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Energy 2023-06-30

US Department of Energy releases plan to ensure free, immediate, and equitable access to federally funded research

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today released a plan to ensure the Department’s Federally funded research is more open and accessible to the public, researchers, and journalists as part of a broader effort by the Biden-Harris Administration to make government data more transparent. With 17 National Laboratories and scores of programs that fund university and private research, DOE directly supports thousands of research papers per year, and, when this plan goes into effect, those findings will be available ...
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AI with volumetric thresholds facilitate opportunistic screening for splenomegaly
Technology 2023-06-30

AI with volumetric thresholds facilitate opportunistic screening for splenomegaly

Leesburg, VA, June 30, 2023—According to an accepted manuscript published in ARRS’ own American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), using an automated deep-learning AI tool, as well as weight-based volumetric thresholds, might afford large-scale evaluation for splenomegaly on CT examinations performed for any indication. Noting that, historically, the standard linear splenic measurements used as a surrogate for splenic volume yielded suboptimal performance in detecting volume-based splenomegaly, “the ...
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Deep-learning chest radiograph model predicts mortality for community-acquired pneumonia
Social Science 2023-06-30

Deep-learning chest radiograph model predicts mortality for community-acquired pneumonia

Leesburg, VA, June 30, 2023—According to an accepted manuscript published in ARRS’ own American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), a deep learning-based model using initial chest radiographs predicted 30-day mortality in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), improving upon the performance of an established risk prediction tool (i.e., CURB-65 score). “The deep learning (DL) model may guide clinical decision-making in the management of patients with CAP by identifying high-risk patients who warrant hospitalization and intensive treatment,” concluded first author Eui Jin Hwang, MD, PhD, from the department of radiology at Seoul National ...
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Astrophysicists propose a new way of measuring cosmic expansion: lensed gravitational waves
Space 2023-06-30

Astrophysicists propose a new way of measuring cosmic expansion: lensed gravitational waves

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — The universe is expanding; we’ve had evidence of that for about a century. But just how quickly celestial objects are receding from each other is still up for debate.  It’s no small feat to measure the rate at which objects move away from each other across vast distances. Since the discovery of cosmic expansion, its rate has been measured and re-measured with increasing precision, with some of the latest values ranging from 67.4 up to 76.5 kilometers per second per megaparsec, which relates the recession velocity (in ...
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Age prediction from human blood plasma using proteomic and small RNA data: A comparative analysis
Medicine 2023-06-30

Age prediction from human blood plasma using proteomic and small RNA data: A comparative analysis

“[...] we see our work as an indication that combining different molecular data types could be a general strategy to improve future aging clocks.” BUFFALO, NY- June 30, 2023 – A new research paper was published on the cover of Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science) Volume 15, Issue 12, entitled, “Age prediction from human blood plasma using proteomic and small RNA data: a comparative analysis.” Aging clocks, built from comprehensive molecular data, have emerged as promising tools ...
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Social Science 2023-06-30

New A.I. system can decode fruit fly behaviors. Why that’s ‘pivotal’ for future human genetics research

How can you tell if a fruit fly is hungry? Ask a computer. While that may sound like a bad dad joke, it’s reality at Tulane University, where researchers have developed a new A.I. tool that can tell you if a fruit fly is hungry, sleepy or singing (yes, fruit flies sing).  Dubbed MAFDA (for Novel Machine-learning-based Automatic Fly-behavioral Detection and Annotation) the system uses cameras and a newly developed software to track and identify complex interactive behaviors of individual flies within a larger group. This allows researchers to compare and contrast the behaviors of fruit flies with different genetic backgrounds. For more than a century, ...
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Breast cancer by age: Study reveals early mutations that predict patient outcomes
Medicine 2023-06-30

Breast cancer by age: Study reveals early mutations that predict patient outcomes

LA JOLLA, CALIF. – June 30, 2023 – A study led by researchers at Sanford Burnham Prebys has found that in young women, certain genetic mutations are associated with treatment-resistant breast cancer. These mutations are not linked to treatment-resistant breast cancer in older women. The findings, published in the journal Science Advances, could help improve precision medicine and suggest a brand-new way of classifying breast cancer. “It’s well established that as you get older, you’re more likely to develop cancer. But we’re finding that this may not be true for all cancers depending on a person’s genetic makeup,” ...
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Displays controlled by flexible fins and liquid droplets more versatile, efficient than LED screens
Science 2023-06-30

Displays controlled by flexible fins and liquid droplets more versatile, efficient than LED screens

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Flexible displays that can change color, convey information and even send veiled messages via infrared radiation are now possible, thanks to new research from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Engineers inspired by the morphing skins of animals like chameleons and octopuses have developed capillary-controlled robotic flapping fins to create switchable optical and infrared light multipixel displays that are 1,000 times more energy efficient than light-emitting devices. The new study led by mechanical science and engineering professor Sameh Tawfick demonstrates ...
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Medicine 2023-06-30

