A new Florida Atlantic University study on America’s urban travel trends shows important variations in travel behaviors across income, home ownership, ethnicity, gender, age, and life-cycle stages. The sixth in a series of studies compared changes in travel modes, trip frequency, trip distance and vehicle ownership among a range of socioeconomic groups using nationwide travel survey data since 1977.  The most notable trend, published in the journal Transportation Research Part D, reveals that although private automobiles continue to be the dominant travel mode in American cities, the share of car trips has slightly and steadily decreased ...

Chicago, March 1, 2023 — Sharon K. Inouye, M.D., M.P.H., Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Milton and Shirley F. Levy Family Chair and Director of the Aging Brain Center, Marcus Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew SeniorLife has been named the editor in chief of JAMA Internal Medicine.   An internationally recognized leader in internal medicine, geriatrics, and aging research, Dr. Inouye’s research focuses on delirium and functional decline in hospitalized older patients. She is currently the overall principal investigator of the Successful Aging after ...

Chemotherapy affects the ability of a patient’s immune system to attack pancreatic tumors, a new study shows. Led by researchers at NYU Langone Health and its Perlmutter Cancer Center, the work revolves around the immune system, which includes T cells designed to attack foreign organisms like viruses. To spare normal cells, the system uses “checkpoint” molecules like PD1 on T cell surfaces to turn off their attack when they receive the right signals. The body also recognizes tumors as abnormal, but cancer cells ...

Transgender men can, and often wish to, become pregnant. However, they do need extra guidance and care providers often lack the necessary knowledge and skills. Amsterdam UMC is the first to conduct qualitative research into the experiences of Dutch transgender people with maternity care. This research is now avaliable as a pre-print in Midwifery.   Transgender men often undergo medical procedures to adjust their bodies to their male gender identity. These medical interventions can affect fertility. Some transgender men therefore choose not to undergo these treatments, postpone them or, even, to temporarily stop them. ...

A study just published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN) explored the role of omega-3 fatty acids, especially EPA and DHA, and whether they might be protective against contracting and/or suffering adverse outcomes of COVID-19 infection. The study compared the risk for three COVID-19 outcomes: 1-testing positive, 2-hospitalization, and 3-death as a function of baseline plasma DHA levels. DHA levels (% of total fatty acids) were measured by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy but were converted to Omega-3 Index (red blood ...

Certain diseases, including Alzheimer’s, are currently considered “undruggable” because traditional small molecule drugs can’t interfere with the proteins responsible for the illnesses. But a new technique that specifically targets and breaks apart certain proteins — rather than just interfering with them — may offer a pathway toward treatment. Researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have, for the first time, designed a compound that targets and breaks down a posttranslationally modified protein closely associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers have been exploring targeted protein degradation (TPD) as a way to get at ...

Wastewater can provide clues about a community’s infectious disease status, and even its prescription and illicit drug use. But looking at sewage also provides information on persistent and potentially harmful compounds, such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), that get released into the environment. Now, researchers in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology Letters report an unexpected source of these substances in wastewater systems — toilet paper. PFAS have been detected in many personal care products, such as cosmetics and cleansers, that people use every day and then wash down ...

PULLMAN, Wash – Glacier National Park is home to around 50 Canada lynx, more than expected, surprising scientists who recently conducted the first parkwide occupancy survey for the North American cat.  The Washington State University-led survey reveals the iconic predator resides across most of Glacier’s 1,600 square-mile landscape, although at lower densities than in the core of its range further north.  “The population in the park is still substantial and exceeded our expectations,” said Dan Thornton, WSU wildlife ecologist ...

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has awarded Fraunhofer USA with a patent for algorithms that detect and quantify air leakage from single-family homes using data from commercially available communicating, thermostats. Outdoor air can infiltrate homes through many pathways, including windows and doors, poorly sealed connections between exterior walls and basements and attics, and unsealed wall, floor, and ceiling penetrations in occupied spaces. Prior field studies have found that most homes have appreciable air leakage, which accounts for approximately a quarter of space conditioning energy consumption. Not only can air leakage significantly increase home energy consumption, ...

A new book, The Climate Pandemic: How Climate Disruption Threatens Human Survival, concludes that humans will not survive the unrelenting onslaught of climate disruption. The e-book is available free on Amazon March 1-5. “As horrific as the COVID-19 pandemic has been, its effects pale in comparison to the coming catastrophe from climate disruption,” wrote author and veteran science writer Dennis Meredith. “In fact, the climate pandemic will steadily worsen, even bringing our species to extinction, unless we launch a global revolution to abandon our carbon-dependent energy system. “Given the evidence in this book, I see only a vanishingly small possibility of ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new book from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign anthropology professor Kathryn Clancy takes an unflinching look at the many ways humans have struggled – and often failed – to understand one of the greatest mysteries of human biology: menstruation. In “Period: The Real Story of Menstruation,” Clancy first focuses on the myriad ways human societies, their leaders, scientists and health practitioners have gotten it wrong – from myths and taboos about the purpose and health effects ...

Researchers have discovered how a gene that increases the risk of developing genetic heart disease functions, paving the way for new treatments. The study, led by Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and published in Nature Cardiovascular Research, has  revealed a new pathway for how children and adults develop cardiomyopathy, a group of diseases that affect the heart’s ability to pump blood around the body.  Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. Patients with cardiomyopathy, a form of heart disease ...

Researchers from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and University of Texas at Dallas published a new Journal of Marketing article that examines whether direct-to-consumer advertising for robotics surgery is effective at swaying patients to choose it over other types of procedures.  The study, forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing, is titled “The Role of Advertising in High-Tech Medical Procedures: Evidence from Robotic Surgeries” and is authored by Tae Jung Yoon and TI Tongil Kim.  Robotic surgery and the ethics ...

