Researchers have found the elusive genetic element controlling the elongated grains and glumes of a wheat variety identified by the renowned botanist Carl Linnaeus more than 250 years ago. The findings relating to Polish wheat, Triticum polonicum, could translate into genetic improvements and productivity in the field. Wheat, in bread, pasta, and other forms, is a vital energy and protein source for humans. Each individual grain is nestled within the glumes and other leaf-like organs called lemma and palea which affect the grain's final size, shape, and weight. Characterised by Linnaeus in 1762, Polish wheat has long grains, glumes, ...

The sun delivers more energy to Earth in one hour than humanity consumes over an entire year. Scientists worldwide are searching for materials that can cost-effectively and efficiently capture this carbon-free energy and convert it into electricity. Perovskites, a class of materials with a unique crystal structure, could overtake current technology for solar energy harvesting. They are cheaper than materials used in current solar cells, and they have demonstrated remarkable photovoltaic properties -- behavior that allows them to very efficiently convert sunlight into electricity. Revealing the nature of perovskites at the atomic scale is critical to understanding their promising capabilities. ...

Scientists, governments and corporations worldwide are racing against the clock to fight climate change, and part of the solution might be in our soil. By adding carbon from the atmosphere to depleted soil, farmers can both increase their yields and reduce emissions. A cover story in Chemical & Engineering News, the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, explores what it would take to get this new practice off the ground. Historically, agricultural soil has provided crops with the nutrients needed to grow, write Senior Editors Melody Bomgardner and Britt Erickson. Today, most soil is considered degraded, leading farmers to rely on fertilizer, irrigation and pesticides, all of which are costly. Scientific advancements ...

Des Plaines, IL - The Canadian Syncope Risk Score (CSRS) is an accurate validated prediction score for emergency department patients with unexplained syncope. These are the results of a study titled Multivariable risk scores for predicting short-term outcomes for emergency department patients with unexplained syncope: A systematic review, to be published in the May issue of Academic Emergency Medicine (AEM) journal, peer-reviewed journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM). Syncope is a common presentation to an emergency department, with patients at risk of experiencing an adverse event within 30 days. Without a standardized risk stratification system of patients, there will be health care ...

Protein intake is more important than protein source if the goal is to gain muscle strength and mass. This is the key finding of a study that compared the effects of strength training in volunteers with a vegan or omnivorous diet, both with protein content considered adequate. In the study, which was conducted by researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil, 38 healthy young adults, half of whom were vegans and half omnivores, were monitored for 12 weeks. In addition to performing exercises to increase muscle strength and mass, the volunteers followed either a mixed diet with both ...

Artificial intelligence is providing new opportunities in a range of fields, from business to industrial design to entertainment. But how about civil engineering and city planning? How might machine- and deep-learning help us create safer, more sustainable, and resilient built environments? A team of researchers from the NSF NHERI SimCenter, a computational modeling and simulation center for the natural hazards engineering community based at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed a suite of tools called BRAILS -- Building Recognition ...

Quality of life relating to physical and mental health can be a key element in the treatment of obese adults. For this reason, interdisciplinary clinical measures including cognitive and behavioral therapy may produce more significant outcomes for these people, reducing not just weight but also symptoms of depression. This is the main conclusion of a study conducted in Brazil by the Obesity Research Group at the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) in Santos, São Paulo state, and published in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition. Considered one of the world’s major public health problems, obesity has ...

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Self-affirmation, the practice of reflecting upon one's most important values, can aid Black medical students in reaching their residency goals. But conversely, it can lead to the perception that they are less qualified for a prestigious residency than their peers. The pandemic has underscored the racial disparities in the quality of healthcare, a field in which Black Americans are vastly underrepresented as medical physicians. New Northwestern University research aims to address the "leaky pipeline" preventing Black medical students from completing medical school to pursuing residencies in high-need and underrepresented areas. Sylvia Perry, assistant professor of psychology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern, is the ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Though obesity in midlife is linked to an increased risk for Alzheimer's disease, new research suggests that a high body mass index later in life doesn't necessarily translate to greater chances of developing the brain disease. In the study, researchers compared data from two groups of people who had been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment - half whose disease progressed to Alzheimer's in 24 months and half whose condition did not worsen. The researchers zeroed in on two risk factors: body mass index (BMI) and a cluster of ...

