Searches for sustainable bioenergy and climate change solutions may be one in the same, according to a West Virginia University researcher. Edward Brzostek, associate professor of biology, and his students at the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences are creating mathematical models to predict how bioenergy crops will enhance and store soil carbon through a renewed five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. Brzostek said he believes the models could present a “win-win” that not only improves soil carbon but spurs renewable bioenergy from biological sources. This includes biofuels like corn ethanol and perennial grasses. Soil ...

Publishing in the journal Nature Sustainability, a team of conservationists led by the Wildlife Conservation Society say that providing a “Conservation Basic Income” (CBI) – of $5.50 per day to all residents of protected areas in low- and middle-income countries would cost less than annual subsidies given to fossil fuels and other environmentally harmful industries. CBI is an unconditional cash payment to individuals, similar to universal basic income (UBI)10 but targeting residents of important conservation areas. A Conversation Basic Income would support stewardship of ...

Molecular clocks in our cells synchronize our bodies with the cycle of night and day, cue us for sleep and waking, and drive daily cycles in virtually every aspect of our physiology. Scientists studying the molecular mechanisms of our biological clocks have now identified a key event that controls the timing of the clock. The new findings, published May 18 in Molecular Cell, reveal important details of the molecular interactions that are disrupted in people with an inherited sleep disorder called Familial Advanced Sleep Phase ...

A dinosaur specimen from Castellón, Spain represents a new proposed species of spinosaurid, reports a paper published in Scientific Reports. The identification of a potential new species suggests that the Iberian peninsula may have been a diverse area for medium-to-large bodied spinosaurid dinosaurs and sheds light on the origin and evolution of spinosaurids. Spinosaurids comprise of different groups of dinosaurs that are often large, stand on two feet, and are carnivorous. Well-known examples of spinosaurids include Spinosaurus ...

About The Study: In a national panel survey of 2,000 respondents in 2022, approximately 1 in 5 older adults reported cost-related medication nonadherence. Real-time benefit tools may support medication cost conversations and cost-conscious prescribing, and patients are enthusiastic about their use. However, if disclosed prices are inaccurate, there is potential for harm through loss of confidence in the physician and nonadherence to prescribed medications.  Authors: Stacie B. Dusetzina, Ph.D., of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, is the corresponding author.  To access the embargoed study: Visit our For ...

About The Study: In this cost-effectiveness analysis, provision of over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids was associated with greater uptake of hearing intervention and was cost-effective over a range of prices so long as OTC hearing aids were greater than 55% as beneficial to patient quality of life as traditional hearing aids. Over-the-counter hearing aids may expand access to beneficial treatment for hearing loss and represent an efficient use of resources.  Authors: Gillian D. Sanders Schmidler, Ph.D., of the Duke University ...

About The Study: The findings of this cross-sectional analysis of 2,200 individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD) suggest that employment status, sex, age, and depression are associated with pain frequency. Depression screening for these patients is warranted, especially among those experiencing higher pain frequency and severity. Comprehensive treatment and pain reduction must consider the full experiences of patients with SCD, including impacts on mental health.  Authors: Kelly M. Harris, ...

At least 2 billion people worldwide routinely drink water contaminated with disease-causing microbes. Now Stanford University scientists have invented a low-cost, recyclable powder that kills thousands of waterborne bacteria per second when exposed to ordinary sunlight. The discovery of this ultrafast disinfectant could be a significant advance for nearly 30 percent of the world’s population with no access to safe drinking water, according to the Stanford team. Their results are published in a May 18 study in Nature Water. “Waterborne diseases are responsible for 2 million deaths annually, the majority in children under the age of 5,” said study ...

-Several practices being promoted as climate smart could lead to land use spillovers that change their net impact on climate -Most evidence is that cover cropping with rye, as done in the US, causes a yield loss. We show that the land use spillovers can then negate most of the climate benefit of cover cropping. -The method and data we used were made available (as an R package) so that others can apply the same approach to other questions related to land use spillovers END ...

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — As society reckons with climate change, there’s a growing call to keep fossil fuels right where they are, in the ground. But the impact of curtailing oil production will depend on the policies we implement to achieve this. An interdisciplinary team of researchers investigated the carbon emissions, labor and health implications of several policies to reduce oil extraction, with a special focus on how the effects vary across different communities in California. Their results, published in Nature Energy, ...

Biodiversity loss ranks among the top three risks to humanity, as stated in the 2023 World Economic Forum Global Risks Report. Understanding biodiversity's basic building blocks is essential to monitor changes, identify influencing factors, and implement appropriate policies. However, much of terrestrial animal diversity, including insects, remains unknown or "dark taxa." For example, the global biodiversity information portal GBIF has nine times more information on birds than insects and arthropods, despite birds only accounting ...

Climate change is likely to abruptly push species over tipping points as their geographic ranges reach unforeseen temperatures, finds a new study led by a UCL researcher. The new Nature Ecology & Evolution study predicts when and where climate change is likely to expose species across the globe to potentially dangerous temperatures. The research team from UCL, University of Cape Town, University of Connecticut and University at Buffalo analysed data from over 35,000 species of animals (including mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds, corals, fish, cephalopods and plankton) and seagrasses from every continent and ocean basin, alongside climate projections running up to 2100. The ...

Up to eight percent of the sand in concrete and mortar used to make a single-story house could be replaced with shredded used disposable diapers without significantly diminishing their strength, according to a study published in Scientific Reports. The authors suggest that disposable diaper waste could be used as a construction material for low-cost housing in low- and middle-income countries. Disposable diapers are usually manufactured from wood pulp, cotton, viscose rayon, and plastics such as polyester, polyethylene, and polypropylene. ...

