For the sake of the environment and our quality of life, effective treatment of wastewater plays a vital role. A biological method to treat sewage using moving, biofilm-covered plastic items known as carriers has been gaining prominence, and an Osaka Metropolitan University-led team has found ways to make the process more efficient. The moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) process purifies wastewater by putting these carriers in motion to get the biofilm’s microorganisms into greater contact with organic matter and other impurities. The more biofilm that can be attached ...

A common image of cats today comes in the form of cute cat memes online, but these furry felines commonly experience kidney disease. Amid advances in medicine to improve people’s quality of life, an Osaka Metropolitan University-led team has, for the first time in the world, generated high-quality feline induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which have the potential to help companion animals and humans alike. Human iPSCs have been generated using just four genes known as transcription factors, but feline iPSCs have been difficult to generate. Graduate School of Veterinary Science Professor Shingo Hatoya led the team in introducing six transcription factors via the Sendai virus ...

In the best-case scenario, called the "Giant Leap," Sub-Saharan Africa could see poverty drop from 500 million to 25 million people, hunger nearly eradicated, and universal access to education, clean water, and sustainable electricity. On the other hand, the "Too Little Too Late" scenario paints a grim picture where poverty rises to 900 million, hunger still affects 180 million, and over a billion people lack clean water. The Too Little Too Late scenario is based on existing policies in the region. These two scenarios highlight the critical importance of action this decade to drive five extraordinary turnarounds in the areas of poverty, inequality, ...

Philadelphia, September 4, 2024 – A new study has found that regular mobile phone use was positively associated with incident cardiovascular diseases risk, especially in current smokers and individuals with diabetes. In addition, this association was partly attributed to poor sleep, psychological distress, and neuroticism. The article in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology, published by Elsevier, details the results of this large-scale prospective cohort study. Yanjun Zhang, MD, Division of Nephrology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China, explains, "Mobile phone use is a ubiquitous exposure in modern society, so exploring its impact on health has ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – About half of adults can identify cigarettes and e-cigarettes, but just one in four would recognize oral nicotine pouches, and these easily available products are growing increasingly popular among teens and young adults, according to a recent study commissioned by The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James). Oral nicotine pouches are small packets filled with a flavored powder containing nicotine and other chemicals that are tucked between the lip and gums. ...

Introduction As a new degree of freedom, the orbital angular momentum of electromagnetic waves exceeds the traditional frequency, phase, and amplitude, and is expected to promote the infinite expansion of channel capacity. Recently, a team of research professor Chao-Hai Du from Peking University and Professor Xiaofei Zang's research group from the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology have carried out in-depth cooperation. Based on the research foundation of both sides in the field of terahertz and metasurface, a new method of generating polarization-multiplexed terahertz vortex combs using all-silicon metasurface has been ...

Recently, model-based reinforcement learning has been considered a crucial approach to applying reinforcement learning in the physical world, primarily due to its efficient utilization of samples. However, the supervised learned model, which generates rollouts for policy optimization, leads to compounding errors and hinders policy performance. To address this problem, the research team led by Yang YU published their new research on 15 August 2024 in Frontiers of Computer Science co-published by Higher Education ...

Since the first industrial revolution, the rapid development of the human economy and society has directly exacerbated the process of CO2 emission from human activities such as fossil fuel combustion, industrial processes, agriculture, and land use activities. With the continuous increase of global greenhouse gas concentration dominated by CO2, the greenhouse effect is becoming more and more obvious, and the trend of global warming is becoming more and more serious. To cope with the continuous warming of the global climate and mitigate ...

Combine cyberbullying, smartphone use, lack of sleep and poor mental health, and you have the perfect storm for a teenage meltdown. Australian researchers have polled more than 50,000 primary and secondary school students aged 7-19 years about the link between their sleep and nighttime phone habits, experience of cyberbullying and stress levels. Researchers from the Behaviour-Brain-Body Research Centre at the University of South Australia found that across all genders and age groups, phone use overnight not only robbed children of sleep, but it also had a negative impact on their mental health, ...

AUBURN, AL — In a recent development in Alzheimer's disease research, Auburn University scientists have studied a new drug, troriluzole, that can prevent brain changes leading to memory loss and cognitive decline in a mouse model of the disease. This study, recently published in the Journal of Neurochemistry, is the first to show how troriluzole can target early-stage alterations associated with Alzheimer’s, providing new hope for potential treatments. Dr. Miranda Reed, a Professor in the department ...

Pennington Biomedical Research Center’s Dr. Jeff Keller is evaluating the potential for delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and cannabidiol, or CBD, to reduce the behaviors indicating agitation, distress or anxiety in patients with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia. The study is designed for hospice-eligible patients who are either receiving hospice care or who are eligible for hospice, and who are exhibiting agitation concurrently with a diagnosis of dementia. There are currently no FDA-approved medications to treat agitation at the end-of-life stages in dementia patients.  The “Life’s End Benefits of Cannabidiol and ...

URBANA, Ill. — The National Science Foundation (NSF) has funded University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign research that aims to connect the dots between quantitative and molecular genetics and improve crop breeding. The four-year, $795,000 grant investigates new theories on how genetics influence complex crop traits, such as yield or grain quality. These traits are controlled by lots of different genes — sometimes hundreds or thousands — which makes untangling their contributions difficult. Crop breeders use a host of advanced genetic tools to predict and ...

Boston – CDK4/6 inhibitors, which are already FDA approved for the treatment of other forms of cancer, show early signs of promise in the treatment of a subtype of pediatric high-grade glioma, according to new research from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Institute of Cancer Research in London. Treatment of a patient with a second relapse of this glioma subtype and no other treatment options resulted in 18 months of progression-free survival. “We are finally starting to see more targeted therapies come out for different forms of brain cancer,” says senior author Mariella Filbin, MD, PhD, co-director ...

