Scientists at Dalian University of Technology propose a design of copper nanowire assemblies that can sufficiently enhance the de-icing and defrosting efficiency without conventional energy input. Specifically, the defrosting efficacy approaches 100%, a record-high value compared to reported studies. The research, published in International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, shows a simple electrochemical method for fabricating nanowire assemblies with controlled pattern, hierarchy, and size. This enables the simultaneous presentation of photothermal, thermal conductive, and superhydrophobic ...

It is well known that biodiversity of cultural landscapes is threatened by land abandonment and agricultural intensification. Traditional, low chemical and machinery input management systems have long been acknowledged for their diverse benefits to maintain and enhance biodiversity, however, the recognition of traditional knowledge, on which these traditional management practices are based, started only relatively recently. The recognition of traditional knowledge holders themselves is an even more recent phenomenon. A recently published paper aims to ...

Amsterdam, Netherlands – 26 Aug 2023: Is the routine implantation of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) in myocardial infarction survivors with heart failure still an adequate therapy for prevention of sudden cardiac death? The PROFID EHRA trial is set to answer this question in a large, multicentre, EU-funded study set to enrol the first patient this summer. The consortium of partners and colleagues involved in the trial, including the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), will meet during ESC Congress 2023 to discuss the start of the study. Myocardial ...

Amsterdam, Netherlands – 26 Aug 2023: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) cost the EU an estimated €282 billion in 2021, according to late breaking research presented at ESC Congress 2023.1 Health and long-term care accounted for €155 billion (55%) of these costs, equalling 11% of EU health expenditure. The analysis was a collaborative effort by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the University of Oxford, UK.   Study author Dr. Ramon Luengo-Fernandez of the University of Oxford said: “CVD had a significant impact ...

NIH-funded study supports use of ECMO for critically ill patients with obesity ECMO does not appear to complicate treatment for severe respiratory failure for adults with obesity A National Institutes of Health-supported study suggests that adults with obesity may benefit from the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), an advanced form of breathing support, when in intensive care for respiratory failure. ECMO’s use was previously questioned for patients with obesity due to the belief that it may complicate ...

About The Study: Muvalaplin was not associated with tolerability concerns and lowered lipoprotein(a) (Lp[a]) levels up to 65% following daily administration for 14 days in this first-in-human phase 1 study involving healthy participants. Lipoprotein(a) is associated with atherosclerotic disease and aortic stenosis. Longer and larger trials will be required to further evaluate safety, tolerability, and effect of muvalaplin on Lp(a) levels and cardiovascular outcomes. Authors: Stephen J. Nicholls, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., of Monash University in Clayton, ...

Anyone who’s been caught in an unexpected downpour knows that weather forecasting is an imperfect science. Now, researchers at Stevens Institute of Technology are taking aim at one of meteorologists’ biggest blind spots: extremely short-term forecasts, or nowcasts, that predict what will happen in a given location over the next few minutes. “This isn’t just about whether you should take your umbrella with you when you go on a walk,” said Temimi. “The forecasts that we’re missing – the ones that look ...

About The Study: In this study of 111,000 U.S. military veterans with coronary artery disease, suboptimal lipid-lowering therapy was prevalent in the clinical setting. Optimization of statin therapy was projected to produce clinically relevant reductions in the risks of death and cardiovascular events. Despite a lesser lipid-lowering efficacy of ezetimibe, its widespread use on a population level in conjunction with optimized statin therapy may be associated with further meaningful reductions in cardiovascular risk.  Authors: Gregory G. Schwartz, M.D., Ph.D., of the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado, is the corresponding author.  To ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – White-tailed deer across Ohio have been infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, new research has found – and the results also show that viral variants evolve about three times faster in deer than in humans. Scientists collected 1,522 nasal swabs from free-ranging deer in 83 of the state’s 88 counties between November 2021 and March 2022. More than 10% of the samples were positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and at least one positive case was found in 59% of the counties in which testing took place. Genomic analysis showed that at least 30 infections in deer had been introduced by humans – ...

A recent analysis of all relevant published studies reveals a lack of evidence to determine the dosing, safety, and efficacy of medical marijuana or cannabis-containing products for managing symptoms experienced by children with cancer. The analysis is published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. Although treatments for childhood cancer have improved significantly, even leading to cures for many patients, many children still suffer from symptoms such as pain, anxiety, and weight loss related to cancer and its treatment. Over the last decade, cannabis ...

How tomato plants defend themselves against a devastating ‘young’ Southern African virus has now been investigated at a molecular genetics level for the first time by researchers at the University of Johannesburg (UJ). The Ty-1 gene is known to confer resistance to the well-known tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV). UJ researchers investigated what happens when tomato plants that harbour the Ty-1 gene are infected with the relatively unknown tomato curly stunt virus (ToCSV). They found a link between tolerance to ToCSV, a plant defence called viral DNA methylation, and Ty-1 gene activity. The research is published ...

New research finds that sleep can be most efficient and restful for older adults when nighttime bedroom ambient temperature ranges between 68 to 77 °F. The authors observed an overall trend: a 5-10 % drop in sleep efficiency as the nighttime ambient temperature increases from 77°F to 86°F. Importantly, this research also reveals substantial between-individual differences in optimal bedroom temperature. “These results highlight the potential to enhance sleep quality in older adults by optimizing home thermal environments and emphasizing the importance ...

You may know it as an aromatic spice to add flavor to your dishes or as a soothing herbal remedy to use for upset stomachs, but researchers from Osaka Metropolitan University have uncovered promising findings that Kencur, a tropical plant in the ginger family native to Southeast Asia, possesses anti-cancer effects. Led by Associate Professor Akiko Kojima of the Graduate School of Human Life and Ecology, the researchers demonstrated that Kencur extract and its main active component, ethyl p-methoxycinnamate (EMC), significantly suppressed cancer cell growth at the cellular and animal levels. While previous studies on EMC indicated its anti-cancer potential by decreasing the expression ...

