The Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) will host two new centers dedicated to advancing clean energy technology and combating climate change. The awards are part of DOE’s Energy Earthshots Initiative that launched in 2021 with the goal of speeding up technological breakthroughs and lowering costs.  DOE has so far launched seven Earthshots spanning clean energy and carbon reduction technologies. The Berkeley Lab programs announced today will address two of them: the Hydrogen ...

For the first time, Stanford researchers have found a way to create and stabilize an extremely rare form of gold that has lost two negatively charged electrons, denoted Au2+. The material stabilizing this elusive version of the valued element is a halide perovskite—a class of crystalline materials that holds great promise for various applications including more-efficient solar cells, light sources, and electronics components. Surprisingly, the Au2+ perovskite is also quick and simple to make using off-the-shelf ingredients at room temperature. "It was a real surprise that we were able to synthesize a stable material containing Au2+—I didn't even believe it at ...

Huntsman Cancer Institute shines the spotlight on new discoveries and cutting-edge cancer research. This month, researchers found that increasing access for Black people with prostate cancer may save lives. Also, the first patient in a new small cell lung cancer clinical trial has been enrolled, researchers are using an app to help adolescents and young adults manage cancer symptoms, and investigators are trying to reduce cognitive side-effects after chemotherapy.  Increasing access to Black people with prostate cancer may decrease mortality rate In a study published ...

(Toronto, September 29, 2023) JMIR Publications is pleased to announce it placed No. 348 on the 2023 Report on Business ranking of Canada’s Top Growing Companies, making the ranking over the past three consecutive years. Canada’s Top Growing Companies ranks Canadian companies on three-year revenue growth. JMIR Publications earned its spot with three-year growth of 105%. “Being ranked on this list, year over year, showcases JMIR Publications’ national and global leadership in publishing high-quality open access ...

A transformative initiative aimed at identifying, enhancing and promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics resources within local communities. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory is proud to announce the official launch of the South Side STEM Opportunity Landscape Project, a transformative initiative aimed at identifying, enhancing and promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) resources within local communities. As part of the Argonne in Chicago initiative that includes offices in Hyde Park, the ...

The notion that some level of microbial exposure might reduce our risk of developing allergies has arisen over the last few decades and has been termed the hygiene hypothesis. Now, an article published in Science Immunology by researchers from Karolinska Institutet challenges this hypothesis by showing that mice with high infectious exposures from birth have the same, if not an even greater ability to develop allergic immune responses than 'clean' laboratory mice. How microbes may prevent allergy has been a topic of great interest in recent times. Studies have suggested that certain infections might reduce the production of inflammatory antibodies to ...

New study makes novel use of plant biomarkers preserved in sediment to reconstruct methane cycling over the past 10,000 years Plant waxes hold an isotopic signature of ancient methane As planet warmed due to slow changes in Earth’s orbit, lakes produced increased amounts of methane, which is a potent greenhouse gas Researcher: ‘Living on a warming planet, we can look to these signs from the past to predict our future’ EVANSTON, Ill. — By studying fossils from ancient aquatic plants, ...

Up to 15 percent of children and five percent of adults are affected by the chronic inflammatory skin disease atopic dermatitis. Despite advanced therapy measures, the severe itching and eczema, especially on the elbows or knees, cause great distress to the patients. In the course of a study conducted at MedUni Wien a research team led by Wolfgang Weninger, Head of the Department of Dermatology, has discovered a new approach: bacteriophages, which colonize the skin as viral components of the microbiome and can drive the development of innovative ...

Leesburg, VA, September 29, 2023—According to the American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), using a 6-mm threshold, rather than a 5-mm threshold, helps facilitate better risk stratification and treatment decisions in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). “Future American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging updates should consider incorporation of the 6-mm threshold for N-category and tumor-stage determinations,” wrote corresponding author Zhiying Liang, MD, from the radiology department at China’s Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center. This AJR accepted manuscript by Liang et al. included ...

ROCKVILLE, MD – The Biophysical Society is honored to celebrate Kandice Tanner, a physicist and Senior Investigator at the Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. Tanner is being recognized for her pioneering work on the biophysics of the metastatic spread of cancer. Using 3D organoid models of cancer progression, Tanner discovered a novel type of cell migration and cell generated forces associated with the formation of microtissues and tumors. This discovery demonstrated that physical forces are important in the establishment ...

September 29, 2023, CLEVELAND: A team from Cleveland Clinic has developed a new model for prioritizing patients waiting for a lung transplant, aimed at improving outcomes and reducing deaths among those in need of donor lungs. The new method offers an improved strategy for organ allocation by taking into account how the time a patient has spent on the waiting list could impact the severity of their disease and the urgency of their need for a transplant. The results of a study looking at this new method were published today in The American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Currently, ...

The University of Virginia School of Medicine’s Mariano A. Garcia-Blanco, MD, PhD, will be inducted this weekend into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS), one of the country’s oldest and most prestigious honorary societies, in recognition of his exceptional scientific contributions. The AAAS was founded in 1780 – during the Revolutionary War – by John Adams, John Hancock and other founding fathers who wanted to “cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity and ...

