Evidence from an ancient eggshell has revealed important new information about the extreme climate change faced by human early ancestors. The research shows parts of the interior of South Africa that today are dry and sparsely populated, were once wetland and grassland 250,000 to 350,000 years ago, at a key time in human evolution. Philip Kiberd and Dr Alex Pryor, from the University of Exeter, studied isotopes and the amino acid from ostrich eggshell fragments excavated at the early middle Stone Age site of Bundu Farm, in the upper Karoo region ...

Reston, VA--A performance evaluation of the uEXPLORER total-body PET/CT scanner showed that it exhibits ultra-high sensitivity that supports excellent spatial resolution and image quality. Given the long axial field of view (AFOV) of the uEXPLORER, study authors have proposed new, extended measurements for phantoms to characterize total-body PET imaging more appropriately. This research was published in the June issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. uEXPLORER is the world's first commercially available total-body PET scanner. The scanner has an AFOV of 194 cm, which allows PET data collection from the ...

Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, have found a way to simultaneously increase the strength and ductility of an alloy by introducing tiny precipitates into its matrix and tuning their size and spacing. The precipitates are solids that separate from the metal mixture as the alloy cools. The results, published in the journal Nature, will open new avenues for advancing structural materials. Ductility is a measure of a material's ability to undergo permanent deformation without breaking. It determines, among other ...

Batteries are potentially a game-changing technology as we decarbonize our economy, and their benefits are even greater when shared across communities, a University of Otago-led study has found. Co-author Associate Professor Michael Jack, Director of the Energy Programme in the Department of Physics, says reducing costs are seeing rapid deployment of batteries for household use, mainly for storing solar and wind power for later use, but they could have a variety of uses in a future electricity grid. "For example, they could be used to feed energy back into the grid when there is a shortfall in renewable supply. ...

Firearm purchases and firearm violence surged dramatically during the first five months of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study from the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program (VPRP), published in Injury Epidemiology. From March through July 2020, an estimated 4.3 million more background checks for firearm purchases occurred nationwide than would have ordinarily -- an 85 percent increase. The total number of firearm purchases during this period was 9.3 million. From April through July 2020, there was a 27% increase in interpersonal firearm injuries, which includes firearm homicides or nonfatal firearm assault injuries. This is approximately 4,075 more injuries ...

Eight pieces of salmon-based maki, nigiri or sashimi or maki unagi (eel) is the safest combination of sushi for adult and adolescent populations. That is one of the findings of TecnATox (Centre for Environmental, Food and Toxicological Technology), a joint research group from the URV and the Pere Virgili Health Research Institute (IISPV), which has analysed the presence of arsenic and various heavy metals in sushi. The consumption of sushi has increased significantly since the start of the 21st century, as has the number of restaurants offering it throughout the region. Although eating fish is recommended because of its high nutritional value, it can also lead to exposure to contaminants, such as heavy metals. Likewise, rice is a food that provides many nutrients ...

The rationale for the research is in the fact that despite the high number of recognized Indigenous groups who are struggling to maintain their languages, cultures, and identities in Russia, there is little research done on the matters of cultural and linguistic revitalization. This study sought to address this gap by exploring the views of two Indigenous groups, Karelian and Mari, on the development of their Indigenous languages and educational strategies to protect and revive their languages. The study relied on in-depth one-on-one interviews with 20 participants, ten from each Indigenous group. The findings show that despite older generations' relative proficiency and interest in their respective Indigenous languages, motivation to master them is ...

ATLANTA - JULY 8, 2021 - Overall cancer death rates continue to decline in men and women for all racial and ethnic groups in the United States, according to the latest Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer. During 2001 to 2018, declines in lung cancer death rates accelerated, and death rates for melanoma declined considerably in more recent years, reflecting a substantial increase in survival for metastatic melanoma. However, the report finds that for several other major cancers, including prostate, colorectal and female breast cancers, previous declining trends in death rates slowed or disappeared. The report, appearing in JNCI: The Journal of the National Cancer Institute, also finds that overall cancer incidence ...

Tooth loss is a risk factor for cognitive impairment and dementia--and with each tooth lost, the risk of cognitive decline grows, according to a new analysis led by researchers at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing and published in JAMDA: The Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. However, this risk was not significant among older adults with dentures, suggesting that timely treatment with dentures may protect against cognitive decline. About one in six adults aged 65 or older have lost all of their teeth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Prior studies show a connection ...

The average body size of humans has fluctuated significantly over the last million years and is strongly linked to temperature. Colder, harsher climates drove the evolution of larger body sizes, while warmer climates led to smaller bodies. Brain size also changed dramatically but did not evolve in tandem with body size. An interdisciplinary team of researchers, led by the Universities of Cambridge and Tübingen, has gathered measurements of body and brain size for over 300 fossils from the genus Homo found across the globe. By combining this data with a reconstruction of the ...

