Another new mosquito species has made its way across the tropics into Florida, making a permanent home in at least three counties. Scientists are concerned because of the rate of new mosquitoes arriving in Florida and the potential for them to transmit mosquito-borne diseases. A mosquito known only by its scientific name, Culex lactator, is the latest to establish in the Sunshine State, according to a new study published in the Journal of Medical Entomology by faculty at the UF/IFAS Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory (UF/IFAS FMEL). This species was first discovered ...

A new leaf has turned in scientists' hunt for developing cutting-edge materials used in organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TV's, touchscreens, and more. The advance involves the polaron, a quasiparticle consisting of an electron and its surrounding distortions of atoms in a crystal lattice. Simulations on the Texas Advanced Computing Center's (TACC) Frontera supercomputer have helped scientists map for the first time the conditions that characterize polarons in 2D materials, the thinnest materials that have ever been made. "We charted a map to indicate in which materials polarons should be found, under what conditions, and the characteristics ...

Nearly a third of Americans (29%) say COVID-19 made them more worried than ever about having obesity prompting about 28 million people to consider weight-loss methods they hadn’t thought about before the pandemic began, including nearly 6.4 million thought about turning to either weight-loss surgery or taking prescription anti-obesity drugs for the first time, according to a new survey whose findings were published online in the peer-reviewed journal, Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases (SOARD). Another nearly 1 in 5 people (18%) said they were more likely to initiate a discussion about their weight with their physician specifically because ...

Following enormous collisions, such as asteroid impacts, some amount of material from an impacted world may be ejected into space. This material can travel vast distances and for extremely long periods of time. In theory this material could contain direct or indirect signs of life from the host world, such as fossils of microorganisms. And this material could be detectable by humans in the near future, or even now. When you hear the words vacuum and dust in a sentence, you may groan at the thought of having ...

With the first paper compiling all known information about planets like Venus beyond our solar system, scientists are the closest they’ve ever been to finding an analog of Earth’s “twin.”  If they succeed in locating one, it could reveal valuable insights into Earth’s future, and our risk of developing a runaway greenhouse climate as Venus did.  Scientists who wrote the paper began with more than 300 known terrestrial planets orbiting other stars, called exoplanets. They whittled the list down to the five most likely to ...

New scientific research investigates inflammation and insulin resistance in habitual coffee drinkers to understand how coffee may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D), mediated by inflammatory biomarkers in the body 1. Drinking just one additional cup of coffee per day was associated with a 4-6% lower risk of T2D among participants in two large prospective cohort studies, which was partly explained by lower levels of inflammation1. Experts consider consuming up to 400mg of caffeine (3-5 cups of coffee) per day to be a moderate and safe amount for most adults. For pregnant or lactating women, caffeine intake should be reduced to 200mg per day2. These results further support previous ...

Working for a big company or in an HR role does not lower the likelihood of showing unconscious bias against disabled people at work, a new study finds. Researchers say this is ‘surprising’ because of the money many large firms spend on EDI and unconscious bias training – in 2017 up to $8bn in the US alone – and the fact HR professionals are often specifically trained in EDI issues. The research, a collaboration between the University of Exeter’s Business School and Medical ...

In a study of Danish children born between 1978–2000, chances of graduating from lower and upper secondary education were significantly lower for children born by cesarean section (CS). However, differences in grade point averages and intelligence scores were very small. The study, which is published in Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, also found that males born by CS had a lower likelihood of appearing before a conscription board for drafting into the military. In Denmark, most students are 6–16 years old while in lower secondary education (LSE) and 16–17 years old when initiating ...

Results from a clinical trial published in the Journal of Internal Medicine reveal several health benefits of moderate salt restriction in patients on standard medical treatment for primary aldosteronism.  Primary aldosteronism—a condition in which the adrenal glands make too much of the hormone aldosterone—is a common cause of secondary hypertension. The combination of aldosterone excess and high dietary salt intake leaves affected patients with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease than patients with hypertension ...

Seals, sea lions, and fur seals are at risk from interactions with fisheries and aquaculture, as they can become entangled in nets or cages, and drown. In a study published in Mammal Review, investigators analyzed research from the last 25 years on operational and biological interactions between these marine mammals and fisheries and aquaculture activities in South American waters.  The authors found that two species are primarily involved in interactions in many countries: the South American sea lion Otaria flavescens and the South American fur seal Arctocephalus australis. ...

In an analysis of perinatal care provided in the United States, investigators found few differences by race for care that was based on guidelines or expert recommendations; however, discretionary care (for which professional recommendations or guidelines do not exist) varied by race. The analysis, which is published in Birth, included information from the electronic health records for 7,056 women who delivered infants within a large hospital system between 2012 and 2018. Compared with Non-Hispanic white women, Non-Hispanic Black women were ...

New research published in Human Brain Mapping reveals sex differences and developmental changes in the brain’s white matter—which provides communication between different parts of the brain—in healthy, typically developing infants and 5-year-olds. The results, which highlighted sexual dimorphism in brain structure during development with significant detectable differences in multiple regions at the age of 5 years, agree with prior studies showing earlier brain development in females. Also, changes in white matter asymmetry patterns occurred during early childhood, and in 5-year-olds the pattern already resembled adult-like patterns. “We observed sex differences ...

