ORLANDO, May 5, 2021 - New research indicates that the legendary Sargasso Sea, which includes part of the Bermuda Triangle and has long featured in fiction as a place where ships go derelict, may actually be an important nursery habitat for young sea turtles. In a study led by a University of Central Florida researcher and published today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, researchers presented evidence of baby green sea turtles arriving at the Sargasso Sea after entering the ocean off the east coast of Florida. The study was the first time that green sea turtles have been tracked during their early "lost years," which is defined ...

A UBC Okanagan researcher is urging people to learn and then heed the symptoms of Atrial Fibrillation (AF). Especially women. Dr. Ryan Wilson, a post-doctoral fellow in the School of Nursing, says AF is the most commonly diagnosed arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat) in the world. Despite that, he says many people do not understand the pre-diagnosis symptoms and tend to ignore them. In fact, 77 per cent of the women in his most recent study had experienced symptoms for more than a year before receiving a diagnosis. While working in a hospital emergency department (ED), Dr. Wilson noted that many patients came in with AF symptoms that included, but were not limited to, shortness of breath, feeling of butterflies (fluttering) in the chest, dizziness or general fatigue. Many women ...

Seeing through smog and fog. Mapping out a person's blood vessels while monitoring heart rate at the same time--without touching the person's skin. Seeing through silicon wafers to inspect the quality and composition of electronic boards. These are just some of the capabilities of a new infrared imager developed by a team of researchers led by electrical engineers at the University of California San Diego. The imager detects a part of the infrared spectrum called shortwave infrared light (wavelengths from 1000 to 1400 nanometers), which is right outside of the visible spectrum (400 to 700 nanometers). Shortwave infrared imaging is not to be confused with thermal imaging, which detects much longer infrared wavelengths ...

A new Tel Aviv University study has revealed, for the first time, that bats know the speed of sound from birth. In order to prove this, the researchers raised bats from the time of their birth in a helium-enriched environment in which the speed of sound is higher than normal. They found that unlike humans, who map the world in units of distance, bats map the world in units of time. What this means is that the bat perceives an insect as being at a distance of nine milliseconds, and not one and a half meters, as was thought until now. The Study was published in PNAS. In order to determine ...

PULLMAN, Wash. -- A count of the Western Monarch butterfly population last winter saw a staggering drop in numbers, but there are hopeful signs the beautiful pollinators are adapting to a changing climate and ecology. The population, counted by citizen scientists at Monarch overwintering locations in southern California, dropped from around 300,000 three years ago to just 1,914 in 2020, leading to an increasing fear of extinction. However, last winter large populations of monarchs were found breeding in the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas. Prior to last winter, it was unusual to find winter breeding by monarchs ...

The idea of deriving health benefits from live microorganisms is well known, but some non-living microorganisms, too, can have beneficial health effects. Yet even with an increasing number of scientific papers published on non-viable microbes for health, the category is not well defined and different terms are used in different contexts. Now, a group of international experts has clarified this concept in a recently END ...

A study published in Cretaceous Research expands the paleontological richness of continental fossils of the Lower Cretaceous with the discovery of a new water plant (charophytes), the species Mesochara dobrogeica. The study also identifies a new variety of carophytes from the Clavator genus (in particular, Clavator ampullaceus var. latibracteatus) and reveals a set of paleobiographical data from the Cretaceous much richer than other continental records such as dinosaurs'. Among the authors of the study are Josep Sanjuan, Alba Vicente, Jordi Pérez-Cano and Carles Martín-Closas, members of the Faculty of Earth Sciences and the Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio) of the University of Barcelona, in collaboration with the expert Marius Stoica, ...

Ishikawa, Japan - Inside our cells, and those of the most well-known lifeforms, exist a variety of complex compounds known as "molecular motors." These biological machines are essential for various types of movement in living systems, from the microscopic rearrangement or transport of proteins within a single cell to the macroscopic contraction of muscle tissues. At the crossroads between robotics and nanotechnology, a goal that is highly sought after is finding ways to leverage the action of these tiny molecular motors to perform more sizeable tasks in a controllable manner. However, achieving this goal will certainly be challenging. "So far, even though researchers ...

