The Tasmanian devil roams the island state of Australia as the apex predator of the land, feeding on whatever it pleases as the top dog – or the top devil. But some of these marsupial scavengers could be starting to miss out on a few items from the menu. According to a study led by UNSW Sydney, living in human-modified landscapes could be narrowing the diet of the Tasmanian devil. The research, published recently in Scientific Reports, suggests devils have access to vastly different cuisines depending on the type of environment they live in. “We found Tasmanian devil ...

They were a group of young, scrappy, but brilliant University of Utah computer science students and professors who changed the world. Ed Catmull. John Warnock. Jim Clark. Alan Kay. Ivan Sutherland. Martin Newell. They are a just a handful of the luminaries in the late 1960s and 1970s who revolutionized computer graphics by inventing technologies that have aided and shaped countless industries today. For the first time ever, these and other legends of that time will be reuniting on the U campus Thursday, March 23, and Friday March 24, to commemorate their roles as ...

CHICAGO — March 16, 2023 — In science, findings generated from studying small animals often are generalized and applied to humans, which are orders of magnitude larger. New research, which was led by Shirley Ryan AbilityLab and will be published in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Physiology, not only is the first to directly measure human muscle contractile properties; it also is the first to show that extrapolating such information to humans based on animal measurements generates incorrect predictions. The discovery occurred initially when researchers leveraged a unique surgical technique in which a human patient’s ...

The nation’s opioid crisis, which kills thousands of Americans annually, is best viewed as an ecosystem where all parts of the vexing problem are interconnected, underscoring the need for holistic solutions that address the broad needs of those battling addiction, their families and the communities where they live, according to a new report from the nonprofit RAND Corporation.   Too often different actors in the ecosystem focus primarily on addressing just one part of the problem, with each component of the system having its own priorities and initiatives ...

Trust in information given out by the government on cancer fell sharply among the Black population, by almost half, during the COVID-19 pandemic findings of a national US study have shown.  Experts are warning the vital need to monitor if this mistrust has persisted beyond the pandemic and whether it could potentially cause an upsurge in late or fatal diagnoses – following a lack of uptake of important cancer prevention measures such as routine screening and human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccinations.   The findings, published today in the peer-reviewed ...

A new texting intervention that University of British Columbia researchers helped develop is more effective at promoting healthy sexual decision-making and reducing pregnancies among sexual minority teens than most existing interventions in the U.S. Girl2Girl, developed and tested by the Center for Innovative Public Health Research (CIPHR) in San Clemente, Calif., in partnership with UBC’s Stigma and Resilience Among Vulnerable Youth Centre, is the first texting-based intervention specifically aimed at lesbian and bisexual teens. “For more than 30 years, research ...

Heavy workloads make employees feel a greater need for a break, but new research finds they may actually discourage employees from taking breaks at work despite causing high levels of stress, fatigue, and poor performance. Researchers from the University of Waterloo found employees often kept working despite wanting to pause. One potential reason is employees may have felt pressure to continue working to get everything done on time.  “Our research provides a comprehensive account of the processes involved in the decision to take a break and provides insights into how employees and managers can make more effective use of breaks at work, ...

“Considering the cost and quality of life to the individual, we believe our study has important implications for management of age-related sarcopenia.” BUFFALO, NY- March 15, 2023 – A new research paper was published on the cover of Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science) Volume 15, Issue 5, entitled, “AAV1.NT-3 gene therapy prevents age-related sarcopenia.” Sarcopenia is progressive loss of muscle mass and strength occurring during normal aging with significant consequences on the quality of life for elderly. Neurotrophin 3 (NT-3) is an important autocrine factor supporting ...

It’s easier than ever to view maps of any place you’d like to go — by car, that is. By foot is another matter. Most cities and towns in the U.S. do not have sidewalk maps, and pedestrians are usually left to fend for themselves: Can you walk from your hotel to the restaurants on the other side of the highway? Is there a shortcut from downtown to the sports arena? And how do you get to that bus stop, anyway?     Now MIT researchers, along with colleagues from multiple other universities, have developed an open-source tool that uses aerial imagery and image-recognition to create complete maps of sidewalks and crosswalks. The tool can help planners, policymakers, ...

Researchers of the HSE Graduate School of Business trained a machine-learning (ML) model to infer users' subjective wellbeing from social media posts. Having processed 10 million tweets, the researchers compiled a rating of holidays celebrated in Russia based on their popularity. The New Year tops the list, but Russian-speaking users of Twitter are also happy to celebrate Defender of the Fatherland Day, International Women's Day, Victory Day and Halloween. The study findings have been published in PeerJ Computer Science. As one of the most popular methods for ...

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 2023 MINNEAPOLIS – There’s good news for those with multiple sclerosis (MS). A new study has found that female participants were no more likely to have a flare-up of the disease after receiving fertility treatments than they were before their treatments. The study is published in the March 15, 2023, online issue of Neurology® Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation, an official journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Earlier studies had shown conflicting results. The study also found a link between the use of MS medications and a lack of increase in relapses during fertility ...

A University of Texas at Arlington civil engineering researcher received a one-year, $300,000 competitive grant from the Water Research Foundation to evaluate a trenchless process to renew sanitary sewer pipes in Soapstone Valley Park, a popular Washington, D.C., attraction. Mohammad Najafi, associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, is leading the project. Najafi said the project will use a trenchless cured-in-place-pipe (CIPP) method that relines the old sewer pipe with new plastic material. That material then is cured in place with hot water. “We will ...

PHILADELPHIA – The Pezcoller Foundation–American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) International Award for Extraordinary Achievement in Cancer Research will be presented to Tak W. Mak, PhD, Fellow of the AACR Academy, during the AACR Annual Meeting 2023, April 14-19 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. Mak is a senior scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, as well as a university professor in the departments of medical biophysics and immunology at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine ...