BOSTON - In a major breakthrough, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have discovered how amyloid beta--the neurotoxin believed to be at the root of Alzheimer's disease (AD)--forms in axons and related structures that connect neurons in the brain, where it causes the most damage. Their findings, published in Cell Reports, could serve as a guidepost for developing new therapies to prevent the onset of this devastating neurological disease. Among his many contributions to research on AD, Rudolph Tanzi, PhD, vice chair of Neurology and co-director of the McCance Center for Brain Health at MGH, led a team ...

The development of antibodies to the COVID-19 virus has been the great long-term hope of ending the pandemic. However, immune system turncoats are also major culprits in severe cases of COVID-19, Yale scientists report in the journal Nature. These autoantibodies target and react with a person's tissues or organs similar to ones that cause autoimmune diseases such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis. In COVID-19 cases they can attack healthy tissue in brain, blood vessels, platelets, liver, and the gastrointestinal tract, researchers report. The more autoantibodies detected, the greater the disease severity experienced ...

A research team has found that a method commonly used to skirt one of metal 3D printing's biggest problems may be far from a silver bullet. For manufacturers, 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, provides a means of building complex-shaped parts that are more durable, lighter and more environmentally friendly than those made through traditional methods. The industry is burgeoning, with some predicting it to double in size every three years, but growth often goes hand in hand with growing pains. Residual stress, a byproduct of the repeated heating and cooling inherent to metal printing processes, can ...

During a 15-year study of wild bees visiting blueberry fields during their blooming season, researchers caught an unexpected glimpse of how extreme weather events can impact bee populations highlighting the need for more long-term studies, says a Michigan State University researcher. "There are few bee studies in the U.S. that have sampled bees for many years at the same location," said Rufus Isaacs, a professor in the Department of Entomology within the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, "There are even fewer that use the same methods over more than a decade." The research ...

The younger generation of workers, although raised with and on technology, are not as technology savvy as the older generations believe. A new study by researchers in The University of Toledo John B. and Lillian E. Neff College of Business and Innovation published in the END ...

ATS 2021, New York, NY - Results from the NAVIGATOR study of tezepelumab showed that the new biologic therapy significantly reduced exacerbations requiring hospital stays and emergency department (ED) visits for adults and adolescents with severe, uncontrolled asthma, according to research presented at the ATS 2021 International Conference. NAVIGATOR (NCT03347279) is a recently completed randomized, placebo-controlled double-blind multicenter phase 3 clinical trial. "Tezepelumab offers new therapeutic opportunities for patients who are currently ineligible for biologic treatments," said study author/investigator Arnaud Bourdin, MD, professor, Département de Pneumologie et Addictologie, PhyMedExp, University ...

ATS 2021, New York, NY - Results from the VOYAGE study of dupilumab (Dupixent) showed that the monoclonal antibody significantly reduced exacerbations in children ages 6-11 with uncontrolled moderate-to-severe asthma, compared to placebo, according to research presented at the ATS 2021 International Conference. VOYAGE (NCT02948959) is a recently completed randomized, placebo-controlled double-blind multicenter phase 3 clinical trial, that took place in a number of countries. Dupilumab also rapidly improved lung function within two weeks, an improvement that was sustained for up to 52 weeks (the length of the trial), compared to placebo. "We hope results from the VOYAGE ...

The international community has made major progress towards the global target on protected and conserved area coverage, but has fallen far short on its commitments on the quality of these areas, according to a new report from the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), produced with support from the National Geographic Society. The latest edition of the biennial Protected Planet Report is the final report card on Aichi Target 11 - the global 10-year target on protected and conserved areas which aimed to bring important benefits to both biodiversity ...