Singapore, 5 May 2021 - The rapid advancement of Autonomous Vehicles (AV) technology in recent years has changed transport systems and consumer habits globally. As countries worldwide see a surge in AV usage, the rise of shared Autonomous Mobility on Demand (AMoD) service is likely to be next on the cards. Public Transit (PT), a critical component of urban transportation, will inevitably be impacted by the upcoming influx of AMoD and the question remains unanswered on whether AMoD would co-exist with or threaten the PT system. Researchers at the Future Urban Mobility (FM) Interdisciplinary Research Group (IRG) at Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), MIT's research enterprise in Singapore, and Massachusetts ...

The inner workings of a "self-destruct switch" present on human cells that can be activated during an immune response have been revealed. In unprecedented detail, KAUST scientists with collaborators in China report the 3D atomic structure of the human PANX1 protein, which may help underpin new therapies that target the immune system. When cells become infected with a pathogen, the body's immune system works to destroy the infected cells before they become a threat to surrounding tissues. This form of cell death, during which a cell releases potent ...

The first civilisations to build monumental palaces and urban centres in Europe are more genetically homogenous than expected, according to the first study to sequence whole genomes gathered from ancient archaeological sites around the Aegean Sea. The study has been published in the journal Cell. Despite marked differences in burial customs, architecture, and art, the Minoan civilization in Crete, the Helladic civilization in mainland Greece and the Cycladic civilization in the Cycladic islands in the middle of the Aegean Sea, were genetically similar during the Early Bronze age ...

We live in times when among the most limited and precious resources on Earth are air and water. No matter the geographical location, the pollution spreads quickly, negatively affecting even the purest regions like Mount Everest. Thus, anthropogenic activity decreases the quality of the environment, making it harmful for flora and fauna. Current waste treatment methods are not sufficient, so novel and effective methods for maximizing pollutants removal are highly needed. One of the robust and prosperous solutions that make it possible to degrade various highly toxic chemicals from air and water is based on nanotechnology. Nanomaterials offer unique physicochemical properties, ...

Coral are not completely defenceless against attacking juvenile crown of thorns starfish and can fight back to inflict at times lethal damage, new research has found. This occurs during a period of the crown of thorns starfish life cycle, where small juveniles shift from a vegetarian diet of algae to coral prey. But this change in diet makes the juveniles more vulnerable to attack by coral. Population outbreaks of adult crown of thorns starfish, alongside coral bleaching is one of the greatest threats to tropical reef habitats. Video footage shows when the tube feet (small tube-like projections on the underside of a starfish's arm used for movement) of juvenile crown ...

Patients suffering a heart attack received percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), a procedure to clear blocked arteries in the heart, an average of 10 minutes faster after clinicians and paramedics began using an app to facilitate efficient hospital intakes for these patients, according to a study being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 70th Annual Scientific Session. The study was conducted at Baystate Medical Center, a health system headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts, that, like many U.S. hospitals, serves patients across a wide ...

Black patients from disadvantaged neighborhoods were significantly more likely to die within five years of surviving a heart attack compared with Black heart attack patients from wealthier neighborhoods and white patients of any socioeconomic means who survive a heart attack, according to a study being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 70th Annual Scientific Session. The researchers analyzed data from nearly 32,000 patients with health insurance treated for a heart attack within the Kaiser Permanente Southern California hospital system between 2006-2016. The researchers assigned each ...

People with prediabetes were significantly more likely to suffer a heart attack, stroke or other major cardiovascular event when compared with those who had normal blood sugar levels, according to research being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 70th Annual Scientific Session. Researchers said the findings should serve as a wake-up call for clinicians and patients alike to try to prevent prediabetes in the first place. "In general, we tend to treat prediabetes as no big deal. But we found that prediabetes itself can significantly boost someone's chance of having a major cardiovascular event, even if they never progress to having diabetes," ...

People with heart disease are more likely to become seriously ill from the flu and other respiratory illnesses, including the coronavirus. Yet, new research finds that only half of Americans with a history of heart disease or stroke report getting an annual flu shot, despite widespread recommendations to do so. Rates of vaccination were even lower among Blacks and Hispanics, according to data being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 70th Annual Scientific Session. Researchers say the findings should renew efforts to assure flu vaccination is a routine part of quality cardiovascular care. "As a nation, the U.S. health care system must do a better job protecting a population that is at very high risk for serious ...

