research, demonstrates the prevalence of frailty in both middle-aged and older adults and frail patients’ challenges in accessing healthcare in the United States. This study was recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association titled “Self-Reported Frailty and Health Care Utilization in Community-Dwelling Middle-Aged and Older Adults ...

Researchers from University of Pennsylvania, University or Maryland, and Emory University published a new Journal of Marketing article that examines how and why the language used in content engages readers. The study, forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing, is titled “What Holds Attention? Linguistic Drivers of Engagement” and is authored by Jonah Berger, Wendy W. Moe, and David A. Schweidel. Everyone wants to hold an audience’s attention. Brands want consumers ...

Another new mosquito species has made its way across the tropics into Florida, making a permanent home in at least three counties. Scientists are concerned because of the rate of new mosquitoes arriving in Florida and the potential for them to transmit mosquito-borne diseases. A mosquito known only by its scientific name, Culex lactator, is the latest to establish in the Sunshine State, according to a new study published in the Journal of Medical Entomology by faculty at the UF/IFAS Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory (UF/IFAS FMEL). This species was first discovered ...

A new leaf has turned in scientists' hunt for developing cutting-edge materials used in organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TV's, touchscreens, and more. The advance involves the polaron, a quasiparticle consisting of an electron and its surrounding distortions of atoms in a crystal lattice. Simulations on the Texas Advanced Computing Center's (TACC) Frontera supercomputer have helped scientists map for the first time the conditions that characterize polarons in 2D materials, the thinnest materials that have ever been made. "We charted a map to indicate in which materials polarons should be found, under what conditions, and the characteristics ...

Nearly a third of Americans (29%) say COVID-19 made them more worried than ever about having obesity prompting about 28 million people to consider weight-loss methods they hadn’t thought about before the pandemic began, including nearly 6.4 million thought about turning to either weight-loss surgery or taking prescription anti-obesity drugs for the first time, according to a new survey whose findings were published online in the peer-reviewed journal, Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases (SOARD). Another nearly 1 in 5 people (18%) said they were more likely to initiate a discussion about their weight with their physician specifically because ...

Following enormous collisions, such as asteroid impacts, some amount of material from an impacted world may be ejected into space. This material can travel vast distances and for extremely long periods of time. In theory this material could contain direct or indirect signs of life from the host world, such as fossils of microorganisms. And this material could be detectable by humans in the near future, or even now. When you hear the words vacuum and dust in a sentence, you may groan at the thought of having ...

With the first paper compiling all known information about planets like Venus beyond our solar system, scientists are the closest they’ve ever been to finding an analog of Earth’s “twin.”  If they succeed in locating one, it could reveal valuable insights into Earth’s future, and our risk of developing a runaway greenhouse climate as Venus did.  Scientists who wrote the paper began with more than 300 known terrestrial planets orbiting other stars, called exoplanets. They whittled the list down to the five most likely to ...

New scientific research investigates inflammation and insulin resistance in habitual coffee drinkers to understand how coffee may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D), mediated by inflammatory biomarkers in the body 1. Drinking just one additional cup of coffee per day was associated with a 4-6% lower risk of T2D among participants in two large prospective cohort studies, which was partly explained by lower levels of inflammation1. Experts consider consuming up to 400mg of caffeine (3-5 cups of coffee) per day to be a moderate and safe amount for most adults. For pregnant or lactating women, caffeine intake should be reduced to 200mg per day2. These results further support previous ...

Working for a big company or in an HR role does not lower the likelihood of showing unconscious bias against disabled people at work, a new study finds. Researchers say this is ‘surprising’ because of the money many large firms spend on EDI and unconscious bias training – in 2017 up to $8bn in the US alone – and the fact HR professionals are often specifically trained in EDI issues. The research, a collaboration between the University of Exeter’s Business School and Medical ...

In a study of Danish children born between 1978–2000, chances of graduating from lower and upper secondary education were significantly lower for children born by cesarean section (CS). However, differences in grade point averages and intelligence scores were very small. The study, which is published in Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, also found that males born by CS had a lower likelihood of appearing before a conscription board for drafting into the military. In Denmark, most students are 6–16 years old while in lower secondary education (LSE) and 16–17 years old when initiating ...