ATLANTA - MAY 19, 2021 - Cancer prevention and early detection measures show mixed progress, and substantial racial/ethnic, socioeconomic, and geographic disparities continue to exist according to the recent American Cancer Society (ACS) article on cancer prevention and early detection efforts in the United States in 2018 and 2019. All data was compiled prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study, which appears in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, and accompanies the ACS's biennial report, Cancer Prevention & Early Detection Facts & Figures, is one of the only sources that looks at major modifiable ...

Abu Dhabi, UAE: NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) researchers have developed a special noncontact multi-physics probe (NMP) that enables them to collect cytoplasmic samples from single tumor cells without disrupting their spatial configurations in the original tissue. The tiny tool can also be used to introduce foreign materials to selected cells within the tissue to alter their genetic makeup. As a result, the NMP will facilitate advanced studies that could improve the current understanding of the basic building blocks of diseases, including cancer and Alzheimers, and lead to the development of new therapies. Moreover, this could lead to a powerful tool in the field of stem cell biology and reprogramming. ...

No one expected the "Automated Guided Vehicles" at St. Olavs Hospital in Trondheim, Norway, to have personalities. These motorized units, like long boxes on wheels, are merely meant to transport garbage, medical equipment or food from one part of the hospital to another.  But because they have to interact with humans, by warning them to get out of the way, they have to talk. And that's when the fun began. Instead of using a generic Norwegian voice, they decided to give the hospital robots a voice that used the strong, distinctive local dialect. Suddenly these stainless-steel boxes, rolling around the hospital to transport goods, had a personality. They were kind of pushy. A little ...

The coronavirus pandemic has created a great demand for rapidly diagnosing SARS-CoV-2 infections. Reliable rapid tests are needed, for example, at airports and ports for testing travellers quickly and effortlessly before their journey. Researchers at the University of Helsinki have developed a new rapid assay principle for viral antigen detection, applying it to diagnosing SARS-CoV-2 infections. The test is based on a phenomenon known as time-resolved Förster resonance energy transfer (TR-FRET), where energy travels between two light-sensitive molecules when they are close enough to each other. TR-FRET makes it possible to measure viral particles or the body's own proteins by using what ...

Scientists from Tomsk Polytechnic University and Université Grenoble Alpes (France) have proposed a more accurate method for loading capability assessment of power transformers. As an example, the scientists defined the loading capability of the power transformer in Tomsk and Grenoble. The research findings are published in the International Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems (IF: 3,588, Q1). The cost of a power transformer can reach a few hundred million rubles that makes it the most expensive element of an electrical grid. Therefore, power engineers tend to use the loading capability of transformers in full. The method proposed by the TPU scientists can help to operate power transformers closer to their thermal limit. It will allow operators to control ...

Research has found that strict lockdowns to reduce the spread of COVID-19 might be responsible for delaying normal cardiorespiratory development in children. The study, the first to examine the topic, is published in the European Journal of Pediatrics. It was carried out by Dr Lee Smith of Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and a team of academics from Spain, led by Dr Ruben Lopez-Bueno of the University of Zaragoza. The research involved a group of 89 children from a school in north-eastern Spain. The country introduced a strict six-week lockdown in spring 2020, during which under-15s were unable to leave their homes except for medical ...

World-leading eye experts have made a breakthrough that could potentially change the way cataracts are treated - with potential for drug therapy to replace surgery. Cataract is a clouding of the eye lens that develops over time and affects the quality of vision. It is caused by an accumulation of protein in the lens that reduce the transmission of light to the retina. Previous research led by ARU found that cataracts account for almost half of global cases of blindness. A significantly developed cataract can only currently be treated by a surgical procedure to remove the cloudy lens and insert an artificial replacement. A team of international scientists, ...

Due to the extensive clearing of their habitat, these primates sometimes turn to palm oil monocultures while foraging. This often leads to conflicts with farmers. The macaques do not damage the palm oil fruits to any great extent. On the contrary, they can even benefit palm oil cultivation, as they are excellent hunters of the masses of rats found on plantations, the main pest found there. As a new study has now been able to prove, however, regularly visiting the plantations has a significant impact on macaques' social behaviour. This was shown by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), Leipzig University (UL), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv). The new findings ...