DENVER, Aug. 19, 2024 — Children born with defects that impair the heart’s lower chambers undergo a series of invasive surgeries early in life. The first surgery includes implantation of a plastic tube called a shunt to improve blood flow. However, as children grow, the shunt is often replaced to accommodate their changing bodies. Now, researchers have designed a shunt that expands when activated by light. If developed successfully, this device could reduce the number of open-chest surgeries these children receive. The researchers will present their results at the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ACS Fall 2024 ...

In recent years, public health measures, surveillance, and vaccination have helped bring about significant progress in reducing the impact of seasonal flu epidemics, caused by human influenza viruses A and B. However, a possible outbreak of avian influenza A (commonly known as ‘bird flu’) in mammals, including humans, poses a significant threat to public health.  The Cusack group at EMBL Grenoble studies the replication process of influenza viruses. A new study from this group sheds light on the different mutations that the avian influenza virus can undergo to be able to replicate in mammalian cells.  Some avian influenza ...

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- Energy companies use persistent and personalized pressure to get landowners to give permission for hydraulic fracturing (fracking), and even when landowners decline, companies use legalized compulsion to conduct fracking anyway, according to a new study led by researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York and UNLV. “Hydraulic fracturing is a controversial issue, but a lot of the controversy has been focused on the big-picture consequences, for the climate and the economy,” said Benjamin Farrer, lead author and former PhD student at Binghamton University. “One of our hopes for this paper is that it will encourage policymakers ...

Irvine, Calif., Aug. 19, 2024 — Cities around the globe are experiencing increased flooding due to the compounding effects of stronger storms in a warming climate and urban growth. New research from the University of California, Irvine suggests that urban form, specifically the building density and street network of a neighborhood, is also affecting the intensity of flooding. For a paper published today in Nature Communications, researchers in UC Irvine’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering turned to statistical mechanics ...

Statement Highlights: The latest research indicates that 16% to 85% of people recovering from a stroke experience at least one psychosocial symptom, including depression, anxiety, stress, fatigue and/or decreased quality of life. Critical nursing interventions, such as regular mental health screenings, education, symptom management and follow-up care, are key to reducing the negative effects on a patient’s mental well-being after a stroke, yet only a small proportion of patients receive treatment. ...

With teaching methods for reading and writing under constant scrutiny, and high-stakes testing creating intense pressure to teach strictly to state standards, is there still value in whole-class reading? Two educators believe that whole-class reading should go hand-in-hand with individual instructional reading, and they say it is vital for cultivating a sense of classroom community while developing critical thinking in young minds. Educators Lynsey Burkins and Franki Sibberson, both teachers and educators from Ohio, have published a book called In Community ...

DENVER, Aug. 18, 2024 — If you’ve visited a trendy café in the past few years, you might have noticed “golden” turmeric milk on the menu. Though recently advertised as a caffeine-free, healthy coffee alternative, the drink is a fancified version of haldi doodh — a traditional Indian beverage often used as an at-home cold remedy. And now, researchers have developed an efficient method to make a plant-based, instant version that maintains the beneficial properties of the ingredients while also extending its shelf life. The researchers will present their results at the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ...

DENVER, Aug. 18, 2024 — Artificial intelligence (AI) has exploded in popularity. It powers models that help us drive vehicles, proofread emails and even design new molecules for medications. But just like a human, it’s hard to read AI’s mind. Explainable AI (XAI), a subset of the technology, could help us do just that by justifying a model’s decisions. And now, researchers are using XAI to not only scrutinize predictive AI models more closely, but also to peer deeper into the field of chemistry. The researchers will present ...

DENVER, Aug. 18, 2024 — If you come across brightly colored, cloth-bound books from the Victorian era, you might want to handle them gently, or even steer clear altogether. Some of their attractive hues come from dyes that could pose a health risk to readers, collectors or librarians. The latest research on these poisonous books used three techniques — including one that hasn’t previously been applied to books — to assess dangerous dyes in a university collection and found some volumes may be unsafe to handle. The researchers will present their results at the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ACS Fall 2024 is a hybrid meeting being ...

Tokyo, Japan – Scientists from Tokyo Metropolitan University have identified a new photoreceptor in cyanobacteria with a modification in part of its structure which makes it sensitive to green/teal light. The photoreceptor belongs in a family usually sensitive to red/green light in the environment. They identified the parts of its amino acid structure responsible for this behavior; editing them helped restore sensitivity to red and green light, a remarkable example of molecular “plasticity” in action.   Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, are phenomenally important players ...

Researchers led by Cranfield University have developed new ways to detect sugar syrup adulteration in honey, paving the way for fast and accurate tests to discover fake products. There is growing consumer demand for honey, with £89.8 million worth of honey imported to the UK in 2023. But as a high-value product it is vulnerable to fraud, with syrups added to dilute the pure honey – a report from the European Commission in 2023 found 46% of 147 honey samples tested were likely to have been adulterated with cheap plant syrups. Because honey’s characteristics vary due to sources of nectar, season of harvest and ...

Sustainably reducing inappropriate IV use by more than a third  Reasearch led by Amsterdam UMC, across more than 5 years and 1100 patients has demonstrated a strategy for reducing inappropriate IV use by a third, an effect that was sustained across the five-year period. This should also lead to reduction in the associated infections that effect one in ten patients. These results are published today in The Lancet eClinicalMedicine.  "Infections caused by both IVs and catheters occur in more than 10% of patients and studies indicate that up to a quarter are not necessary. Simply, this means that patients are placed at ...

