For women who had participated in both of their previous two screening examinations, the incidence of breast cancers proving fatal within 10 years of diagnosis was 50 per cent lower than in women who did not attend either of the last two screening examinations. Compared with women who attended only one of the two previous screens, women who attended both had a significant 22-33 per cent reduction in breast cancer mortality. Lead author, Professor Stephen Duffy of Queen Mary University of London, said: "While there is ample evidence that breast cancer mortality is reduced in those who attend screening, these results demonstrate that repeated attendance ...

Gas around black holes and interstellar medium distribution are key factors in understanding the growth of supermassive black holes and the evolution of their host galaxies. However, as a crucial parameter, gas density is hard to be determined reliably, because the general method is not applicable to all quasars. Researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) for the first time detected a "sharp rise" signature in the detection rate of broad absorption line (BAL) variations, which in turn deduced ionized gas density. The work was published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters on January 11, 2021. The ionization state of a gaseous outflow requires a ...

New research shows that people diagnosed with a genetic condition, called alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD), are far more likely to stop smoking and therefore prevent the development of lung disease. The study, led by researchers from RCSI University of Medicine and Health Science, is published in COPD: Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. It is estimated that 265,000 people on the island of Ireland are affected by either severe or moderate AATD, but the vast majority of people with AATD have not been diagnosed. Previously, it was assumed that only people with severe AATD were at risk of lung disease. Recent Irish research has shown that people with the far more common moderate form ...

Lithium-ion battery fire hazards are extensive worldwide and such failure can have a severe implication for both smartphones and electric cars, says the head of the group and Professor in the Department of Electrochemistry at St Petersburg University Oleg Levin. 'From 2012 to 2018, 25,000 cases of catching fire by a wide range of devices in the USA only were reported. Earlier, from 1999 to 2012, only 1,013 cases were reported. The number of fire incidents is increasing as is the number of the batteries being used,' he said. Among the main reasons why lithium ion batteries catch fire or explode are overcharging, short circuit, and others. As a result, the battery is overheated and the battery ...

Semaglutide, an injectable medication taken once a week, offers a nonsurgical way to reduce weight and treat obesity. It could help the more than 70 million adults in the United States who struggle with this chronic condition, says Ildiko Lingvay, M.D., M.P.H., M.S.C.S., professor of internal medicine and population and data sciences at UTSW and lead author of the study, published today in The Lancet. People with diabetes benefit greatly from weight loss, yet they have a much harder time losing weight compared with those without diabetes, Lingvay says. This ...

WEHI researchers have uncovered a process cells use to fight off infection and cancer that could pave the way for precision cancer immunotherapy treatment. Through gaining a better understanding of how this process works, researchers hope to be able to determine a way of tailoring immunotherapy to better fight cancer. Led by Dr Dawn Lin and Dr Shalin Naik and published in Nature Cell Biology, the research provides new insight into the way cells adapt to fight infection. This research lays the foundation for future studies into the body's response to environmental stressors, such as injury, infection or cancer, at a single cell level. At a glance WEHI researchers have studied dendritic ...

HPSTAR scientists Dr. Songhao Guo and Dr. Xujie Lü report three orders of magnitude increase in the photoconductivity of Cs2PbI2Cl2 from its initial value, at the industrially achievable level of 2 GPa, using pressure regulation. Impressively, pressure regulating the 2D perovskite's excitonic features gains it 3D compound characteristics without diminishing its own advantages, making it a more promising material for photovoltaic and photodetector applications. Their study is published as a Cover article in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Two-dimensional (2D) halide perovskites have recently emerged for photovoltaic and optoelectronic ...

In a report summary released today Thomas McAndrew, a computational scientist and assistant professor at Lehigh University's College of Health includes probabilistic forecasts of the impact of vaccines and variants on the U.S. COVID trajectory over the next few weeks. The goal of the report, says McAndrew, is "to support public health officials, infectious disease modeling groups, and the general public" Report highlights: A consensus of 91 forecasters predicts that the B.1.1.7. variant will be found in 42% of all genetic sequences with an S-gene mutation in the first two weeks of March and in 72% in all sequences between ...

