Of the many different kinds of stars, asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, usually slightly larger and older than our own sun, are known producers of interstellar dust. Dusty AGBs are particularly prominent producers of dust, and the light they shine happens to vary widely. For the first time, a long-period survey has found the variable intensity of dusty AGBs coincides with variations in the amount of dust these stars produce. As this dust can lead to the creation of planets, its study can shed light on our own origins. You’ve probably heard of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) which ...

Extreme water events have been shown to affect human security in many ways. In a research article published today in the new journal Nature Water researchers from Politecnico di Milano and University of California at Berkeley delve deeper into the complex nexus between droughts and conflicts in Central America. For the decades from 1996 to 2016 explore how water availability affects agricultural production and food security, and investigate the nexus between drought-induced food insecurity and the emergence of conflict in the region. Cities in ...

A fasting diet which focuses on eating early in the day could be the key to reducing the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Researchers from the University of Adelaide and South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) compared two different diets:  a time restricted, intermittent fasting diet and a reduced calorie diet to see which one was more beneficial for people who were prone to developing type 2 diabetes. “Following a time restricted, intermittent fasting diet could help lower the chances of developing type 2 diabetes,” said ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new machine learning model that estimates optimal treatment timing for sepsis could pave the way for support tools that help physicians personalize treatment decisions at the patient bedside, researchers say. In a paper published today (April 6, 2023) in Nature Machine Intelligence, scientists from The Ohio State University describe the new model, which uses artificial intelligence to take on the complex question of when to administer antibiotics to patients with a suspected case of sepsis. Time is of the essence ...

Researchers Ludovico Lami (QuSoft, University of Amsterdam) and Mark M. Wilde (Cornell) have made significant progress in quantum computing by deriving a formula that predicts the effects of environmental noise. This is crucial for designing and building quantum computers capable of working in our imperfect world.   The choreography of quantum computing Quantum computing uses the principles of quantum mechanics to perform calculations. Unlike classical computers, which use bits that can be either 0 or 1, quantum computers use quantum bits, or qubits, which can be in a superposition of 0 and 1 simultaneously. This ...

An analysis of strands of human hair from a burial site in Menorca, Spain, indicates that ancient human civilisations used hallucinogenic drugs derived from plants, reports a new paper published in Scientific Reports. These findings are the first direct evidence of ancient drug use in Europe, which may have been used as part of ritualistic ceremonies. Previous evidence of prehistoric drug use in Europe has been based on indirect evidence such as the detection of opium alkaloids in Bronze Age containers, the ...

Analysing changes to DNA in the blood can improve the ability to predict a person’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes within a decade. Scientists looked at the influence of these changes – known as DNA methylation – alongside other risk factors in almost 15,000 people to predict the likelihood of developing the condition years in advance of any symptoms developing. The findings could lead to preventative measures being put in place earlier, reducing the economic and health burden caused by type 2 diabetes. Methylation is a chemical process in the body in which a small molecule called a methyl group is added to DNA. Current ...

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA and SHENZHEN, CHINA - 31.03.23 Akili Labs (Pty) Ltd, a pioneer of cost-effective molecular diagnostics and secure genomic data storage solutions, and BGI Genomics Co. Ltd, the world’s leading integrated solutions provider of precision medicine, today announced the signing of a technology transfer agreement that will provide the Southern region of Africa with clinical-grade sequencing solutions. "Improving the cost and turnaround time of genetic sequencing services will play a major role in the expansion of precision medicine-driven healthcare in Africa," said Charles F.J. Faul, co-founder ...

WASHINGTON — Researchers have developed a new way to create dynamic ultrahigh-density 3D holographic projections. By packing more details into a 3D image, this type of hologram could enable realistic representations of the world around us for use in virtual reality and other applications. “A 3D hologram can present real 3D scenes with continuous and fine features,” said Lei Gong, who led a research team from the University of Science and Technology of China. “For virtual reality, our method could be used with headset-based holographic displays to greatly improve the viewing angles, which would enhance the 3D viewing experience. ...

A research team co-led by chemists from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) recently discovered novel, highly effective anticancer agents with tridimensional structures, which have high anticancer activity, low toxicity and the ability to overcome drug resistance in cancer cells. The findings help provide a new direction for anticancer drug development. Cancer has long been a devastating disease, which affects millions of people worldwide. Despite advances in treatment, current anticancer drugs often have limited effectiveness, lack of cancer ...

The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology sent recommendations March 30 to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on expanding the institute’s diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusivity activities. The society recommended, broadly, that the NIAID expand the use of diversity and re-entry grant supplements and better support disabled, LGBTQ+ and other underrepresented scientists. “Because NIAID is one of the largest NIH institutes, they have ...

Imagine you want to withdraw some cash from an ATM. You expect it to show your account balance correctly and process your request quickly. However, network delays make it hard for the system to meet both of these simple expectations at the same time. If an ATM system tries to achieve high “consistency,” meaning that it displays the latest account balance by checking a remote database, it could make you wait or even prevent you from accessing your accounts during busy times. On the other hand, if an ATM system favors “availability,” it could let you access your accounts fast, but risk showing inaccurate information. To avoid undesired results, ...

The Science family journals have announced a partnership with the nonprofit data repository Dryad that simplifies the process by which authors deposit data underlying new work – a critical step to facilitating data’s routine reuse. The partnership is yet another step taken by the Science journals to ensure data the scientific community requires to verify, replicate and reanalyze new research is openly available. “Addressing public access to data at scale is a critical challenge,” said Holden Thorp, Editor-in-Chief of the Science family ...

