CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — By combining visible light and electrochemistry, researchers have enhanced the conversion of carbon dioxide into valuable products and stumbled upon a surprising discovery. The team found that visible light significantly improved an important chemical attribute called selectivity, opening new avenues not only for CO2 conversion but also for many other chemical reactions used in catalysis research and chemical manufacturing. One way that chemists recycle CO2 into valuable products is through a process called electrochemical reduction, where a stream of CO2 gas moves through an electrolysis cell that breaks the CO2 and water ...

The first randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial evaluating the impact of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies on the risk of developing long COVID was led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine. The study, published Sept. 1 in eClinicalMedicine, details an international, multicenter phase 2/3 clinical trial that found a combination of amubarvimab and romlusevimab did not reduce the occurrence of long COVID symptoms. Lasting weeks or even months after SARS-CoV-2 infection, long COVID is characterized by a variety of symptoms that affect each person differently. These include extreme fatigue, difficulty concentrating, ...

(Toronto, October 17, 2024) JMIR Publications invites submissions to a new theme issue titled “The Emergence of Medical Futures Studies” in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, the leading peer-reviewed journal for digital medicine and health and health care in the Internet age, indexed in PubMed, PMC, MEDLINE, SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The rapid progress of technology in health care, combined with significant cultural shifts toward digital health and the urgent need for preparedness, highlighted by events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, have brought about an increased emphasis ...

Super-spy James Bond is a prime example of ‘regressive nostalgia’ highlighting how certain consumer groups cling to idealised past versions of brands and resist attempts to move with the times, a new study reveals.  Researchers examined the James Bond movie franchise - a cultural icon for over 70 years - and discovered that some ‘super-consumers’ react negatively to modern portrayals of the fictional British secret agent that reflect contemporary societal values.   Whilst loyal to the brand, these consumers prefer traditional, more exclusionary, versions of Bond which most closely follow author Ian Fleming’s original 1950s and 1960s vision – ...

A self-proclaimed Brazil-Italy collaboration enthusiast, researcher Laura Bolognesi created the B2AlzD2 Joint Lab at the Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology of the Università di Bologna (UNIBO), the first Brazil-Bologna joint laboratory dedicated to the development of new drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. The partners include scientists from four Brazilian universities: the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), the University of Brasília (UnB), the University of São Paulo (USP Ribeirão Preto) and the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). One of the laboratory’s ongoing ...

(Boston)—Researchers from the Center for Regenerative Medicine (CReM) at Boston University and Boston Medical Center (BMC) have announced a new collaboration with the global biopharma company GSK to advance innovative research focused on developing cutting-edge models to study and treat lung diseases like pulmonary fibrosis. Pulmonary fibrosis, including its most common form, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), is a progressive and life-threatening condition that results in scarring of the lungs, making it increasingly difficult for patients to breathe. ...

Biofilms — slimy communities of bacteria — grow on all sorts of surfaces: from glaciers and hot springs to plant roots, your bathtub and fridge, wounds, and medical devices such as catheters. Most biofilms are composed of multiple bacterial species, but how these species manage to live together is unclear. A new study by Dartmouth scientists in Current Biology uses experiments and modeling to delve into how three species of biofilm bacteria coexist — and when they move out on their own. One species, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a verstaile pathogen known to be antibiotic resistant, dominated ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The microbes that cycle nutrients in the ocean don’t do the work on their own – the viruses that infect them also influence the process. It’s a vital job for the rest of the planet, enabling oceans to absorb half of the human-generated carbon in the atmosphere and produce half of the oxygen we breathe. A new study gets scientists closer to more fully understanding where viruses fit into the global ocean picture of cycling nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorous and, of particular interest, carbon. The research broadly expands on a 20-year-old finding that genes can be exchanged between viruses and the photosynthetic ...

WASHINGTON (Oct. 17, 2024) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), have awarded $27.5 million to the Center for Global Health Practice and Impact (CGHPI) at Georgetown University Medical Center to expand its ongoing work in Haiti to address HIV/AIDS. For the 150,000 people in Haiti living with HIV, losing access to basic life-saving therapy can lead to unnecessary suffering, risk of transmission to others, and ...

The Earth is an almost unimaginably diverse planet in terms of species. Researchers have identified between two and three million species, but there are many more that we know nothing about. The unknown species are called ‘biological dark matter’, borrowing a term from astrophysics.  “We want to demonstrate how we can gain a better overview of biological dark matter by using DNA barcoding,” said Associate Professor Emily Hartop. DNA barcoding, in this case so-called ‘megabarcoding’, might sound mysterious, but it isn’t really. We will come back to that later. First, let us take a look at why ...

WASHINGTON — Americans believe volunteering to help strangers contributes more to society than providing care for family or friends, even though they contribute billions of dollars’ worth of labor in unpaid caregiving every year, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. This perception could lead Americans of lower socioeconomic status to feel like they have less to contribute than people of higher socioeconomic status, because they often do not have the same amount of time or resources to devote to people outside of their communities. “Over ...

Researchers at the University of Zurich (UZH) have used artificial intelligence (AI) to help identify antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The team led by Adrian Egli, UZH professor at the Institute of Medical Microbiology, is the first to investigate how GPT-4, a powerful AI model developed by OpenAI, can be used to analyze antibiotic resistance. The researchers used AI to interpret a common laboratory test known as the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion test, which helps doctors to determine which antibiotics can or can’t fight a particular bacterial infection. Based on GPT-4, the scientists created the “EUCAST-GPT-expert”, which follows strict EUCAST ...