URBANA, Ill. — As we hurtle toward crucial tipping points on a warming planet, an international team of scientists is recruiting a surprising ally to make a powerful dent in greenhouse gas emissions: the cow. Animal sciences researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign are driving a new project to reduce methane production resulting from rumen fermentation in beef and dairy cattle. The 3-year, $3.2-million project is part of the Greener Cattle Initiative, led by the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR). According to the researchers, aggressively targeting methane could help course-correct our climate trajectory on a quicker timeline ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $264 million in funding for 29 projects to develop solutions for the scientific challenges underlying DOE’s Energy Earthshots™ Initiative to advance clean energy technologies within the decade. The funding will support 11 new Energy Earthshot Research Centers led by DOE National Laboratories and 18 university research teams addressing one or more of the Energy Earthshots™ that are focused on six different areas, including industrial decarbonization, carbon storage, and offshore wind. The Department launched the Energy Earthshots ...

A top UVA Health cancer expert is highlighting how a new drug could transform how doctors treat a brain tumor that typically strikes younger people. David Schiff, MD, the co-director of UVA Cancer Center’s Neuro-Oncology Center, has authored an editorial in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine describing the potential significance of the drug vorasidenib for patients with tumors known as “grade 2 IDH-mutant gliomas.” The drug, when tested in the INDIGO clinical trial, was found to slow tumor growth significantly and extended the average time until the tumor started growing from 11.1 months ...

An international team of researchers has released a landmark study on contemporary evolutionary change in natural populations. Their study uses one of the largest genomic datasets ever produced for animals in their natural environment, comprising nearly 4,000 Darwin’s finches. The study has revealed the genetic basis of adaptation in this iconic group. The results are published in the journal Science. Ever since Darwin wrote about the finches of the Galápagos Islands, biologists have studied these small songbirds to understand the mechanisms of evolution. One ancestral species has evolved into 18 different species in the last million years. ...

Chemical engineering researchers have a powerful new tool at their disposal: active machine learning. In a recent perspective article published in Engineering, Kevin M. Van Geem’s research team at Ghent University explores the potential of active machine learning in revolutionizing the field of chemical engineering. By combining machine learning with the design of experiments, active machine learning promises to enhance the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of research, spanning all length scales of chemical engineering. Active machine learning algorithms ...

A new article published in PeerJ Life & Environment, authored by Camila Ferreira Leão at Universidade Federal do Pará sheds light on the effects of climate change on carnivorous mammals in the Amazon and their representation within Protected Areas (PAs). "Climate change and carnivores: shifts in the distribution and effectiveness of protected areas in the Amazon," reveals alarming findings about the vulnerable status of these animals and the effectiveness of conservation measures. Carnivorous ...

Research has shown that personal narratives—the stories we tell ourselves about our lives—can play a critical role in identity and help us make sense of the past and present. Research has also shown that by helping people reinterpret narratives, therapists can guide patients toward healthier thoughts and behaviors. Now, researchers from the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania have tested the ability of ChatGPT-4 to generate individualized personal narratives based on stream-of-consciousness thoughts and demographic details ...

A research team led by Professor Tianyou Chai from Northeastern University, China, has developed an innovative intelligent control method for the low-carbon operation of energy-intensive equipment. This groundbreaking research, published in the journal Engineering, presents a significant step towards reducing carbon emissions in the process industry. The research team’s method combines mechanism analysis with deep learning, linking control and optimization with prediction, and integrating decision-making ...

A research team from Central South University in China develops innovative control method to reduce carbon emissions from zinc oxide rotary kilns. The zinc smelting industry is facing new challenges in meeting China’s carbon peak and carbon neutrality targets. To address these challenges, researchers from Central South University in China have developed a groundbreaking control method that reduces carbon emissions from zinc oxide rotary kilns while maintaining high profits. Their findings have been published in the journal Engineering. Zinc oxide rotary kilns play a crucial role in the zinc smelting process. ...

A new CRISPR-based gene-editing tool has been developed which could lead to better treatments for patients with genetic disorders. The tool is an enzyme, AsCas12f, which has been modified to offer the same effectiveness but at one-third the size of the Cas9 enzyme commonly used for gene editing. The compact size means that more of it can be packed into carrier viruses and delivered into living cells, making it more efficient. Researchers created a library of possible AsCas12f mutations and then combined selected ones to engineer an AsCas12f ...

Using data from Mass General Brigham’s electronic health records, Brigham researchers quantified the burden of SARS-CoV-2-associated sepsis early in the pandemic New research suggests that the virus responsible for COVID-19 was a more common and deadly cause of sepsis during the initial period of the pandemic than previously assumed. The study, led by investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, used electronic health record (EHR) data from five Mass General Brigham hospitals to track the rate of SARS-CoV-2-associated ...

About The Study: The results of this study of 431,000 inpatient encounters at five Massachusetts hospitals suggest that SARS-CoV-2–associated sepsis was common and had higher mortality than presumed bacterial sepsis early in the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings highlight the high burden of SARS-CoV-2–associated sepsis and demonstrate the utility of electronic health record-based algorithms to conduct surveillance for viral and bacterial sepsis.  Authors: Claire N. Shappell, M.D., M.P.H., of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, is the corresponding author.   To access the embargoed ...

About The Study: In this 50-state survey study of 13,438 adults who reported probable or definite COVID-19 infection, endorsement of misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic, lack of trust in physicians or scientists, conspiracy-mindedness, and the nature of news sources were associated with receiving non–evidence-based treatment for COVID-19. These results suggest that the potential harms of misinformation may extend to the use of ineffective and potentially toxic treatments in addition to avoidance of health-promoting behaviors.  Authors: Roy ...