Two University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists have discovered a new type of “whistler,” an electromagnetic wave that carries a substantial amount of lightning energy to the Earth’s magnetosphere. The research is published today in Science Advances. Vikas Sonwalkar, a professor emeritus, and Amani Reddy, an assistant professor, discovered the new type of wave. The wave carries lightning energy, which enters the ionosphere at low latitudes, to the magnetosphere. The energy is reflected upward by the ionosphere’s ...

A fish on land still waves its fins, but the results are markedly different when that fish is in water. Attributed to renowned computer scientist Alan Kay, the analogy is used to illustrate the power of context in illuminating questions under investigation. In a first for the field of artificial intelligence (AI), a tool called PINNACLE embodies Kay’s insight when it comes to understanding the behavior of proteins in their proper context as determined by the tissues and cells in which these proteins act and ...

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of schools across the U.S. shifted to virtual learning. In a new study, published in Social Education Research, researchers conducted interviews with parents of students who attended middle or high schools to understand how virtual learning impacted their daily routines, stress levels, and the academic performance of the children. The transition to virtual learning necessitated the creation of online lessons in a very short time period and with limited training of teachers. As a result, parents and students had to deal with unexpected changes in their home lives and learning environments. “Virtual learning will not be limited ...

Previous scientific studies have indicated that North American dog lineages were replaced with European ones between 1492 and the present day. To better understand the timing of this replacement, researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of Iowa sequenced mitochondrial DNA from archaeological dogs. Their findings suggest a complex social history of dogs during the early colonial period.  Europeans and Native Americans valued their dogs as companion animals, using them for similar work and as symbols of identity. Consequently, ...

A team led by Jose Onuchic at Rice University and Paul Whitford at Northeastern University, both researchers at the National Science Foundation Physics Frontiers Center at the Center for Theoretical Biological Physics (CTBP) at Rice, has made a discovery in the fight against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus responsible for COVID-19. The team, in partnership with an experimental effort led by Yale University researchers Walter Mothes and Wenwei Li, has uncovered new insights into how the virus infects human cells and how it can be neutralized. Their findings were published in the ...

AURORA, Colo. (August 16, 2024) – A new study, out now in Drug and Alcohol Dependence, that details trends among psychiatric hospitalizations between 2015-2019 finds that while most hospitalizations did not involve any substances, methamphetamine-related hospitalizations have increased while overall number of psychiatric hospitalizations remained stable. Additionally, researchers detail that psychiatric hospitalizations caused by methamphetamine use were highest in the Mountain West region but were also shifting geographically. “Rates of ...

In an innovative ecological article, researchers have unveiled the potential of phytoremediation to curb microplastic pollution. This approach leverages natural plant processes to absorb and diminish micro and nanoplastics, offering a viable solution for managing environmental plastic pollution. This viewpoint advocates utilizing plant life as an effective tool against the widespread issue of plastic contamination in ecosystems. With escalating concerns about the enduring impact of plastic waste, phytoremediation emerges as a promising solution. This method utilizes plants ...

For the decades since their discovery, seismic signals known as PKP precursors have challenged scientists. Regions of Earth’s lower mantle scatter incoming seismic waves, which return to the surface as PKP waves at differing speeds. The origin the precursor signals, which arrive ahead of the main seismic waves that travel through Earth’s core, has remained unclear, but research led by University of Utah geophysicists sheds new light on this mysterious seismic energy. PKP precursors appear to propagate from places deep below North America and the western Pacific and possibly bear an association with “ultra-low velocity zones,” thin layers ...

A recent study has pinpointed the top-performing solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) products for precise global monitoring of photosynthesis and vegetation dynamics. By thoroughly evaluating eight widely-used SIF datasets, the research team identified Global OCO-2 SIF (GOSIF) and Contiguous Solar-Induced Fluorescence (CSIF) as leading tools for estimating gross primary productivity (GPP) and forecasting key phenological stages. These findings provide crucial direction for scientists aiming to enhance global vegetation ...

New York, NY [August 16, 2024]—Scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have identified a new class of RNAs packed into tiny particles known as extracellular vesicles (EVs) that could revolutionize how cancer and other diseases are diagnosed. The team found that these molecules undergo changes when cancer is present, suggesting their potential as biomarkers for detecting prostate cancer or as targets for therapy. The work, led by Navneet Dogra, PhD, Edgar Gonzalez-Kozlova, PhD, Tzu-Yi Chen, PhD, ...

Lead, SD (Aug. 15, 2024) — A ribbon-cutting event was held today at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead, S.D. to mark the completion of excavation work for the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility/Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (LBNF/DUNE), an international project led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. The “Into the Depths of Discovery” event, hosted by Fermilab and the South Dakota Science and Technology Authority (SDSTA), was attended by supporters of the three-year excavation of the caverns, including state and federal leaders as well as officials from the Department of Energy. “Today ...

Third-party collection of mail-in ballots has helped rural residents and those with disabilities to vote, yet the practice has become contentious and the target of laws aimed at restricting it. Critics claim the process is vulnerable to fraud and manipulation. But new research from the University of Utah’s College of Social & Behavioral Science tells a different story. Ballot collection is more accurately characterized as a pathway for legitimate voter participation, according to a study published last month. Authors Daniel McCool, a professor emeritus in the Department of Political Science, and Weston McCool, a ...

James Tour’s lab at Rice University has developed a new method known as flash-within-flash Joule heating (FWF) that could transform the synthesis of high-quality solid-state materials, offering a cleaner, faster and more sustainable manufacturing process. The findings were published in Nature Chemistry on Aug. 8. Traditionally, synthesizing solid-state materials has been a time-consuming and energy-intensive process, often accompanied by the production of harmful byproducts. But FWF enables gram-scale production of diverse compounds in seconds while reducing energy, water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by ...