August 31, 2023 - New research published today in Human Genetics and Genomics Advances reveals the difference between ‘what we say’ and ‘what people hear’ when engaging underrepresented communities around genomics and healthcare. Genomics datasets, which underpin the ability to interpret all genetic tests, are known to consist of DNA from predominately white, Northern European populations. As genomics becomes an increasingly important part of everyday healthcare*, barriers to diverse participation must be overcome so that everyone can benefit from genomic medicine, not just the privileged few. The research ...

“We find that people who are in better shape fill fewer prescriptions for anxiety and depression medications,” says Linda Ernstsen, the senior author of the article and an associate professor from the Department of Public Health and Nursing at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The research group based its work on the  Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT). Since 1984, 250,000 Trøndelag residents have voluntarily contributed their health data to this comprehensive ...

A soft ball that ‘personifies’ breath, expanding and contracting in synchronicity with a person’s inhalations and exhalations, has been invented by a PhD student at the University of Bath in the UK. The ball is designed to support mental health, giving users a tangible representation of their breath to keep them focused and to help them regulate their emotions. Alexz Farrall, the student in the Department of Computer Science who invented the device, said: "By giving breath physical form, the ball enhances self-awareness and engagement, fostering positive mental health outcomes." Generally, ...

INDIANAPOLIS – Mentorship has existed throughout history. Socrates mentored Plato, who, in turn, mentored Aristotle. Humphry Davy, the chemist who was the first to isolate potassium, sodium and at least five other elements, mentored Michael Faraday, inventor of the world’s first electric generator. Sigmund Freud mentored Carl Jung. Science teacher Elizabeth Mommaerts mentored Sally Ride. Maya Angelou mentored Oprah Winfrey. The list of knowledge bearers and knowledge seekers who have connected meaningfully goes ...

Optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy is an up-and-coming biomedical imaging technique for studying a broad range of diseases, such as cancer, diabetes and stroke. But its insufficient sensitivity has been a longstanding obstacle for its wider application. Recently, a research team from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) developed a multi-spectral, super-low-dose photoacoustic microscopy system with a significant improvement in the system sensitivity limit, enabling new biomedical applications and clinical translation in the future.  Photoacoustic ...

DETROIT – All five of Henry Ford Health’s acute care hospitals have earned a full three-year reaccreditation by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC), a quality program administered by the American College of Surgeons. With Henry Ford Hospital Detroit, Henry Ford Jackson Hospital, Henry Ford Macomb Hospital, Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital and Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital earning full reaccreditation, Henry Ford has the highest number of Commission on Cancer and NAPBC-accredited hospitals of any health system in Michigan. “The NAPBC accreditation is reflective of our unwavering commitment ...

On average, young adults in Canada spend several hours on their smartphones every day. Many jump from TikTok to Netflix to Instagram, putting their phone down only to pick up a video game controller. A growing body of research is looking into the potential dangers of digital media overuse, as well as potential benefits of moderate digital media use, from a mental health standpoint. A recent McGill University study of 425 Quebecers between the ages of 18 and 25 has found that young adults who have more frequent psychotic experiences also tend to spend more time using digital media. Interestingly, the study, which surveyed the participants ...

A new study led by McGill University examines why people living in Atlantic regions are more at-risk for developing melanoma than other Canadians, providing lessons on skin cancer prevention for the whole country.   Rates of melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer, have been rising globally, including in Canada. Current estimates indicate that up to 1 in 3 Canadians will develop some form of skin cancer during their lifetime. While some Atlantic provinces such as Prince Edward Island (PEI) and Nova Scotia have the highest incidence rate of melanoma in the country, neighbouring provinces like New Brunswick ...

As climate change continues to pose severe challenges to ensuring sustainable food supplies around the world, scientists from McGill University are looking for ways to improve the resilience and nutritional quality of potatoes. Professor Martina Strömvik and her team have created a potato super pangenome to identify genetic traits that can help produce the next super spud.   “Our super pangenome sheds light on the potato’s genetic diversity and what kinds of genetic traits could potentially be bred into our modern-day crop to make it better,” ...

Deep Learning (DL) performs classification tasks using a series of layers. To effectively execute these tasks, local decisions are performed progressively along the layers. But can we perform an all-encompassing decision by choosing the most influential path to the output rather than performing these decisions locally? In an article published today in Scientific Reports, researchers from Bar-Ilan University in Israel answer this question with a resounding "yes". Pre-existing deep architectures have been improved by updating the most influential paths to the output. "One can ...

A new paper in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, published by Oxford University Press, finds that children’s books in the United States continue to underrepresent ethnic minorities. In addition, it finds that male characters are overrepresented in such stories and children are often presented with lighter skin tones for no apparent editorial reason. Education teaches children about the world, its people, and their place in it. Much of this happens through the books society presents to children ...

α-FAPbI3, a promising solar cell material with a cubic perovskite structure that is metastable at room temperature, can be stabilized by introducing a pseudo-halide ion like thiocyanate (SCN–) into its structure, demonstrated by Tokyo Tech researchers in a new study. Their finding provides new insights into the stabilization of the α-phase via grain boundary and pseudo-halide engineering. The light we receive every day from the Sun, if harnessed efficiently, can help us tackle the ongoing global energy crisis as well as our concern with climate change. Materials with good photophysical properties, i.e., light absorption, ...

Antipsychotic drugs treat incredibly vulnerable patients. Maintaining a treatment regimen is difficult for many patients, but not taking the medication is associated with a higher risk of poor health outcomes. These drugs are also very powerful with strong side-effects, and blood tests are often used to calibrate a patient’s dosage and confirm that they are taking the recommended dose.  However, blood tests are invasive and potentially uncomfortable. Scientists have now discovered a way to test the levels of common antipsychotic drugs in the sweat ...

