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Social Science12 Apr 2021

Study snapshot: Do students in gifted programs perform better?

Study: "Do Students in Gifted Programs Perform Better? Linking Gifted Program Participants to Achievement and Nonachievement Outcomes" Authors: Christopher Redding (University of Florida), Jason A. Grissom (Vanderbilt University) This study will be presented today at the AERA 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting. Session: On the Road to Equity: Studies of the Impact and Influences of Education Policy Date/Time: Saturday, April 10, 2:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. ET Main Findings: Participating in elementary school gifted programs is associated with reading and math achievement for the average student, ...

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Science12 Apr 2021

Search for sterile neutrinos: It's all about a bend in the curve

There are many questions surrounding the elementary particle neutrino, in particular regarding its mass. Physicists are also interested in whether besides the "classic" neutrinos there are variants such as the so-called sterile neutrinos. The KATRIN experiment has now succeeded in strongly narrowing the search for these elusive particles. The publication appeared recently in the journal Physical Review Letters. Strictly speaking, the neutrino is not a singleparticle but rather comprises several species: the electron neutrino, the muon neutrino, and the tau neutrino. These particles are constantly transforming ...

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Science12 Apr 2021

Speeding up sequence alignment across the tree of life

A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institutes of Developmental Biology in Tübingen and the Max Planck Computing and Data Facility in Garching develops new search capabilities that will allow to compare the biochemical makeup of different species from across the tree of life. Its combination of accuracy and speed is hitherto unrivalled. Humans share many sequences of nucleotides that make up our genes with other species - with pigs in particular, but also with mice and even bananas. Accordingly, some proteins in our bodies - strings of amino acids assembled according to the blueprint of the genes - can also be the same as (or similar to) some proteins in other species. These similarities might sometimes indicate that two species ...

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Science12 Apr 2021

Auxin visualized for the first time

A team of scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen and the University of Bayreuth have created a novel tool that provides a real-time visualization of the growth-regulating hormone auxin in living plant cells. This new biosensor enables them to observe spatial and temporal redistribution dynamics of the plant hormone, for example in conjunction with changing environmental conditions. Auxin plays a central role in plant life. The hormone regulates various processes, from embryonic development to the formation of roots and the directional growth in response to light and gravity. Auxin binds to specific receptors in the nucleus of a cell, leading to an activation of signaling cascades that ...

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Engineering12 Apr 2021

The infrastructure of social control

Study: "The Infrastructure of Social Control: A Multi-Level Counterfactual Analysis of Surveillance, Punishment, Achievement, and Persistence" Authors: Odis Johnson (Johns Hopkins University), Jason F. Jabbari (Washington University in St. Louis) This study will be presented today at the AERA 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting. Session: The School-to-Prison and Prison-to-School Pipelines: Studies of the Nexus of Schooling and the Justice System Date/Time: Sunday, April 11, 10:40 a.m. - 12:10 p.m. ET Main Findings: After controlling for levels of school social disorder and student misbehavior, students attending ...

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Medicine12 Apr 2021

Study provides new insights into resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors

New research by Yale Cancer Center shows insights into modeling resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors, a form of cancer immunotherapy. The study was presented today at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) virtual annual meeting. "Acquired resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors is a growing clinical challenge. About 50% of lung cancer patients who initially respond to immune checkpoint inhibitors eventually develop acquired resistance to these therapies," said Camila Robles-Oteiza, lead author of the study from Yale Cancer Center. ...

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Environment12 Apr 2021

Policy decisions will affect coastal communities' risk more than climate change

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Coastal communities face increasing danger from rising water and storms, but the level of risk will be more closely tied to policy decisions regarding development than the varying conditions associated with climate change, new research by Oregon State University suggests. The findings, published in the journal Water, provide an important framework for managing the interactions between human-made and natural systems in cities and towns along shorelines as the Earth continues to warm, the researchers said. Professor Peter Ruggiero of OSU's College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences and John Bolte, chair of OSU's Biological and Ecological Engineering program, led the study, which employed a modeling platform known as ...

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Medicine12 Apr 2021

Activating the brain's immune system against cancer prevents it from spreading

Groundbreaking research from Tel Aviv University may lead to a significant breakthrough in the battle against deadly brain cancer. To begin with, the researchers identified a failure in the brain's immune system, leading to the amplification of cell division and spread of Glioblastoma cancer cells. The failure results partially from the secretion of a protein called P-Selectin (SELP), which, when bound to its receptor on the brain immune cells, alters their function so that instead of inhibiting the spread of cancer cells, they do the opposite, enabling them to proliferate and penetrate brain tissues. At the next stage of the study, the researchers were able to inhibit the secretion of the SELP protein, thereby neutralizing the failure in the immune system, restoring its normal activity, ...

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Science12 Apr 2021

Scientists put the stopwatch on cannabis intoxication

A comprehensive analysis of 80 scientific studies has identified a 'window of impairment' of between three and 10 hours caused by moderate to high doses of the intoxicating component of cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The findings have implications for the application of drug-driving laws globally, researchers say. The study found the exact duration of impairment depends on the dose of THC, whether the THC is inhaled or taken orally, whether the cannabis user is regular or occasional and the demands of the task being undertaken while intoxicated. The study represents the first ...

