To be more energy efficient, many people have replaced their incandescent lights with light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs. However, those currently on the market emit a lot of blue light, which has been linked to eye troubles and sleep disturbances. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have developed a prototype LED that reduces -- instead of masks -- the blue component, while also making colors appear just as they do in natural sunlight. LED light bulbs are popular because of their low energy consumption, long lifespan and ability to turn on and off quickly. Inside the bulb, an LED chip converts electrical current into high-energy light, including invisible ultraviolet (UV), violet ...

The highly infectious SARS-CoV-2 variant that recently emerged in South Africa, known as B.1.351, has scientists wondering how existing COVID-19 vaccines and therapies can be improved to ensure strong protection. Now, researchers reporting in ACS' Journal of Medicinal Chemistry have used computer modeling to reveal that one of the three mutations that make variant B.1.351 different from the original SARS-CoV-2 reduces the virus' binding to human cells -- but potentially allows it to escape some antibodies. Since the original SARS-CoV-2 was first detected in late 2019, several new variants have emerged, including ones from the U.K., South Africa and Brazil. Because the new variants appear to be more highly ...

Uncapped, idle oil wells could be leaking millions of kilograms of methane each year into the atmosphere and surface water, according to a study by the University of Cincinnati. Amy Townsend-Small, an associate professor of geology and geography in UC's College of Arts and Sciences, studied 37 wells on private property in the Permian Basin of Texas, the largest oil production region on Earth. She found that seven had methane emissions of as much as 132 grams per hour. The average rate was 6.2 grams per hour. "Some of them were leaking a lot. Most of them were leaking a little or not at all, which is a ...

April 28, 2021 -- Using naturalistic driving data and machine learning techniques, researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Columbia's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science have developed highly accurate algorithms for detecting mild cognitive impairment and dementia in older drivers. Naturalistic driving data refer to data captured through in-vehicle recording devices or other technologies in the real-world setting. These data could be processed to measure driving exposure, space and performance in great detail. The findings are published in the journal Geriatrics. The researchers developed random forests models, a statistical technique ...

People of color, those with a higher income and younger individuals are more likely to participate in clinical trials during their cancer treatment according to a new study from the University of Missouri School of Medicine. Clinical trials are research studies that involve people who volunteer to take part in tests of new drugs, current approved drugs for a new purpose or medical devices. The study analyzed data collected from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey, which is an annual national telephone survey designed to collect health-related data from U.S. adults. Survey years selected included the question, "Did you participate in a clinical trial ...

Chocolate is a beloved treat, but sometimes the cocoa beans that go into bars and other sweets have unpleasant flavors or scents, making the final products taste bad. Surprisingly, only a few compounds associated with these stinky odors are known. Now, researchers reporting in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry have identified the two compounds that cause musty, moldy scents in cocoa -- work that can help chocolatiers ensure the quality of their products. Cocoa beans, when fermented correctly, have a pleasant smell with sweet and floral notes. But they can have an off-putting scent when fermentation goes wrong, or when storage conditions ...

When seasonal rains arrive late in Indonesia, farmers often take it as a sign that it is not worth investing in fertilizer for their crops. Sometimes they opt out of planting annual crops altogether. Generally, they're making the right decision, as a late start to the rainy season is usually associated with the state of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and low rainfall in the coming months. New research published in the Nature journal Scientific Reports shows that ENSO, the weather-shaping cycle of warming and cooling of the Pacific Ocean along the Equator, is a strong predictor of cacao harvests up to two years before a harvest. This is potentially ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- A higher ratio of green spaces at the county level is associated with a lower racial disparity in coronavirus infection rates, according to a new study. It is the first study to report the significant relationship between the supply of green spaces and reduced disparity in infectious disease rates. The research team included William Sullivan, a landscape architecture professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and was led by Bin Jiang, a landscape architecture professor at The University of Hong Kong who received his Ph.D. at Illinois, and Yi Lu, an architecture professor at City University of Hong Kong. They reported their findings in the journal Environment ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- There are hard-to-please customers in almost every industry, with certain people being picky about which clothes, houses and even romantic partners they will consider. A new series of studies has found that shopper pickiness can go beyond shopping for the "best" option. The researchers define what it means to be "picky" and also developed a scale for measuring shopper pickiness. Margaret Meloy, department chair and professor of marketing at Penn State, said the findings could help companies devise the best strategies for satisfying their pickier customers. "If a company knows they have a lot of picky customers, they may need to change the way they reward salespeople or dedicate specific salespeople to their pickiest customers, because ...