Dysregulation of microRNAs, which are molecules involved in controlling gene expression, can promote tumor formation and progression. A study in The FASEB Journal found that the miR-145 microRNA can suppress the growth of cervical cancer cells. miR-145 was expressed at lower than normal levels in human cervical cancer cells, and lower levels correlated with more advanced clinical stages of cervical cancer in patients.  Experiments in cells and mice revealed the mechanisms behind miR-145 effects and pointed to potential targets that could be ...

Temperature influences how badly pesticides affect bees’ behaviour, suggesting uncertain impacts under climate change, according to a new study. The findings indicate that future extreme temperature events under climate change could increase the impact of pesticides on bee populations and their pollination services. Certain pesticides, particularly a class called neonicotinoids, are known to impact bees and other important insects, and are thought to be contributing to population declines. However, bees’ reported responses to this threat across the world often seem to vary, suggesting other interacting factors ...

Findings paint a bleak picture of little or no financial and health support from governments for their citizens stuck overseas. At least two-thirds of those stranded aboard experienced financial distress and moderate-to-severe levels of depression—a rate that is substantially higher than the general population and health care professionals in the pandemic. **Note: the release below is a special early release from the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2023, Copenhagen, 15-18 April). Please credit the congress if you use this story** **Note – the press release is available in Spanish and ...

The University of Texas at Arlington-based Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center (TMAC) has received a grant worth nearly $500,000 to assist manufacturers in developing and adopting pollution prevention practices that reduce costs and environmental impacts. The $498,836 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Pollution Prevention Program allows both the TMAC Sustainability team and Process Automation Design Engineering (PADE) team to work with manufacturers to prevent pollution in areas considered environmental justice regions. An environmental ...

A University of Texas at Arlington researcher is working to optimize supply chain management to allow for flexibility from forces outside the supply chain, such as policy changes that can cause major disruptions. Linda Wang, assistant professor in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at UTA, has earned a five-year, $503,000 Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for her research. CAREER awards are the NSF’s most prestigious honor for early-career ...

Cambridge University scientists have come up with a system of measuring animal welfare that enables reliable comparison across different types of pig farming. This means that animal welfare can now, for the first time, be properly considered alongside other impacts of farming to help identify which farming systems are best. This is vital for improving animal welfare in livestock production, at a time when demand for meat is rising globally and the way animals are farmed is changing - with concerns about the welfare of intensive and indoor systems. Animal welfare assessments could also enable consumers to be better informed when choosing what to eat. Britain ...

Several scientific journals have amended their submission guidelines after an analysis identified numerous research studies that had been published with crucial information missing. The finding emerged from an analysis by academics at the University of Cambridge, which reviewed reports from trials evaluating new school-based programmes to increase the amount of children’s physical exercise. It found that 98% of these reports left out key details about how teachers had been trained to deliver the interventions. The trial reports ...

New research has debunked the idea that there is an “obesity paradox”, whereby patients with heart failure who are overweight or obese are thought to be less likely to end up in hospital or die than people of normal weight.   The study, which is published in the European Heart Journal [1] today (Wednesday), shows that if doctors measure the ratio of waist to height of their patients, rather than looking at their body mass index (BMI), the supposed survival advantage for people with a BMI of 25kg/m2 or more disappears.   The “obesity paradox” relates to counter-intuitive findings suggesting that, although people are at greater risk of developing ...

Osaka, Japan – The Haber–Bosch reaction helps feed the world by converting nitrogen into ammonia, a fertilizer precursor. However, its carbon footprint is huge: this one reaction is the source of nearly 2% of global carbon emissions. Now, in a study recently published in ACS Energy Letters, researchers from Osaka University have helped re-imagine this reaction to improve the sustainability of the chemical industry. Replacing the Haber–Bosch reaction with a more sustainable alternative has been an active area of research for many years. These efforts have led to a globally well-established electrochemical reaction for ammonia ...

The rapid evolution and emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants, such as the Omicron variant, renders it highly capable of evading the host immunity. At the same time, vaccines based on original wild-type strain of SARS CoV-2 shows reduced protection against newer variants, particularly for the Omicron variant. This results in break-through infections among those vaccinated and highly infectious among non-vaccinated individuals. Thus, it remains uncertain whether new emerging variants of the COVID-19 disease can escape the protective immune response ...

Up-and-coming local biotech startup BetaLife Pte Ltd (“BetaLife”) is collaborating with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) to accelerate the development of next generation cell-based therapy for diabetes. BetaLife, a stem cell therapy company focused on developing regenerative medicine for diabetes, has acquired the rights to human induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (iPSC) technology from A*STAR. This technology enables the generation of iPSCs, which are cells that have similar properties to embryonic ...

The Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus) - also known as Black Vulture, Monk Vulture or Eurasian Black Vulture - is the largest bird of prey in Europe. Globally classified as Near Threatened, its populations in southern Europe, once abundant, have been experiencing a dramatic decline since the late 1800s. So dramatic, in fact, that by the mid-1900s, these birds had already been nowhere to be seen throughout most of their distributional range across the Old Continent. In Bulgaria, the species has been considered locally extinct since 1985. Thanks to the re-introduction initiative that was started in 2015 by three Bulgarian non-governmental organisations: ...

Nine in ten women in England enter pregnancy with at least one indicator that may increase health risks to them and their baby, according to new research. Common indicators were women not quitting smoking, failing to take folic acid before pregnancy or having a previous pregnancy loss. Researchers from the NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre, hosted by University Hospital Southampton and University of Southampton, analysed data from over 650,000 mothers. They created a first national picture of women’s health before ...