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Science30 Oct 2023

Research grants available: $50,000 to evaluate race in risk calculators

DALLAS, October 30, 2023 — Multiple 1-year grants of up to $50,000 each are available from the American Heart Association to fund research that evaluates the use of race in heart disease and stroke risk calculators. The American Heart Association,­ the single largest non-government supporter of heart and brain health research in the U.S., is offering the funding as part of the De-Biasing Clinical Care Algorithms project. The project is a two-year scientific research strategy, supported in part by a grant from the Doris Duke Foundation, to study the complex issue of how race and ethnicity factor into clinical care ...

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Medicine30 Oct 2023

Shedding light on the paradoxical prognosis for patients with cardiac sarcoidosis, a rare and difficult-to-diagnose inflammatory heart condition

Sarcoidosis is a complex inflammatory disease that causes the harmful accumulation of tiny clumps of cells called granulomas in the body. In most cases, sarcoidosis manifests in the lungs and lymph nodes. However, in approximately 10% of patients, the heart is affected; this condition is known as ‘cardiac sarcoidosis (CS).’ Although relatively rare, CS can cause life-threatening complications, including arrhythmia, heart failure, or sudden cardiac death. One puzzling aspect of CS is that the condition sometimes involves the heart alone, without manifesting clinically apparent symptoms in other organs. This is referred to as isolated ...

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Medicine30 Oct 2023

Intestinal bacteria metabolite promotes capture of antigens by dendritic cells

Dendritic cells play a key role in the mammalian immune system. These cells are present throughout the human body and are known to capture foreign bodies, i.e., antigens, using extendable “arms” called dendrites. Once captured, dendritic cells present these substances to immune T cells, thereby initiating an immune response. Dendritic cells are responsive to their environment and capable of changing their morphology and other attributes dynamically. For instance, dendritic cells in the intestine’s mucosa (inner layer) capture harmful bacteria by extending their dendrites through the epithelium (outermost layer) ...

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Science30 Oct 2023

Virtual meetings tire people because we're doing them wrong

New research suggests sleepiness during virtual meetings is caused by mental underload and boredom. Earlier studies suggested that fatigue from virtual meetings stems from mental overload, but new research from Aalto University shows that sleepiness during virtual meetings might actually be a result of mental underload and boredom. ‘I expected to find that people get stressed in remote meetings. But the result was the opposite – especially those who were not engaged in their work quickly became ...

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Space30 Oct 2023

The importance of the Earth’s atmosphere in creating the large storms that affect satellite communications

A study from an international team led by researchers from Nagoya University in Japan and the University of New Hampshire in the United States has revealed the importance of the Earth’s upper atmosphere in determining how large geomagnetic storms develop. Their findings reveal the previously underestimated importance of the Earth’s atmosphere. Understanding the factors that cause geomagnetic storms is important because they can have a direct impact on the Earth’s magnetic field such ...

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Physics30 Oct 2023

Using lasers to ‘heat and beat’ 3D-printed steel could help reduce costs

Researchers have developed a new method for 3D printing metal that could help reduce costs and make more efficient use of resources. The method, developed by a research team led by the University of Cambridge, allows structural modifications to be ‘programmed’ into metal alloys during 3D printing, fine-tuning their properties without the ‘heating and beating’ process that’s been in use for thousands of years. The new 3D printing method combines the best qualities of both worlds: the complex shapes that 3D printing makes possible, and the ability to engineer ...

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Medicine30 Oct 2023

Positive messages can mitigate harm from objectified fitness posts

PULLMAN, Wash. – A few words of body appreciation can help counter the negative impact of viewing objectified images of female fitness influencers, according to a Washington State University study. While fitness influencers say they want to inspire good physical health, research has found that their social media posts often inspire negative mental health, especially among younger women. The WSU experimental study, published in the journal Health Communication, revealed that the negative impact ...

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Medicine30 Oct 2023

Extreme heat projected to increase cardiovascular deaths

For immediate release on Oct. 30, 2023 at 5 a.m. ET Cardiovascular-related deaths due to extreme heat are expected to increase between 2036 and 2065 in the United States, according to a study supported by the National Institutes of Health. The researchers, whose work is published in Circulation, predict that adults ages 65 and older and Black adults will likely be disproportionately affected. While extreme heat currently accounts for less than 1% of cardiovascular-related deaths, the modeling analysis predicted this will change because of a projected rise in summer ...

