Oil palm trees are the most productive oil crop and global demand is increasing. However, their productivity is due to conventional management practices including high fertilizer usage and herbicide application, resulting in severe environmental damage. A new study by an international, multidisciplinary research team led by the University of Göttingen, shows that shifting to mechanical weeding and reducing fertilizer usage lead to significant increases in both ecosystem multifunctionality and profit. The scientists compared different environmental measures and economic indicators in mechanical weeding, herbicide application, and combinations of these with high and reduced fertilizer ...

A team of researchers has developed a machine learning model that draws from the contents of news articles to effectively predict locations that face risks of food insecurity. The model, which could be used to help prioritize the allocation of emergency food assistance across vulnerable regions, marks an improvement over existing measurements.  “Our approach could drastically improve the prediction of food crisis outbreaks up to 12 months ahead of time using both real-time news streams and a predictive model that is simple to interpret,” says Samuel Fraiberger, a visiting researcher at ...

Cancer cells have an innate randomness in their ability to respond to chemotherapy, which is another tool in their arsenal of resisting treatment, new research led by the Garvan Institute of Medical Research shows. Understanding why some tumour cells become resistant to chemotherapy is a core challenge in cancer research, as chemotherapy is still a frontline treatment for most cancers. The new research shows that tumour cells from neuroblastoma – cancer that develops in the body’s ‘fight or flight’ sympathetic nervous system – can move between states of responding, or not, to chemotherapy. “We showed there is ‘noise’ in the process of cell ...

As a social media user, you can be eager to share content. You can also try to judge whether it is true or not. But for many people it is difficult to prioritize both these things at once. That’s the conclusion of a new experiment led by MIT scholars, which finds that even considering whether or not to share news items on social media reduces people’s ability to tell truths from falsehoods. The study involved asking people to assess whether various news headlines were accurate. But if participants were first asked whether they would share that content, they were 35 percent worse at telling truths from ...

The researchers discovered evidence of horse riding by studying the remains of human skeletons found in burial mounds called kurgans, which were between 4500-5000 years old. The earthen burial mounds belonged to the Yamnaya culture. The Yamnayans had migrated from the Pontic-Caspian steppes to find greener pastures in today´s countries of Romania and Bulgaria up to Hungary and Serbia. Yamnayans were mobile cattle and sheep herders, now believed to be on horseback. “Horseback-riding seems to have evolved not long ...

Researchers at UCL and University of Ghana have successfully predicted whether children have anaemia using only a set of smartphone images. The study, published in PLOS ONE, brought together researchers and clinicians at UCL Engineering, UCLH and Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Ghana to investigate a new non-invasive diagnostic technique using smartphone photographs of the eye and face. The advance could make anaemia screening more widely available for children in Ghana (and other low- and middle-income countries) where ...

A recent study on the genetic makeup of grapevine has revealed fascinating insights into its domestication and evolution. The study, published in the journal Science, suggests that the harsh climate during the Pleistocene era resulted in the fragmentation of wild ecotypes, which paved the way for the domestication of grapevine about 11,000 years ago in the Near East (Israel) and the Caucasus. The research team sequenced the genomes of 3525 grapevine accessions (2503 V. vinifera (domesticated) and 1022 V. sylvestris (wild) accessions of grapevine, to identify the genetic changes that occurred during domestication and evolution of grapevine in Euro-Asia. According to the study, ...

Modifying inflorescences with higher grain capacity is vital for crop grain production. One recurring target is to select inflorescences with more branches or floral structures. Prominent examples include genes affecting floral identity or meristem determinacy, for which natural or induced variants profoundly change floral primordium number. Yet for temperate cereal crops, such as wheat and barley, excessive floral structures can result in a degeneration penalty due to the indeterminate nature of meristems. On the other hand, the manifestation of this reproductive potential can be accentuated by environmental ...

University of Pittsburgh and University of California, Irvine (UCI) researchers have received funding from the National Institute of Aging to advance understanding of real-world patient and family member reactions to biomarker-informed Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders diagnoses. The grant, which is expected to total $3.5 million over up to five years, will enable researchers to better understand the experiences and potential psychological impact of receiving Alzheimer’s biomarker results. These findings will provide important information for supporting patients and their families and inform best practices in the rapidly evolving state-of-the-art diagnostic ...

“In summary, both articles by Yi et al. emphasized the significance of non-canonical functions of EZH2 during PCa [prostate cancer] development [...]”  BUFFALO, NY- March 3, 2023 – A new editorial paper was published in Oncotarget's Volume 14 on February 11, 2023, entitled, “Unveiling the non-canonical functions of EZH2 in prostate cancer.” Prostate cancer (PCa) is ranked as the second leading cause of cancer-related death among American men excluding skin cancer. ...

For older adults with clinical depression that has not responded to standard treatments, adding the drug aripiprazole (brand name Abilify) to an antidepressant they’re already taking is more effective than switching from one antidepressant to another, according to a new multicenter study led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Aripiprazole originally was approved by the FDA in 2002 as a treatment for schizophrenia but also has been used in lower doses as an add-on treatment for clinical depression ...

A new white paper by the American Foregut Society recommends expanding the classification of the esophagogastric junction (EGJ) to increase an assessment of the axial hiatal hernia length, hiatal hernia aperture diameter, and presence or absence of the flap value making it more comprehensive. The white paper is published in the December issue of Foregut, the only subscription journal focused exclusively on foregut disease linking medical, endoscopic, and surgical disciplines. Gastrointestinal reflux disease ...