A recent study shows social media influencers are more important than previously thought when it comes to getting out vital information in a crisis. The study suggested partnerships that could improve public communication between governments, non-profits and social media influencers during crises. The study, conducted by UF/IFAS assistant professor Kimberly Kay Wiley, a researcher in the family, youth and community sciences department, and Bridgewater State University associate professor Seth Meyer, shows how these groups can collaborate to effectively disseminate information and manage public health emergencies on social media. “In ...

The ability to cope well with, and adapt to, challenging life circumstances and events in older age is linked to a lower risk of death, suggests a large nationally representative study, published in the open access journal BMJ Mental Health. The findings underscore the importance of efforts to bolster mental resilience, conclude the researchers. The available evidence suggests that mental resilience is a dynamic and active process influenced by various factors, including sex, hormones, and the genes regulating ...

Over the past decade the number of NHS general practices in England has shrunk by 20%, but patient list sizes have expanded by 40% to just under 10,000, on average, finds an analysis of three national primary care datasets, published in the open access journal BMJ Open. And while the total NHS general practice workforce grew 20% between 2015 and 2022, as a result of increases in admin staff and other practitioners, the number of GPs per 1000 patients fell by 15% over the same period, when accounting for working hours, the analysis shows. Major structural and organisational changes have taken place in general practice in England over the past decade,but it’s difficult ...

Women, people of Black ethnicity, and those from low income households in England are less likely to be offered heart surgery than men, White people, and those who are affluent, finds research published online in the journal Heart. And when they do have these procedures, they are more likely to die within a year, prompting the researchers to call for prompt action to tackle these health inequalities. Cardiac surgery is one of the costliest ways of treating cardiovascular disease, with around 28,000 adults a year in the UK undergoing the procedure, note the researchers. While previously published research shows that gender, ethnicity, and social/economic deprivation can affect ...

A pen which can transform Braille into English text has been developed by experts at the University of Bristol. Braille literacy is frequently reported as being in decline, this is despite visually impaired people often expressing a desire to learn it, and Braille literacy being a highly valued skill by those who are capable. This is often attributed to the lack of available learning resources, particularly away from large urban centres. The handheld device, which includes a one-centimetre sensor with 19 channels programmed to read Braille, has demonstrated high accuracy in early trials. Lead author Dr George Jenkinson ...

While immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) can provide lifesaving treatment for patients with cancer, they have also been found to cause immune-related adverse events (irAEs) — side effects that can impact almost every organ in the body to varying degrees. The frequency and severity of irAEs in real-world datasets are not well understood, making it difficult to combine cases effectively across institutions and gain insights into the optimal management of these patients.  Since current approaches to investigate irAEs are done manually and are inefficient, researchers from Mass General Brigham have incorporated the use of a prebuilt large language ...

The ISSCR is accepting applications through 25 October 2024 for the next class of Lawrence Goldstein Science Policy Fellows. The three-year program offers fellows advocacy and public policy training, the opportunity to participate in ISSCR advocacy events, engagement with leaders in the field, and an ex officio seat on ISSCR’s Public Policy Committee. Goldstein Policy Fellows also have the opportunity to: Attend ISSCR’s Congressional Advocacy Day in Washington D.C. or a policy- related event in another region of the world. Participate in regularly scheduled Public Policy Committee meetings. Assist the committee and ISSCR policy staff with projects and programs. Contribute ...

Lei Zheng, MD, PhD, alumnus of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio), has been appointed executive director of Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio and vice president for oncology for the health science center, effective Sept. 1, 2024. Zheng will also be named the Mays Family Foundation Distinguished University Presidential Chair of Oncology and appointed as a professor with tenure in the Department of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio’s ...

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- When ChatGPT and other generative artificial intelligence can produce scientific articles that look real — especially to someone outside that field of research — what’s the best way to figure out which ones are fake? Ahmed Abdeen Hamed, a visiting research fellow at Binghamton University, State University of New York, has created a machine-learning algorithm he calls xFakeSci that can detect up to 94% of bogus papers — nearly twice as successfully as more common data-mining techniques. “My ...

NEW YORK, September 3, 2024 — A new study from researchers with the Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center (CUNY ASRC) sheds light on why certain oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) in the adult brain transform into gliomas, the most common and incurable type of adult brain tumors. Previous work identified OPCs — dividing cells in the adult brain that play a crucial role in the brain's maintenance — as one of the brain cell types that give rise to these tumors.   “OPCs are often described as a double-edged ...

Dr. C. Sue Carter, Distinguished Research Scientist and Director Emerita of the Kinsey Institute, has been awarded the 2024 Bruce McEwen Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology. This prestigious award recognizes Dr. Carter’s lifetime of pioneering research that has significantly advanced our understanding of the biological and social underpinnings of human behavior. A career biologist, Dr. Carter specializes in the endocrinology of love and social bonds. Dr. Carter is renowned for her discovery of the critical role of oxytocin in social bonding, stress management, and emotional ...

The naming of a new species of pāua further highlights the importance of biodiversity research in Aotearoa. Described in a study led by the University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, the species, Haliotis pirimoana, is only found at Manawatāwhi Three Kings Islands, off the northern North Island. Lead author Kerry Walton, an invertebrate curator at Te Papa who is undertaking his PhD in the Department of Zoology, says this is one of many species that are only found on Manawatāwhi. “We are facing a biodiversity crisis. Species around the world are going ...