PITTSBURGH, May 2, 2023 — In a paper published today in Communications Biology, auditory neuroscientists at the University of Pittsburgh describe a machine learning model that helps explain how the brain recognizes the meaning of communication sounds, such as animal calls or spoken words.   The algorithm described in the study models how social animals, including marmoset monkeys and guinea pigs, use sound-processing networks in their brain to distinguish between sound categories – such as calls for mating, food or danger — and act on them.   The study is an important step toward understanding the intricacies and complexities ...

Every cell in our body is able to turn genes (DNA) on or off, producing RNA, but when genes are ‘turned on’ to the wrong level it can result in a variety of health conditions. Rett syndrome is a rare neurodevelopmental condition that causes a loss of motor and language skills over time in girls. The condition is caused by a genetic variation in the MECP2 gene located on the X chromosome, resulting in affected nerve cells in the brain expressing the wrong levels of more than one thousand genes. The end result is that Rett syndrome nerve cells are smaller, less interconnected and less electrically active than healthy controls.  In ...

A new paper in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, published by Oxford University Press, indicates that an important part of the pay gap between men and women has to do with how they conduct job searches, with women more likely to accept job offers early while men tend to hold out for higher pay. Women in the United States earn 84% of what men earn, as of 2020. This disparity is well documented, and economists and the general public have known about the earnings difference for decades. The reasons for this phenomenon are a matter of considerable debate. Initial conditions in the labor market are long-lasting. Young workers who begin ...

Scientists dream of using tiny molecules as building blocks to construct things, similar to how we build things with mechanical parts. However, molecules are incredibly small - around one hundred millionth the size of a softball - and they move randomly in liquids, making it very difficult to manipulate them in a single form. To overcome this challenge, “nanofluidic devices” that can transport molecules in extremely narrow channels, similar in size to one millionth of a straw, are attracting attention ...

AMHERST, Mass. – Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of Alaska Anchorage are the first to characterize two different types of surface water in the hyperarid salars—or salt flats—that contain much of the world’s lithium deposits. This new characterization represents a leap forward in understanding how water moves through such basins, and will be key to minimizing the environmental impact on such sensitive, critical habitats. “You can’t protect the salars if you don’t first understand how they work,” says Sarah McKnight, lead author of the research that appeared recently ...

Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 01 May 2023 Annals of Internal Medicine Tip Sheet @Annalsofim Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not only on their own behalf, but also on behalf of the organization they represent. ---------------------------- 1. ...

Climate change has led to earlier spring blooms for wildflowers and ocean plankton but the impacts on salmon migration are more complicated, according to new research. In a new study, published in the journal Nature, Ecology & Evolution, Simon Fraser University (SFU) researcher Sam Wilson led a set of diverse collaborators from across North America to compile the largest dataset in the world on juvenile salmon migration timing. The dataset includes 66 populations from Oregon to B.C. to Alaska. Each dataset was at least 20 years in length with the longest dating back to 1951. Only wild salmon, and not salmon from hatcheries, ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – In recent years, experts have debated whether most birthing individuals would benefit from labor induction once they reach a certain stage of pregnancy. But a new statewide study in Michigan suggests that inducing labor at the 39th week of pregnancy for people having their first births with a single baby that is in a head down position, or low risk, doesn’t necessarily reduce the risk of caesarian births. In fact, for some birthing individuals, it may even have the opposite effect if hospitals don’t take a thoughtful approach to ...

BEND, Ore. – A researcher at Oregon State University-Cascades has received funding to develop a smart compost bin that tracks household food waste. The project led by Patrick Donnelly, assistant professor of computer science in the OSU College of Engineering, seeks to make a dent in a multi-billion-dollar annual problem in the United States: More than one-third of all food produced in the U.S. goes uneaten. “At every other step of the agricultural supply chain, food waste is tracked, measured and quantified,” Donnelly ...

DALLAS, May 1, 2023 — Science tells us that when a cardiac arrest happens, bystander CPR can double or even triple the chances of survival.[1] Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) adults who experience cardiac arrest outside of a hospital setting have a substantially lower chance of receiving bystander CPR.[2] During Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage month in May, the American Heart Association, a global force for healthier lives for all, is asking people to “Be the Beat” for their family and learn Hands-Only ...

DALLAS, May 1, 2023 — Strokes can happen to anyone, at any age. In fact, globally about one in four adults over the age of 25 will have a stroke in their lifetime.[1] During American Stroke Month, the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association, as part of a nationally supported collaboration with HCA Healthcare and the HCA Healthcare Foundation, will teach people everywhere that stroke is largely preventable, treatable and beatable. A stroke happens when normal blood flow in the brain is interrupted. When parts of the ...

AUGUSTA, Ga. (May 2, 2023) – Inhibiting a tiny RNA whose levels significantly increase with age, along with problems like weaker bones and sagging muscles, may be a way to keep our bodies more youthful and healthy, scientists say.  MicroRNAs help regulate gene expression and consequently the function of our cells, and several, including one called microRNA-141-3p, have been implicated in the ills of aging, like increasing levels of potentially damaging chronic inflammation and that shrinking muscle mass. “When we age in all these complications like chronic inflammation, muscle loss, bone loss, this microRNA is elevated,” says Sadanand ...

HOUSTON – (May 2, 2023) – Feces from fish that are typically thought to promote healthy reefs can damage and, in some cases, kill corals, according to a recent study by Rice University marine biologists. Until recently, fish that consume algae and detritus — grazers — were thought to keep reefs healthy, and fish that eat coral — corallivores — were thought to weaken reef structures. The researchers found high levels of coral pathogens in grazer feces and high levels of beneficial bacteria in corallivore feces, which they say could act like a “coral probiotic.” “Corallivorous ...