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Science12 Apr 2021

Life on Venus? First we need to know more about molecules in the atmosphere

The search for life on other planets has received a major boost after scientists revealed the spectral signatures of almost 1000 atmospheric molecules that may be involved in the production or consumption of phosphine, a study led by UNSW Sydney revealed. Scientists have long conjectured that phosphine - a chemical compound made of one phosphorous atom surrounded by three hydrogen atoms (PH3) - may indicate evidence of life if found in the atmospheres of small rocky planets like our own, where it is produced by the biological activity of bacteria. So when an international team of scientists last year claimed to ...

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Science12 Apr 2021

Human-induced drying trend in Central Asia since the 1950s

The economies of northern Central Asia rely heavily on agriculture and are particularly affected by changes in the local hydrological cycle. However, this region is one of the largest dryland regions in the Northern Hemisphere and is facing a crisis of water resources shortage in recent decades. One example is the rapid desiccation and salinization of the Aral Sea. While the construction of dams, diversion of waterways and wasting of water have been blamed for the shortage, how climate change has influenced regional water resources remains unknown. In a recently published research article in Geophysical Research Letters (drying trend over northern Central Asia), Jie Jiang and Tianjun Zhou from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese ...

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Space12 Apr 2021

Differences of cloud top height between satellites and ground-based radar revealed

Clouds play a key role in balancing incoming and outgoing solar and thermal radiation. This is a critical process in the earth-atmosphere system. Monitoring cloud height, particle size, particle concentration, etc. are integral to understanding climate dynamics and global climate change. These physical attributes determine the radiative forcing effect of a cloud, or how much incoming radiation that a cloud reflects back to space. Satellites and ground-based radar can measure the cloud top height (CTH). However, inconsistencies exist between various satellites and radar data due to different detection methods and algorithms used to process raw information. To quantify these conflicts, Bo Liu, jointly supervised by Dr. Juan Huo and Prof. Daren Lyu from Institute of Atmospheric ...

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Medicine12 Apr 2021

Centrifugal multispun nanofibers put a new spin on COVID-19 masks

KAIST researchers have developed a novel nanofiber production technique called 'centrifugal multispinning' that will open the door for the safe and cost-effective mass production of high-performance polymer nanofibers. This new technique, which has shown up to a 300 times higher nanofiber production rate per hour than that of the conventional electrospinning method, has many potential applications including the development of face mask filters for coronavirus protection. Nanofibers make good face mask filters because their mechanical interactions with aerosol particles give them a greater ability ...

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Science12 Apr 2021

Family ties: Early cardiac events pose major and different risks in close relatives

Family history of early cardiac events in first degree relatives such as a parent or sibling is a major risk factor, especially for premature events. Currently, data on risks in close relatives of patients with a family history of premature heart attacks, chronic stable angina or peripheral vascular disease are sparse. Researchers from Florida Atlantic University's Schmidt College of Medicine in collaboration with an international team of leading scientists in Italy, the United Kingdom and Poland, assembled a consecutive series of 230 patients with premature onset of heart attacks, strokes, angina or peripheral artery disease and a comparison group of apparently healthy men and women during a 24-month period. The comparison group had no family or ...

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Medicine12 Apr 2021

Weight linked to risk of second cancer after breast cancer

Breast cancer survivors who are overweight have a statistically significant increased risk of developing second primary cancers, according to results from a study conducted by Kaiser Permanente researchers and published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. There are approximately 3.9 million breast cancer survivors in the United States today and studies have found women diagnosed with breast cancer have an 18% increased risk for developing a second cancer compared to the general population. This increased risk is likely due to shared risk factors between the first and second cancers, genetic susceptibility, and long-term effects of breast ...

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Science12 Apr 2021

Husbands still seen as the experts on their household's finances

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Men were more likely to be the spouse with the most knowledge of a couple's finances in 2016 than they were in 1992 - especially in wealthy couples, a new study suggests. Results come from a survey that interviewed the spouse in mixed-sex married couples that was identified by a household member as "more knowledgeable about the household finances." In 2016, 56% of husbands were designated as most knowledgeable, up from 53% in 1992 and 49% in 1995. But among households in the top 1% of net worth, the husband was designated as the most knowledgeable in 90% of the households in 2016. "Despite the progress women have made in society, there still seems to be a gender gap in who takes care of the finances, especially in wealthy households," said ...

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Medicine12 Apr 2021

Study finds medical financial hardship common in adult survivors of AYA cancers

ATLANTA - APRIL 12, 2021 - New study finds higher medical financial hardship in adult survivors of adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancers than in adults without a history of cancer in the United States. The study appears in JNCI: The Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Experts have known that cancer and its treatment can cause significant financial hardship to cancer survivors and their families. However, the long-term economic implications for adult survivors of AYA cancers were not fully understood. In this study, investigators led by Amy D. Lu, MD, The Hospital for Sick Children, and Zhiyuan "Jason" ...