A new type of versatile economical photocatalyst that harnesses the visible portion of the sunlight spectrum has been developed by researchers from the University of Johannesburg. It is simple to manufacture. Currently, economical photocatalysts only ‘use’ the UV spectrum of sunlight. The new photocatalyst harnesses about a third of the visible light spectrum. The extremely stable, powder-form three-component photocatalyst is built from graphitic carbon (89% of mass), a modified calixarene (10%) and a niobium-containing MXene (1%). Researchers at the University of Johannesburg have developed a new type of photocatalyst that harnesses the visible ...

A research team led by Dr. Jung-dae Kwon from the Department of Energy & Electronic Materials at the Korea Institute of Materials Science(KIMS) has succeeded in realizing the world's first transparent thin-film solar cell on a flexible substrate that exhibits different reflective colours and does not significantly reduce solar cell's efficiency. KIMS is a government-funded research institute under the Ministry of Science and ICT. This is a technology that achieves reflective colour only a single material by periodically incorporating hydrogen into zinc oxide material doped with aluminium, which is a transparent electrode, to induce a refractive index difference. ...

New guidance aimed at helping standardize community overdose response and take-home naloxone kits across Canada is published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.230128. The guidance is an important document to optimize the effectiveness of take-home naloxone to save lives. The guidance was developed by a panel of experts, including people with lived experience of drug use and overdose response, front-line and harm-reduction workers, public health professionals, clinicians and academics with expertise in harm reduction across Canada. ...

Indigenous females living "off reserve" face many disparities in health care access, use and unmet needs, found new research in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.221407. The study included 2902 First Nations, 2345 Métis, 742 Inuit and 74 760 non-Indigenous females of reproductive age (aged 15–55 years) obtained from the Canadian Community Health Survey from 2015 to 2020, including 4 months during the COVID-19 pandemic. "We found that ...

A team of researchers is designing novel systems to capture water vapour in the air and turn it into liquid. University of Waterloo professor Michael Tam and his PhD students Yi Wang and Weinan Zhao have developed sponges or membranes with a large surface area that continually capture moisture from their surrounding environment.  Traditionally, fresh water for consumption is collected from rivers, lakes, groundwater, and oceans (with treatment). The current technologies Dr. Tam is developing are inspired by nature to harvest water from alternative sources as the world is facing ...

Peer reviewed – observational study - humans Researchers at the University of East Anglia have developed a new way of identifying patients at risk of an irregular heartbeat, known as ‘atrial fibrillation’. While not life threatening, the condition increases people’s risk of having a transient ischaemic attack (TIA) or stroke by up to five times. A new study, published today, reveals four specific factors that can predict which patients will have atrial fibrillation. These include older age, higher diastolic blood pressure and problems with both the coordination ...

The UK’s brightest pupils’ chances of getting top GCSE grades are actually lower in grammar schools than in comprehensives, according to a major new piece of research.  The study, which was based on test results and other information from all pupils in England, challenges the common belief that high achievers do better in more academic schools.  Findings, published in the peer-reviewed journal Educational Review, demonstrate those with the highest scores at age 11 were less likely to achieve ...

A new New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics paper out today describes the 266 fossil species as one of the richest and most diverse groups of three-million-year-old fauna ever found in New Zealand. At least ten previously unknown species will be described and named in future research. Fossil treasure trove from Auckland’s Mangere Wastewater Treatment Plant In 2020, when Auckland’s Watercare were excavating two huge vertical shafts for a major upgrade of the major pipeline that brings raw sewage for treatment from the central city they dug through an ancient shell bed. Auckland paleontologist Bruce Hayward likened ...

Investigators from the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai are one step closer to helping individuals catch a sudden cardiac arrest before it happens, thanks to a study published today in the peer-reviewed journal Lancet Digital Health. The study, led by sudden cardiac arrest expert Sumeet Chugh, MD, found that 50% of individuals who experienced a sudden cardiac arrest also experienced a telling symptom 24 hours before their loss of heart function. Smidt Heart Institute investigators also learned that this warning symptom was different for women than it was for men. For women, the most prominent symptom of an impending sudden cardiac ...

Tokyo, Japan – Scientists from Tokyo Metropolitan University and other institutes have studied new satellite data showing the diameter of rain droplets and the distribution of heavy ice in the atmosphere worldwide. They focused on the Asian monsoon region, finding larger droplets and more heavy ice precipitation on land before the actual monsoon season. Their findings shed new light on the features of the pre-monsoon season, such as more intense precipitation and lightning, potentially informing better weather prediction. As adverse rainfall events rock the world, scientists are trying to understand the mechanism ...

A microscopic crack grew in a very small piece of platinum when placed under repetitive stretching. The experiment, designed to study fatigue crack growth, continued as predicted for a while before something unexpected happened. The crack stopped growing and instead began to get shorter, effectively “healing” itself. A group of researchers at Sandia National Laboratories made this surprising observation while conducting fracture experiments on nanocrystalline metals. The findings were recently published in the journal Nature. It ...

The National Institutes of Health and the higher education non-profit VentureWell have selected 10 winners and five honorable mentions of the Design by Biomedical Undergraduate Teams (DEBUT) Challenge, who are set to receive prizes totaling $145,000. The awards will be presented to the winning teams during the annual Biomedical Engineering Society conference held Oct. 11-14, 2023. Now in its 12th year, the DEBUT Challenge calls on teams of undergraduate students to produce technological ...