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Medicine30 Oct 2023

Heat-related cardiovascular deaths in the U.S. may more than double within decades

Research Highlights: Cardiovascular deaths from extreme heat in the United States are projected to increase by 162% by the middle of the century, based on a hypothetical scenario where currently proposed U.S. policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have been successfully implemented. A more dire scenario forecasts cardiovascular deaths from extreme heat could increase by 233% in the next 13-47 years if there are only minimal efforts to reduce emissions. The percentage increase in deaths ...

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Medicine30 Oct 2023

Penn research projects increase in US cardiovascular deaths due to extreme heat

PHILADELPHIA— The number of heat related cardiovascular deaths in the United States will increase over the next four decades, according to a new analysis from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Extreme heat can impact heart health in many ways, including increased heart rate, changes in blood pressure, and increased inflammation. Left untreated, these issues can be deadly. The findings, published today in Circulation, also indicate that older adults and Black adults will experience greater increases in excess cardiovascular deaths due to extreme heat. “As global temperatures rise, analyzing how demographic and environmental trends ...

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Medicine30 Oct 2023

Child Development Perspectives Journal Q&A: analyzing the stereotypes of adolescence

In Western cultures, adolescence is often viewed as a time of rebellion and irresponsibility. A new article published in the journal Child Development Perspectives synthesized recent research on stereotypes of adolescence using an interdisciplinary approach which integrates developmental psychology, cultural psychology, and neuroscience. The findings highlight the importance of avoiding the “one-size fits-all” assumptions about teen stereotypes across different cultures. In particular, the research ...

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Social Science30 Oct 2023

Trauma-informed training workshops prompt meaningful individual and organizational changes, according to outcomes surveys

A McLean Hospital study of 598 people across various industries who underwent a two-day training workshop where they learned about trauma-informed care and how to deploy these skills within their organizations, found participants reported significant gains in knowledge of trauma and made improvements to organizational policies, according to a comparison of survey data collected before and after the trainings. Among those trained, who included nurses, CEOs, academics and corrections officers, post-survey scores increased ...

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Science30 Oct 2023

Study of 1,000 selfies helps explain how we use them to communicate

People have used self-portraits to communicate information about themselves for centuries — and digital cameras make it easier to share a self-portrait than ever before. But even though selfies are now almost ubiquitous, we don’t understand how people use them to communicate. So scientists from the University of Bamberg set out to investigate the semantics of selfies. “Although the term ‘selfies’ is now celebrating its 21st birthday, and although selfies are known in art history for nearly 200 years in photography and more than 500 years in paintings, we still lack a clear classification of the different types of selfies,” ...

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Technology30 Oct 2023

Powder engineering adds AI to the mix

Imagine a world without powders. It may sound exaggerated, but our daily lives are intricately connected to powders in various ways from foods, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics to batteries, ceramics, etc. In all these industries, powder mixing is an important unit operation where different types of powders are mixed to achieve uniformity. However, it can be difficult to predict what conditions are optimal to achieve the desired uniformity as the process often relies on trial and error as well as engineers’ expertise. Numerical ...

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Medicine30 Oct 2023

Risk of admission and death from COVID-19 low overall, but oldest adults remain vulnerable

About 80% of residents in the Lower Mainland, British Columbia, had been infected with SARS-CoV-2 by July 2023 and were at low risk for severe outcomes, but almost half of the oldest adults remained uninfected and were at highest risk of hospitalization and death due to COVID-19, according to a new study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.230721. The findings underscore the need to continue prioritizing older adults for COVID-19 vaccination. "First-ever SARS-CoV-2 infections among older adults may still contribute substantial COVID-19 burden, reinforcing ...

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Social Science29 Oct 2023

High engagement, high return: The secret to student success

High engagement, high return. That’s the advice from education experts at the University of South Australia for teachers looking to improve student outcomes. In a new study conducted in partnership with Flinders University and Melbourne Graduate School of Education, researchers found that less than a third of teachers are engaging students in complex learning, limiting student opportunities for building critical thinking and problem solving. Filming and assessing* the content of classrooms ...

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Technology28 Oct 2023

Robot space maintenance based on human arm dynamics

On-orbit assembly has become a crucial aspect of space operations, where the manipulator frequently and directly interacts with objects in a complex assembly process. The traditional manipulator control has limitations in adapting to diverse assembly tasks and is vulnerable to vibration, leading to assembly failure. To address this issue, Researchers at Beijing Institute of Technology propose a human-like variable admittance control method based on the variable damping characteristics of the human arm. This method can effectively increase the safety, robustness, ...