A new study from UCLA researchers finds sex-specific brain signals that appear to confirm that different drivers lead men and women to develop obesity. The study, appearing in the peer-reviewed journal Brain Communications, combined data from several modes of MRI with patients’ clinical features and personal histories to identify sex-specific mechanisms in the brain underlying obesity. “We found differences in several of the brain’s networks associated with early life adversity, mental ...

Some adults with severe respiratory illness, including women, those with public insurance, and people with fewer financial resources, may be less likely to receive an advanced form of life support known as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). A research team supported by the National Institutes of Health found that adults who received ECMO appeared to skew toward men, people with private health insurance, and those who came from areas with higher median incomes. ECMO helps patients with life-threatening illness or injury breathe by simulating the function of the heart and/or lungs, while giving those organs a chance to rest.   The study published in the Annals of the American ...

The number of immune cells in and around kidney tumors, the amount of dead cancer tissue, and mutations to a tumor suppressor gene called PBRM1 form a biomarker signature that can predict — before treatment begins — how well patients with kidney cancer will respond to immunotherapy, according to new research directed by investigators at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and its Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. In reviews of 136 kidney tumor biopsies taken for previous studies, investigators found that patients who had three positive factors — presence of immune cells in and around tumors, known as tumor-infiltrating immune cells, absence ...

Studies of consciousness often run into a common conundrum of science—it’s hard to measure a system without the measurement affecting the system. Researchers assessing consciousness, for instance as volunteers receive anesthesia, typically use spoken commands to see if subjects can still respond, but that sound might keep them awake longer or wake them up sooner than normal. A new study not only validates a way to assess consciousness without external stimulation, it also finds that it may be more precise. “We want to measure when people make the transition from conscious to unconscious, and vice versa, but as soon as you ask someone to do something, which is the classic ...

A chemical analyst and expert in micro-extraction at The University of Toledo created a more reliable, robust and efficient way to monitor pesticide exposure and help protect the health and safety of agricultural workers, especially for emerging sectors like the cannabis industry. Dr. Emanuela Gionfriddo, an assistant professor of analytical chemistry, and Nipunika H. Godage, a Ph.D. candidate in UToledo’s Dr. Nina McClelland Laboratory for Water Chemistry and Environmental Analysis, published research in the journal Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry outlining their groundbreaking method that is able to detect 79 pesticide residues in human blood plasma ...

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- Economically disadvantaged students face food scarcity, unreliable access to services and other stressors, which can have a huge impact on their mental health. In Broome and Tioga counties, more than 50% of children live in families characterized as low income. New federal funding will help to put more Binghamton University social work students in schools to provide the services that these students need to succeed. The U.S. Department of Education has awarded two 5-year awards, totalling $9.3 million, to Binghamton University Community Schools (BUCS) to ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — While new drugs to treat Alzheimer’s disease tend to receive the most public attention, many well-researched ways to care for people with dementia don’t involve medication. A new evaluation compared the cost-effectiveness of four non-drug interventions to the usual care received by people with dementia and found that the interventions not only resulted in a better quality of life, but also saved money. In a study published April 6 in Alzheimer's & Dementia: ...

The use of coal power is not decreasing fast enough. The Paris Agreement’s target of a maximum of 2 degrees of warming appear to be missed, and the world is moving towards a temperature increase of 2.5–3 degrees. At the same time it is feasible to avoid higher warming. This is shown by researchers from Chalmers University of Technology and Lund University, Sweden, in a new study. “More and more countries are promising that they will phase out coal from their energy systems, which is positive. But ...

Researchers with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History have discovered the first effective bacterial probiotic for treating and preventing stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD), a mysterious ailment that has devastated Florida’s coral reefs since 2014 and is rapidly spreading throughout the Caribbean. The probiotic treatment, described in a paper published today in Communications Biology, provides an alternative to the use of the broad-spectrum antibiotic amoxicillin, which has so far been the only proven treatment for the disease but which runs the risk of promoting antibiotic-resistant bacteria. SCTLD ...

University of Otago researchers have discovered new ways to treat antibiotic-resistant strains of  tuberculosis (TB), opening the door to new approaches for tackling the disease that kills about 4,000 people a day. Led by PhD candidate Natalie Waller and Senior Author Dr Matthew McNeil, of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, researchers were able to identify antibiotics that could rapidly kill drug resistant strains of TB and when combined could stop drug resistance from occurring altogether. TB is a major global cause of infectious disease morbidity and mortality, second only to COVID-19 and is one of the hardest infections to treat. ...

Bottom Line: Pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN) lesions were detected in a majority of healthy pancreata from deceased donors of diverse age and harbored features of pancreatic cancer. Journal in Which the Study was Published: Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research Authors: Marina Pasca di Magliano, PhD, co-corresponding author of the study, a researcher at the Rogel Cancer Center, and a professor of surgery and of cell and developmental biology at Michigan Medicine at the University of Michigan Timothy Frankel, MD, co-corresponding author, a researcher at the Rogel Cancer Center, and an ...

The risk of developing cardiovascular disease is lower in people with obesity who have a genetic predisposition for high BMI than people with obesity influenced mainly by environmental factors such as lifestyle, researchers from Karolinska Institutet report in eClinicalMedicine.   There has been a global increase in the incidence of overweight and obesity over the past few years. Almost one third of the world’s population now lives with overweight or obesity.   “The figure is alarming since it is well-established that a high BMI in middle-age increases the risk of developing ...