Two-thousand years ago, forts were constructed by the Roman Empire across the northern Fertile Crescent, spanning from what is now western Syria to northwestern Iraq. In the 1920s, 116 forts were documented in the region by Father Antoine Poidebard, who conducted one of the world's first aerial surveys using a WWI-era biplane. Poidebard reported that the forts were constructed from north to south to establish an eastern boundary of the Roman Empire. A new Dartmouth study analyzing declassified Cold War satellite ...

JMIR Neurotechnology, published by JMIR Publications, welcomes submissions from researchers, clinicians, caregivers, and technologists that explore novel diagnostic and treatment tools for neurological disorders, particularly those leveraging the potential of neurotechnology. The scope of the journal includes but is not limited to: Neuroradiology Advancements in neurosurgery Innovative diagnostic tools and techniques Cutting-edge neurotechnology for therapeutics Data sharing and open science in neurotechnology Code ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine, University of Utah and University of Exeter (UK) substantiates previous groundbreaking research that rumination (overthinking) can be reduced through an intervention called Rumination-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (RF-CBT). In addition, the use of fMRI technology allowed researchers to observe correlated shifts in the brain connectivity associated with overthinking. Study findings are published online in the journal Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science. “We know adolescent ...

A new Antarctic ice sheet modeling study from scientists at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography suggests that meltwater flowing out to sea from beneath Antarctic glaciers is making them lose ice faster.  The model’s simulations suggest this effect is large enough to make a meaningful contribution to global sea-level rise under high greenhouse gas emissions scenarios.  The extra ice loss caused by this meltwater flowing out to sea from beneath Antarctic glaciers is not currently accounted for in the models generating major sea-level ...

ITHACA, N.Y. – More than merely cracks in the ice, crevasses play an important role in circulating seawater beneath Antarctic ice shelves, potentially influencing their stability, finds Cornell University-led research based on a first-of-its-kind exploration by an underwater robot. The remotely operated Icefin robot’s climb up and down a crevasse in the base of the Ross Ice Shelf produced the first 3D measurements of ocean conditions near where it meets the coastline, a critical juncture known as the grounding zone. The robotic survey revealed a new circulation pattern – a jet funneling water sideways through the crevasse – in addition to rising and sinking currents, ...

A team led by CNRS scientists1 has discovered that, just like humans, Guinea baboons develop complex strategies to select partners for cooperation, basing their decisions on past interactions. Humans naturally engage in strategic cooperation in many contexts. For example, when children help schoolmates by lending them their class notes, they may expect the same in return the next time: this is known as reciprocity. But if the favour is not returned, they are likely to seek others with whom to cooperate. The team’s findings ...

Imperial researchers have discovered a hidden mechanism within hair follicles that allow us to feel touch. Previously, touch was thought to be detected only by nerve endings present within the skin and surrounding hair follicles. This new research from Imperial College London has found that that cells within hair follicles – the structures that surround the hair fibre – are also able to detect the sensation in cell cultures. The researchers also found that these hair follicle cells release the neurotransmitters histamine and serotonin in response to touch – findings that ...

A new large-scale study led by researchers at the University of Cincinnati and Northwell Health, New York's largest health care provider, found the drug metformin can help prevent or reduce weight gain in youth taking medication to treat bipolar disorder. The collaborative team presented its findings during a symposium at the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry conference in New York City Oct. 27. Weight gain side effect Medications to treat bipolar disorder, known as second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs), are often effective at helping young ...

By April Toler More than two-thirds of the world’s population is expected to live in cities by 2050, according to the United Nations. As urbanization advances around the globe, researchers at the University of Notre Dame and Stanford University said the quality of the urban physical environment will become increasingly critical to human well-being and to sustainable development initiatives. However, measuring and tracking the quality of an urban environment, its evolution and its spatial disparities is difficult due to the amount of on-the-ground data needed to capture these patterns. To address the issue, Yong Suk Lee, assistant professor of technology, ...

A new sounding rocket mission is headed to space to understand how explosive stellar deaths lay the groundwork for new star systems. The Integral Field Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Experiment, or INFUSE, sounding rocket mission, will launch from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico on Oct. 29, 2023, at 9:35 p.m. MDT. For a few months each year, the constellation Cygnus (Latin for “swan”) swoops through the northern hemisphere’s night sky. Just above its wing is a favorite target ...

INDIANAPOLIS—Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine will play key roles in a national consortium led by Wake Forest University School of Medicine to study the use, interpretation and implementation of biomarkers to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease. The multi-institution effort is funded by a five-year, $9 million grant from the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health, that will establish the Alzheimer’s Diagnosis in Older Adults with Chronic Conditions (ADACC) Network. IU School of Medicine’s Nicole Fowler, ...

After open public discussion and a unanimous board vote, Tri-City Healthcare District (“Tri-City” or “District”) announced yesterday that UC San Diego Health has been selected as the District’s future health care partner. A Joint Powers Agreement will now be co-developed that allows UC San Diego Health to provide administrative, clinical and operational management for all health care services with direct input and guidance from a diverse community board. Under the future agreement, UC San Diego ...

Texas A&M University physicist Dr. Tatiana Erukhimova has been selected as the 2023 recipient of the American Physical Society Dwight Nicholson Medal for Outreach. Established in 1994 by the Division of Plasma Physics and the Forum on Physics and Society, the Nicholson Medal is awarded annually in recognition of the humanitarian aspect of physics and physicists created through public lectures and public media, teaching, research or science-related activities. The medal is sponsored by the friends of the late plasma physicist and award namesake Dr. Dwight R. Nicholson (1947-1991), former chairman ...

