The death of a 43-year-old male is the first in the UK to be associated with Xylazine and marks the entry of the drug into the UK drug supply. New research published in the Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine from King’s College London details the death of the man in May 2022 from the effects of Xylazine alongside heroin, fentanyl and cocaine. Xylazine is a non-opioid sedative, painkiller and muscle relaxant used in veterinary medicine as a tranquiliser for large animals. The drug – known ...

By Jovina Ang SMU Office of Research – It is predicted that by 2025, almost three quarters of the internet users in the world will be mobile-only users. While mobile devices provide ready access to data, there are limitations to how the data can be optimally presented due to the small form factor and limited screen size. For example, it is a lot easier to show 10,000 data points on a desktop compared to a smartphone, which typically has a screen size of 2.82 inches (71.5 mm) ...

By Alistair Jones SMU Office of Research – The contribution of team members on a research project can get taken for granted, with storied senior leaders gaining most of the attention. A recent exception is Micah Tan, an associate researcher at the Centre for Research on Successful Ageing (ROSA) at Singapore Management University (SMU). For his collaborative work at ROSA, Tan was recognised with an inaugural 2022 Research Staff Excellence Award. “Winning the award has given me a strong sense of fulfilment and has inspired me to want to do more, both for the SMU community but also more generally in terms of ...

By Alistair Jones SMU Office of Research – The terminology of artificial intelligence (AI) and its many acronyms can be confusing for a lay person, particularly as AI develops in sophistication. Among the developments is deep learning – a machine learning technique that teaches computers to learn by example. “Deep learning has brought many major changes to AI, especially in natural language processing (NLP) and computer vision, two sub areas of AI,” says Jing Jiang, a Professor of Computer Science at Singapore Management University (SMU). “In my field, which is NLP, the solution ...

States that want to increase access to buprenorphine, a lifesaving medication used to treat opioid use disorder, should consider efforts to enhance professional education and clinician knowledge, according to a new RAND Corporation study.   Examining six state-level policies aimed at boosting use of buprenorphine, researchers found that requiring buprenorphine prescribers to receive additional education beyond the initially required instruction, as well as continuing medical education related to substance misuse, were both associated with a significant increase in use of the treatment.   The findings are published in the latest edition of the journal JAMA Health Forum.   “Many ...

About The Study: In this study of 438,000 UK Biobank participants, adherence to a healthy lifestyle was associated with reduced risk of a wide range of obesity-related diseases, but this association was modest in adults with obesity. The findings suggest that although a healthy lifestyle seems to be beneficial, it does not entirely offset the health risks associated with obesity.  Authors: Sebastien Czernichow, M.D., Ph.D., of the Hopital Europeen Georges Pompidou in Paris, 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/jamanetworkopen.2023.14741) Editor’s ...

About The Study: In this secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial of primary care patients in Ontario, Canada, eliminating out-of-pocket medication expenses for patients with cost-related nonadherence in primary care was associated with lower health care spending over three years. These findings suggest that eliminating out-of-pocket medication costs for patients could reduce overall costs of health care.  Authors: Nav Persaud, M.D., of the University of Toronto, is the corresponding author. To access ...

DALLAS, May 26, 2023 — A Lexington, Ky., research scientist studying ways to repair damaged major vessels with medication rather than surgery and a physician-scientist from Ann Arbor, Mich., exploring the mechanisms of how exercise can heal heart muscle and brain tissue following a heart attack or stroke are the most recent American Heart Association Merit Award recipients. Each researcher will receive $1 million in funding from the Association, the world’s leading voluntary organization focused on heart and brain health and research. Alan Daugherty, Ph.D., D.Sc., FAHA, the associate vice president for research, ...

In March 2022, Microsoft published research results about the realisation of a special type of particle that might be used to make particularly robust quantum bits. Researchers at the University of Basel are now calling these results about so-called Majorana particles into doubt: through calculations they have shown that the findings can also be explained differently. In 1938 a genius suddenly vanished without a trace: after buying a ferry ticket from Palermo to Naples, the young Italian physicist Ettore Majorana seemingly ...

Osaka, Japan – When creating a computer program, errors in the code can introduce bugs to the software. Similarly, errors in our body’s genetic code, DNA, which is stored in structures known as chromosomes, can bring about mutations in the body. These mutations are the cause of many deadly diseases – including cancer. Now, researchers in Japan have shed new light on a particular type of genetic mutation: gross chromosomal rearrangement (GCR). In a new study published in Communications Biology, a multi-institutional team led by researchers from Osaka University analyzed fission yeast to identify two key genes involved in the process of GCR. The researchers ...

Researchers from the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science and collaborators have succeeded in creating a “superlattice” of semiconductor quantum dots that can behave like a metal, potentially imparting exciting new properties to this popular class of materials. Semiconducting colloidal quantum dots have garnered tremendous research interest due to their special optical properties, which arise from the quantum confinement effect. They are used in solar cells, where they can improve the efficiency of energy conversion, biological imaging, where they can be used as fluorescent probes, electronic displays, and even quantum computing, where their ability to ...

A research team at the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) led by Professor Roberto Morandotti reported the first realization of a single-shot ultrafast terahertz (THz) photography system. This important achievement published in Nature Communications will be able to provide both the spatial and temporal evolution of ultrashort dynamics with sub-picosecond resolution. In other terms, researchers will be now able to uncover the hidden laws of nature that govern the dynamics, which require imaging ...