Results from a clinical trial published in the Journal of Internal Medicine reveal several health benefits of moderate salt restriction in patients on standard medical treatment for primary aldosteronism.  Primary aldosteronism—a condition in which the adrenal glands make too much of the hormone aldosterone—is a common cause of secondary hypertension. The combination of aldosterone excess and high dietary salt intake leaves affected patients with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease than patients with hypertension ...

Seals, sea lions, and fur seals are at risk from interactions with fisheries and aquaculture, as they can become entangled in nets or cages, and drown. In a study published in Mammal Review, investigators analyzed research from the last 25 years on operational and biological interactions between these marine mammals and fisheries and aquaculture activities in South American waters.  The authors found that two species are primarily involved in interactions in many countries: the South American sea lion Otaria flavescens and the South American fur seal Arctocephalus australis. ...

In an analysis of perinatal care provided in the United States, investigators found few differences by race for care that was based on guidelines or expert recommendations; however, discretionary care (for which professional recommendations or guidelines do not exist) varied by race. The analysis, which is published in Birth, included information from the electronic health records for 7,056 women who delivered infants within a large hospital system between 2012 and 2018. Compared with Non-Hispanic white women, Non-Hispanic Black women were ...

New research published in Human Brain Mapping reveals sex differences and developmental changes in the brain’s white matter—which provides communication between different parts of the brain—in healthy, typically developing infants and 5-year-olds. The results, which highlighted sexual dimorphism in brain structure during development with significant detectable differences in multiple regions at the age of 5 years, agree with prior studies showing earlier brain development in females. Also, changes in white matter asymmetry patterns occurred during early childhood, and in 5-year-olds the pattern already resembled adult-like patterns. “We observed sex differences ...

Dysregulation of microRNAs, which are molecules involved in controlling gene expression, can promote tumor formation and progression. A study in The FASEB Journal found that the miR-145 microRNA can suppress the growth of cervical cancer cells. miR-145 was expressed at lower than normal levels in human cervical cancer cells, and lower levels correlated with more advanced clinical stages of cervical cancer in patients.  Experiments in cells and mice revealed the mechanisms behind miR-145 effects and pointed to potential targets that could be ...

Temperature influences how badly pesticides affect bees’ behaviour, suggesting uncertain impacts under climate change, according to a new study. The findings indicate that future extreme temperature events under climate change could increase the impact of pesticides on bee populations and their pollination services. Certain pesticides, particularly a class called neonicotinoids, are known to impact bees and other important insects, and are thought to be contributing to population declines. However, bees’ reported responses to this threat across the world often seem to vary, suggesting other interacting factors ...

Findings paint a bleak picture of little or no financial and health support from governments for their citizens stuck overseas. At least two-thirds of those stranded aboard experienced financial distress and moderate-to-severe levels of depression—a rate that is substantially higher than the general population and health care professionals in the pandemic. **Note: the release below is a special early release from the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2023, Copenhagen, 15-18 April). Please credit the congress if you use this story** **Note – the press release is available in Spanish and ...

The University of Texas at Arlington-based Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center (TMAC) has received a grant worth nearly $500,000 to assist manufacturers in developing and adopting pollution prevention practices that reduce costs and environmental impacts. The $498,836 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Pollution Prevention Program allows both the TMAC Sustainability team and Process Automation Design Engineering (PADE) team to work with manufacturers to prevent pollution in areas considered environmental justice regions. An environmental ...

A University of Texas at Arlington researcher is working to optimize supply chain management to allow for flexibility from forces outside the supply chain, such as policy changes that can cause major disruptions. Linda Wang, assistant professor in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at UTA, has earned a five-year, $503,000 Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for her research. CAREER awards are the NSF’s most prestigious honor for early-career ...

Cambridge University scientists have come up with a system of measuring animal welfare that enables reliable comparison across different types of pig farming. This means that animal welfare can now, for the first time, be properly considered alongside other impacts of farming to help identify which farming systems are best. This is vital for improving animal welfare in livestock production, at a time when demand for meat is rising globally and the way animals are farmed is changing - with concerns about the welfare of intensive and indoor systems. Animal welfare assessments could also enable consumers to be better informed when choosing what to eat. Britain ...

Several scientific journals have amended their submission guidelines after an analysis identified numerous research studies that had been published with crucial information missing. The finding emerged from an analysis by academics at the University of Cambridge, which reviewed reports from trials evaluating new school-based programmes to increase the amount of children’s physical exercise. It found that 98% of these reports left out key details about how teachers had been trained to deliver the interventions. The trial reports ...