DURHAM, N.C., Oct. 27, 2023 – Burt’s Bees, the #1 dermatologist recommended natural skin care brand* and a pioneer in skin care solutions, announced its latest research findings on the benefits of nature-based regimens to cleanse, nourish, and protect skin health. The studies will be presented at the hybrid Integrative Dermatology Symposium (IDS) from Oct. 27-29, 2023. The latest research findings from Burt’s Bees highlight: The ability of a topical treatment with a unique blend of botanicals to improve appearance of age spots in diverse skin. The impact of a lip care product with naturally derived plant oils, butters, beeswax, ...

Bonn, 27. October - Mature spermatozoa are characterized by an head, midpiece and a long tail for locomotion. Now, researchers from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the Transdisciplinary Research Unit "Life & Health" at the University of Bonn have found that a loss of the structural protein ACTL7B blocks spermatogenesis in male mice. The cells can no longer develop their characteristic shape and remain in a rather round form. The animals are infertile. The results of the study have now been published in the scientific journal "Development".   Male ...

Gaming is a $193 billion industry – nearly double the size of the film and music industries combined – and there are around three billion gamers worldwide. While online gaming can improve wellbeing and foster social relations, privacy and awareness issues could potentially offset these benefits and cause real harm to gamers. The new study, by scientists at Aalto University’s Department of Computer Science, reveals potentially questionable data collection practices in online games, along with misconceptions and concerns about privacy among players. The study also offers ...

Building efficient quantum neural networks is a promising direction for research at the intersection of quantum computing and machine learning. A team at Terra Quantum AG designed a parallel hybrid quantum neural network and demonstrated that their model is "a powerful tool for quantum machine learning." This research was published Oct. 9 in Intelligent Computing, a Science Partner Journal. Hybrid quantum neural networks typically consist of both a quantum layer — a variational quantum circuit — and a classical layer — a deep learning neural network called a multi-layered perceptron. This special architecture enables them to learn complicated patterns and relationships ...

WASHINGTON – Medical-legal partnerships (MLPs), which include a lawyer as part of a patient’s care team, can help health systems address health-harming legal needs and better support pregnant and postpartum patients, according to a new research commentary published today in Obstetrics & Gynecology. The article offers insights and expert advice from Georgetown University Health Justice Alliance’s Perinatal Legal Assistance and Wellbeing (LAW) Project at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, one of the first medical-legal partnerships ...

Researchers in São Paulo state, Brazil, have developed a low-cost anti-inflammatory hydrogel that in future could help treat chronic skin lesions such as those often seen in people with diabetes. They report the results of animal tests in an article published in the journal Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy. According to the International Diabetes Federation, Brazil ranks sixth among countries with the most cases of diabetes, which has reached epidemic proportions and become the fifth most frequent cause of death in the world. Some 17.7 million Brazilians suffer daily from the metabolic alterations caused ...

UPTON, NY—Plant biologists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have engineered enzymes to modify grass plants so their biomass can be more efficiently converted into biofuels and other bioproducts. As described in a paper just published in Plant Biotechnology Journal, these enzymes modify molecules that make up plant cell walls to provide access to fuel-generating sugars normally locked within complex structures.  “The concept of biomass to biofuel seems simple, but it is technically very difficult to release the sugars,” noted Chang-Jun Liu, a senior plant biologist at Brookhaven ...

Ask a biologist why predators don't exterminate all their prey, part of the answer often is that there is an ongoing arms race between predators and prey, with both parties continuously evolving new ways to cheat each other. The hypothesis is particularly prevalent for bats and their prey; insects. 50 million years ago, the first bats evolved the ability to echolocate and thus hunt in the dark, and in response to this, some insects evolved ultrasound-sensitive ears so they could hear and evade the bats. But if there is an ongoing arms race, bats should have responded to this, says University of Southern Denmark biologist, associate professor and bat ...

Time-restricted eating, also known as intermittent fasting, can help people with Type 2 diabetes lose weight and control their blood sugar levels, according to a new study published in JAMA Network Open from researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago.   Participants who ate only during an eight-hour window between noon and 8 p.m. each day actually lost more weight over six months than participants who were instructed to reduce their calorie intake by 25%. Both groups had similar reductions in long-term blood sugar levels, as measured by a test of hemoglobin A1C, which shows blood sugar levels over the past three months.  The ...

About The Study: This 6-month randomized clinical trial involving 75 adults with type 2 diabetes found that a time-restricted eating diet strategy without calorie counting was effective for weight loss and lowering of hemoglobin A1c levels compared with daily calorie counting. These findings will need to be confirmed by larger RCTs with longer follow-up.  Authors: Krista A. Varady, Ph.D., of the University of Illinois Chicago, 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.2023.39337) Editor’s Note: Please see the article ...

About The Study: The findings in this study of 637 callers to safe abortion hotlines and accompaniment groups in Argentina, Nigeria, and Southeast Asia suggest that misoprostol alone is a highly effective method of pregnancy termination. Future research should explore strategies to maximize the effectiveness of misoprostol alone in clinical and nonclinical settings.  Authors: Ruvani Jayaweera, Ph.D., of Ibis Reproductive Health in Oakland, California, 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.2023.40042) Editor’s Note: Please ...

SAN ANTONIO — October 27,2023 —Southwest Research Institute (SwRI®), GTI Energy, GE Vernova (GE) and the U.S. Department of Energy celebrated the ribbon-cutting of the Supercritical Transformational Electric Power (STEP) Demo pilot plant today. The $155 million, 10-megawatt supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) test facility at SwRI’s headquarters in San Antonio will demonstrate an innovative new method of higher-efficiency, lower-cost electric power generation. “STEP will undoubtedly change the way we think about ...