A study carried out in St Vincent’s University Hospital (SVUH) Dublin challenges the belief that weight loss medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy or Monjaro work just by promoting satiety and making you eat less. The randomized controlled trial with 30 patients was led by Professor Donal O’Shea, SVUH and UCD School of Medicine, and examined the family of medications based on the hormone Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1). The findings published today in the Journal of the Obesity Society shows that there is a strong relationship between the increase in metabolic ...

Inflammation of the abdominal cavity in human fetuses resulting from a perforation of their intestine is likely to be caused by proteins contained in the fetal stool. This is the result of a Kobe University study that establishes a new mouse model allowing research and drug development for a condition that is otherwise difficult to approach. The fetus’s stool, called the “meconium,” is sterile but nevertheless causes inflammation of the abdominal cavity when it leaks out of the intestine after a perforation. Called “meconium peritonitis,” this is a life-threatening condition for the baby with a mortality rate of 10%-15% in humans, and neither a cause ...

In radiology, diagnostic imaging requires specialized knowledge to interpret the findings associated with a wide variety of diseases. Fortunately, in recent years, generative AI models, such as Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (ChatGPT), have shown potential as diagnostic tools in the medical field, but their accuracy must be evaluated for optimal use in the future. Therefore, Dr. Daisuke Horiuchi and Associate Professor Daiju Ueda of Osaka Metropolitan University’s Graduate School of Medicine led a research team that compared the diagnostic accuracy of ChatGPT and radiologists. They used 106 musculoskeletal radiology cases with patient medical history, images, ...

My new article, ‘Quantum Entanglement of Optical Photons: The First Experiment, 1964-67’, is intended to convey the spirit of a small research project that reaches into uncharted territory. The article breaks with tradition, as it offers a first-person account of the strategy and challenges for the experiment, as well as an interpretation of the final result and its significance. In this guest editorial, I will introduce the subject and also attempt to illuminate the question ‘What is a paradox?’ Let’s begin with the gyroscope that I bought when I was eight, from a store ...

Kumamoto University researchers have made a groundbreaking discovery that sheds light on how the HMGA2 gene—an essential transcriptional activator involved in chromatin modification—regulates stress responses in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), thereby enhancing blood cell production recovery.   Exposure to infections or treatments such as chemotherapy often leads to a rapid decline in blood cells, including red blood cells and platelets. HSCs, which reside in the bone marrow that can develop into various types of blood cells, are crucial for recovering from these stress-induced blood disorders. Under stressd ...

Physicians at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University are working with Polaris Dawn, the first of the Polaris Program’s three human spaceflight missions, to better understand the eye changes many astronauts experience during spaceflight that can leave them with a wide range of symptoms once they return to Earth — from a new need for glasses to significant loss of vision. The Polaris Program is a first-of-its-kind effort to rapidly advance human spaceflight capabilities while continuing to raise funds and awareness for important causes on Earth. More than 70% of astronauts experience a phenomenon ...

Training deep learning models on large datasets is essential for their success; however, these datasets often contain label noise, which can significantly decrease the classification performance on test datasets. To address this issue, a research team consisting of Enes Dedeoglu, H. Toprak Kesgin, and Prof. Dr. M. Fatih Amasyali from Yildiz Technical University developed a groundbreaking method called Adaptive-k, which improves the optimization process and yields better results in the presence of label noise. Their research was published on 15 August 2024 in ...

□ A team led by Professor Ji-woong Yang of DGIST’s (President Kun-woo Lee) Department of Energy Science and Engineering, in collaboration with Professor Moon-kee Choi of UNIST's Department of New Materials and Dr. Taeg-hwan Hyun of the IBS Nanoparticle Research Center, has developed a double-layer dry transfer printing technology that simultaneously transfers light-emitting and electron-transferring layers onto a substrate. This technology is expected to provide a more life-like view in augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), greatly enhancing the immersive experience.   □ ...

Shawna Hollen, associate professor of physics, has been named to The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s 2024 cohort of Experimental Physics Investigators. The prestigious honor, which is accompanied by $1.25 million in funding over the next five years, will advance understanding of the link between charge density waves and quantum dots, two physical phenomena that could lead to improvements in quantum computing. “The ideas that I put forward [in my proposal] haven’t been demonstrated. It’s not something that anyone else ...

In 2011, UNESCO issued The UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (“The Recommendation” hereafter), introducing the concept of “historic urban landscape” (HUL). HUL is defined as “the urban context and its geographical setting taking into consideration the historical layering of cultural and natural values and attributes”. It is noteworthy that ancient towns or historic cities, as an important subclass of HUL, have garnered increasing attention. In recent years, public perception and emotional experience of physical environments have become ...

Metasurfaces are two-dimensional counterparts of metamaterials, which are the artificial materials that possess unusual characteristics. With a variety of fascinatingly innovative and diverse uses, these specially-prepared surfaces with engineered patterns can modify the propagation of electromagnetic waves across the entire spectrum of wavelengths. Though the journey of metamaterials began with metal-dielectric systems, the metasurfaces have gone all-dielectric, and are crucial in applications relating to optoelectronic devices such as solar cells and light emitting diodes (LED) to improve their efficiency through a mere surface effect. Student researchers led ...

This year, New Zealand became among the first countries in the world to force their largest companies and financial institutions (about 200 in all) to disclose their climate-related risks and opportunities in their annual reports, and make regulatory filings. Over the last month, these reports have been filed under the disclosure regime led by the Financial Markets Authority. But do these kinds of initiatives improve environmental outcomes? A new study, co-authored by Professor Charl de Villiers (University of Auckland, Business ...