Globally, critical thinking (CT) is regarded as a highly desirable cognitive skill that enables a person to question, analyze, and assess an idea or theory from multiple perspectives. CT has become an integral and mandatory part of global educational curricula, but its definition varies across contexts and cultural backgrounds.   To assess the implementation of CT, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) conducts the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS). In a 2018 survey (TALIS 2018), only 12.6% of lower secondary ...

Solar cells are a critical component to the transition to renewable energy sources, and enhanced power conversion efficiency (PCE), or amount of power captured with a given amount of sunlight, increases the practicality of solar power in a society with high energy demands.  Perovskite solar cells that use all-inorganic perovskite light-absorbing materials are more thermally stable than organic-inorganic hybrid counterparts, but suffer from lower PCE.  Researchers have overcome this hurdle in all-inorganic perovskite solar cells ...

Children’s Cancer Research Fund has awarded $250,000 to an innovative new approach to treating leukemia – blood cancer – being developed at UVA Cancer Center. The grant to John H. Bushweller, PhD, of the University of Virginia School of Medicine, is part of the national nonprofit’s efforts to accelerate the development of new and better treatments for difficult-to-treat cancers. “This funding makes it possible to continue developing a novel approach to treatment for a form of pediatric leukemia with a very poor prognosis,” said Bushweller, of UVA’s Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics. “For ...

INDIANAPOLIS – Every 40 seconds, someone in the U.S. has a stroke. Every 3.5 minutes, someone in the U.S. dies of a stroke. Stroke patients have multifaceted needs, requiring complicated care delivered by multidisciplinary teams. In the journal Stroke’s annual review of quality improvement advances in stroke care studies, Regenstrief Institute Research Scientist Dawn Bravata, M.D., and colleagues update researchers, clinicians and healthcare administrators on advances in the field, highlighting the challenges of scalability and sustainability. “Quality improvement exists to ensure that every patient with stroke or at risk of stroke is getting the care ...

High-temperature shock (HTS) is an emerging synthesis method with kinetics-dominated non-equilibrium characteristics, which can achieve an ultrafast heating/cooling rate of ~10^5 K/s and a peak temperature larger than ~3000 K within a time scale of seconds or milliseconds, and is widely used in the preparation of high entropy content, thermodynamic metastable phase and defect-rich materials. Amongst these significant advances, nanoscale high entropy alloys (HEA) are particularly prominent in heterogeneous catalytic reactions with remarkable ...

DANVERS, Mass., May 18, 2023 – Abiomed, part of Johnson & Johnson MedTech[1], announces results of a third-party analysis showing that utilizing Impella during high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures may help physicians achieve a more complete revascularization compared to high-risk PCIs supported using an intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP). Previous studies have shown that a more complete revascularization can lead to longer survival[2],[3], a greater reduction in heart failure and angina symptoms[4], and an improved quality of life for the patient[5]. This analysis shows ...

The gene ECHS1 encodes for enoyl-CoA hydratase short-chain 1, a mitochondrial enzyme involved in branched-chain amino acid and fatty acid metabolism. Rare inherited mutations in the ECHS1 lead to mitochondrial ECHS1 deficiency, resulting in the disruption of the metabolism of the essential amino acid valine and accumulation of valine intermediates.   In fact, ECHS1 is one of the most common causative genes of mitochondrial diseases. These mutant enzymes also cause brain lesions and severe delays in a child’s psychomotor development, along with elevating blood lactate levels. ECHS1 variants have been reported globally, and many disease-causing ...

Every second, the planet loses a stretch of forest equivalent to a football field due to logging, fires, insect infestation, disease, wind, drought, and other factors. In a recently published study, researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center presented a comprehensive strategy to detect when and where forest disturbance happens at a large scale and provide a deeper understanding of forest change.   The study was published on Feb. 28 in the Journal of Remote Sensing.   “Our strategy leads to more accurate land cover ...

Most global scenarios and governmental targets for decarbonizing the transport sector consider battery-powered electric vehicles as a main part of the solution. Enormous amounts of raw materials are needed to build enough batteries and ensure a transition to low-emission vehicles. Access to lithium is critical, as it is used in all types of EV batteries. Future demand needs to decrease “It seems very likely we'll have a shortage. The key lies in the demand. The demand needs to decrease to avoid long-term supply problems,” ...

Satellites launched into outer space could send back improved warnings of dangerous solar storms thanks to a breakthrough in the way scientists use space weather measurements.    Experts from the University of Reading have found that using satellite data that is less reliable but is returned to Earth rapidly can be used to improve the accuracy of solar wind forecasts - which are harmful streams of charged particles sent from the sun - by nearly 50 per cent. Their research, published today (Thursday, 18 May) in Space Weather, ...

A new study uncovers how the interplay between Sargassum spp., plastic marine debris and Vibrio bacteria creates the perfect “pathogen” storm that has implications for both marine life and public health. Vibrio bacteria are found in waters around the world and are the dominant cause of death in humans from the marine environment. For example, Vibrio vulnificus, sometimes referred to as flesh-eating bacteria, can cause life-threatening foodborne illnesses from seafood consumption as well as disease and death from open wound infections. Since 2011, ...

A new study by Dr. Lucie Kvasničková Stanislavská from Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague published in PeerJ Computer Science titled ‘Global analysis of Twitter communication in corporate social responsibility area: sustainability, climate change, and waste management’ has found that social media is an increasingly important tool for companies to communicate their corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts. The study analyzed over half a million tweets from 2017 to 2022 and identified the key topics and trends communicated in connection with CSR on Twitter.    “Our results aid enterprises in developing communication ...