A research team of the National Institutes of Natural Sciences, National Institute for Fusion Science and Akita Prefectural University have successfully demonstrated a broadband mid-infrared (MIR) source with a simple configuration. This light source generates highly-stable broadband MIR beam at 2.5-3.7 μm wavelength range maintaining the brightness owing to its high-beam quality. Such a broadband MIR source facilitates a simplified environmental monitoring system by constructing a MIR fiber-optic sensor, which has the potential for industrial and medical applications. In the MIR wavelength region, there are many strong absorption lines of molecules ...

A*STAR's Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) has teamed up with Singapore Institute of Advanced Medicine Holdings Pte Ltd (SIAMH) to establish the first of its kind in-vitro patient-derived 3D organoid models of Nasopharyngeal Cancer (NPC). The study was published in Frontiers in Oncology on 23 February 2021. It is the first direct experimental evidence to predict optimal Radiation Treatment (RT) boost dose required to cause sufficient damage to recurrent hypoxic (low oxygen level) NPC tumour cells, which can be further used to develop dose-painting algorithms in clinical practice. Two patient-derived xenograft (PDX) ...

Researchers from Loyola Marymount University, San Diego State University, Indian Institute of Management, and Iowa State University published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that examines how effective marketplace participation by subsistence consumers requires knowledge and skills that relate to what, how, and why to participate. The study, forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing, is titled "Marketplace Literacy as a Pathway to a Better World: Evidence from Field Experiments in Low-Access Subsistence Marketplaces" and is authored by Madhu Viswanathan, Nita Umashankar, Arun Sreekumar, and Ashley Goreczny. Success for marketers looking to emerging markets for growth is inextricably ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Bangladesh's floating gardens, built to grow food during flood seasons, could offer a sustainable solution for parts of the world prone to flooding because of climate change, a new study has found. The study, published recently in the Journal of Agriculture, Food and Environment, suggests that floating gardens might not only help reduce food insecurity, but could also provide income for rural households in flood-prone parts of Bangladesh. "We are focused here on adaptive change for people who are victims of climate change, but who did not cause climate ...

PULLMAN, Wash. -- Nature's strongest material now has some stiff competition. For the first time, researchers have hard evidence that human-made hexagonal diamonds are stiffer than the common cubic diamonds found in nature and often used in jewelry. Named for their six-sided crystal structure, hexagonal diamonds have been found at some meteorite impact sites, and others have been made briefly in labs, but these were either too small or had too short of an existence to be measured. Now scientists at Washington State University's Institute for Shock Physics created hexagonal diamonds large enough to measure ...

Chestnut Hill, Mass. (3/31/21) -- Spinach, a cost-efficient and environmentally friendly scaffold, provided an edible platform upon which a team of researchers led by a Boston College engineer has grown meat cells, an advance that may accelerate the development of cultured meat, according to a new report in the advance online edition of the journal Food BioScience. Stripped of all but its veiny skeleton, the circulatory network of a spinach leaf successfully served as an edible substrate upon which the researchers grew bovine animal protein, said Boston College Professor of Engineering Glenn Gaudette, the lead author of the new study. The results may help increase the production of cellular agriculture ...

Research published today in the peer-reviewed Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology describes a newly discovered species of dinosaur - named the 'one who causes fear', or Llukalkan aliocranianus. Around 80 million years ago as tyrannosaurs ruled the Northern Hemisphere, this lookalike was one of 10 currently known species of abelisaurids flourishing in the southern continents. A fearsome killer, Llukalkan was "likely among the top predators" throughout Patagonia, now in Argentina, during the Late Cretaceous due to its formidable size (up to five meters long), extremely powerful ...

Early treatment with anti-VEGF injections slowed diabetic retinopathy in a clinical study from the DRCR Retina Network (DRCR.net). However, two years into the four-year study its effect on vision was similar to standard treatment, which usually begins at the onset of late disease. The intermediate findings published today in the JAMA Ophthalmology. The study was supported by the National Eye Institute (NEI), a part of the National Institutes of Health. "While it is possible that preventive injections of anti-VEGF drugs may help protect vision in the longer-term, ...

