A research team co-led by researchers from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) recently invented a novel, wireless, skin-interfaced olfactory feedback system that can release various odours with miniaturised odour generators (OGs). The new technology integrates odours into virtual reality (VR)/augmented reality (AR) to provide a more immersive experience, with broad applications ranging from 4D movie watching and medical treatment to online teaching. “Recent human machine interfaces highlight the importance of human sensation feedback, including vision, audio and haptics, associated with wide applications in entertainment, medical treatment and VR/AR. Olfaction also plays a significant ...

When it comes to supplying energy for space exploration and settlements, commonly available solar cells made of silicon or gallium arsenide are still too heavy to be feasibly transported by rocket. To address this challenge, a wide variety of lightweight alternatives are being explored, including solar cells made of a thin layer of molybdenum selenide, which fall into the broader category of 2D transition metal dichalcogenide (2D TMDC) solar cells. Publishing June 6 in the inaugural issue of the journal Device, researchers propose a device design that can take the efficiencies of 2D TMDC ...

About The Study: In this survey of clinician-researchers who received career development grants from the National Institutes of Health, there were concerning rates of sexual harassment, cyber incivility, and negative perceptions of climate, disproportionately affecting minoritized groups and affecting mental health. Ongoing efforts to transform culture are necessary.  Authors: Reshma Jagsi, M.D., D.Phil., of Emory University in Atlanta, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed ...

BOSTON—Currently there are no contraceptives capable of producing permanent sterilization in companion animals. Spaying, the surgical removal of the ovaries and uterus, is the most widely used strategy to control unwanted reproduction in female cats. For the first time, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), a founding member of Mass General Brigham (MGB), and their collaborators have demonstrated that a single dose of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) gene therapy can induce long-term contraception in the domestic cat, potentially providing a safe and effective alternative to surgical spaying. The research ...

About The Study: In this network meta-analysis of 10 observational studies including 3,083 patients with breast cancer who received surgical treatment, expert panel–based and computer-based aesthetic outcome evaluation consistently scored lower than patient-perceived outcomes. Standardization and supplementation of expert panel and software aesthetic outcome tools with racially, ethnically, and culturally inclusive patient-reported outcome measures is needed to improve clinical evaluation of the journey of patients with breast cancer and to prioritize components ...

About The Study: This randomized clinical trial found that, although the peer health coaching program did not significantly decrease systolic blood pressure, participants who received the intervention reported better mental health-related quality of life compared with the control group. The results suggest that a peer-support model that is integrated into primary care can create opportunities for well-being improvements beyond blood pressure control.  Authors: Karin M. Nelson, M.D., M.S.H.S., of the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System in Seattle, is the corresponding author.  To access ...

College Park, Md. — Air conditioning, refrigeration, and other cooling technologies account for more than 20 percent of today’s global energy consumption, while the refrigerants they use have a global warming potential thousands of times greater than carbon dioxide. In a recent study in the journal Science, a team led by Maryland Engineering Professors Ichiro Takeuchi, Reinhard Radermacher, and Yunho Hwang introduced a high-performance elastocaloric cooling system that could represent the next generation of cooling devices. Takeuchi calls ...

Patients would be more willing to enter medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder if existing stigmas were reduced and more accessible payment support was readily available, a West Virginia University study finds. Adam Baus, director of the Office of Health Services Research, and his team gained insight from patients on what helped or hindered medication-assisted treatment, or MAT, to support recovery. “Little research attention has been given to learning directly from those in medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder,” said Baus, also a research assistant professor with the WVU School of Public Health ...

Researchers at Kyoto University, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), and Photron Limited in Japan have developed the world’s fastest camera capable of detecting fluorescence from single molecules. They describe the technology and examples of its power in two articles published in the same issue of the Journal of Cell Biology. “Our work with this camera will help scientists understand how cancer spreads and help develop new drugs for treating cancer,” says bio-imaging expert Takahiro Fujiwara, who led the research at the Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS). Single fluorescent-molecule ...

The limited ability of microrobots to assist drugs in entering cells hinders their therapeutic efficacy. To address this, the cancer-targeting molecule folic acid (FA) was introduced to microrobots to promote drug uptake by cancer cells via receptor-ligand-mediated endocytosis. This results in a drug delivery system that can locate lesion areas with magnetic fields and deliver loaded drugs into the cytoplasm through endocytosis. The team published their findings in the Journal of Cyborg and Bionic Systems ...

Recently, BGI Genomics' COLOTECT™ 1.0 DNA Methylation Detection Kit for Human SDC2, ADHFE1, and PPP2R5C Genes (Real-Time PCR), Sample Pretreatment Kit for Methylation Detection, DNA Isolation Kit, Stool Sample Collection Kit have received market authorization from Malaysia’s Medical Device Authority (hereinafter referred to as MDA). With this certification, COLOTECT™ 1.0 is now available in over six countries/regions and markets that recognize these certificates. COLOTECT™ 1.0 is eligible for EU market entry, ...

Several animal species display brood care, a phenomenon where ‘caring’ parents provide their offspring with food and protection against predators. However, there are many others that prefer not to do this, and instead sneak in their eggs with those of other ‘caring’ species to avail free brood care. This behavior, called brood parasitism, is observed in fishes, frogs, and birds, with the most famous example being that of the cuckoo. Such brood parasitism has now also been observed in the insect world in tiny organisms called mites. Generally, brood parasitism takes a toll on the host and benefits the parasite. However, ...