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Environment28 Oct 2023

Increasing risk of invasive species colonization on marine debris

A groundbreaking scientific study conducted along the Southeast coast of India has unearthed a pressing environmental concern -the increasing risk of invasive species colonization on marine debris. The research, published recently in Marine Pollution Bulletin, delves into the critical interplay between plastic pollution and the introduction of non-indigenous organisms into Indian waters. In recent years, the surge in anthropogenic litter in the ocean has provided an extensive array of substrates for marine ...

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Science28 Oct 2023

How do animals know it’s lunchtime?

Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have used fruit flies to study how daily eating patterns are regulated. They found that the quasimodo (qsm) gene helped sync feeding to light/dark cycles, but not in constant darkness: instead, the genes clock (clk) and cycle (cyc) keep eating/fasting cycles, while other “clocks” in nerve cells help sync it to days. Deciphering the molecular mechanism behind eating cycles helps us understand animal behavior, including our own. Many members of the animal kingdom eat at roughly the same times each day. This is born out of the need to adapt to aspects of the environment, including ...

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Environment27 Oct 2023

Interdisciplinary research team works to mitigate climate change effects in Texas Gulf Coast communities

Experts in the Texas A&M University Department of Geography are teaming up with civil and chemical engineers and water resource, disaster recovery and public health researchers across the campus in a collaborative effort to better safeguard Texas Gulf Coast communities against climate-related emergencies, fueled by a three-year, $1.5 million grant from the National Academies Gulf Research Program (GRP). The project, titled "Climate-LEAD: Climate Effects on Localized Environmental Health Disparities in Overburdened Texas Communities along Gulf Coast," is ...

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Medicine27 Oct 2023

An updated look at prostate cancer disparities

Cedars-Sinai Cancer investigators have found that Black men respond as well as white men to systemic therapies for advanced prostate cancer when access to quality healthcare is equal, regardless of socioeconomic status. Their study, published today in the peer-reviewed Journal of Clinical Oncology, counters previous research suggesting that Black men receiving these therapies—which include hormone therapy, chemotherapy and immunotherapy—fare worse than white men do. “We believe this is the most comprehensive look at this issue to date, and our findings suggest that, under the right conditions, Black men with metastatic ...

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Technology27 Oct 2023

New battery technology could lead to safer, high-energy electric vehicles

University of Maryland researchers studying how lithium batteries fail have developed a new technology that could enable next-generation electric vehicles (EVs) and other devices that are less prone to battery fires while increasing energy storage. The innovative method, presented in a paper published Wednesday in the journal Nature, suppresses the growth of lithium dendrites—damaging branch-like structures that develop inside so-called all-solid-state lithium batteries, preventing firms from broadly commercializing the promising technology. But this new design for a battery “interlayer,” led by Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering ...

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Environment27 Oct 2023

Clear holographic imaging in turbulent environments

Holographic imaging has always been challenged by unpredictable distortions in dynamic environments. Traditional deep learning methods often struggle to adapt to diverse scenes due to their reliance on specific data conditions. To tackle this problem, researchers at Zhejiang University delved into the intersection of optics and deep learning, uncovering the key role of physical priors in ensuring the alignment of data and pre-trained models. They explored the impact of spatial coherence and turbulence on holographic ...

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Medicine27 Oct 2023

$76,000 in grants awarded to entrepreneurs addressing health disparities in local communities

DALLAS, October 27, 2023 — Approximately 50 million people in the United States are at higher risk for heart disease and/or stroke because they lack the most basic needs — healthy food, clean air and drinking water, quality education, employment, housing and access to health care. Historically, people of color -- including Black and Hispanic/Latino people, are at even higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) for these same reasons. Through the American Heart Association’s 2023 EmPOWERED to Serve Business Accelerator™, three local social entrepreneurs ...

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Medicine27 Oct 2023

Mechanics of breast cancer metastasis discovered, offering target for treatment

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The most lethal feature of any cancer is metastasis, the spread of cancer cells throughout the body. New research led by Penn State reveals for the first time the mechanics behind how breast cancer cells may invade healthy tissues. The discovery, showing that a motor protein called dynein powers the movement of cancer cells in soft tissue models, offers new clinical targets against metastasis and has the potential to fundamentally change how cancer is treated. “This discovery marks a paradigm shift in many ways,” said Erdem Tabdanov, assistant professor of pharmacology at Penn State and a lead co-corresponding author on the study, recently published ...

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