Researchers have captured the first detailed images of newborn babies' lungs as they take their first breaths. The research, led by the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) and published the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, provides a breakthrough in understanding the events around a baby's first breath, why healthy babies cry at birth and provides clues to improving preterm babies' survival chances and long term health outcomes. About 10 per cent of newborns, and almost all preterm infants, need resuscitation because their lungs do not properly fill with air at birth (a process called lung aeration). Despite ...

New research from UBC finds that higher life satisfaction is associated with better physical, psychological and behavioural health. The research, published recently in The Milbank Quarterly, found that higher life satisfaction is linked to 21 positive health and well-being outcomes including: a 26 per cent reduced risk of mortality a 46 per cent reduced risk of depression a 25 per cent reduced risk of physical functioning limitations a 12 per cent reduced risk of chronic pain a 14 per cent reduced risk of sleep problem onset an eight per cent higher likelihood of frequent physical activity better psychological well-being on ...

If you've ever swatted a mosquito away from your face, only to have it return again (and again and again), you know that insects can be remarkably acrobatic and resilient in flight. Those traits help them navigate the aerial world, with all of its wind gusts, obstacles, and general uncertainty. Such traits are also hard to build into flying robots, but MIT Assistant Professor Kevin Yufeng Chen has built a system that approaches insects' agility. Chen, a member of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the Research Laboratory of Electronics, has developed insect-sized drones with unprecedented dexterity and resilience. The aerial robots ...

Green tea supplements modulate facial development of children with Down syndrome A new study led by Belgian and Spanish researchers published in Scientific Reports adds evidence about the potential benefits of green tea extracts in Down syndrome. The researchers observed that the intake of green tea extracts can reduce facial dysmorphology in children with Down syndrome when taken during the first three years of life. Additional experimental research in mice confirmed the positive effects at low doses. However, they also found that high doses of the extract can disrupt facial and bone development. More research is needed to fully understand the effects of green tea extracts and therefore they should ...

Imagine a robot. Perhaps you've just conjured a machine with a rigid, metallic exterior. While robots armored with hard exoskeletons are common, they're not always ideal. Soft-bodied robots, inspired by fish or other squishy creatures, might better adapt to changing environments and work more safely with people. Roboticists generally have to decide whether to design a hard- or soft-bodied robot for a particular task. But that tradeoff may no longer be necessary. Working with computer simulations, MIT researchers have developed a concept for a soft-bodied robot that can turn rigid on demand. The approach could enable a new generation of robots that combine the strength and precision of rigid robots with the fluidity and safety of ...

The models used to produce global climate scenarios may overestimate the energy and emission savings from improved energy efficiency, warns new research led by academics at the University of Sussex Business School and the University of Leeds. In a review of 33 studies, the researchers find that economy wide rebound effects may erode around half of the energy and emission savings from improved energy efficiency. These rebound effects result from individuals and businesses responding to the benefits of improved energy efficiency - such as cheaper heating, lighting and travel. These responses improve quality-of-life, raise productivity and boost industrial competitiveness, ...

Professor Christiani Jeyakumar Henry, Senior Advisor of Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation (SIFBI), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and his team have developed a Glycaemic Index (GI) glossary of non-Western foods. The research paper (attached PDF) was published in Nutrition & Diabetes on 6 Jan 2021: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41387-020-00145-w. Observational studies have shown that the consumption of low glycaemic index (GI) foods is associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), significantly less insulin resistance and a lower prevalence of the metabolic syndrome. ...

Recently, research team led by academician GUO Guangcan from CAS Key Laboratory of Quantum Information of the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of CAS, has made an important progress in quantum information theory. Prof. LI Chuanfeng and Prof. XIANG Guoyong from the team, cooperated with Dr. Strelstov from University of Warsaw, investigated the imaginary part of quantum theory as a resource, and several important results have been obtained. Relevant results are now jointly published as Editors' Suggestion in Physical Review Letters and Physical Review A. Complex number is a mathematical ...