A team of researchers at the University of Waterloo and Dalhousie University have developed a method for forecasting the short-term progression of an epidemic using extremely limited amounts of data.  Their model, the Sparsity and Delay Embedding-based Forecasting model, or SPADE4, uses machine learning to predict the progression of an epidemic using only limited infection data. SPADE4 was tested on both simulated epidemics and real data from the fifth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in Canada and successfully predicted the epidemics’ progressions with 95 per cent confidence.  “Covid taught us that we really need to come up with methods ...

Kyoto, Japan --  From the early stages of cell mutations starting in puberty to their manifestations as breast cancer in later years, the entire process has remained shrouded in mystery. Now, a team of researchers at Kyoto University has revealed the mechanism by which breast cancer is formed in the cells of the mammalian epithelium, whose main function is to secrete milk. According to the team's first analysis, approximately 20 mutations accumulate annually in each epithelial cell until menopause. After menopause, however, the mutation rate significantlydecreases.  "Additionally, our results suggest ...

DURHAM, N.H. — As the so-called ‘gig economy’ continues to grow, so do questions about how this type of non-traditional work compares to full time work arrangements and how these new relationships differ and impact performance and commitment. Researchers from the University of New Hampshire took a closer look at gig workers – which include freelancers, independent contractors and temporary workers – and examined relationships between workers and their managers and found that one trait, trust, could be a double-edged sword. “Millions of workers are now considered gig workers, offering them more flexibility ...

A team of UCL-led researchers has developed a new method to determine the attention levels of drivers and their readiness to respond to warning signals when using auto-pilot mode. The research, published in Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, found that people’s attention levels and how engrossed they are in on-screen activities can be detected from their eye movements. The findings suggest a new way to determine the readiness of drivers using auto-pilot mode to respond to real world signals, such as takeover requests from the car. Although fully autonomous driverless cars are not yet available for personal use, cars with a “driverless” auto-pilot ...

Cardiovascular disease and dementia frequently occur together in elderly people. Nevertheless, few longitudinal studies have examined how atherosclerosis and its associated risk factors affect brain health from middle age. Now, a new study by scientists at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) in Madrid provides new data on this relationship; the results confirm the importance of controlling traditional cardiovascular risk factors, such as hypertension, cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, ...

Experts recommend avoiding cannabis during adolescence and early adulthood, in people prone to or with mental health disorders, in pregnancy, and before and while driving, based on an in-depth evidence review published by The BMJ today. However, they say cannabidiol (one active compound in cannabis) is effective in people with epilepsy, and cannabis based medicines can help people with multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, inflammatory bowel disease, and in palliative care. Their recommendations are based on an “umbrella review” of 101 meta-analyses on cannabis ...

A large private laboratory is still processing finger prick tests for oestrogen levels, which are sold by private retailers online, despite warnings they are unreliable, reveals an investigation published by The BMJ today.  Journalist Emma Wilkinson reports that Eurofins, a large laboratory based in the UK, is still carrying out finger prick tests for oestradiol despite problems being identified in 2021 and two other laboratories and one online retailer withdrawing the tests over concerns that the results might not always be accurate. Finger prick tests for oestradiol are sold by online retailers for between £50 and £180, depending on what is included in ...

Home monitoring of ovulation prior to placing frozen embryos during an IVF process works just as well as hospital checks to determine the best time. In addition, it is more pleasant for women to undergo this in their own environment, and it places less burden on the hospital facilities. "Monitoring ovulation at home means a hospital visit once for the placement of these embryos instead of 3 to 4 times for hospital monitoring. This is more sustainable and reduces the cost of treatment by up to 80%," says Tijtske Zaat, researcher at Amsterdam UMC. The study was published today in The Lancet.    To optimize fertility treatments, researchers ...

A treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) can also reduce night-time heartburn, coughing and wheezing according to a study published today (Thursday) in ERJ Open Research [1].   People with OSA often snore loudly, their breathing starts and stops during the night, and they may wake up several times. Not only does this cause tiredness, but it can also increase the risk of high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.   Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines work by blowing air through a face mask throughout the night to prevent the user’s airway from closing. CPAP is ...

EMBARGOED: NOT FOR RELEASE UNTIL 00.01 BST ON THURSDAY 31 AUGUST 2023. Boys who smoke in their early teens risk passing on harmful epigenetic traits to future children People whose fathers smoked in their early teens had epigenetic markers associated with asthma, obesity, and low lung function Biomarkers associated with paternal preconception smoking were different from those associated with maternal or personal smoking ‘We must act now to stop teenage vaping’ say scientists A new study suggests boys who smoke in their early teens risk damaging the genes of their future children, increasing their chances of developing ...

Emphasising the need for energy independence and environmental stewardship could help to change people’s minds about the climate crisis, a new study says. Climate change deniers focus on what they can see and have experienced personally, so solutions need to be framed in a way which makes sense to local communities. But for this to work the political-media ecosystem also needs to shift to support climate action, and their corporate backers held accountable for the damage they have wrought, according to the research. The study, published in Ethnos Journal of Anthropology, was carried out by Dr Susannah Crockford from the University of Exeter. Dr Crockford ...

The omicron variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which have rapidly spread around the world over the past year, latch onto our cells more tightly, invade them more efficiently, and elude many of the antibodies induced by previous infections and vaccines. These are some of the key findings from a multinational team of researchers reporting today in the journal Nature.  The lead authors of the study were Amin Addetia, a graduate student, and Young-Jun Park, a research scientist, in the laboratory of David Veesler, professor of biochemistry at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and Luca Picolli, director ...