Computers are essential for solving complex problems in fields, like scheduling, logistics, and route planning, but traditional computers struggle with large-scale combinatorial optimization, as they can’t efficiently process vast numbers of possibilities. To address this, researchers have explored specialized systems. One such system is the Hopfield network, a significant artificial intelligence breakthrough from 1982, proven in 1985 to solve combinatorial optimization by representing solutions as energy levels and naturally finding the lowest energy, or optimal, solution. ...

About The Study: This randomized clinical trial demonstrates that cognitive behavioral therapy for prolonged grief was superior to present-centered therapy after treatment and at follow-up with regard to comorbid symptoms. Both treatments were shown to be effective and acceptable, showing the potential for dissemination and increasing patient choice.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Rita Rosner, PhD, email rita.rosner@ku.de. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website ...

Sometimes plants are so similar to each other that the methods developed by 18th century scientist Carl Linnaeus for identifying species are not enough. In a thesis from the University of Gothenburg, completely new species of daisies have been discovered when analysed using modern DNA technology. There are currently estimated to be around 8.7 million different species on Earth, of which around 2.2 million are found in the oceans. Many species can be identified in the classical way, by their physical characteristics, the morphology. For over a decade, botanists and zoologists have also been using DNA sequencing to more accurately identify species. ...

INFORMATION EMBARGOED UNTIL WEDNESDAY, NOV. 13, 2024, 7 a.m. ET   C-Path Announces Gender Equitable Medicines for Parkinson's Disease (GEM-PD) Initiative C-Path expands its worldwide leadership in accelerating drug development in neurology; seeks additional collaborators to broaden impact. TUCSON, Ariz., November 13, 2024 — Critical Path Institute (C-Path) today announced a landmark initiative, Gender Equitable Medicines for Parkinson's Disease (GEM-PD), dedicated to globally ...

Glaciers that are within three miles of a volcano move nearly 50% quicker than average, a new study has found, which could help create early warning of future eruptions.   In a new article published in Communications Earth & Environment today, researchers from the University of Aberdeen, University of Birmingham and Manchester Metropolitan University analysed velocity data from 85% of the world’s approximately 217,000 glaciers. After controlling for factors such as climate, ice thickness and surface slope, the team found that glaciers near active volcanoes typically flowed 46% faster than other glaciers.  Glaciers ...

As the world struggles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, researchers are seeking practical, economical ways to capture carbon dioxide and convert it into useful products, such as transportation fuels, chemical feedstocks, or even building materials. But so far, such attempts have struggled to reach economic viability. New research by engineers at MIT could lead to rapid improvements in a variety of electrochemical systems that are under development to convert carbon dioxide into a valuable commodity. ...

Statement Highlights: A new scientific statement outlines the role of primary care professionals in helping their patients achieve Life’s Essential 8, the key measures for improving and maintaining cardiovascular health defined by the American Heart Association. The new statement highlights how primary care clinicians can help patients follow and maintain the Association’s Life’s Essential 8 health metrics for optimal cardiovascular health, which includes four health behaviors (diet, physical activity, nicotine exposure and sleep) and four health ...

Embargoed until 4:00 a.m. CT/5:00 a.m. ET Wed., Nov. 13, 2024 DALLAS, Nov. 13, 2024 — Advances in cardiac imaging techniques and risk categorization have led to improvements in diagnosis, initial treatment and long-term management of patients with Kawasaki Disease, according to a new scientific statement published today in the American Heart Association’s flagship, peer-reviewed journal Circulation. The new statement, “Update on Diagnosis and Management of Kawasaki Disease,” summarizes the data published since the 2017 American Heart Association Scientific Statement ...

Industrial gas separation, essential for clean energy and environmental protection, demands efficiency and adaptability. Current materials, however, lack the flexibility to selectively separate gases like carbon dioxide (CO₂) and hydrogen (H₂) while remaining energy-efficient. Researchers at the Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (WPI-iCeMS) at Kyoto University and the Department of Chemical Engineering at National Taiwan University have developed a phase-transformable membrane that could meet these needs.   This innovative membrane design relies on a unique combination of metal-organic polyhedra (MOP) with polyethylene glycol (PEG) chains. “Traditional ...

Toronto, Canada, November 13, 2024 - In science, the most fascinating breakthroughs often come from unexpected places. For Dr. Etienne Sibille, professor at the University of Toronto, and director of the Neurobiology of Depression and Aging program at CAMH, and co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Damona Pharmaceuticals, the path to revolutionizing mental health treatment began not in a laboratory, but through a camera lens in New York City.  "I grew up in France and went to medical school, but it was not for me. I was too restless and moved to ...

The findings, which were published in the Journal of American College Health, uncover an alarming rise in depression rates among all higher education students in the United States, but especially among sexual and gender minorities. This population includes those who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual (LGBTQIA+), non-binary or gender non-conforming, and other identities.    “This study highlights the critical need for targeted interventions to support the mental health and well-being ...

Over 60 percent of Illinois parents had never asked another parent about an unlocked firearm in their home before allowing their child to visit for a playdate, according to a survey from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago published in Pediatrics. Many parents reported they had not asked about firearms because it never occurred to them to do so, which highlights a critical need to raise awareness of this important safety concern. Among children 0-14 years old, almost 20 percent of unintentional firearm-related deaths occur at a friend’s home. ...