Research Highlights: People who had higher scores for sleep health — based on regularity, satisfaction, alertness, timing, efficiency and duration — during a 12-month weight loss program were more likely to follow the caloric intake and exercise components of the program in comparison to peers who scored lower for sleep health. People with better sleep health attended more of the program’s group sessions. Embargoed until 10:15 a.m. CT/11:15 a.m. ET, Friday, March 3, 2023 DALLAS, March 3, 2023 — ...

From working with Appalachian communities to examining issues of displacement for refugees, two Virginia Tech faculty have made it their life and scholarly mission to recognize the people that society often overlooks. Now a prestigious national foundation is giving them significant resources to tell the hidden historical stories of communities throughout Southwest Virginia, an opportunity to put their passion into action. Emily Satterwhite and Katrina Powell received a $3 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for a three-year project to work with communities across the state’s Appalachia region to commemorate neglected histories. Their project, Monuments ...

Washington, AAAS Annual Meeting. Imagine having a third arm –  a robotic one – to assist you with daily living. Silvestro Micera from EPFL, Switzerland, is engineering the human nervous system to make this a possibility. For decades, professor Silvestro Micera of EPFL has dedicated his research to helping people with sensory and motor deficits to re-gain independence and quality of life by developing wearable and implantable technologies. But this is changing, as he begins to explore what it means to augment the human body. The neuroengineer has thus far avoided the subject of ...

More than 500,000 people in the United States undergo rehabilitation following a stroke or brain injury every year. Movement impairments following a stroke are a major cause of adult disability in the United States, and routine treatments are not currently optimized for individual patient needs. University of Oklahoma biomedical engineer Yuan Yang, Ph.D., has received a Faculty Early Career Development Award, known as a CAREER award, from the National Science Foundation to advance the scientific study of brain functional changes after a stroke and pioneer a tailored rehabilitation strategy that fits individual needs. “The way a stroke victim’s brain adapts to the ...

Helping caregivers take better care of themselves can improve the quality of care they provide to individuals with neurological disabilities, according to experts writing in NeuroRehabilitation Amsterdam, March 3, 2023 – Research on caregiving after neurotrauma and neurological disability extends the focus beyond individuals with neurological conditions to caregivers - family, friends, and significant others who also are also greatly impacted. In this thematic issue published in NeuroRehabilitation, noted experts present the latest research ...

Noel Bairey Merz, MD, professor of cardiology and the director of the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center in the Smidt Heart Institute, will receive the 2023 Master of the ACC Award from the American College of Cardiology (ACC) in honor of her pioneering contributions to the cardiovascular profession. She will be recognized during the ACC’s Annual Scientific Session on Monday, March 6, in New Orleans. The Master of the ACC Award recognizes and honors ACC Fellows who have served with distinction, consistently contributing to the goals and programs ...

Cedars-Sinai investigators have produced the most extensive analysis to date of changes in the retina—a layer of tissue at the back of the eye where visual information originates—and how those retinal changes correspond to brain and cognitive changes in Alzheimer’s disease patients. Their analysis, published in the peer-reviewed journal Acta Neuropathologica, is an important step toward understanding the complex effects of Alzheimer’s disease on the retina, especially at the earliest stages of cognitive impairment. Experts believe this understanding is key for the development of more effective treatments that could prevent ...

A study published in JAMA Network Open has found that in the US between 1999 and 2020, Black infants disproportionately died from necrotizing enterocolitis compared to White infants, despite overall improvements in the rates of death from the disease. Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is one of the most common causes of death in preterm infants. Medically-fragile term infants, such as neonates born with a congenital heart defect, are also at an elevated risk of NEC. Two prior studies reported conflicting trends in NEC rates. One study from 2000-2011 showed increasing rates of death from the condition over time. Another study reported declining rates of NEC from 2006-2017. Researchers ...

Dr. Richard L. Lieber, a senior research career scientist at the Edward Hines, Jr., VA Hospital in Hines, Ill., has received the 2023 Paul B. Magnuson Award for his work to return functional capacity, mobility, and quality of life to Veterans with physical disabilities. The Magnuson Award recognizes outstanding achievement in VA rehabilitation research. Lieber is also a professor in the departments of physiology, biomedical engineering, and physical medicine and rehabilitation at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., and the chief scientific officer and senior vice president at the Shirley Ryan Ability ...

About The Study: This case-control study leveraged a large commercial insurance database and found increased rates of adverse outcomes over a 1-year period for a post–COVID-19 condition (long COVID) cohort surviving the acute phase of illness. The results indicate a need for continued monitoring for at-risk individuals, particularly in the area of cardiovascular and pulmonary management.  Authors: Andrea DeVries, Ph.D., of Elevance Health, Inc., in Indianapolis, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed ...

About The Study: This study found that the frequency of heating complaints was significantly associated with the frequency of structural fires in New York City. Importantly, this association varied across community districts, with more fires occurring in districts with greater proportions of Black and Latinx residents.  Authors: Clifford C. Sheckter, M.D., of the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, California, is the corresponding author.  To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/  (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.1575) Editor’s Note: Please see the ...

Older adults who entered skilled nursing facilities (SNF) for care after hospitalizations after the pandemic received rehabilitation care comparable to the levels of care that were provided pre-pandemic, according to research published in the JAMA Health Forum.   Despite exceptional challenges during the pandemic, SNFs provided post-acute rehabilitation with only a modest decline in intensity, said the researchers. This suggests that SNFs were largely able to adapt and provide post-acute care ...

Recently, a team led by Prof. ZHANG Shiwu from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) and their collaborators from UK and Australia developed a new electro-mechano responsive elastomer that autonomously adjust stiffness, conductivity and strain sensitivity in response to changes in external mechanical loads and electrical signals. Their research was published in Science Advances. Nowadays, more and more application scenarios like soft robotics and medical surgical equipment call for self-tunable intelligent materials. A widely adopted solution is composite material composed of low melting ...