As mobile-money services were growing at a rapid clip in the developing world 10 years ago, University of Florida computer scientists and cybersecurity experts Kevin Butler and Patrick Traynor were early sentinels, raising concerns about the lack of security that could lead to real problems for the user.  In a 2014 study, the two professors from UF’s Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering, uncovered security vulnerabilities of mobile cash apps, especially in the Global South, where such technologies were becoming essential in the absence of robust banking systems.  “Our early work uncovered ...

http://newsroom.heart.org/news/oklahoma-state-basketball-team-joins-the-nation-of-lifesavers?preview=8409af5e5a5f3127f6aec7e122cc9673STILLWATER, Okla., October 28, 2024 — The Oklahoma State University (OSU) men’s basketball team participated in an American Heart Association Hands-Only CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) training to learn the correct rate and depth of CPR compressions to be confident and capable when faced with a cardiac emergency. Learning Hands-Only CPR is the skill needed to join the Association’s Nation of Lifesavers™ movement, which is focused on doubling survival rates ...

Facebook and Instagram can boost wildlife conservation efforts through public awareness and engagement, according to a study published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Communication. The findings based on the caracal – a wild cat native to Africa with distinctive tufted ears – demonstrate how social media can harness support for the predators, which some farmers shoot and poison.    Results show that the mammal’s similarity to a domestic feline has attracted thousands of followers to internet feeds about caracal conservation. ...

Xiaoguang Dong, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, is leading a team of researchers that has developed a system of artificial cilia capable of monitoring mucus conditions in human airways to better detect infection, airway obstruction, or the severity of diseases like Cystic Fibrosis (CF), Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPD) and lung cancer. The research was published in the November 4 issue of PNAS in the article, “Sensory Artificial Cilia for In Situ Monitoring of Airway Physiological Properties.” In their paper, the researchers noted that continuously ...

The 2023 blaze in Lahaina, Hawaii, which claimed more than 100 lives and burned 6,500 acres of land across Maui, is a tragic example of how rapid wildfire spread can make effective response efforts impossible, resulting in the loss of life and property. What if technology could help people detect wildfires earlier? The solution could already be in your pocket: a mobile phone. USC computer science researchers have developed a new crowdsourcing system that dramatically slashes wildfire mapping time from hours to seconds using a network of low-cost mobile phones mounted on properties in high fire threat areas. In computer simulations, the system, FireLoc, detected blazes igniting ...

Reconstruction of historical seasonal influenza patterns and individual lifetime infection histories in humans based on antibody profiles   ##### In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available paper in PLOS Biology:   http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002864 Article Title: Reconstructed influenza A/H3N2 infection histories reveal variation in incidence and antibody dynamics over the life course Author Countries: United Kingdom, China, United States Funding: see manuscript END ...

UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL 19:00 GMT / 14:00 US EASTERN TIME THURSDAY 7 NOVEMBER 2024 Increased capabilities for genomic surveillance have offered new insights into global viral evolution; Seasonal flu showed a ‘remarkable’ bounce back to pre-pandemic levels once international air travel resumed; Regions with fewer COVID-19 restrictions were associated with sustained flu virus transmission. Seasonal influenza epidemics impose substantial burdens on healthcare systems and cause >5 million hospitalizations of adults each year. The current approach to influenza vaccine development requires comprehensive surveillance ...

Named after the two-faced Roman god Janus to reflect its dual-purpose design, researchers present a novel membrane system – a Janus channel of membranes (JCM) – capable of simultaneously separating oil and water from complex emulsions. The system addresses a critical challenge for sustainable water and oil reclamation across various industries. Separating oil and water from complex mixtures is essential for many scientific and industrial applications, such as wastewater treatment and biological sorting. Membrane ...

Although travel restrictions and social measures during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a dramatic global drop in seasonal influenza cases, certain influenza lineages in specific regions kept the virus circulating and evolving, according to a new study. This was true in tropical areas with fewer travel restrictions, for example, including South and West Asia. The spread of seasonal influenza is closely tied to social behavior, particularly air travel, and to the periodic evolution of new virus strains that evade immunity from prior infections or vaccinations. In 2020, nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) introduced to combat COVID-19 – such as ...

Disruptions between the brain’s master circadian clock and the liver’s internal clock, communicated via the hepatic afferent vagal nerve (HVAN), can lead to unhealthy eating patterns and increased weight gain, according to a new study in mice. The findings identify the neural link as a potential therapeutic target for obesity and metabolic dysfunction related to circadian disruption. In mammals, circadian rhythms are controlled by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) – a small part of the brain’s hypothalamus that regulates the body’s circadian rhythms. This cycle triggers a feedback loop involving key clock genes that keep ...

“Wet dog shakes” – a common reflex behavior shared among many hairy mammals and designed to expel water and irritants from their coats – happens when particular mechanoreceptors are activated, researchers studying mice report. Many furry mammals engage in rapid body twists known as "wet dog shakes" to effectively remove water from their fur, as well as to eliminate irritants like tangles or parasites, particularly in areas on the neck and back that are largely unreachable by self-grooming or licking. However, despite the commonality of this behavior ...

PHILADELPHIA— People who work the nightshift or odd hours and eat at irregular times are more prone to weight gain and diabetes, likely due to eating patterns not timed with natural daylight and when people typically eat. But is it possible to stave off the ill effects of eating at these “unusual” times despite it not being biologically preferable? A new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania says ‘yes’, and sheds light on how the body knows when to eat. The study, published today in Science, explains how researchers discovered a connection between the liver's internal clock and feeding centers in the ...

The more a plant species invests in defense, the less potential it has for growth, according to a new study. Research made possible by open science provides new insights into plant adaptation and interspecies variation. Pathogens can significantly weaken the fitness of their hosts, sometimes even causing host mortality. Yet considerable variation is found between species in their investment in disease defense. Evolutionary theory predicts that allocation costs regulate this investment, but testing this hypothesis ...