Reporters and bloggers are invited to join top nutrition experts for a dynamic program at NUTRITION 2023. The annual flagship meeting of the American Society for Nutrition runs July 22-25 at the Sheraton Boston and features research announcements, expert discussions, and more. Explore the meeting schedule and register for a press pass to attend. Highlights from NUTRITION 2023 include: Dietary Guidelines – The Dietary Guidelines for Americans provides advice on what to eat and drink to promote healthy growth and development, help prevent diet-related chronic disease, and meet nutrient ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Therapeutic nanocarriers engineered from adult skin cells can curb inflammation and tissue injury in damaged mouse lungs, new research shows, hinting at the promise of a treatment for lungs severely injured by infection or trauma. Researchers conducted experiments in cell cultures and mice to demonstrate the therapeutic potential of these nanoparticles, which are extracellular vesicles similar to the ones circulating in humans’ bloodstream and biological fluids that carry messages between cells. The hope is that a drop of solution containing these nanocarriers, delivered to the ...

Animals can defend themselves against their natural enemies in various ways. Well-defended species often share conspicuous body colors with other well-defended or undefended species, forming mimetic interactions. Bombardier beetles eject toxic chemicals at a temperature of 100°C to repel enemies such as frogs, and many have warning body colors that function to deter enemies. An assassin bug, Sirthenea flavipes, exhibits a conspicuous body color similar to the bombardier beetle Pheropsophus occipitalis jessoensis which coexist with the assassin bug in the same habitat in Japan (Fig. 1). The assassin bug can stab with its proboscis, ...

New York, NY, June 6, 2023 — The Vilcek Foundation and The Arnold P. Gold Foundation have announced they will bestow the 2023 Vilcek-Gold Award for Humanism in Healthcare on Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) meeting in Seattle on November 4, 2023. The Vilcek-Gold Award is a shared initiative of the Vilcek Foundation and the Gold Foundation that embodies the missions of both organizations. The award recognizes an outstanding immigrant healthcare professional ...

A University of Minnesota Twin Cities-led team has developed a new superconducting diode, a key component in electronic devices, that could help scale up quantum computers for industry use and improve the performance of artificial intelligence systems. Compared to other superconducting diodes, the researchers’ device is more energy efficient; can process multiple electrical signals at a time; and contains a series of gates to control the flow of energy, a feature that has never before been integrated into a superconducting diode. The paper is published in Nature Communications, a peer-reviewed scientific journal ...

A doctoral thesis has demonstrated that motor skills and physical activity practice can support the cognitive and early academic skills of preschoolers, particularly when the activities include motor skills practice, or when motor skills or physical activity practice is combined with the subject to be learnt. In recent years, concerns have been raised about children and adolescents being less physically active and having weaker motor skills than previous generations. A further cause of concern is the decline of for instance mathematical and language skills, with an increasing number of children ...

New York, NY (June 6, 2023) – Mount Sinai researchers have developed an innovative artificial intelligence (AI) model for electrocardiogram (ECG) analysis that allows for the interpretation of ECGs as language. This approach can enhance the accuracy and effectiveness of ECG-related diagnoses, especially for cardiac conditions where limited data is available on which to train. In a study published in the June 6 online issue of npj Digital Medicine DOI: 10.1038/s41746-023-00840-9, the team reported that its new deep learning model, known as HeartBEiT, forms a foundation upon which specialized diagnostic models can be created. The team noted that in comparison ...

The discovery of Ba2LuAlO5 as a promising proton conductor paints a bright future for protonic ceramic fuel cells, report scientists from Tokyo Tech. Experiments show that this novel material has a remarkably high proton conductivity even without any additional chemical modifications, and molecular dynamics simulations reveal the underlying reasons. These new insights may pave the way to safer and more efficient energy technologies.   When talking about sustainability, the ways in which a society ...

Scientists from the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have developed a new method to bioprint miniature tumor organoids that are designed to mimic the function and architecture of real tumors. The improved process allows researchers to use an advanced imaging method to study and analyze individual organoids in great detail, which can help researchers identify personalized treatments for people with rare or hard-to-treat cancers. The method is described in the journal Nature Communications. “Tumor organoids have become fundamental tools to ...

The addition of ‘trust’ and ‘distrust’ buttons on social media, alongside standard ‘like’ buttons, could help to reduce the spread of misinformation, finds a new experimental study led by UCL researchers. Incentivising accuracy cut in half the reach of false posts, according to the findings published in eLife. Co-lead author, Professor Tali Sharot (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences, Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology) said: “Over the past few years, the spread of misinformation, or ‘fake news’, has skyrocketed, ...

One of the challenges in treating burn victims is the frequency of dressing changes, which can be extremely painful.  To bring relief to this and other problems, University of Waterloo researchers have created a new type of wound dressing material using advanced polymers. This new dressing could enhance the healing process for burn patients and have potential applications for drug delivery in cancer treatment as well as in the cosmetic industry. "To treat burn victims, we can customize the shape using a 3D printer, secondly, the material has fine-tuned surface adhesion, which is a key feature", said Dr. Boxin Zhao, a professor in Waterloo's Department of ...

Chatbots are increasingly becoming a part of health care around the world, but do they encourage bias? That’s what University of Colorado School of Medicine researchers are asking as they dig into patients’ experiences with the artificial intelligence (AI) programs that simulate conversation. “Sometimes overlooked is what a chatbot looks like – its avatar,” the researchers write in a new paper published in Annals of Internal Medicine. “Current chatbot ...

An international research team from Tanzania and Japan created a smartphone app and conducted a pilot study of how the app might be used to improve midwives’ knowledge and skills in Tanzania. Their study focused on the app’s potential effects on the learning outcomes of midwives and birth preparedness of pregnant women in Tanzania. The team’s work is published in the journal PLOS ONE on March 31, 2023. “The smartphone app for midwives showed significant improvements in their learning outcomes, leading to better birth preparations for pregnant women in Tanzania. This study highlights the potential of leveraging technology ...