Breathing in secondhand cigarette smoke may leave you more vulnerable to heart failure, a condition where the heart isn't pumping as well as it should and has a hard time meeting the body's needs, according to a study being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 70th Annual Scientific Session. The data showed that nonsmokers with recent exposure to secondhand smoke had a 35% increased odds of developing heart failure compared with those who hadn't been around tobacco. The association between tobacco exposure and heart failure remained, even after controlling for ...

People who clock six to seven hours of sleep a night had the lowest chance of dying from a heart attack or stroke when compared with those who got less or more sleep, according to a study being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 70th Annual Scientific Session. This trend remained true even after the research team accounted for other known conditions or risk factors for heart disease or stroke. The study, according to researchers, is the first to explore the association between baseline cardiovascular risk and duration of sleep and adds to mounting evidence that sleep--similar to diet, smoking and exercise--may play a defining role in someone's cardiovascular ...

Individuals living with a spouse with heart disease were more than twice as likely to have heart disease themselves, according to a study being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 70th Annual Scientific Session. Researchers surveyed more than 5,000 heterosexual couples over the age of 45 living in seven regions of China from 2014-2016. Participants provided information about their personal health history and that of their spouse, including details about risk factors such as body mass index and blood pressure; lifestyle factors such as physical activity, smoking and alcohol use; and socioeconomic factors. For the study, a history of cardiovascular disease was defined as experiencing ...

Young Black women show a high prevalence of obesity, elevated blood pressure and other lifestyle-related factors that may put them on a trajectory to develop heart disease at a young age, according to a study presented at the American College of Cardiology's 70th Annual Scientific Session. While previous research has drawn attention to the burden of heart disease among Black women, the new study is unique in its focus on examining the age at which heart disease risk factors emerge in this population in a community setting. The researchers found high rates of lifestyle-linked risk factors among Black women as early as their 20s and 30s. "Young people should be the healthiest members of our population with normal body weight and normal blood pressure," ...

Hamilton, ON (May 5, 2021) - Schools and child care centres should train staff on food allergies and have epinephrine available to treat anaphylaxis, but new guidelines do not recommend food bans. The recommendations come from an international team, led by McMaster University, which has developed practice guidelines for the prevention and management of allergic reactions to food at child care centres and schools. The guidelines were published today in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. "The management of food allergy is a sensitive topic," said Susan Waserman, ...

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 5, 2021) - Collaborative research between the University of Kentucky (UK) and University of Southern California (USC) suggests that a noninvasive neuroimaging technique may index early-stage blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction associated with small vessel disease (SVD). Cerebral SVD is the most common cause of vascular cognitive impairment, with a significant proportion of cases going on to develop dementia. BBB dysfunction represents a promising early marker of SVD because the BBB regulates a number of important metabolic functions, including clearance of toxic brain substances. Advanced ...

Current guidelines for managing osteoporosis specifically call out hip or spine fractures for increasing the risk for subsequent bone breaks. But a new UCLA-led study suggests that fractures in the arm, wrist, leg and other parts of the body should also set off alarm bells. A fracture, no matter the location, indicates a general tendency to break a bone in the future at a different location, said Dr. Carolyn Crandall, the study's lead author and a professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "Current clinical guidelines have only been emphasizing hip and spine fractures, but our findings challenge that viewpoint," Crandall said. "By not paying attention to which types of fractures increase the risk of future fractures, we are missing the opportunity to ...

Research led by the Garvan Institute of Medical Research has for the first time mapped the unique genetic profile of the skeleton's 'master regulator' cells, known as osteocytes. The study published today in Nature Communications outlines the genes that are switched on or off in osteocytes, a type of bone cell that controls how other types of cells make or break down parts of the skeleton to maintain strong and healthy bones. "This new information provides a kind of genetic shortlist we can look to when diagnosing bone diseases that have a genetic component," says the study's first author Dr Scott Youlten, Research Officer in the Bone Biology ...