Hip implants with a delta ceramic or oxidised zirconium head and highly crosslinked polyethylene liner or cup had the lowest risk of revision during the 15 years after surgery, a new study led by the University of Bristol has found.  The research could help hospitals, surgeons and patients to choose what hip implant to use for replacement surgery. The aim of the study was to establish hip implant materials at risk of revision to help orthopaedic surgeons, and patients, and to improve shared decision making ...

Most research on plant stem cells focuses on the tips of roots and shoots, where growth occurs in height. But Ten Tusscher explains that thickness growth is just as essential. “Plants can’t grow endlessly in height. They also need to grow in thickness, or they would simply fall over,” she says. The growth in thickness, is what makes older trees visibly thicker and more robust over time. This growth is essential for structural strength, particularly in trees. Stem cells in the plant’s cambium layer control this width growth, producing wood to support the plant’s structure. However, which genes enable these cambium stem cells to become active ...

University of Maryland entomologists uncovered a unique relationship between two species of fungi known for their ability to invade, parasitize and kill insects efficiently. Instead of violently competing for the spoils of war, the two fungi peacefully cooperate and share their victims. The findings, published in the journal Public Library of Science (PLOS) Pathogens on November 7, 2024, offer insight into some of the biggest evolutionary successes in nature’s history, according to study co-authors Raymond St. Leger, a Distinguished University Professor of Entomology, and entomology Ph.D. candidate Huiyu Sheng. “It’s not survival ...

Not everyone responds equally well to treatments for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). What will work for individual patients involves trial and error during the treatment process. Now, a team of researchers led by Charité – Universitätsmedizin, in collaboration with colleagues in Berlin and Bonn, has succeeded in identifying a biomarker that indicates whether or not treatment with a certain medication called an immunomodulator will be successful. Writing in the journal Gastroenterology,* the researchers note that this will permit more targeted use of the therapy. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) takes multiple ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign study is the first to describe an electrochemical strategy to capture, concentrate and destroy mixtures of diverse chemicals known as PFAS — including the increasingly prevalent ultra-short-chain PFAS — from water in a single process. This new development is poised to address the growing industrial problem of contamination with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, particularly in semiconductor manufacturing. A previous U. of I. study showed that short- and long-chain PFAS can be removed from water using electrochemically driven adsorption, referred to as ...

Researchers Identify Reduction in Heart Failure-Related Risk Factors following Metabolic Surgery   Recent study suggests that metabolic surgery for patients with heart failure can reduce dependency on oral diuretics, which are used to manage heart failure symptoms FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  November 7, 2024  BATON ROUGE – Pennington Biomedical Research Center researchers at the Metamor Institute, along with colleagues from Our Lady of the Lake and LSU Health-New Orleans, have recently determined that metabolic surgery on patients with heart failure can result in a reduction in the need for oral diuretics, which are used to manage symptoms such as venous and ...

For more than 50 years, as a leading pioneer of preventive medicine and the “father of aerobics,” Kenneth H. Cooper, M.D., has revolutionized health and fitness worldwide. Similarly, the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) has long been dedicated to education, patient care and research. Today (Nov. 4) TTUHSC officially welcomed The Cooper Institute as part of its organization with a special presentation and unveiling of its new name – the Kenneth H. Cooper Institute at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. The Cooper ...

In 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius experienced one of its most significant eruptions, burying the Roman city of Pompeii and its inhabitants under a thick layer of small stones and ash known as lapilli. Many of Pompeii's inhabitants lost their lives as their homes collapsed under the weight of the lapilli raining down from many kilometres above. Those who survived the initial phase of the eruption eventually succumbed to the dangerous pyroclastic flows. This fast-moving stream of hot gas and volcanic matter instantly enveloped their bodies in a solid layer of ash, effectively preserving their bodies, including their features. Since the 1800s, casts had been made by pouring plaster into the ...

In 79 CE, the active volcanic system in southern Italy known as Somma-Vesuvius erupted, burying the small Roman town of Pompeii and everyone in it. The “Pompeii eruption” covered everything in a layer of ash that preserved many of the bodies. Now, ancient DNA collected from the famed body casts alters the history that’s been written since the once forgotten town’s rediscovery in the 1700s. As reported on November 7, 2024, in Current Biology, the DNA evidence shows that individuals’ sexes and family relationships don’t match ...

Scientists have known for decades that the classic symptoms of schizophrenia, such as jumping to conclusions or difficulty adjusting to new information, can be attributed to poor communication between the cerebral cortex and the thalamus, known as the brain’s central switchboard. By measuring brain cell activity between these two regions as volunteers completed ambiguous tasks, a team of Tufts University School of Medicine and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine researchers found a way to use someone’s sensitivity to uncertainty as a diagnostic tool.  In a study published November 7 in the journal ...

Annual emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from private aviation increased by 46% between 2019 and 2023, according to an analysis published in Communications Earth & Environment. The results also show that some individuals who regularly use private aviation may produce almost 500 times more CO2 in a year than the average individual, and that there were significant emissions peaks around certain international events, including COP 28 and the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Private aviation is highly energy-intensive, emitting significantly more CO2 per passenger than commercial flights, but is used by approximately 0.003% ...

Tree planting has been widely touted as a cost-effective way of reducing global warming, due to trees’ ability to store large quantities of carbon from the atmosphere. But, writing in the journal Nature Geoscience, an international group of scientists argue that tree planting at high latitudes will accelerate, rather than decelerate, global warming. As the climate continues to warm, trees can be planted further and further north, and large-scale tree-planting projects in the Arctic have been championed by governments and ...