In collaboration with VGP, the research group has published a research paper in Nature on platypus and echidna genomes early this year (see report in the right column). In the Nature current special issue, the research group published another study on the genome of the common marmoset, an important primate model for neurodegenerative diseases, drug development and other biomedical research. The genome includes two sets of chromosomes, one inherited from the mother, the other from the father. In traditional genome sequencing efforts including the human genome project, the sequencing only produced a mosaic reference ...

While evolution is normally thought of as occurring over millions of years, researchers at the University of California, Irvine have discovered that bacteria can evolve in response to climate change in 18 months. In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, biologists from UCI found that evolution is one way that soil microbes might deal with global warming. Soil microbiomes - the collection of bacteria and other microbes in soil - are a critical engine of the global carbon cycle; microbes decompose the dead plant material to recycle nutrients back into the ecosystem and release carbon back into the atmosphere. Multiple environmental factors influence the composition and functioning of soil microbiomes, ...

The neurotransmitter noradrenaline, which plays a key role in the fight-or-flight stress response, impairs immune responses by inhibiting the movements of various white blood cells in different tissues, researchers report April 28th in the journal Immunity. The fast and transient effect occurred in mice with infections and cancer, but for now, it's unclear whether the findings generalize to humans with various health conditions. "We found that stress can cause immune cells to stop moving and prevents immune cells from protecting against disease," says senior study author University of Melbourne's Scott Mueller (@SMuellerLab) of the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute). "This is novel because it was not known that ...

Psychedelic drugs have shown promise for treating neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression and posttraumatic stress disorder. However, due to their hallucinatory side effects, some researchers are trying to identify drugs that could offer the benefits of psychedelics without causing hallucinations. In the journal Cell on April 28, researchers report they have identified one such drug through the development of a genetically encoded fluorescent sensor--called psychLight--that can screen for hallucinogenic potential by indicating when a compound activates the serotonin 2A receptor. "Serotonin reuptake inhibitors have long been used for treating depression, but we don't ...

A genetically encoded sensor to detect hallucinogenic compounds has been developed by researchers at the University of California, Davis. Named psychLight, the sensor could be used in discovering new treatments for mental illness, in neuroscience research and to detect drugs of abuse. The work is published April 28 in the journal Cell. Compounds related to psychedelic drugs such as LSD and dimethyltryptamine (DMT) show great promise for treating disorders such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance use disorder. These drugs are called psychoplastogens ...

It's one of the most audacious projects in biology today - reading the entire genome of every bird, mammal, lizard, fish, and all other creatures with backbones. And now comes the first major payoff from the Vertebrate Genome Project (VGP): near complete, high-quality genomes of 25 species, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator Erich Jarvis with scores of coauthors report April 28, 2021, in the journal Nature. These species include the greater horseshoe bat, the Canada lynx, the platypus, and the kākāp? parrot - one of the first high-quality ...

Researchers have big ideas for the potential of quantum technology, from unhackable networks to earthquake sensors. But all these things depend on a major technological feat: being able to build and control systems of quantum particles, which are among the smallest objects in the universe. That goal is now a step closer with the publication of a new method by University of Chicago scientists. Published April 28 in Nature, the paper shows how to bring multiple molecules at once into a single quantum state--one of the most important goals in quantum physics. "People have been trying to do this for decades, so we're very excited," said senior author Cheng Chin, a professor of physics at UChicago who said he has wanted ...

