Researchers at North Carolina State University used a CRISPR gene-editing system to breed poplar trees with reduced levels of lignin, the major barrier to sustainable production of wood fibers, while improving their wood properties. The findings – published in the journal Science – hold promise to make fiber production for everything from paper to diapers greener, cheaper and more efficient. Led by NC State CRISPR pioneer Rodolphe Barrangou and tree geneticist Jack Wang, a team of researchers used predictive modeling to set goals of lowering lignin levels, increasing the carbohydrate to lignin (C/L) ratio, and increasing the ratio of two important ...

In this special issue of Science, nine pieces – including Perspectives, Policy Forums, and Reviews – highlight recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and how they’re being used to answer novel questions in topics ranging from human health to animal behavior. However, the recent widespread adoption of AI in these areas is not without unique ethical concerns and policy challenges. “By looking to the forefront of how AI is being used in science and society, many grand challenges and benefits appear,” writes Gemma Alderton, deputy editor at Science.   AI-predicted ...

Despite the importance of wood fibers to meet the growing demand for renewable tissue, paper, packaging, textile, and other fiber products, wood fiber production has been less efficient and productive than researchers have hoped. Now, CRISPR editing has enabled scientists to design wood in which lignin – which must be cleaved and dissolved so fiber production can take place – is more suitable for fiber production. “The edited wood alleviates a major fiber-production bottleneck … and could bring unprecedented operational efficiencies, bioeconomic ...

The use of ChatGPT – a chatbot that can generate human-like text – raises productivity in professional writing tasks and reduces productivity inequality in those who use it, according to a new study involving over 400 college-educated professionals. Although the findings reveal direct and immediate effects of ChatGPT on worker productivity, study authors Shakked Noy and Whitney Zhang note that longer-term impacts on complex labor market dynamics, which will likely arise as firms and workers adapt to ChatGPT, remain unknown. “Overall, the arrival of ChatGPT ushers ...

A high percentage of people from Latin America are infected with the parasite that causes Chagas disease. This is the conclusion of an analysis of nearly 3,000 people from countries where the disease is endemic and who attended the International Health Service at Barcelona’s Hospital Clinic, over a 17-year period. The study, published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, was led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), an institution supported by "la Caixa" Foundation. Nearly 7 million people in the world are estimated to be infected ...

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have gained attention for their high power-conversion efficiencies and low-cost solution processing. However, ensuring their stability at high temperatures has been a challenge, as the points of contact between their different layers (“interfaces”) are susceptible to degradation, leading to energy loss and decreased performance. In a new study, researchers have found that they can minimize PSC degradation at high temperatures by using fluorinated aniliniums, a class of compounds used in pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and materials science. The study was led ...

Key Takeaways Analyses of atrial heart tissue collected from patients with and without atrial fibrillation indicate that immune cells called macrophages expand more than any other cell type in diseased tissue. In a mouse model of atrial fibrillation, macrophages support inflammation and scarring of the atria, which hinder electrical conduction between heart cells. The SPP1 gene is highly overexpressed in macrophages during atrial fibrillation, and its expressed protein promotes tissue scarring. BOSTON – Current treatments for atrial fibrillation (AFib), a common heart condition characterized ...

VENICE, ITALY - Set in the romantic city of Venice from October 17th to 19th, the 10th World Congress on Targeting Microbiota is set to convene. This worldwide gathering of researchers, clinicians, and industry professionals will offer a dynamic platform for in-depth discussions, latest research insights, and groundbreaking developments in the fascinating world of microbiota.   Targeting Microbiota 2023: What’s New? The congress will focus on breakthrough research and the latest developments in microbiotal medicine, exploring its implications ...

Leesburg, VA, July 13, 2023—According to an accepted manuscript published in the American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), a synoptic report improved completeness of pretreatment CT reports in patients with advanced ovarian cancer, including for established sites of unresectable or challenging-to-resect disease. “An ovarian cancer synoptic report increased completeness of reporting, facilitating referrer communication and having the potential to improve clinical decision-making,” wrote first ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University researchers with patent-pending innovations for the agriculture, medical and autonomous transportation industries have received funding to further develop their work and bring it to the marketplace.  Researchers from the Bindley Bioscience Center and the College of Engineering have received more than $118,000 from the Trask Innovation Fund to make their work more attractive for commercial use. The fund is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization. It awards up to $50,000 for short-term projects that enhance the commercial value of intellectual property. ...

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation is pleased to announce that it will increase its Fellowship stipend by 15% over the award’s four-year term. Under the new terms, the Fellowship stipend will start at $70,000 and increase by $2,000 each year. Fellows will continue to receive an additional $2,000 each year for research-related expenses, for a total of $300,000 over the four years.  Damon Runyon programs are designed to address funding gaps and support today’s most promising young scientists as they launch careers in cancer research. The Foundation’s scientific advisers ...

New York, NY—July 13, 2023—New research published in Science Advances, led by Yuan Yang, associate professor of materials science at Columbia Engineering, and collaborators at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, demonstrates a novel technique for isolating isotopes.  High Stakes Oxygen is a critical component in the positron emission tomography (PET) scans oncologists use to search for tumors. But not just any oxygen will work. While most oxygen atoms have eight neutrons, about 1 in 500 atoms has ten. Those extra neutrons are necessary for the PET imaging scans to work. The Challenge It’s extremely expensive to isolate ...