CU Anschutz researchers identify unique cell receptor, potential for new therapies

AURORA, Colo. (June 30, 2023) – Researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have identified a potential new immune checkpoint receptor that could lead to treatments for diseases such as lung and bowel cancer and autoimmune conditions including IBD. The study, published today in Science Immunology, examines a family of 13 receptors, or proteins that transmit signals for cells to follow, called killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR). Of the 13 receptors, one is unique in that it has not readily been observed on immune cells of ...
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Medicine 2023-06-30

A new bacterial blueprint to aid in the war on antibiotic resistance

A team of scientists from around the globe, including those from Trinity College Dublin, has gained high-res structural insights into a key bacterial enzyme, which may help chemists design new drugs to inhibit it and thus suppress disease-causing bacteria. Their work is important as fears continue to grow around rising rates of antibiotic resistance.  The scientists, led by Martin Caffrey, Fellow Emeritus in Trinity’s School of Medicine and School of Biochemistry and Immunology, used next-gen X-ray crystallography and single particle cryo-electron microscopy ...
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Environment 2023-06-30

Climate disasters, traumatic events have long-term impacts on youths' academics

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Experiencing traumatic events such as natural disasters may have long-term consequences for the academic progress and future food security of youth — a problem researchers said could worsen with the increased frequency of extreme weather events due to climate change. In a study using data from Peru, researchers from Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences found that being exposed to a greater number of traumatic events or “shocks,” such as a natural disaster or loss of family income, in early ...
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Physics 2023-06-30

Researchers demonstrate single-molecule electronic "switch" using ladder-like molecules

Researchers have demonstrated a new material for single-molecule electronic switches, which can effectively vary current at the nanoscale in response to external stimuli. The material for this molecular switch has a unique structure created by locking a linear molecular backbone into a ladder-type structure. A new study finds that the ladder-type molecular structure greatly enhances the stability of the material, making it highly promising for use in single-molecule electronics applications. Reported in the journal Chem, the study shows that the ladder-type molecule serves as a robust and reversible molecular switch over a wide range of conductivity levels and different molecular ...
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Medicine 2023-06-30

Can bone-strengthening exercises and/or drugs reduce fracture risk when older adults lose weight?

A $7 million study beginning this summer at Wake Forest University and Wake Forest University School of Medicine will help determine whether a combination of resistance training plus bone-strengthening exercises and/or osteoporosis medication use can help older adults safely lose weight without sacrificing bone mass. That paradox – that shedding pounds can help stave off heart disease and diabetes while increasing bone loss and subsequent fracture risk – has been a focus of Wake Forest researcher Kristen Beavers for about a decade.  Her previous research ...
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Medicine 2023-06-30

Incidence of diabetes in children and adolescents during the pandemic

About The Study: Incidence rates of type 1 diabetes and diabetic ketoacidosis at diabetes onset in children and adolescents were higher after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic than before the pandemic. Increased resources and support may be needed for the growing number of children and adolescents with diabetes. Future studies are needed to assess whether this trend persists and may help elucidate possible underlying mechanisms to explain temporal changes.  Authors: Rayzel Shulman, M.D., ...
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Medicine 2023-06-30

Association of preoperative high-intensity interval training with cardiorespiratory fitness, postoperative outcomes among adults undergoing major surgery

About The Study: The results of this systematic review and meta-analysis of 12 studies including 832 patients suggest that preoperative high-intensity interval training may improve cardiorespiratory fitness and reduce postoperative complications. These findings support including high-intensity interval training in pre-habilitation programs before major surgery.  Authors: John C. Woodfield, Ph.D., of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, is the corresponding author.   To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media ...
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Scientists discover clues to aging and healing from a squishy sea creature
Science 2023-06-30

Scientists discover clues to aging and healing from a squishy sea creature

Insights into healing and aging were discovered by National Institutes of Health researchers and their collaborators, who studied how a tiny sea creature regenerates an entire new body from only its mouth. The researchers sequenced RNA from Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus, a small, tube-shaped animal that lives on the shells of hermit crabs. Just as the Hydractinia were beginning to regenerate new bodies, the researchers detected a molecular signature associated with the biological process of aging, also known as senescence. According to the study published in Cell Reports, Hydractinia demonstrates that the fundamental biological processes of healing and aging are intertwined, ...
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Scientists designed new enzyme using Antarctic bacteria and computer calculations
Medicine 2023-06-30

Scientists designed new enzyme using Antarctic bacteria and computer calculations

For the first time, researchers have succeeded in predicting how to change the optimum temperature of an enzyme using large computer calculations. A cold-adapted enzyme from an Antarctic bacterium was used as a basis. The study is to be published in the journal Science Advances and is a collaboration between researchers at Uppsala University and the University of Tromsø. The type of cold-adapted enzymes used by the researchers for their study can be found in bacteria and fish that live in icy water, for example. Evolution has shaped ...
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Protection of biodiversity and ecosystems: we are still far from the European targets
Environment 2023-06-30