Solution-processed semiconductor nanocrystals are also called colloidal quantum dots (QDs). While the concept of size-dependent quantum effects had been long known to physicists, a sculpture of the theory into real nanodimensional objects remained impossible till the discovery of QDs. The size-dependent colors of QDs are essentially naked-eye, ambient-condition visualization of the quantum size effect. In recent years, researchers across the world have been searching for fascinating quantum effects or phenomena using the material platform of QDs, such as single-photon emission and quantum coherence manipulation. Floquet states (i.e., ...

Antarctica’s unique ecosystems could be threatened by the arrival of non-native marine species and marine pollution from Southern Hemisphere landmasses, new oceanographic modelling shows.  In a study published today in Global Change Biology, scientists from UNSW Sydney, ANU, University of Otago and the University of South Florida suggest that floating objects can reach Antarctic waters from more sources than previously thought. “An increasing abundance of plastics and other human made debris in the oceans means there are potentially more opportunities ...

A recent study has explored the legal and ethical challenges expected to arise in human brain organoid research. Human brain organoids are three-dimensional neural tissues derived from stem cells that can mimic some aspects of the human brain. Their use holds incredible promise for medical advancements, but this also raises complex ethical and legal questions that need careful consideration. Seeking to examine the various legal challenges that might arise in the context of human brain organoid research and its applications, the team of researchers, which included a legal scholar, identified and ...

University of Queensland researchers have discovered a mechanism in DNA that regulates how disease-causing mutations are inherited.   Dr Anne Hahn and Associate Professor Steven Zuryn from UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute said the findings could provide a promising therapeutic avenue to stop the onset of heritable and age-related diseases.  “Mitochondrial DNA is essential for cell function,” Dr Hahn said.   “But as we age it mutates, contributing to diseases ...

LA JOLLA, CA—In a struggle that probably sounds familiar to dieters everywhere, the less a Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) worm eats, the more slowly it loses fat. Now, scientists at Scripps Research have discovered why: a small molecule produced by the worms’ intestines during fasting travels to the brain to block a fat-burning signal during this time. Although the exact molecule they identified in the worms has not yet been studied in humans, the new work helps scientists better ...

Modelling study using data on 854 European cities is the first to estimate current and future deaths from hot and cold temperatures at this level of regional detail for the entire continent.  Study suggests existing regional disparities in death risk from hot and cold temperatures among adults will widen in the future due to climate change and ageing populations.  A slight decline in cold-related deaths is projected by 2100, while deaths from heat will increase in all parts of Europe, most significantly in southern regions. Areas worst affected will include Spain, Italy, Greece and parts of France.   Currently, around eight times ...

Suicide rates among doctors have declined over time, but are still significantly higher for female doctors compared with the general population, finds an analysis of evidence from 20 countries published by The BMJ today. The researchers acknowledge that physician suicide risk varies across different countries and regions, but say the results highlight the ongoing need for continued research and prevention efforts, particularly among female physicians. According to some estimates, one doctor dies by suicide every day in the US, and ...

High doses of psilocybin - the active ingredient in magic mushrooms - appears to have a similar effect on depressive symptoms as the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) drug escitalopram, suggests a systematic review and meta-analysis published in The BMJ today. The findings show that patients treated with high dose psilocybin showed better responses than those treated with placebo in antidepressant trials, although the effect size was small. The researchers point out that flaws in study designs may have overestimated the effectiveness ...

Cold water swimming is growing in popularity amongst women, but more support is needed to make many wild swimming sites in the UK safer and more accessible, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The research, published in Women’s Health, explored the habits of women who enjoy cold water swimming and was carried out in collaboration with researchers from the University of Portsmouth, University of Sussex, University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, University of Plymouth and Bournemouth University. The team surveyed 1,114 women in the UK aged 16 to 80 years ...

The animal tranquilizer xylazine is increasingly found in the illicit opioid supply nationwide, leading to severe wounds among people who use drugs. New research led by a University of Pittsburgh physician-scientist and published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence seeks to understand wound care experiences of this population.  A cross-sectional survey of people who use drugs identified through three syringe service providers in Massachusetts found the vast majority had experienced xylazine wounds in the prior year. As the need for comprehensive, low barrier wound care grows, access to such care continues to lag behind the demand. As a result, these wounds often lead to serious ...

MADISON — While the COVID-19 pandemic quickly reversed decades of progress in closing the gap between life expectancies for Black and white people in the United States, the disease’s toll may have obscured the impact of another significant public health concern — a sharp increase in homicide rates — on the life expectancy of Black men, according to researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. In 2019, Black men in the U.S. were expected to live an average of 71.4 years, ...

HOUSTON ― The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center today was awarded nine grants totaling over $21.4 million from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) in support of two new core facilities, faculty recruitment and groundbreaking cancer research across all areas of the institution. “We are enormously appreciative of CPRIT’s support of impactful cancer research initiatives at MD Anderson,” said Peter WT Pisters, M.D., president of MD Anderson. “These new core facilities will help advance important areas of research in spatial biology and decision ...

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $26 million to establish a new Gen-4 Engineering Research Center (ERC) named Environmentally Applied Refrigerant Technology Hub (EARTH) to create a sustainable and circular refrigerant economy. The University of Kansas is the lead institution, joined by partners at Lehigh University, University of Notre Dame, University of Maryland, University of Hawai'i and University of South Dakota. David Vicic, the Howard S. Bunn Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, will lead Lehigh’s team. Mark Shiflett, University of Kansas Foundation Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering, will be the ERC EARTH ...