Biological invasions are a major threat to ecosystems, biodiversity, and human well-being, resulting in ecosystem degradation and causing economic costs in the multi-trillions of euros globally. A study led by McGill University sheds light on the stark economic cost resulting from biological invasions in the European Union (EU). The European Union continues to be exposed to thousands of invasive alien species — harmful species introduced by humans from outside of their natural habitat. The EU is ...

A new study published this week examines the under-representation of women in policing. It reveals that cultural and structural barriers persist and are impacting female career advancement when compared to that of male colleagues.   The research, carried out by the University of Portsmouth as part of Dr Jackie Alexander’s doctoral research, is based on unique survey and interview data with female and male senior police leaders in England and Wales. It highlights the challenges faced by women en route to a senior rank and the impact of gender differences ...

Research has shown quality sleep can help bolster resilience to depression and anxiety. The study, led by researchers at the University of York, highlights that chronic stress is a major risk factor for a number of mental health disorders, including depression and pathological anxiety, but high-quality sleep and coping strategies - such as the ability to reframe a situation to see the positive side - can help to prevent poor mental health when faced with negative or stressful experiences. The research studied data from over 600 participants during the COVID-19 pandemic ...

July 13, 2023 — The synergistic epidemics of COVID-19, racial injustice, and health inequities have prompted patients and communities to press harder for culturally responsive health care. In Harvard Review of Psychiatry (HRP), published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer, members of the originating Multicultural Psychology Consultation Team (MPCT) describe how they're delivering culturally responsive mental health treatment while promoting inclusive health care workplace environments. The ...

“[...] MemTrax quickly demonstrates and quantifies the pertinent memory dysfunction of Alzheimer’s disease.” BUFFALO, NY- July 13, 2023 – A new editorial paper was published in Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science) Volume 15, Issue 12, entitled, “Advancing screening for cognitive impairment: the memtrax continuous recognition test.” Extensive efforts to find a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) span over 40 years, with the often-repeated request ...

People with more empathy and cosmopolitan beliefs are more likely to support the international sharing of coronavirus vaccines, a new study shows.  During the COVID-19 pandemic, many residents of high-income countries were eligible for COVID-19 vaccine boosters, while many residents of lower-income countries had not yet received a first dose.   Researchers analysed the levels and predictors of international vaccine solidarity through a survey of around 2,000 German adults in the autumn of 2021. They measured their ...

Québec, July 13, 2023 – Professor Simona Stäger’s team has made a breakthrough in the study of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The researchers have identified the mechanism by which memory CD4+ T lymphocytes—cells that play a major role in our immune response—are predisposed to cell death in people living with HIV. The team’s findings have just been published in JCI Insight.   In this new study, Professor Stäger and her research team built on work done on mice infected with the Leishmania donovani parasite (published in Cell Reports in 2018), which described how a chronic inflammatory environment predisposes ...

RICHMOND, Va. (July 13, 2023) — A new study by a Virginia Commonwealth University researcher has found that aggression is not always the product of poor self-control but, instead, often can be the product of successful self-control in order to inflict greater retribution. The new paper, “Aggression As Successful Self-Control,” by corresponding author David Chester, Ph.D., an associate professor of social psychology in the Department of Psychology at VCU’s College of Humanities and Sciences, was published by the journal Social and Personality Psychology Compass and uses meta-analysis to summarize evidence from dozens of existing ...

A person’s ‘mindreading ability’ can predict how well they are able to cooperate, even with people they have never met before. Researchers at the University of Birmingham found that people with strong mind reading abilities – the ability to understand and take the perspective of another person’s feelings and intentions– are more successful in cooperating to complete tasks than people with weaker mind reading abilities.  These qualities, also called ‘theory of mind’, are not necessarily related to intelligence and could be improved through training programmes to foster improved cooperation, for example in ...

Use of low-dose atropine eyedrops (concentration 0.01%) was no better than placebo at slowing myopia (nearsightedness) progression and elongation of the eye among children treated for two years, according to a randomized controlled trial conducted by the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group (PEDIG) and funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI). The trial aimed to identify an effective way to manage this leading and increasingly common cause of refractive error, which can cause serious uncorrectable vision loss later in life. Results from the trial were published in JAMA Ophthalmology. Importantly, the findings contradict results from recent trials, primarily in East Asia, which ...

About The Study: In this randomized clinical trial of school-age children in the U.S. with low to moderate myopia (nearsightedness), atropine, 0.01%, eye drops administered nightly when compared with placebo did not slow myopia progression or axial elongation. These results do not support use of atropine, 0.01%, eye drops to slow myopia progression or axial elongation in U.S. children. Authors: Michael X. Repka, M.D., M.B.A., of the Wilmer Eye Institute in Baltimore, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this ...

About The Study: This study provides evidence of the clinical effectiveness of mRNA-based vaccines against COVID-19 in patients with cancer. Longevity of immunity in preventing severe COVID-19 outcomes in actively treated patients with cancer, cancer survivors, and matched controls was observed at least five months after the third or fourth dose.  Authors: Raghav Sundar, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., of the National University Health System in Singapore, and Kelvin Bryan Tan, Ph.D., of the Ministry of Health in Singapore, are the corresponding authors.  To access the embargoed study: Visit our ...

About The Study: In this survey study, all types of objectively measured visual impairment were associated with a higher dementia prevalence. As most visual impairment is preventable, prioritizing vision health may be important for optimizing cognitive function. Authors: Joshua R. Ehrlich, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/  (doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2023.2854) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for ...