It is millions of trillions of times brighter than the sunlight and a whopping 1,000 trillionth of a second, appropriately called the instantaneous light. It is the X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) light that opens a new scientific paradigm. Combining it with AI, an international research team has succeeded in filming and restoring the 3D structure of nanoparticles that share structural similarities with viruses. With the fear of a new pandemic growing around the world due to COVID-19, this discovery is attracting the attention among academic circles for imaging the structure of the virus with both high accuracy and speed. An international team of researchers from POSTECH, National University of ...

Targeted, efficient and with few side effects: A new method for combating periodontitis could render the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics superfluous. It was developed and tested for the first time by a team from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology IZI and Periotrap Pharmaceuticals GmbH. The aim is to neutralise only bacteria that cause periodontitis while sparing harmless bacteria. The study appeared in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Periodontitis is a common bacterial inflammation of the gums. According to the World Health Organization WHO Oral ...

Ask Eric Weaver about pandemics, and he's quick to remind you of a fact that illustrates the fleeting nature of human memory and the proximal nature of human attention: The first pandemic of the 21st century struck not in 2019, but 2009. That's when the H1N1/09 swine flu emerged, eventually infecting upwards of 1.4 billion people -- nearly one of every five on the planet at the time. True to the name, swine flus jump to humans from pigs. It's a phenomenon that has been documented more than 400 times since the mid-2000s in the United States alone. "They're considered the great mixing vessel," said Weaver, associate professor of biological sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. "They're susceptible to their own circulating ...

Parents who reported more hassles using a child car seat or booster seat - such as the child is uncomfortable or having to make multiple trips in a day - were less likely to follow recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) on child passenger safety, according to a study published in the journal Academic Pediatrics. Researchers obtained information about transportation safety behaviors and 20 hassles when using child car seats among 238 socioeconomically and racially diverse parents of children 1 to 10 years of age. Eighty percent of parents reported at least a little bit of a problem with one ...

Neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease are in the firing line after researchers identified an attractive therapeutic drug target. An international collaboration, co-led by University of Queensland researchers, has isolated and analysed the structure and function of a protein found in the brain's nerve fibres called SARM1. Dr Jeff Nanson said the protein was activated when nerve fibres were damaged by injury, disease, or as a side effect of certain drugs. "After a damaging incident occurs, this protein often induces ...

Fireworks are used in celebrations around the world, including Independence Day in the U.S., the Lantern Festival in China and the Diwali Festival in India. However, the popular pyrotechnic displays emit large amounts of pollutants into the atmosphere, sometimes causing severe air pollution. Now, researchers reporting in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology have estimated that, although so-called environmentally friendly fireworks emit 15-65% less particulate matter than traditional fireworks, they still significantly deteriorate air quality. Fireworks displays can cause health problems, such as respiratory ailments, because they ...

Wine lovers recognize that a perfectly paired wine can make a delicious meal taste even better, but the reverse is also true: Certain foods can influence the flavors of wines. Now, researchers reporting in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry have explored how lipids -- fatty molecules abundant in cheese, meats, vegetable oils and other foods -- interact with grape tannins, masking the undesirable flavors of the wine compounds. Tannins are polyphenolic compounds responsible for the bitterness and astringency of red wines. Wine testers have noticed that certain foods reduce these sensations, improving the flavor of a wine, but scientists aren't sure why. Some studies have ...

DALLAS, March 3, 2021 -- American Indian people with atrial fibrillation (AFib) had the highest risk of non-hemorrhagic stroke when compared with people in other racial and ethnic groups, and they also experienced the highest overall risk for stroke even without atrial fibrillation (AFib), according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access journal of the American Heart Association. "In previous research, we have confirmed that American Indian individuals, when compared with those in other racial or ethnic groups, have the highest risk of atrial fibrillation, which is a quivering or irregular heartbeat that can substantially increase the risk of blood clots and stroke," said lead study ...

DALLAS, March 3, 2021 -- The association between race and ethnicity and specific characteristics of some U.S. counties may have a significant impact on death rates related to cardiovascular disease, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access journal of the American Heart Association. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. across all racial and ethnic groups, and disparities in cardiovascular outcomes for racial and ethnic minority groups have been documented extensively. This study presents a detailed analysis of county-level predictors of cardiovascular ...