Among the approximately 2,000 known species of termites, some are ecosystem engineers. The mounds built by some genera, for example Amitermes, Macrotermes, Nasutitermes, and Odontotermes, reach up to eight meters high, making them some of the world’s largest biological structures. Natural selection has been at work improving the ‘design’ of their mounds over tens of millions of years. What might human architects and engineers learn if they go to the termites and consider their ways? In a new study in Frontiers in Materials, researchers showed how termite mounds can teach us to create comfortable interior climates for our buildings that don’t ...

Health is wealth as the saying goes and new research now shows that it is possible to have a healthy, less stressed society through familiar and inexpensive foods. One such food might be the Japanese natto which is made from softened soybeans that have been boiled or steamed and fermented with a bacteria called Bacillus subtilis var. natto. Bacillus subtilis var. natto is found in soil, plants, animals, and the human stomach and intestines. Most of the natto consumed in Japan is made from the Miyagino strain. A research group led by Professor Eriko Kage-Nakadai at the Graduate School of Human Life ...

Did you know that until the early twentieth century, artificial light sources only served the purpose of illuminating our surroundings? Since then, significant changes have taken place. Light is now utilized in various ways beyond just space illumination. From semiconductor chip manufacturing to high-speed data communications, the increasing number of applications has led to the development of different kinds of light-producing devices. Some light sources even generate light through radioactive decays! If you have wondered how we managed to progress from a simple lightbulb to energy-efficient LEDs, put your doubts to rest now. Delve into From Edison to LEDs: The Science and ...

A ground-breaking study has revealed that plants can efficiently remove toxic gasoline fumes, including cancer causing compounds such as benzene, from indoor air. The study was led by University of Technology Sydney (UTS) bioremediation researcher Associate Professor Fraser Torpy, in partnership with leading Australian plantscaping solutions company Ambius. The researchers found that the Ambius small green wall, containing a mix of indoor plants, was highly effective at removing harmful, cancer-causing pollutants, with 97 per cent of the most toxic compounds removed from the surrounding air in just eight hours. Poor indoor air quality is responsible ...

 Toronto – Anita M. McGahan, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, is this year’s recipient of the William D. Guth Distinguished Service Award from the Strategic Management Division of the Academy of Management, the preeminent professional association for management and organization scholars. In announcing the award, Division-Chair Elect Louise Mors, a professor at Copenhagen Business School, wrote that Prof. McGahan “has been dedicated to all aspects of the field of strategy” and cited ...

Boston – Women with obesity when they are diagnosed with early breast cancer have a higher risk of recurrence or a second cancer compared to women whose weight is in the normal range and it can be hard to lose weight after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Now, a clinical trial has shown that a telephone-based weight loss program can help patients with breast cancer whose body mass index is in the overweight or obese range lower their weight by a meaningful degree. The findings, to be reported by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, set the ...

Striking differences in the way high school students socialise may be one of the reasons behind a dramatic drop in youth drinking over the last 20 years, a study from the University of Otago, New Zealand, has found. Public health researcher Dr Jude Ball has compared attitudes to drinking among high school students in 1999-2001 to those in 2022. Dr Ball and colleagues Dr Michaela Pettie and Loleseti Poasa interviewed 64 students aged between 14 and 17 at a co-ed school in Wellington in 2022, and compared their views to 41 Christchurch ...

Black adults who live in the United States have a 59% higher risk of premature death than White adults. A new study from Tulane University published in Lancet Public Health has found that this gap can be entirely explained by disparities in eight areas of life critical to health and well-being: employment, income, food security, education level, access to healthcare, quality health insurance, home ownership and marital status. These eight factors are called social determinants of health. Using data from the National Health and Nutrition ...

A new analysis of ancient faeces taken from two Jerusalem latrines dating back to the biblical Kingdom of Judah has uncovered traces of a single-celled microorganism Giardia duodenalis – a common cause of debilitating diarrhoea in humans. A research team led by the University of Cambridge say it is the oldest example we have of this diarrhoea-causing parasite infecting humans anywhere on the planet. The study is published in the journal Parasitology.   “The fact that these parasites were present in sediment from two Iron Age Jerusalem cesspits suggests that dysentery was endemic in the Kingdom of Judah,” ...

Emergency departments (EDs) are currently unsafe places for both professionals and patients, according to the results of an international survey carried out for the European Society of Emergency Medicine (EUSEM) and published today (26th  May) in the European Journal of Emergency Medicine1. The main reasons for this are staff shortages and overcrowding due to the non-availability of beds in wards necessitating the provision of care in corridors. Respondents to the survey also felt that they had insufficient support from hospital management.   Around 90% of professionals surveyed felt that at times the number of patients ...

Chronic kidney disease is a growing problem worldwide and in the aging U.S. population. But could the groundwork for this progressive disease have been laid while its victims were still in utero? Newly launched research at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health seeks to determine if pregnant mothers’ environmental exposure to toxic metals impacts kidney development in their babies, setting the stage for a problem that doesn’t become apparent until the baby is an adult. The National Institutes of Health recently awarded a three-year, $2.2 million “high risk, high reward” grant to Dr. Alison ...

University of Cincinnati Cancer Center researchers will present abstracts at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting 2023, held in Chicago June 2-6. New trial tests immunotherapy before liver transplant  Liver transplant is the best treatment for early stage liver cancer in patients with liver cirrhosis, but 25% to 35% of patients fail to reach the transplant stage due to the cancer’s progression while waiting for a transplant.  UC’s Davendra Sohal, MD, will present information ...

WASHINGTON --- Researchers at Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center studied the microbiome of people with colorectal cancer and found the make-up of the bacteria, fungi and viruses in a person’s tumor varied significantly depending on whether they were diagnosed with early-onset disease (age 45 or younger) or late-onset disease (age 65 or older). These results may help answer the riddle of why more young people are developing colorectal cancer, particularly those who ...