SAN DIEGO, California (Nov. 13, 2024) — Beer drinkers have lower-quality diets, are less active, and are more likely to smoke cigarettes than people who drink wine, liquor, or a combination, according to a study scheduled for presentation at The Liver Meeting, held by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. “Alcohol overuse is the leading cause of cirrhosis in the U.S., and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is rapidly increasing,” said Madeline Novack, chief resident at Tulane School of Medicine’s internal medicine residency program and lead author of the study. “Both ...

As global demand for sustainable energy solutions increases, bioethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass is gaining traction. However, traditional methods face limitations due to high processing costs and waste issues. A recent study led by Xinchuan Yuan, published in the Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts, presents an innovative biomass pretreatment method that not only improves bioethanol production efficiency but also utilizes biomass residues as bio-adsorbents for wastewater treatment, potentially transforming the industry.   Producing ...

Graph convolutional networks (GCNs) have become prevalent in recommender system (RS) due to their superiority in modeling collaborative patterns. Although improving the overall accuracy, GCNs unfortunately amplify popularity bias --- tail items are less likely to be recommended. This effect prevents the GCN-based RS from making precise and fair recommendations, decreasing the effectiveness of recommender systems in the long run.   Performance change of LightGCN with different graph convolution layers on Gowalla. Recall@20 and TR@20 ...

As the demand for advanced wound healing and drug delivery materials grows, scientists are turning to sustainable, bioactive materials for innovative solutions. A recent study by Bowei Wang et al., published in the Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts, presents a breakthrough in lignin-based hydrogels designed to combine mechanical strength with bioactivity. This research reveals a controlled-release polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and chitosan (CS) hydrogel, augmented with sulfonated lignin, which could revolutionize the treatment of complex wounds and enable sustained drug ...

With an increasing focus on environmental sustainability, researchers are seeking ways to improve the biodegradability and mechanical properties of bioplastics, particularly polylactic acid (PLA). A recent study by June-Ho Choi and colleagues, published in the Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts, presents a promising approach that enhances the compatibility and decomposition of PLA when combined with biomass through a process called torrefaction. This innovation offers practical improvements for sustainable material applications, positioning PLA as a viable, eco-friendly alternative in various industries. PLA, ...

Scientists detect a heightened “threat vigilance” reaction in adolescents after a few hours of isolation, which socialising online doesn’t appear to ameliorate.   They say the findings might shed light on the link between loneliness and mental health conditions such as anxiety disorders, which are on the rise in young people.   Experiment is the first to find an increased threat response triggered by isolation in humans (previous studies have found the effect in animals such as mice). People ...

Migratory birds are known for their ability to traverse thousands of kilometres to reach their breeding or wintering grounds. Research by Bangor University found that these birds, in this case, Eurasian reed warblers (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) are using only the Earth's magnetic inclination and declination to determine their position and direction. This challenges the long-held belief that all components of the Earth's magnetic field, especially total intensity, are essential for accurate navigation. Scientists have long believed that these birds use a 'map-and-compass' system: they first ...

The ketogenic “keto” diet and intermittent fasting have surged in popularity, embraced by everyone from weekend warriors to endurance athletes. These trends promise to harness the power of ketosis — a metabolic state where the body burns fat for energy instead of carbohydrates. Advocates tout its benefits, from weight loss to neuroprotection. A collaborative research team is now tackling the unanswered questions surrounding ketosis.  Rather than adding to the growing, and often confusing, literature on the effects of ketogenic ...

Niigata, Japan – Dr. Watanabe and his teams from Niigata University have revealed that PET/CT image analysis using artificial intelligence (AI) can predict the occurrence of interstitial lung disease, known as a serious side effect of immunotherapy in lung cancer. Immunotherapy has dramatically improved the treatment outcomes of primary lung cancer; however, it sometimes causes a serious side effect called interstitial lung disease. Interstitial lung disease is characterized by scarring (fibrosis) of the ...

There is a large window-lined laboratory in the back of one of Clemson University’s most storied buildings, Newman Hall, filled with machines that look like they were extracted straight from Dr. Jekyll’s lab. On one wall a contraption made of pullies and wires attached to the ceiling waits to drop objects and measure the impact; in the middle of the room, a giant metal base shakes a pallet of boxes in perpetuity; on the other side of the room sits what looks like a gigantic nut cracker big enough to squish a small car –  but the most Medieval-looking area is the bay on the east side of the room full of machines designed to smack heads. This is the Clemson Headgear ...

Specific combinations of long term conditions have a major role in the additional pressures the NHS faces every winter, because they are associated with significantly higher risks of  hospital admissions and death, finds research published in the open access journal BMJ Medicine.   The risk of hospital admission was 11 times higher among those with the quartet of cancer, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes than it was among those without any of these long term conditions, the findings show. And ...

Men often struggle with the transition to fatherhood amid a lack of information and emotional support targeted to their needs, suggests a review of the available qualitative evidence, published in the open access journal BMJ Open.   Greater focus is needed in clinical practice, antenatal services, and research on men’s unique experiences of the perinatal period, which encompasses pregnancy and the first 12 months after the birth, say the researchers. Pregnancy and childbirth can be an anxious time for new parents, and the transition to fatherhood—defined ...

The provision of just 1% more green space in the most deprived urban neighbourhoods in 3 out of the 4 UK nations may be linked to around 40% fewer preventable deaths in these areas, finds research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. Green space is unequally distributed in England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, with the lowest amounts in the most deprived areas, the findings show, prompting the researchers to suggest that green space investment might be an important public health strategy for tackling health inequalities. Spending time ...