A new mathematical model suggests that the easing of lockdown must be accompanied by wider and more effective use of control measures such as facemasks even with vaccination, in order to suppress COVID-19 more quickly and reduce the likelihood of another lockdown. The model, developed by scientists at the Universities of Cambridge and Liverpool, is published today in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface. It uses mathematical equations to provide general insights about how COVID-19 will spread under different potential control scenarios. Control measures involving facemasks, handwashing and short-scale (1-2 metre) social distancing can all limit the number of virus particles being spread between people. These are termed ...

With shark bites increasing in countries like Australia - scientists say the use of personal electronic deterrents is an effective way to prevent future deaths and injuries which could save the lives of up to 1063 Australians along the coastline over the next 50 years. The research, published in scientific journal Royal Society Open Science, shows that while shark bites are rare events, strategies to reduce shark-bite risk are also valuable because they can severely affect victims and their support groups - with one third of victims experiencing post-traumatic stress ...

Heart attacks in young adults are twice as likely to be fatal in those with inflammatory conditions like psoriasis, lupus or rheumatoid arthritis. That's the finding of a study published today in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).1 At least 2% of people in Europe and worldwide have systemic inflammatory diseases, which often affect multiple organ systems. Many of these systemic inflammatory diseases are driven by autoimmunity, meaning the body's immune system attacks itself. Psoriasis is the most common and causes red, itchy, scaly patches on the skin, and can also cause inflammation in the joints. Rheumatoid arthritis leads to inflammation in joints of the hands and feet and in other organ systems. In systemic ...

Red algae that grow in Cornwall's Fal Estuary are genetically unique, new research shows. University of Exeter scientists studied the population genetics of Phymatolithon calcareum, a coralline red algal species that forms maerl beds in shallow coastal seas from Portugal to Norway. Large maerl beds fulfil a similar role to tropical coral reefs, providing habitats and vital shelter for hundreds or even thousands of fish and invertebrates. These algae also play an important role in storing carbon. The findings reveal genetic differences are "structured geographically", with slight variations between populations sampled from across this large geographic area. However, maerl ...

Human disturbance in urban environments makes some squirrels fail, but others perform better in novel problem-solving. Unlike natural environments, urban areas have artificial buildings, traffics, less greenery and, most prominently, more humans. Despite these seemingly 'harsh' or stressful characteristics, some wildlife like the Eurasian red squirrel have chosen to settle down in urban environments, and they thrive. Urban wildlife often show higher behavioral flexibility and increased ability to solve novel problems, and thus can exploit new resources. However, which characteristics of urban environments influence animals' performance, and their relative importance, have remained ...

Scientists have discovered a new genetic disease, which causes some children's brains to develop abnormally, resulting in delayed intellectual development and often early onset cataracts. The majority of patients with the condition, which is so new it doesn't have a name yet, were also microcephalic, a birth defect where a baby's head is smaller than expected when compared to babies of the same sex and age. Researchers from the universities of Portsmouth and Southampton found that changes in a gene called coat protein complex 1 (COPB1) caused this rare genetic disease. Now the variant has been identified, it will help clinicians come up with targeted interventions to help patients and their families, also opening the door to screening and prenatal ...

A new study examining how people with severe and profound intellectual disabilities resist activities while in care recommends that institutions improve training to help carers better understand non-verbal cues, as well as offer greater flexibility to allow individual preferences to take priority over institutional schedules. The research, published in the journal Sociology of Health and Illness, investigated how people with limited language ability expressed their wishes and preferences, and how their support workers responded. It was carried out at a residential home and a day care centre in the UK. The study, by Dr Clare Nicholson of St Mary's University, Twickenham, and Dr Mick ...

In the run up to hibernation, grizzly bears go on a colossal binge, consuming as many calories as possible to get them through the long winter. Yet, little was known about how much energy the massive mammals use as they shamble around their rugged territories. 'Moving across the landscape in search of food can be a huge energetic expense for some animals', Carnahan says. Fortunately, the Washington State University Bear Research, Education and Conservation Center (WSU BREC), where Carnahan is based, is home to 11 bears, including four that formerly lived in Yellowstone National Park, so he and Charles Robbins (also at WSU BREC) decided to measure the animals' metabolic rates as they sauntered on the flat, and up and down gradients to find out how much ...