DALLAS, July 8, 2021 -- The stress of experiencing discrimination in multiple ways, including transphobia, interpersonal discrimination, violence and public policies specifically targeting transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people, is linked to higher rates of heart disease among the TGD population, according to a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association, published today in Circulation, the Association's flagship journal. A scientific statement is an expert analysis of current research and may inform future guidelines. The statement, Assessing and Addressing Cardiovascular Health ...

For decades, there has been great interest in whether omega-3 fatty acids can lower rates of cardiovascular events. In 2018, results from the Reduction of Cardiovascular Events with Icosapent Ethyl-Intervention Trial (REDUCE-IT) were published in the New England Journal of Medicine and showed that a high dose of a purified ethyl ester of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) in patients at elevated cardiac risk significantly reduced cardiovascular events. Results from the trial led to US. Food and Drug Administration, Health Canada, and European Medicines Agency approval ...

Myocarditis-or inflammation around the heart--has been reported in some patients with COVID-19. After searching the medical literature, researchers have now summarized the results of 41 studies describing myocarditis in 42 patients with COVID-19. The analysis, which is published in the END ...

In women in their mid-40s to early 50s, endometriosis--a condition in which tissue that normally lines the uterus grows outside the uterus--was linked with poor work ability and more sick days, but not with unemployment or early retirement. The findings, which are published in END ...

Physical relaxation through yoga or other practices can help reduce work-related stress, according to an analysis of studies conducted in healthcare staff. The analysis, which is published in the END ...

Students reported far higher rates of bullying at school before the COVID-19 pandemic than during the pandemic across all forms of bullying--general, physical, verbal, and social--except for cyber bullying, where differences in rates were less pronounced. The findings come from a study published in END ...

A new analysis called an evidence and gap map has mapped what we know about improving the functional ability of older adults living at home or in nursing homes, retirement homes, or other long-term care facilities. A total of 548 studies were included in the map, which is published in END ...

We're currently living in what many scientists are calling the Anthropocene, the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment. An article published in the END ...

Experiencing a variety of positive emotions--or emodiversity--may benefit high school students, according to a study published in the END ...

Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) connect trends in future socio-economic and technological development with impacts on the environment, such as global climate change. Critics have taken issue with the transparency of IAM methods and assumptions as well as the transparency of assessments of IAMs by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change. An article published in END ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The number of adolescents admitted to the hospital for severe illness from eating disorders has increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, new research suggests. At one center, the number of hospital admissions among adolescents with eating disorders more than doubled during the first 12 months of the pandemic, according to the study that appears in a pre-publication of Pediatrics. The 125 hospitalizations among patients ages 10-23 at Michigan Medicine in those 12 months reflect a significant increase over previous years, as admissions related to eating disorders ...

Using single cell technology, a new study sheds light on the significance of genetic risk factors for, and the diversity of cells involved in, the development of coronary artery disease. The researchers analysed human atherosclerotic lesions to map the chromatin accessibility of more than 7,000 cells. The chromatin accessibility is known to reflect active regions and genes in the genome. The findings were published in Circulation Research. Genome-wide association studies of the human genome have identified over 200 loci associated with coronary artery disease. More than 90% of them ...

If you've watched Netflix, shopped online, or run your robot vacuum cleaner, you've interacted with artificial intelligence, AI. AI is what allows computers to comb through an enormous amount of data to detect patterns or solve problems. The European Union says AI is set to be a "defining future technology." And yet, as much as AI is already interwoven into our everyday lives, there's one area of the globe where AI and its applications are in their infancy, says Ekaterina Kim, an associate professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology's (NTNU) Department of Marine Technology. That area is the Arctic, an area where she has specialized in studying sea ice, among other topics. "It's used a lot in marketing, in medicine, but ...

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- A million years ago, dry seasons became more frequent and forests retreated before the encroaching savanna. Meanwhile, clustered around a nearby lake, our ancient ancestors fashioned stone tools. During the long press of years, mud and sediment in that East African lake turned to stone, trapping pollen and microscopic organisms in its lattice. Today, researchers like Kennie Leet analyze samples of these ancient sediments, known as sediment cores, to create a picture of the environment early humans called home. A doctoral student in geological sciences, Leet is the first author ...

Researchers from University of Mannheim published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that examines the effect of wage inequality on customer satisfaction and firm performance. The study, forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing, is titled "Wage Inequality: Its Impact on Customer Satisfaction and Firm Performance" and is authored by Boas Bamberger, Christian Homburg, and Dominik M. Wielgos. Irrespective of wage cuts and employee layoffs, the wages of top managers rose to record levels during the pandemic and wage inequality continues to grow worldwide. However, according to a 2015 OECD report, "wage inequality is harmful to long-term economic growth and undermines ...