Taking vitamin D supplements may help ward off dementia, according to a new, large-scale study. Researchers at the University of Calgary’s Hotchkiss Brain Institute in Canada and the University of Exeter in the UK explored the relationship between vitamin D supplementation and dementia in more than 12,388 participants of the US National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center, who had a mean age of 71 and were dementia-free when they signed up. Of the group, 37 per cent (4,637) took vitamin D supplements. In the study, ...

Rounding checklists can help hospital care teams improve patient outcomes, and new research points to the potential for patient-specific checklists as a valid way to effectively translate the latest evidence into clinical practice. These checklists can be helpful tools during daily rounds when multidisciplinary members of the patient care team convene to discuss each patient’s status and care plan. If too complex or generic, the checklists may instead become a burden, taking up valuable time with minimal impact. One way to customize rounding checklists is to have an individual serve as a checklist prompter, listening to the conversation, eliminating ...

Research Highlights: In a study of U.S. military veterans, researchers noted that participating in home-based cardiac rehabilitation was associated with a 36% lower risk of death compared to veterans who chose not to participate in cardiac rehabilitation. Less than half of the study participants enrolled in rehabilitation, which focused on improving heart-healthy behaviors. The research may be the first U.S. study to provide evidence of living longer with home-based cardiac rehabilitation in people with heart disease. Embargoed until 4 a.m. CT/5 a.m. ET Wednesday, March 1, 2023 DALLAS, ...

Flamingos form cliques of like-minded individuals within their flocks, new research shows. Scientists analysed the personalities and social behaviour of Caribbean and Chilean flamingos. Birds of both species tended to spend time with others whose personality was similar to their own.   The study, by the University of Exeter and the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT), reveals the complex nature of flamingo societies and could help in the management of captive flocks. “Our previous research has shown that individual flamingos have particular ‘friends’ within the flock,” said Dr Paul Rose, from WWT and Exeter’s Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour. “In ...

Toronto, ON — A new study published in the journal International Social Work has uncovered concerning rates of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety among social workers. Stressors related to COVID-19 were the strongest factors associated with the negative mental health outcomes. Those who experienced a higher number of pandemic-related stressors — such as health concerns, increased caregiving responsibilities, violence in the home, family stress due to confinement, and stress associated with work-life balance — experienced mental health problems ...

The mainly brown woodcock uses its bright white tail feathers to communicate in semi-darkness, reflecting 30% more light than any other known bird. These surprise findings, by a team led by an Imperial College London scientist, suggest there is much to learn about how birds that are most active at night or at dawn and dusk communicate. Birds that are most active during the day often have colourful plumages, which they use to communicate information with each other. Birds that are most active at dawn and dusk or at night (‘crepuscular’), such as nightjars and woodcocks, tend to have less showy plumage, as while sleeping during ...

Cells that form cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma tumours prepare themselves to migrate to the lymph nodes to metastasise other organs, and they make changes so that they can survive this process. According to a study led by researchers from the Inflammatory and Neoplastic Dermatological Diseases Research Group at the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, published in the journal Life Science Alliance, these cells stop consuming glucose so that they can survive by using LDL cholesterol molecules, the ...

Although cable locks – commonly distributed to prevent firearm injury and death – are included in many legal firearm purchases, research shows firearm owners rarely prefer or use these devices. But a Rutgers study published in Injury Epidemiology found that gun owners who were told about cable locks at the time they purchased the firearm were more than twice as likely to use locking devices than those who weren’t told about cable locks when they made these purchases. “Simply placing a cable lock in a bag when somebody purchases a firearm likely has minimal impact, but a simple discussion mentioning that a lock was included may make enough of an ...

One in ten early deaths could be prevented if everyone managed at least half the recommended level of physical activity, say a team led by researchers at the University of Cambridge. In a study published today in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the researchers say that 11 minutes a day (75 minutes a week) of moderate-intensity physical activity – such as a brisk walk – would be sufficient to lower the risk of diseases such as heart disease, stroke and a number of cancers. Cardiovascular diseases – such as heart disease and stroke – are the leading cause of death globally, ...

The Pink-throated Brilliant hummingbird, Heliodoxa gularis, has, unsurprisingly, a brilliant pink throat. So does its cousin, the Rufous-webbed Brilliant hummingbird, Heliodoxa branickii. When scientists found a Heliodoxa hummingbird with a glittering gold throat, they thought they might have found a new species. DNA revealed a different story: the gold-throated bird was a never-before-documented hybrid of the two pink-throated species. John Bates, the senior author of a new study in the journal Royal Society Open Science reporting on the hybrid, first encountered the unusual bird while doing fieldwork in Peru’s Cordillera ...

Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), one of the most common forms of dementia, has no cure. Previous studies suggested that gut bacteria, the microorganisms that live in the human digestive tract, play a role in Parkinson’s disease, another neurodegenerative disorder, but the bacteria involved in DLB had not been identified. Now, a group led by researchers at the Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan has identified three bacteria involved in DLB: Collinsella, Ruminococcus, and Bifidobacterium. Their findings, reported in npj Parkinson's ...

Greater numbers of Bison in Yellowstone National Park may come at a cost to the biological diversity of the important streamside habitats of the Park according to a new report in the journal Ecosphere Bison influences on composition and diversity of riparian plant communities in Yellowstone National Park.  Riparian areas (streamside zones) form the interface between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and are hotspots of biodiversity and productivity in the public lands of the Western USA.  The study findings are that ...