Sharareh “Sherri” Kermanshachi, a University of Texas at Arlington associate professor of civil engineering, has received the 40 Under 40 Award from Mass Transit magazine, which recognizes individuals who have shown a capacity for innovation and demonstrated leadership and a commitment to making an impact in transit. “I am honored and humbled to receive this award and be named to the 40 Under 40 Mass Transit award list,” said Kermanshachi, who is also director of the Resilient Infrastructures and Sustainable Environment ...

PHILADELPHIA – The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) will honor Nobel Laureate Carolyn R. Bertozzi, PhD, with the 2023 AACR Award for Outstanding Achievement in Chemistry in Cancer Research during the AACR Annual Meeting 2023, April 14-19 in Orlando, Florida. Bertozzi is the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Chemistry in the School of Humanities and Sciences and a professor (by courtesy) of chemical and systems biology and of radiology at Stanford University, an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the Baker Family Director of Sarafan ChEM-H. Bertozzi is being recognized for advancing basic ...

PHILADELPHIA – A new approach that delivers a “one-two punch” to help T cells attack solid tumors is the focus of a preclinical study by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), showed that targeting two regulators that control gene functions related to inflammation led to at least 10 times greater T cell expansion in models, resulting in increased antitumor immune activity and durability. CAR T cell therapy was pioneered at Penn Medicine by ...

A comprehensive analysis of an archaeological site in Saudi Arabia sheds new light on mustatils—stone monuments from the Late Neolithic period thought to have been used for ritual purposes. Melissa Kennedy of the University of Western Australia, Perth, and colleagues, in conjunction with The Royal Commission for AlUla present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on March 15, 2023. Built around 7,000 years ago, mustatils are rectangular, low-walled, stone structures that range from 20 to 600 meters in length. Researchers first discovered them in the 1970s, and more than 1,600 mustatils have now been discovered, primarily concentrated in northern ...

Article URL:  https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0282239 Article Title: Eight years of community structure monitoring through recreational citizen science at the “SS Thistlegorm” wreck (Red Sea) Author Countries: Italy Funding: STE project was funded by Project AWARE Foundation, ASTOI Association, Ministry of Tourism of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Settemari S.p.A Tour Operator, Scuba Nitrox Safety International, Viaggio nel Blu Diving Center. The funders had no role in study design, data collection ...

Article URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0282323 Article Title: Connecting higher education to workplace activities and earnings Author Countries: USA Funding: This research is supported in part by the University of Pittsburgh Pitt Momentum Fund and the Center for Research Computing. This work has been supported (in part) by # 2109-33808 from the Russell Sage Foundation. Any opinions expressed are those of the principal investigator(s) alone and should not be construed as representing the opinions of the Foundation. The funders had no role in study design, data collection ...

The sex hormone estrogen has a negative impact on heartbeat regulation, according to an experimental study from Linköping University, Sweden, published in Science Advances. Estrogen impact seems to interact with hereditary changes causing a heart disease disturbing the heart’s rhythm, while other endogenous substances may have a protecting effect. In a lifetime, the heart beats around 2.5 billion times. Each heartbeat is triggered by an electrical impulse that causes the heart muscle to contract in a very well-coordinated movement. ...

Researchers have identified evidence they interpret as active volcanism on the surface of Venus, according to a new analysis of radar images from the Magellan spacecraft. The images reveal a vent that changed shape on Venus, which they believe points to ongoing volcanic activity there. Many volcanoes have been identified on the surface of Venus, but evidence of recent volcanic activity on the planet has been lacking. As a result, it was unknown whether the prominent volcanic features of Venus’ geologically young surface are a product of ongoing active volcanism ...

Leesburg, VA, March 15, 2023—According to an accepted manuscript published in ARRS’ own American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), sentiment of U.S. newspaper articles covering lung cancer screening (LCS) from 2010 to 2022 was overall positive; however, certain key elements of LCS were infrequently mentioned. “The findings highlight areas for potential improvement of LCS media coverage; radiologists have an opportunity to take a more active role in this coverage,” concluded first author Brent P. Little, MD, of Mayo Clinic Florida in Jacksonville. Little et al. searched the ProQuest U.S. Newsstream ...

Bumblebees are clumsy fliers. It is estimated that a foraging bee bumps into a flower about once per second, which damages its wings over time. Yet despite having many tiny rips or holes in their wings, bumblebees can still fly. Aerial robots, on the other hand, are not so resilient. Poke holes in the robot’s wing motors or chop off part of its propellor, and odds are pretty good it will be grounded. Inspired by the hardiness of bumblebees, MIT researchers have developed repair techniques that enable a bug-sized aerial robot to sustain severe damage to the actuators, or artificial muscles, that power its wings — but to still fly effectively. They optimized these artificial muscles ...

Resilience and well-being in difficult times can be developed via online interventions in the workplace. An international team of researchers from France, the UK and Russia (with the participation of researchers from the HSE International Laboratory of Positive Psychology of Personality and Motivation) studied the effectiveness of SPARK Resilience, a programme for developing resilience, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of the study were published in the PLOS One journal. By creating the SPARK Resilience programme, psychologists focused on helping people gain ...

Biotechnologies harnessing microbes might enable us to extract rare elements and minerals, chemicals and fuels from wastewater. #### Article URL: https://journals.plos.org/water/article?id=10.1371/journal.pwat.0000105 Article Title: Environmental biotechnologies can make water pollutants part of the path to mitigating climate change Author Countries: USA Funding: The author received no specific funding for this work.   END ...