The National Science Foundation has granted the University of Arizona $30 million over five years to establish a new NSF Science and Technology Center. The New Frontiers of Sound Science and Technology Center, which comes with an additional $30 million funding option over the following five years, will bring together researchers working in topological acoustics. With topological acoustics, researchers exploit the properties of sound in ways that could vastly improve computing, telecommunications and sensing. Applications could include reaching quantum-like computing speeds, reducing the power usage of smartphones, and sensing changes in aging infrastructure or the natural ...

An emerging system which combines rapid imaging with artificial intelligence could help scientists build a comprehensive picture of present and historic environmental change – by swiftly and accurately analysing pollen. Pollen grains from different plant species are unique and identifiable based on their shape. Analysing which pollen grains are captured in samples such as sediment cores from lakes helps scientists understand which plants were thriving at any given point in history, potentially dating back thousands to millions of years. Up to now, scientists have manually ...

Women who live farther from a medical clinic and those who identify as multiracial are more likely to use telemedicine to get abortion pills than to visit a clinic, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine. The findings were published Sept. 1 in JAMA Network Open. “One of the main takeaways,” said lead author Anna Fiastro, a family medicine research scientist at UW Medicine, “is that the further patients are from a brick-and-mortar clinic, the more ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Researchers investigated the relationship between historical traumatic events experienced by Alaska Native communities and epigenetic markers on genes that previous studies have linked to trauma. The new study found a similar pattern among Alaska Native participants, with specific epigenetic differences observed in those who reported experiencing the most intense symptoms of distress when reflecting on historic losses. The study also found that individuals who strongly identified with their Alaska Native heritage and participated in cultural activities generally reported better well-being. The new findings are detailed in the International ...

Milan, Italy: Women exposed to air pollution give birth to smaller babies, according to research that will be presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Milan, Italy [1]. The research also shows that women living in greener areas give birth to bigger babies and this may help counteract the effects of pollution.   There is a strong relationship between birthweight and lung health, with low birthweight children facing a higher risk of asthma and higher rates of chronic obstructive ...

Asian Americans are among the fastest growing populations in the U.S. but are significantly underrepresented in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) research. This means there is a significant knowledge gap of ADRD in this particular group at a time when the global Asian population is rapidly aging and the burden of ADRD will likely mirror this growth. Thanks to a new award, the Keck School of Medicine of USC’s Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute (Stevens INI) is perfectly poised to help bridge the gap.  Professor of ...

New Haven, Conn. — Music can take on many forms in cultures across the globe, but Yale researchers have found in a new study that some themes are universally recognizable by people everywhere with one notable exception — love songs. “All around the world, people sing in similar ways,” said senior author Samuel Mehr, who splits his time between the Yale Child Study Center, where he is an assistant professor adjunct, and the University of Auckland, where he is senior lecturer in psychology. “Music is deeply rooted in human social interaction.” For ...

More will soon be known about neurodiversity in engineering students, thanks to funding from the National Science Foundation and the efforts of Utah State University College of Engineering Assistant Professor Marissa Tsugawa. Tsugawa, along with collaborators from USU and Minnesota State University, received $373,508 in funding for their research in identifying emancipatory language and capturing neurodivergent narratives. “The term neurodivergent refers to a person with a brain that functions significantly different from the societal norm, such as someone with ADHD or autism,” Tsugawa said. “The term is used to celebrate, ...

September 5, 2023-- Racial and ethnic inequities in diabetes have been established following gestational diabetes, but these inequities are substantial and have been an overlooked facet of maternal health equity, according to a new study by epidemiologist Teresa Janevic, PhD, associate professor of Epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Until now there was limited research on racial and ethnic disparities in type 2 diabetes after gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). The findings are published online in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology. “Very few studies ...

Engineers at the University of Cincinnati have developed a new device that can warn consumers about early risks of tooth decay from diseases such as gingivitis and periodontitis. Gingivitis, the earliest form of gum disease, is caused by bacteria. But not just any bacteria. The problem for researchers was getting a device to single out the particular type responsible for the disease, said Andrew Steckl, an Ohio Eminent Scholar and distinguished research professor in UC’s College of Engineering and Applied Science. “It’s been quite the challenge to get to the point where we can detect this toxin created by the bacteria ...

INDIANAPOLIS—Indiana University School of Medicine Department of Pathology is launching a new Division of Computational Pathology and a Research Center for Federated Learning in Precision Medicine. Both will be led by Spyridon Bakas, PhD, an internationally recognized computational researcher who brings ten years of experience and NIH grant funding to this growing field that combines artificial intelligence and medicine. “Computational pathology is a growing area of medicine around the world,” Bakas said. “The idea is to leverage information that exists within tissue slides ...

The modern world is filled with synthetic polymers, long-chained molecules designed by scientists to fill all manner of applications. Researchers at FAMU-FSU College of Engineering have developed two closely related polymers that respond differently to high and low temperature thresholds, despite their similar design. The polymer pair could be used in applications in medicine, protein synthesis, protective coatings and other fields. Their work is published in Macromolecules. “Typically, in order to have one thermal behavior, we have to prepare a polymer for that specific application, and if you ...

A study at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center aims to develop a new way to treat ischemic stroke, a leading cause of death in adults worldwide. The study is funded by a $1,155,000 translational grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health. Jianxiong Jiang, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, and Jiawang Liu, PhD, director of the Medicinal Chemistry ...