New research published in Anaesthesia (a journal of the Association of Anaesthetists) challenges the guidance that special aerosol precautions are only needed when using oxygen therapies for COVID-19 patients, and raises concerns about safety of staff and patients on hospital wards, if they are not protected from infectious aerosols. The study set out to examine whether oxygen therapies used for patients with severe COVID-19 produce large amounts of small respiratory particles called aerosols, which can transmit virus and can evade routine precautions used on hospital wards. ...

Rock art of human figures created over thousands of years in Australia's Arnhem Land has been put through a transformative machine learning study to analyse style changes over the years. The study has tested different styles labelled 'Northern Running figures', 'Dynamic figures', 'Post Dynamic figures' and 'Simple figures with Boomerangs' to understand how these styles relate to one another. Working with the Mimal and Marrku Traditional Owners of the Wilton River area in Australia's Top End, South Australian researchers led by Flinders University archaeologist Dr Daryl Wesley have taken a closer look at the art of this region. Flinders researcher Jarrad Kowlessar and the team used machine learning ...

Highlights A newly developed tool assesses patients' home dialysis experience. The 26-item Home Dialysis Care Experience instrument will be a resource for future research use, clinical care, and quality improvement initiatives among home dialysis facilities and organizations. Washington, DC (March 30, 2021) -- Researchers have developed a new tool to assess patients' opinions and experience concerning home dialysis care. The tool is described in an upcoming issue of CJASN. Home dialysis, which includes both peritoneal dialysis and home hemodialysis, allows patients to receive their dialysis treatments at home, gives patients independence and flexibility ...

BOSTON - COVID-19 can have damaging effects on multiple organs in the body, including the brain. A new study led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) indicates that some hospitalized patients with COVID-19 experience non-convulsive seizures, which may put them at a higher risk of dying. The findings are published in the Annals of Neurology. "Seizures are a very common complication of severe critical illness. Most of these seizures are not obvious: Unlike seizures that make a person fall down and shake, or convulse, ...

HOUSTON - (March 30, 2021) - Whether parents prefer a conformance-oriented or independence-oriented supplemental education program for their children depends on political ideology, according to a study of more than 8,500 American parents by a research team from Rice University and the University of Texas at San Antonio. "Conservative parents have a higher need for structure, which drives their preference for conformance-oriented programs," said study co-author Vikas Mittal, a professor of marketing at Rice's Jones Graduate School of Business. "Many parents ...

Boulder, Colo., USA: Anthropogenic climate change is one of the foremost scientific and societal challenges. In part, our response to this global challenge requires an enhanced understanding of how the Earth's surface responds to episodes of climatic heating and cooling. As historical records extend back only a few hundred years, we must look back into the ancient rock record to see how the surface of the Earth has responded to shifts between icehouse (presence of ice at the Earth's poles) and greenhouse (no substantial ice at Earth's poles) climates in the past. In ...

NEW YORK, NY (March 30, 2021)--Early in the pandemic, neurologists expressed concern that COVID-19 patients with dementia may be at higher risk for complications and mortality. But those fears have not been realized, according to a new study of patients who were hospitalized with COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic in New York City. The study, led by James Noble, MD, MS, associate professor of neurology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, and Amro Harb, a Vagelos medical student, was published this month in ...

A year ago scientists everywhere were scrambling to get their minds around the SARS-CoV-2, a novel coronavirus that caused the pandemic from which we are only now beginning to emerge. The world clung to every new development, every bit of science that could provide clues to managing life in the presence of this mysterious killer. Many science-backed COVID-19 management concepts remain unchanged to this day: handwashing with soap and warm water disrupts the virus' lipid membrane. Social distancing can attenuate the virus's spread, ideally keeping it out of a host until it degrades. Other notions, such as droplet contact being the primary mode of transmission, were modified when emerging evidence showed that under ...

Not all species may travel the same path to existence, at least according to new findings from the University of Colorado Boulder and collaborators. This new research, out now in Science, looked at a newly discovered, endangered songbird located only in South America--the Iberá Seedeater--and found that this bird followed a very rare evolutionary path to come into existence at a much faster pace than the grand majority of species. By comparing this bird to a closely related neighbor (the Tawny-Bellied Seedeater) in the same group (the southern capuchino seedeaters), the researchers determined that genetic shuffling of existing variations, rather than new random mutations, brought this species into existence--and their ...