Protection of biodiversity and ecosystems: we are still far from the European targets

The goal of fully protecting 10% of the EU's land area is ambitious for European countries that have been profoundly shaped by millennia of human transformation. A recently published study, coordinated by the University of Bologna, has carried out the first analysis at European level on the strictly protected areas (classified by the IUCN as integral reserves, wilderness areas and national parks) across the EU, studying how extensive integral protection is across biogeographical regions, countries and elevation gradients. "We have discovered – explains Prof. Roberto Cazzolla Gatti, conservation ...
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Medicine 2023-06-30

SRSF1 is crucial for male meiosis through alternative splicing during homologous pairing and synapsis in mice

This study is led by Dr. Jiali Liu (State Key Laboratory of Animal Biotech Breeding, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University). Meiotic recombination-related gene (e.g., DMC1, HFM1, MEIOB, MAJIN, C14ORF39/SIX6OS1, STAG3, SYCE1, SYCP2-3, TERB1-2) mutations have been identified in human subfertility or infertility. Surprisingly, most patients have been found to have aberrant splicing of genes such as MEIOB, C14ORF39/SIX6OS1, STAG3, and SYCE1. Therefore, it is imperative to understand ...
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Medicine 2023-06-30

Restoring hand function with intelligent neuro-orthoses

Patients with limited hand function are soon set to benefit from an intelligent neuro-orthosis that will enable them to lead independent lives again. Prof. Dr. Alessandro Del Vecchio, a neuroscientist at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), is working on this aim in two new projects and has received over 1.3 million euros of funding from the Free State of Bavaria. The main focus of this research during the next three years will involve wireless measurements of muscle impulses and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to make the intended movements. Around 50 million people worldwide suffer from neuromotor impairments to their hands caused ...
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Electrosynthesis of 15N-labeled amino acids from 15N-nitrite and ketonic acids
Science 2023-06-30

Electrosynthesis of 15N-labeled amino acids from 15N-nitrite and ketonic acids

15N isotope-labeled amino acids (15N-amino acids) provide a safe and effective tracer tool for studying the synthesis of natural products, protein metabolism, and disease diagnosis and treatment in living organisms. In addition, it is an important synthetic block for the synthesis of 15N-labeled drugs. Currently, 15N-labeled amino acids are generally synthesized by microbial fermentation and chemical reduction amination of ketoacids, but these methods usually require complex steps, high temperature conditions or the use of toxic cyanide, causing energy and environmental ...
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International research team discovers Gulf Stream thermal fronts controlling North Atlantic subtropical mode water formation
Medicine 2023-06-30

International research team discovers Gulf Stream thermal fronts controlling North Atlantic subtropical mode water formation

Subtropical mode water (STMW) is a vertically homogeneous thermocline water mass, serving as heat, carbon, and oxygen silos in the ocean interior and providing memory of climate variability for climate prediction. Understanding physics governing STMW formation is thus of broad scientific significance and has received much attention. Traditionally, it has been considered that STMW is constructed by basin-scale atmospheric forcing. Due to the limitations resulting from sparse sampling of observations and coarse ...
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Multiple sclerosis: Myelin may be detrimental to nerve fibres
Medicine 2023-06-30

Multiple sclerosis: Myelin may be detrimental to nerve fibres

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a serious neurological disease that usually causes permanent disability. Approximately 2.9 million people are affected worldwide, 240,000 in Germany alone. The exact cause of the disease is not yet clear, but a central feature is a loss of the insulating protective layer of axons – the neuronal connections in the central nervous system – which is triggered by autoimmune processes. The coating of the axons, known as myelin, is formed by highly specialised glial cells (i.e. oligodendrocytes) and enables the rapid transmission ...
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How computers and artificial intelligence evolve together
Technology 2023-06-30

How computers and artificial intelligence evolve together

Co-design, that is, designing software and hardware simultaneously, is one way of attempting to meet the computing-power needs of today’s artificial intelligence applications. Compilers, which translate instructions from one representation to another, are a key piece of the puzzle. A group of researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences summarized existing compiler technologies in deep learning co-design and proposed their own framework, the Buddy Compiler. The group’s review paper was published June 19 in Intelligent Computing, a Science Partner Journal. Although others have summarized optimizations, hardware architectures, co-design approaches, and compilation ...
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Medicine 2023-06-30

Safety and immunogenicity of SYS6006 were evaluated in healthy adults after three doses of COVID-19 inactivated vaccines

The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has resulted in more than 600 million confirmed cases and 6.5 million deaths worldwide. mRNA-based vaccines have emerged as a leading platform for COVID-19 protection and are extensively investigated in basic and clinical trials. SYS6006 (CSPC Pharmaceutical Group) is a newly investigational COVID-19 mRNA vaccine encoding a full-length S protein sequence of the prototype SARS-CoV-2 strain and incorporating the key mutations of main epidemic variants. In March 2023, it has been authorized for emergent use in China by the national medicinal ...
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