New findings in color vision research imply that humans can perceive a greater range of blue tones than monkeys do. “Distinct connections found in the human retina may indicate recent evolutionary adaptations for sending enhanced color vision signals from the eye to the brain,” researchers report April 25 in the scientific journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Yeon Jin Kim, acting instructor, and Dennis M. Dacey, professor, both in the Department of Biological Structure at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, led the international, collaborative project. They were joined ...

INFORMS Journal Manufacturing & Service Operations Management New Study Key Takeaways: Matching supply and demand of organs can provide broader sharing in a way that results in greater transplant equity. By indiscriminately enlarging the pool of supply locations from where patients can receive offers, they tend to become more selective, resulting in more offer rejections and less efficiency. The model accounts for the variation of “incidence of disease” (i.e., demand) and “availability of deceased-donor organs” ...

TAMPA, Fla. (May 1, 2023) – Subglacial lakes that never see the light of day are among the least accessible frontiers of science, brimming with more tales yet untold than even the planets of our solar system. One thing seems certain: where there is water, there is life -- even if said water is at the bottom of a frigid lake, in pitch darkness, below more than a half mile of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. As reported in AGU Advances, scientists analyzed the chemical fingerprint of the ocean and microbes retrieved from sediments and water at the bottom of a subglacial ...

  Images  //  Video  Couches, tables, sleeves and more can turn into a high-fidelity input device for computers using a new sensing system developed at the University of Michigan.   The system repurposes technology from new bone-conduction microphones, known as Voice Pickup Units (VPUs), which detect only those acoustic waves that travel along the surface of objects. It works in noisy environments, along odd geometries such as toys and arms, and on soft fabrics such as clothing and furniture.    Called SAWSense, for the surface acoustic waves it relies ...

WASHINGTON, DC – The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Science has selected 87 graduate students representing 33 states for the Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program’s 2022 Solicitation 2 cycle. Through world-class training and access to state-of-the-art facilities and resources at DOE national laboratories, SCGSR prepares graduate students to enter jobs of critical importance to the DOE mission and secures our national position at the forefront of discovery and innovation. “The SCGSR program provides a way for graduate students to enrich their scientific research by engaging with ...

Twenty years after the Old Man of the Mountain collapsed, audiences around the world will now be able to explore the iconic symbol of New Hampshire through an online interactive 3D model created by Matthew Maclay, a graduate student in earth sciences at Dartmouth's Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies. The face-shaped granite formation on the northeast side of Cannon Cliff in Franconia Notch State Park fell off the cliff on May 3, 2003, drawing international attention and dismay in New Hampshire itself. "People continue to have a very emotional connection to the Old Man of the Mountain—the state emblem of New Hampshire, so I am really excited that this 3D ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — One person’s trash may well be another’s “come up,” or what the rapper Macklemore calls hidden treasures in the song “Thrift Shop,” but only if secondhand shoppers follow the rapper’s lead and dig through what are sometimes messy bins. New research from Penn State and Texas Christian University shows that shoppers looking to “pop some tags” may be drawn to disordered thrift shop displays because they signal hidden treasure in their inventory. “Secondhand markets are growing in ...

A new study has found that people who were exposed to even moderate levels of aircraft noise were less likely to receive the minimum recommended amount of sleep each night, and this risk increased among people living in the Western U.S., near a major cargo airport, or near a large water body, and among people with no hearing loss. As major airline officials predict another record summer air travel season, a new analysis by Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) and Oregon State University has found that exposure to even moderate levels of airplane noise may disrupt sleep, building upon a growing body of research ...

ITHACA, N.Y. - Sodium-ion batteries have been touted as a sustainable alternative to lithium-ion batteries because they are powered by a more abundant natural resource. However, sodium-ion batteries have hit a significant snag: the cathodes degrade quickly with recharging. A Cornell University-led collaboration succeeded in identifying an elusive mechanism that can trigger this degradation – transient crystal defects – by using a unique form of X-ray imaging that enabled the researchers to capture the fleeting defects while the battery was in operation. The group’s ...

New York (May 1, 2023) — Today the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) announced the 16 AGS members who have been awarded AGS Fellowship.  This distinction recognizes AGS members for their deep commitment to the AGS and to advancing high-quality, person-centered care for us all as we age.  The new AGS fellows will be formally recognized at the 2023 AGS Annual Scientific Meeting (#AGS23; May 4-6).  “We are delighted to be recognizing our AGS member colleagues for their ...

In the United States, an average of three people die every day waiting for a liver transplant, which resulted in nearly 1,200 lives lost in 2021. Liver allocation policy has undergone major modifications in the last 10 years. In a new study, researchers examined these policies, finding that despite the changes, geographic inequity persists. The authors recommend a more efficient and equitable way to allocate livers. The study, by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and the University of Maryland (UMD), is forthcoming in Manufacturing & Service Operations Management. “We suggest policymakers move away from the ‘one- size-fits-all’ approach of current ...

Joan Casey lived through frequent wildfire-season power outages when she lived in northern California. While waiting for the power to return, she wondered how the multi-day blackouts affected a community’s health. “For me it was an inconvenience, but for some people it could be life-threatening,” said Casey, now an assistant professor in the University of Washington’s Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences. “If you had an uncle that ...