PITTSBURGH, April 28, 2021 - It is not every day that scientists come across a phenomenon so fundamental that it is observed across fruit flies, rodents and humans. In a paper published today in Aging Cell, neuroscientists from the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences discovered that a single protein--a glutamate transporter on the membrane of vesicles that carry dopamine in neurons--is key to regulating sex differences in the brain's vulnerability to age-related neuron loss. The protein--named VGLUT--was more abundant in dopamine neurons of female fruit flies, rodents and human beings than in males, correlating with females' greater resilience to age-related neuron loss and mobility deficiencies, the researchers found. Excitingly, ...

DURHAM, N.C. -- A multidecade study of young adults living in the United Kingdom has found higher rates of mental illness symptoms among those exposed to higher levels of traffic-related air pollutants, particularly nitrogen oxides, during childhood and adolescence. Previous studies have identified a link between air pollution and the risk of specific mental disorders, including depression and anxiety, but this study looked at changes in mental health that span all forms of disorder and psychological distress associated with exposure to traffic-related air pollutants. The findings, which will appear April ...

Experimental Alzheimer's drugs have shown little success in slowing declines in memory and thinking, leaving scientists searching for explanations. But new research in mice has shown that some investigational Alzheimer's therapies are more effective when paired with a treatment geared toward improving drainage of fluid -- and debris -- from the brain, according to a study led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The findings, published April 28 in the journal Nature, suggest that the brain's drainage system -- known as the meningeal lymphatics -- plays a pivotal but underappreciated role in neurodegenerative disease, and that repairing faulty drains could be a key to unlocking the potential of certain Alzheimer's therapies. "The ...

Is forest harvesting increasing in Europe? Yes, but not as much as reported last July in a controversial study published in Nature. The study Abrupt increase in harvested forest area over Europe after 2015, used satellite data to assess forest cover and claimed an abrupt increase of 69% in the harvested forest in Europe from 2016. The authors, from the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC), suggested that this increase resulted from expanding wood markets encouraged by EU bioeconomy and bioenergy policies. The publication triggered a heated debate, both scientific ...

What The Study Did: Length, readability and complexity of informed consent documents for the COVID-19 vaccine phase III randomized clinical trials were assessed in this quality improvement study. Authors: Ezekiel J. Emanuel, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, 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.2021.10843) Editor's Note: The article includes conflict of interest and funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author ...

What The Study Did: The number of applicants and number of applications submitted per applicant to internal medicine residency and subspecialty fellowships for 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic were compared with five prior application cycles in this study. Authors: Laura A. Huppert, M.D., of the University of California, San Francisco, 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.2021.8199) Editor's Note: The article includes ...

What The Study Did: Researchers evaluated racial/ethnic differences in the performance of statistical models that use health record data to predict the risk of suicide after an outpatient mental health visit. Authors: R. Yates Coley, Ph.D., of the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2021.0493) Editor's Note: The article includes conflict of interest and funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest ...

What The Study Did: The association between undergoing gender-affirming surgery and mental health outcomes was looked at in this study. Authors: Anthony N. Almazan, B.A., of Harvard Medical School in Boston, 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/jamasurg.2021.0952) Editor's Note: The article includes conflict of interest and funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support. INFORMATION: Media advisory: The full study and commentary ...

Enhancing the brain's lymphatic system when administering immunotherapies may lead to better clinical outcomes for Alzheimer's disease patients, according to a new study in mice. Results published April 28 in Nature suggest that treatments such as the immunotherapies BAN2401 or aducanumab might be more effective when the brain's lymphatic system can better drain the amyloid-beta protein that accumulates in the brains of those living with Alzheimer's. Major funding for the research was provided by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health, and all study data is now freely available ...