CAMBRIDGE, MA – Let’s say you want to train a robot so it understands how to use tools and can then quickly learn to make repairs around your house with a hammer, wrench, and screwdriver. To do that, you would need an enormous amount of data demonstrating tool use. Existing robotic datasets vary widely in modality — some include color images while others are composed of tactile imprints, for instance. Data could also be collected in different domains, like simulation or human demos. And each dataset ...

May 23, 2024 Obeldesivir (GS-5245), a novel investigational small molecule oral antiviral, represents a new tool in the ongoing effort to prepare for future pandemics. Several researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Gillings School of Global Public Health are co-authors of a new study published online May 22 by the journal Science Translational Medicine. The study shares findings from an academic-corporate partnership between biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences and the Sheahan ...

Key takeaways The movement of carbon between the atmosphere, oceans and continents — or carbon cycle — regulates Earth’s climate, with the ocean playing a major role in carbon sequestration. A new study finds that the shape and depth of the ocean floor explain up to 50% of the changes in depth at which carbon has been sequestered there over the past 80 million years. While these changes have been previously attributed to other causes, the new finding could inform ongoing efforts to combat climate change through marine carbon sequestration. The movement of carbon between the atmosphere, oceans and continents — the carbon ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, June 3, 2024 Contact: Jillian McKoy, jpmckoy@bu.edu Michael Saunders, msaunder@bu.edu ## Airplane Noise Exposure May Increase Risk of Chronic Disease A new study found that people who were exposed to higher levels of noise from aircraft were more likely to have a higher body mass index, an indicator for obesity that can lead to stroke or hypertension. The findings highlight how the environment—and environmental injustices—can shape health outcomes.  Research has shown that noise from airplanes and helicopters flying overhead are far more bothersome to people than noise from other modes of transportation, ...

Coworker and employer support are strong predictors of nurses planning to stay in their jobs, while symptoms of depression are linked to nurses planning to leave, according to a study conducted at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic by researchers at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing.  The research—published in the Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, a journal of the American Nurses Association—examines both pandemic-related factors and the overall work environment for nurses and can help organizational ...

Gaps persist in hiring enough U.S. public health workers and health departments continue to face challenges in recruiting new employees, according to a new study by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Indiana University. Insufficient funding, a shortage of people with public health training, and a lack of visibility for public careers, in addition to lengthy hiring processes, are cited as barriers contributing to an absence of progress for achieving a satisfactory level of workers. The results ...

Redox Science Meets Medicine at the 26th International Conference on Redox Medicine 2024 this June in Paris The 26th International Conference on Redox Medicine 2024 will take place this month, on June 27-28  at Fondation Biermans-Lapôtre in Paris, France. With 41+ communications and participants from 20 different countries, the conference promises a diverse exchange of knowledge and ideas. The sessions of the conference are organized around key topics, with each speaker addressing a specific ...

June 3, 2024—(BRONX, NY)—Marla Keller, M.D., a national leader in academic medicine and in clinical and translational research and training, has been appointed executive dean at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. In this role, Dr. Keller will work closely with Yaron Tomer, M.D., the Marilyn and Stanley M. Katz Dean at Einstein, other executive leaders at the College of Medicine and Montefiore, and the Board of Trustees to achieve the vision for the institution. As Einstein’s second most senior officer, she will drive strategic planning for the College of Medicine and provide guidance across all academic and research programs. Dr. ...

JUNE 3, 2024, NEW YORK – A novel immunotherapy approach developed by Ludwig Cancer Research scientists employs a two-pronged attack against solid tumors to boost the immune system’s ability to target and eliminate cancer cells.​​​​​​ The research focuses on an immunotherapy called adoptive cell transfer (ACT), which involves extracting T cells from a patient, enhancing their ability to fight cancer, expanding them in culture and reinfusing them into the patient’s body. “While T cell therapies have shown tremendous ...

As they seep and calve into the sea, melting glaciers and ice sheets are raising global water levels at unprecedented rates. To predict and prepare for future sea-level rise, scientists need a better understanding of how fast glaciers melt and what influences their flow.   Now, a study by MIT scientists offers a new picture of glacier flow, based on microscopic deformation in the ice. The results show that a glacier’s flow depends strongly on how microscopic defects move through the ice.   The researchers found they could estimate ...

As measles cases rise across the United States and vaccination rates for the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine continue to fall, a new survey finds that a quarter of U.S. adults do not know that claims that the MMR vaccine causes autism are false. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said there is no evidence linking the measles vaccine and getting autism. But 24% of U.S. adults do not accept that – they say that statement is somewhat or very inaccurate – and another 3% are not sure, according to the survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania. About three-quarters of those surveyed ...

BOSTON—The type of weight loss surgery women undergo before becoming pregnant may affect how much weight their children gain in the first three years of life, suggests a study being presented Monday at ENDO 2024, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Boston, Mass.  Researchers found children born to women who underwent the bariatric procedure known as sleeve gastrectomy before they became pregnant gain more weight per month on average in the first three years of life compared with children born to women who had the less common ...

BOSTON—Patients with Cushing’s syndrome who are recovering from surgery and wear a headband that tracks brain activity while they meditate may have less pain and better physical functioning compared with patients not using the device, suggests a study being presented Monday at ENDO 2024, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Boston, Mass. The headband, called MUSE-2, uses electroencephalogram (EEG) sensors to measure brain activity and provides audio biofeedback while a person meditates. Cushing's syndrome is a rare ...

