Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine (KSOM) of USC are among the contributors to a large-scale ethnically diverse genetic study that has expanded what we know about potential causes of type 2 diabetes. The research, published in Nature Genetics, was conducted by the international MAGIC collaboration, made up of 400 global academics and led by researchers at the University of Exeter. The study, a genome-wide meta-analysis, has identified more regions of the genome that are linked to blood glucose and insulin levels, features that contribute to the ...

The build-up of calcium in a major blood vessel is linked with a 39 per cent higher risk of serious falls in older women, new Edith Cowan University (ECU) research has found. This calcium build-up, known as abdominal aortic calcification (AAC), is a hardening of the abdomen's largest artery, which can be identified early on a commonly used bone density machine scan. The study's findings could help health professionals to identify people at risk of serious falls early to prevent future falls and their potentially life changing consequences. Foiling future falls Falls are a growing public health concern, causing the deaths of an estimated 680,000 people globally each year. They are also one of ...

Hokkaido University researchers have developed a simple method that converts existing generic polymers into luminescent polymers using mechanical force. Researchers from Hokkaido University have successfully developed a new method to give luminescent properties to generic polymers, such as polystyrene and polyethylene. The technique, which was published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition, makes it possible to easily prepare luminescent polymers without using complicated organic synthetic methods. "Luminescent polymers are widely used in modern society, in applications such as organic lasers, solar cells, sensors and bioimaging, but their preparation often requires multiple chemical synthesis steps, which are both time ...

The biophysical modelling study, published in The Lancet Planetary Health, challenges outdated public health guidance that discourages fan use in temperatures higher than 35 degrees Celsius / 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Based on human studies carried out at the University of Sydney's Thermal Ergonomics Laboratory, the researchers developed a model to determine the humidity-dependent temperature thresholds at which fans could become detrimental, providing conditions that exacerbate heat stress. "The effectiveness of a fan depends on temperature and ...

In the field of quantum measurement, weak values, introduced in 1988 by Aharonov, Albert and Vaidman (AAV), represent undoubtedly one of the most intriguing and puzzling paradigm, with many properties in sharp contrast with respect to traditional (projective) quantum measurements. In fact, by weakening the coupling between measured particle and measuring device, and exploiting suitable pre- and postselection, AAV demonstrated that it was possible to obtain a value of 100 while (weakly) measuring the spin of a ½-spin particle. Such a result was obtained after averaging on multiple measurements on identically pre- and postselected ...

The gold standard in functional brain imaging for over two decades, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has transformed the landscape of research and clinical care. Yet, because of its cost and functional limitations, scientists have continued to look for new ways to see into the human brain. Researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), with the help of patients recovering from traumatic brain injury, have now demonstrated an alternative way to produce highly detailed images of the human brain. Their work, published in END ...

BURLINGTON, VT -- Findings from a study on the feasibility of addressing anxiety, pain and stress with Olfactory Virtual Reality (OVR) -- a new form of VR that incorporates the sense of smell into its augmented reality -- paint a clearer picture for clinical psychiatrists about how it could be used to safely and effectively help mental health and mood disorders. What's more, it holds promise for improved access and inclusion of patients impacted by physical limitations or constraints, such as patient mobility, comorbidities and safety. Building on previous research proving VR's effectiveness in "distraction for pain and medical procedures, relaxation and calming, and immersion therapy for trauma, PTSD and ...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (June 11, 2021) -- In recent years, community science--also known as citizen science--has become a global phenomenon, engaging millions of people through wildlife observation platforms like END ...

The internet era that we live in depends completely on the transfer of vast information over optical fibers. Optical fibers are literally everywhere. In fact, the overall length of optical fibers installed on our planet is sufficient to reach planet Uranus and back. However, the transfer of information from point A to point B is not enough. The information that we send and receive must also be processed. Light waves take up an increasing role in addressing that task as well. In addition, optical fibers can do more for us than just relay information: They constitute an exceptional sensing platform. Optical fibers support measurements from a long stand-off distance, simply installed within structures, ...