A new study by University of Maryland Economist Louis Preonas provides empirical evidence that railroads are likely to cut transportation prices to prop up coal-fired plants if U.S. climate policies further disadvantage coal in favor of less carbon-intensive energy sources. One strategy being considered to help reduce the country’s contribution to global climate change is a tax or fee on greenhouse gas emissions by coal-burning power plants. The hope is that such fees will reduce competitiveness of coal-fired energy and consumers will chose lower-emission options at a competitive cost. The new study, published September 7, 2023, in The ...

New York, NY (September 7, 2023)—Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have identified the structure of a special transporter found in red blood cells and how it interacts with drugs.  Details on the findings, which were reported in the September 7 issue of Nature Structural & Molecular Biology [DOI: 10.1038/s41594-023-01085-6], could lead to the development of more targeted medicines. The research team, led by Daniel Wacker, PhD, Bin Zhang, PhD, and Avner Schlessinger, PhD, found that this transporter facilitates ...

Altaf Saadi, MD, MSc, principal investigator of the Neurodisparities & Health Justice Lab in the Department of Neurology at Mass General and an assistant professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, is lead author of a new study in the Journal of Head Trauma and Rehabilitation, Examining the Association Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Lifetime History of Head or Neck Injury or Concussion in Children From the United States.  What Question Were You Investigating? Is there an association between adverse childhood experiences ...

A new report by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) presents major findings on the gravity of impacts from invasive alien species on our planet. Researchers found more than 37,000 alien species have been introduced by human activities over the centuries, and this conservative estimate is rising at unprecedented rates. Additionally, more than 3,500 of these are harmful invasive alien species, impacting humans, animals and plants. Dozens of international biodiversity ...

When Richard O’Neil, Ph.D., joined MUSC Hollings Cancer Center two years ago, he knew that he wanted to continue finding ways to make CAR-T-cell therapy easier on patients. What he didn’t expect was that a side project – worked on by Megan Tennant, a graduate student in his lab, as a way to keep busy while a key piece of equipment was being serviced – would potentially open up this treatment beyond the world of cancer. “I don't think that either of us expected that first initial experiment to work,” Tennant said. “But when we saw how well it worked and really started to conceptualize where this could go and how important ...

Every year on the 4th of July, fireworks cause cause a precipitous increase of wildfire ignitions in the United States (U.S.). This human-environmental phenomenon is noteworthy and highlights the impact of American culture on wildfire activity in the U.S. In other regions of the world, research has increasingly shown that human culture impacts fire activity, with weekly cycles of fire activity reflecting the local structures of workweeks and the timing of religious days of rest  (e.g., Saturdays and Sundays). Although 4th of July peak in wildfire igntions has ...

Analysis of data from more than 1 million Danish inpatients identifies nearly 4,000 drug pairings that are associated with more frequent dosage adjustments when prescribed together—potentially hinting at previously undiscovered drug interactions. Søren Brunak of the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS Digital Health. In some cases, especially among elderly populations, a person may be prescribed several different medications at once in order to treat one or multiple health conditions—a phenomenon known as polypharmacy. Polypharmacy is associated with increased health risks due to the potential ...

Chronic stress is associated with sleep disturbance. In their new study, Lu Huang and colleagues identify the neural pathway behind this behavior, and at the same time, explain how bright-light treatment is able to counter it. The research was conducted in mice at Jinan University in China and published September 7th in the open access journal PLOS Biology. Bright-light treatment is known to improve sleep in those with sleep disorders, but how it works – and whether it works in cases of stress-induced sleep disturbances – was unknown. The researchers hypothesized that a part of the brain called the lateral habenula is deeply involved in this phenomenon because ...

A ‘near total’ lack of transparency is making it impossible to assess the quality of corporate-led ecosystem restoration projects, according to a Lancaster University-led study published today in Science. Efforts to rebuild degraded environments are vital for achieving global biodiversity targets. The United Nations has launched a Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, and in recent years businesses around the world have collectively pledged to plant billions of trees, hundreds of thousands of corals and tens of ...

An implantable sensor provided advanced warning of kidney transplant failure in rats as much as several weeks earlier than commonly used biomarkers of kidney function, researchers report. The device, tested in a rat model of kidney transplantation, provides real-time continuous monitoring of organ temperature and thermal conductivity, detecting inflammatory processes associated with graft rejection. Although lifesaving for patients with end-stage kidney disease, long-term kidney transplantation survival remains a major challenge. Graft failure ...

In 2022, the eruption of the submerged Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha apai volcano triggered a fast-moving and destructive underwater debris flow that severed telecommunication cables and reshaped the surrounding seafloor. The findings – representing some of the first fieldwork to document what happens when large volumes of erupted volcanic material are delivered directly into the ocean – provide new insights into the behavior and hazards of submerged volcanoes. Explosive volcanic eruptions on land create pyroclastic flows of hot ash and rock that, when they reach the ocean, can trigger damaging ...

Large transnational corporations (TNCs) are positioning themselves as environmental leaders, carrying out environmental restoration projects that go beyond their legal obligations. However, some corporations oversell their efforts. In this Policy Forum, Timothy Lamont and colleagues present an evaluation of sustainability reports of 100 of the world’s largest businesses, revealing the extent to which TNCs are claiming to contribute to, but failing to report on, ecosystem restoration. “Increased rigor, consistency, transparency, and accountability are needed to ensure that corporate-led restoration delivers quantifiable, ...