BOSTON—Exposure to some endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) that harm the thyroid gland has increased over the past 20 years among U.S. women of childbearing age and pregnant women, especially among those with lower social and economic status, a new study finds. The results will be presented Monday at ENDO 2024, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Boston, Mass. “Our research underscores the importance of addressing socioeconomic disparities in EDC exposure among women of reproductive age and pregnant women to mitigate potential adverse effects on thyroid health,” ...

BOSTON—Some women who experience menopause early—before age 40—have an increased risk for developing breast and ovarian cancer, according to research being presented Monday at ENDO 2024, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Boston, Mass. “There is also higher risk of breast, prostate and colon cancer in relatives of these women,” said Corrine Welt, M.D., chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes at the University of Utah Health in Salt Lake City, Utah. Welt and colleagues began the study with the hypothesis that some women with primary ovarian insufficiency and their family members might ...

A new series published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology highlights how pollution, in all its forms, is a greater health threat than that of war, terrorism, malaria, HIV, tuberculosis, drugs and alcohol combined. The researchers from the University of Edinburgh, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Global Observatory on Planetary Health Boston College, Centre Scientifique de Monaco, University Medical Centre Mainz, and the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute focus on global warming, air pollution and exposure to wildfire smoke, and highlight the lesser-known drivers of heart disease including soil, noise and light pollution, and exposure to toxic chemicals. They ...

The University of Cincinnati’s Jack Davis, Carl W. Blegen Professor of Greek archaeology in the Department of Classics, has been elected to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences. With this honor, Davis joins the ranks of luminaries such as former U.S. President John Adams (elected in 1780), language scholar Noah Webster (of dictionary fame, tapped in 1799), and more currently playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda, and actor and philanthropist George Clooney. Begun just four years after the Declaration of Independence ...

Five global science and technology projects have been selected to join the Ocean Biogeochemistry Virtual Institute (OBVI) addressing gaps in ocean data and modeling efforts by improving the breadth of research in the field and expanding capacity to understand ocean resources. Schmidt Sciences, started by Eric and Wendy Schmidt, will bring together 60 scientists from 11 countries. The research will provide clarity on how much carbon dioxide the ocean can hold and the resilience of marine ecosystems in a rapidly warming world.  OBVI, through a joint call for ...

Physician-scientists from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine led a nationwide study to examine the role of carpal tunnel syndrome in predicting the risk of cardiac amyloidosis.  In their study published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, UAB researchers collaborated with researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University to show that carpal tunnel syndrome preceded the development of cardiac amyloidosis by 10-15 years and individuals with carpal tunnel syndrome were at a high risk of developing cardiac amyloidosis. “Cardiac amyloidosis is an underdiagnosed ...

East Hanover, NJ – June 3, 2024 – Nancy D. Chiaravalloti, PhD, has been awarded the 2024 Fred Foley Award for her contributions to significant advances in the understanding and treatment of memory deficits in multiple sclerosis (MS). Dr. Chiaravalloti is director of the Centers for Neuropsychology and Neuroscience and Traumatic Brain Injury Research and co-director of the Center for Multiple Sclerosis Research at Kessler Foundation. This prestigious accolade, established in 2016 by the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC), was presented on May 31 at the CMSC conference in Nashville, ...

Collaborations across research disciplines can lead to unexpected breakthroughs and discoveries. Collaborations across species lead to unexpected evolutionary paths of mutual benefit. For example, some plants have managed to recruit ant bodyguards. They produce sugary nectar on their leaves that attracts the ants, then these very territorial and aggressive ant mercenaries patrol “their” plant and sting or bite herbivores that try to eat it. These relationships are well-documented in flowering plants, but they also occur in non-flowering ferns. This is weird news for researchers, as it has long been thought that ferns lack the ...

Ziwei Zhu, Assistant Professor, Computer Science, and Jin Lee, Assistant Professor, Criminology, Law and Society, are set to receive funding for: “Data-Centric Social Bias Mitigation for Large Language Model-based Cyberharassment Detection.”  The researchers aim to address the critical challenge of algorithmic bias in Large Language Models (LLMs) used for cyberharassment detection.  They will focus on reducing unfair treatment against minority populations identified by gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, and disability.  Despite the ...

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 3, 2024 — The latest issues of two American Psychiatric Association journals, The American Journal of Psychiatry and Psychiatric Services are now available online.   The June issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry features advances in understanding schizophrenia, ADHD, and autism spectrum disorder. Highlights include: Long-Term Course of Remission and Recovery in Psychotic Disorders. (Lead author Sara Tramazzo is the featured guest on June’s AJP Audio podcast episode.) The Genesis of Schizophrenia: An Origin Story Recapitulation of Perturbed Striatal Gene Expression Dynamics of Donors’ ...

Researchers who had been using Fitbit data to help predict surgical outcomes have a new method to more accurately gauge how patients may recover from spine surgery. Using machine learning techniques developed at the AI for Health Institute at Washington University in St. Louis,  Chenyang Lu, the Fullgraf Professor in the university’s McKelvey School of Engineering, collaborated with Jacob Greenberg, MD, assistant professor of neurosurgery at the School of Medicine, to develop a way to predict recovery more accurately from lumbar spine surgery. The results published this month in the journal Proceedings of the ACM ...

LA JOLLA, CA—Scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) have developed a new computational method for linking molecular marks on our DNA to gene activity. Their work may help researchers connect genes to the molecular "switches" that turn them on or off. This research, published in Genome Biology, is an important step toward harnessing machine learning approaches to better understand links between gene expression and disease development. "This research is about bringing a three-dimensional perspective to studying DNA modifications and their function in our genome," says LJI Associate Professor Ferhat Ay, Ph.D., who co-led the study with LJI ...