Researchers from University of Adelaide published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that examines how advertising can increase the informativeness of a firm's stock price by reducing its stock price synchronicity. The study, forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing, is titled "Tarred with the Same Brush? Advertising Share of Voice and Stock Price Synchronicity" and is authored by Chee Cheong, Arvid Hoffmann, and Ralf Zurbruegg. Firms are sometimes "tarred with the same brush" by investors instead of being traded based on firm-specific information. ...

Earth's atmosphere has a budget, and when expenses outpace savings, secondary aerosols form in areas of excessive pollution. Greenhouse gases enter the atmosphere, and free radicals bond to the molecules, rendering them inert. But when there are more pollution molecules than free radicals, they are left to recombine and form ozone and visible particulate matter -- smog and haze. The precise mechanisms underlying this atmospheric oxidation capacity are not well understood, leaving the process inadequately described or completely missed in research, according to Yuesi Wang, professor with the State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and ...

PHILADELPHIA-- The prevalence of genetic mutations associated with breast cancer in Black and white women is the same, according to a new JAMA Oncology study of nearly 30,000 patients led by researchers in the Basser Center for BRCA at the Abramson Cancer Center. About five percent of both Black and white women have a genetic mutation that increases their risk of breast cancer. "The findings challenge past, smaller studies that found Black women face a greater genetic risk and the suggestion that race should be an independent factor when considering genetic testing," said first author Susan Domchek, MD, executive director of the Basser Center for BRCA. "We shouldn't make changes to testing guidelines based on race alone. Rather, our efforts should ...

The Multivariable Integrated Evaluation (MVIE) method can help meteorologists to quantitatively evaluate the overall performance of a climate model in simulating multiple variables like air temperature, precipitation, and vector wind, against observed ones. Recently, researchers from Nanjing University and the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences developed a simple-to-use Multivariable Integrated Evaluation Tool (MVIETool) coded with Python/NCL to facilitate climate model evaluation and models inter-comparison, improving the MVIE method. The study was published in Geoscientific Model Development. "The improved MVIE method can provide a more comprehensive and precise evaluation of climate model performance. With the support of ...

Optical solitons are nonlinear optical wave-packets that can maintain their profile during the propagation even in the presence of moderate perturbations, offering useful applications in optical communications, all-optical information processing as well as ultrafast laser techniques. The interaction between optical solitons exhibit many particle-like properties, and has been widely investigated for decades. Particularly, the bound-states of optical solitons in nonlinear dissipative systems, as a result of balanced interactions, have been found to manifest unique matter-light analogies and are epitomized by the "soliton molecules" - compact ...

Male infertility affects more than 20 million men globally and is a contributing cause to around 50% of infertility in couples. Frequently, male infertility is the result of defects in the sperm tail, the flagellum, which allows the sperm to swim toward an egg. Males with severe infertility can experience multiple sperm malformations, including flagella that are shortened, irregular, coiled or even absent, preventing them from swimming. In humans, several genetic mutations lead to malformed sperm, including those affecting the sheath that covers the sperm; the mitochondria, which power sperm as they swim; and ...

The fungus Fusarium verticillioides is one of the causes of red rot, the most serious sugarcane disease. Losses average around USD 1 billion per harvest in Brazil alone. The traditional approach to the etiology of this disease is that it is triggered by Diatraea saccharalis, a moth usually referred to as the sugarcane borer. In the caterpillar stage, this insect bores into the stem of the plant, which is later infected opportunistically by the fungus. However, a study conducted in Brazil by the University of São Paulo's Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ-USP) has turned this model upside down, showing that the trigger is not the insect but the fungus. "It's the first scientifically demonstrated case of a pathogenic ...

DALLAS, June 14, 2021 -- Preserving good cardiovascular health during young adulthood is one of the best ways to reduce risks of premature heart attack or stroke, according to new research published today in the American Heart Association's flagship journal Circulation. The number of premature deaths from cardiovascular disease is increasing in many countries including the U.S. While there is a wealth of information available on maintaining good heart health during and after midlife to reduce the risks of heart attack and stroke, data about cardiovascular health during young adulthood is scarce. "Most ...