WASHINGTON—The Endocrine Society, a global organization that promotes endocrinology research and clinical practice, and Keystone Symposia, a nonprofit host of conferences and symposia on a range of life science and biomedical topics, will jointly host a series of three conferences to advance endocrine research. The three conferences will focus on diabetes, oncology and cardiovascular disease—hormone-related conditions that have a major impact on public health. The conference series is slated to launch in late 2026 or early 2027 and will run ...

Quantum research breakthrough uses synthetic dimensions to efficiently process quantum information   The discovery, at INRS, of a synthetic photonic lattice capable of generating and manipulating quantum states of light, offers promising prospects for a variety of applications, from quantum computing to secure quantum communication protocols.   A study co-directed by Professor Roberto Morandotti of Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) in collaboration with teams from Germany, Italy, and Japan opens the door to cutting-edge solutions ...

Imagine you wake up in a hospital without a single memory of the last month. Doctors say you had a series of violent episodes and paranoid delusions. You’d become convinced you were suffering from bipolar disorder. Then, after a special test, a neurologist diagnoses you with a rare autoimmune disease called anti-NMDAR encephalitis. This is what happened to Susannah Cahalan, a New York Post reporter who would go on to write the best-selling memoir Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness. Anti-NMDAR encephalitis can lead to hallucinations, blackouts, and ...

Woods Hole, Mass.(Oct. 17, 2024)  — Scientists at the Wood Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have been working for years to find out what types of plastics have the shortest and longest lifespans in the ocean, and what types of plastic products, like straws and food wrappers, most commonly contribute to plastic pollution. With more biodegradable materials being developed , like cellulose diacetate (CDA)—a plastic-like polymer derived from wood pulp—researchers are racing to ensure they can replace traditional plastics without causing harm to ocean ...

(October 17, 2024) - Philadelphia, PA - Rapid advancements across industries from healthcare, technology, finance and beyond present novel opportunities as well as challenges. As part of the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Engineering and Applied Science’s (Penn Engineering) commitment to develop leading-edge solutions that provide a better future for all, the School is bringing together today renowned leaders in engineering, academia, industry and policy for a dialogue on responsibly shaping ...

With cardiovascular disease remaining a leading cause of death worldwide, a new study has highlighted strawberries as a natural and delicious way to support heart health and manage cholesterol. This research revealed significant health benefits associated with regular consumption of strawberries between (1 and 4 cups per day), particularly in improving cardiometabolic health. Conducted by researchers from the University of California, Davis and funded by the California Strawberry Commission, the literature review, published in the September 2024 issue of ...

Scientists have discovered toxic ‘Forever Chemicals’ present in samples of drinking water from around the world, a new study reveals.  Researchers found 10 ‘target’ PFAS (perfluoroalkyl substances) – chemicals which do not break down in nature – in tap and bottled water available for consumption in major cities in the UK and China. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) were detected in over 99% of samples of bottled water sourced from 15 countries around the world.  They observed significant differences in PFAS concentrations between tap water samples from Birmingham, UK, and Shenzhen, China, with Chinese tap ...

Abdominal pain, diarrhea, and debilitating fatigue define the daily lives of millions of people worldwide who suffer from chronic bowel disease. Most of these individuals are diagnosed in their youth, and the disease’s progression can vary significantly, leaving patients uncertain about what the future holds. For some, ulcerative colitis is a manageable condition, while for others, it leads to frequent hospitalizations, complex medication regimens, and multiple surgeries. Now, researchers from the Center for ...

Australia is taking proactive steps to enhance the resilience of its telecommunications sector, according to a world-first report from The Australian National University (ANU). Several recent high-profile outages, contrasted with the near seamless shift to remote work during the pandemic, have shown how telecommunications resilience significantly impacts all Australians with stakes that are higher than ever before. Telecommunications underpins our lives from global commerce and emergency services to healthcare and national security and energy and transportation. Despite its ...

Research Highlights: Within 90 days after having an ischemic (clot-caused) stroke, about 5% of stroke survivors ages 65 and older were prescribed benzodiazepines (depressants that relieve anxiety, muscle spasms, produce sedation and reduce seizures) for the first time. More than half of the new prescriptions of benzodiazepines were written for a supply of 15 to 30 days, rather than the smaller number of pills for short-term, as-needed use.   The study also found that women were more likely than men to receive an initial prescription ...

Picture this: You’re shopping online for this week’s groceries. You try to pick healthy options based on the information provided by the online retailer. You can tell that the products you’re choosing are organic, non-GMO, or Fair Trade Certified. But in many cases, you can’t find the nutrition facts, ingredient list, or even a list of allergens. A new, comprehensive study of online grocery retailers shows this problem is pervasive, to the detriment of public health and safety in the ...

British techbio innovator Etcembly is teaming up with researchers and clinicians from the University of Surrey to launch a groundbreaking new study that could transform the future of cancer treatment. By analysing the immune cells of cancer survivors, this research is set to reveal untapped targets that could deliver the next generation of immunotherapies.   In recent years, treatments that harness a patient’s own immune system to fight cancer have become a key pillar of oncology. However, these drugs don’t work for all, and a wider range of novel immunotherapies is urgently needed.   T ...

After the recent pandemic, our use of disinfectants has increased, but are our efforts to create sterile urban environments backfiring? A new study published in the journal Microbiome has identified novel strains of microbes that have adapted to use the limited resources available in cities and shown that our everyday behaviour is changing the makeup of microorganisms in indoor environments. “Built environments offer distinct conditions that set them apart from natural and engineered habitats,” says Dr Xinzhao Tong, an assistant professor at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU), China, and lead author ...