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Science12 Apr 2021

Study snapshot: Untested admissions

Study: "Untested Admissions: Examining Changes in Application Behaviors and Student Demographics Under Test-Optional Policies" Author: Christopher Bennett (Vanderbilt University) This study was published today in American Educational Research Journal. Key Findings: In undergraduate admissions, the adoption of test-optional policies at selective private institutions was linked to a 3-4 percent increase in enrollment of Pell Grant recipients, a 10-12 percent increase in enrollment of first-time Black, Latinx, and Native students, and a 6-8 percent increase in enrollment of first-time students who were women. However, these gains translate into only a 1 percentage point increase in the ...

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Science12 Apr 2021

Study snapshot: Disproportionate burden

Study: "Disproportionate Burden: Estimating the Cost of FAFSA Verification for Public Colleges and Universities" Authors: Alberto Guzman-Alvarez (University of Pittsburgh), Lindsay C. Page (University of Pittsburgh) This study was published today in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. Main Findings: The institutional compliance costs of the FAFSA verification mandate in 2014 totaled nearly $500 million, with the burden falling disproportionately on public institutions and community colleges in particular. Twenty-two percent of an average community college's financial aid office ...

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Social Science12 Apr 2021

Study snapshot: 21st century tracking and de facto school segregation

Study: "21st Century Tracking and De Facto School Segregation: Excluding and Hoarding Access to College Prep" Author: Heather E. Price (Marian University) This study will be presented today at the AERA 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting. Session: Schools and Social Policy: Segregation, Housing, and Transportation Date/Time: Monday, April 12, 9:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. ET Main Finding: The prevalence of Black, non-Hispanic students in high schools that do not offer any AP or IB courses in multi-school districts that fund college-prep curricula cannot be explained by resource or school factors. Details: Using national data, this study examined how the ...

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Medicine12 Apr 2021

Ben-Gurion University researchers developing probiotic yogurt-based drugs

BEER-SHEVA, Israel...April 13, 2021 - Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) have for the first time identified new drug candidates based on molecules isolated from probiotic Kefir yogurt for combating pathogenic bacteria and treating various inflammatory conditions, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and COVID-19 related cytokine storms. The research, published in Microbiome, a leading peer-reviewed publication was led by Orit Malka, a Ph.D. student of Prof. Raz Jelinek, GU vice president and dean for research and development. "These results are notable, since this is the first demonstration that virulence of human pathogenic bacteria can be mitigated ...

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Social Science12 Apr 2021

Paying for whose performance? Teacher incentive pay and the black-white test score gap

Study: "Paying for Whose Performance? Teacher Incentive Pay and the Black-White Test Score Gap" Authors: Andrew J. Hill (Montana State University), Daniel B. Jones (University of Pittsburgh) This study was published today in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. Key Finding: Teacher incentive pay programs that focused on raising student achievement in high-need high schools expanded the test score gap between Black and White students by between 64 percent and 85 percent. Details: The Black-White test score gap has proven to be one of the most persistent phenomena in American education, for reasons that cannot be entirely explained by student characteristics or school and teacher quality. Teacher performance pay is increasingly common in the United States ...

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Environment12 Apr 2021

Thawing permafrost cools Arctic currents: This might affect fish stocks

GEOGRAFI A new study by a University of Copenhagen researcher finds that thawing permafrost in Alaska causes colder water in smaller rivers and streams. This surprising consequence of climate change could affect the survival of fish species in the Arctic's offshore waters. Arctic stream The study's researchers discovered that thawing permafrost causes groundwater to run deeper, where it becomes cooler than when it flows near the soil surface. Rising global temperatures are causing frozen Arctic soil - permafrost - to thaw. In a new study, researchers have discovered something surprising: small ...

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Medicine12 Apr 2021

Exercise promotes healthy living and a healthy liver

Tsukuba, Japan - Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common liver disorder worldwide, affecting as much as a quarter of humanity. It is characterized by fat accumulation in liver cells and may progress to inflammation, cirrhosis and liver failure. Now, researchers at the University of Tsukuba reveal the positive effects, beyond the expected weight-loss benefit, of exercise on the liver. NAFLD is associated with unhealthy behaviors such as overeating and a sedentary lifestyle. In Japan 41% of middle-aged men have NAFLD and 25% will progress to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and hepatic dysfunction. Weight reduction is fundamental to NAFLD management. Unfortunately, ...

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Medicine12 Apr 2021

To combat gum disease, help oral bacteria evolve

Tsukuba, Japan--Liver disease, from metabolic and bacterial causes, is a growing concern. What connects these dots? The gut, or more specifically, bacteria in the gut. Bacteria that cause inflammation in the mouth are transported through the digestive tract to the gut and liver, where they can cause liver inflammation. Lipopolysaccharides, important structural molecules in some bacteria, act as endotoxins, producing systemic effects that can manifest as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Now, a multidisciplinary team from the University of Tsukuba show that exercise could be used to improve the oral environment in people with NAFLD, potentially leading to a new treatment for the disease. These ...

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