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen provide better pain control and have fewer adverse effects than codeine, a commonly prescribed opioid, when prescribed after outpatient surgery, according to new research published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.201915. "In all surgery types, subgroups and outcome time points, NSAIDs were equal or superior to codeine for postoperative pain," writes Dr. Matthew Choi, Associate Professor of Surgery, McMaster University, with coauthors. The researchers conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 40 high-quality randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving more than 5100 adults to compare pain levels and safety of medications containing codeine, such as Tylenol ...

The raucous calls of tree hyraxes -- small, herbivorous mammals -- reverberate through the night in the forests of West and Central Africa, but their sound differs depending on the location. Tree hyraxes living between the Volta and Niger rivers make a barking call that is distinct from the shrieking vocalizations of hyraxes inhabiting other regions of the African forest zone. A new study in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society co-authored by Yale anthropologist Eric Sargis finds that the barking hyraxes are a separate species from their shrieking neighbors. The newly described species, Dendrohyrax interfluvialis, ...

Reston, VA (Embargoed until 5:00 p.m. EDT, Sunday, June 13, 2021) - A new imaging technique has the potential to detect neurological disorders--such as Alzheimer's disease--at their earliest stages, enabling physicians to diagnose and treat patients more quickly. Termed super-resolution, the imaging methodology combines position emission tomography (PET) with an external motion tracking device to create highly detailed images of the brain. This research was presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting. In brain PET imaging, the quality of the images ...

Reston, VA (Embargoed until 4:30 p.m. EDT, Saturday, June 12, 2021)--Positron emission tomography (PET) using a 68Ga-labeled fibroblast activation protein inhibitor (FAPI) can noninvasively identify and monitor pulmonary fibrosis, according to research presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 2021 Annual Meeting. By binding to activated fibroblasts present in affected lungs, FAPI-PET allows for direct imaging of the disease process. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) causes substantial scarring to the lungs, making it difficult for ...

Reston, VA (Embargoed until 6:15 p.m. EDT, Friday, June 11, 2021)--An advanced artificial intelligence technique known as deep learning can predict major adverse cardiac events more accurately than current standard imaging protocols, according to research presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 2021 Annual Meeting. Utilizing data from a registry of more than 20,000 patients, researchers developed a novel deep learning network that has the potential to provide patients with an individualized prediction of their annualized risk for adverse events such as heart attack or death. Deep learning is a subset of artificial intelligence that mimics the workings of the human brain to process ...

For decades, the ice shelf helping to hold back one of the fastest-moving glaciers in Antarctica has gradually thinned. Analysis of satellite images reveals a more dramatic process in recent years: From 2017 to 2020, large icebergs at the ice shelf's edge broke off, and the glacier sped up. Since floating ice shelves help to hold back the larger grounded mass of the glacier, the recent speedup due to the weakening edge could shorten the timeline for Pine Island Glacier's eventual collapse into the sea. The study from researchers at the University of Washington and British Antarctic Survey was published June 11 in the open-access journal Science Advances. "We may not have the luxury of waiting for slow changes on Pine Island; things could actually go much quicker than expected," ...

PHILADELPHIA - Cells contain machinery that duplicates DNA into a new set that goes into a newly formed cell. That same class of machines, called polymerases, also build RNA messages, which are like notes copied from the central DNA repository of recipes, so they can be read more efficiently into proteins. But polymerases were thought to only work in one direction DNA into DNA or RNA. This prevents RNA messages from being rewritten back into the master recipe book of genomic DNA. Now, Thomas Jefferson University researchers provide the first evidence that RNA segments can be written back into DNA, which potentially challenges the central dogma in biology and could have wide implications ...

BOSTON - Vitamin D deficiency strongly exaggerates the craving for and effects of opioids, potentially increasing the risk for dependence and addiction, according to a new study led by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). These findings, published in Science Advances, suggest that addressing the common problem of vitamin D deficiency with inexpensive supplements could play a part in combating the ongoing scourge of opioid addiction. Earlier work by David E. Fisher, MD, PhD, director of the Mass General Cancer Center's Melanoma Program and director of MGH's Cutaneous Biology Research Center (CBRC), laid the foundation for the current study. In 2007, Fisher and his team found something unexpected: Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays ...