All humans need clean water to live. However, purifying water can be energy-intensive, so there is great interest in improving this process. Researchers at Tohoku University have reported a strategy using data-driven predictions coupled with precise synthesis to accelerate the development of single-atom catalysts (SACs) for more robust and efficient water purification. SACs are one of the most crucial catalysts. They play a pivotal role in enhancing efficiency in diverse applications including chemical industries, energy conversion, and environmental processes. ...

New University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka research shows Aotearoa has been increasingly accepting new bird species from around the world since the start of the Ice Age, offering clues into future migration patterns. Since the Ice Age drastically changed the Aotearoa landscape from widely forested to grass and shrubland, researchers set out to determine which of our living and recently extinct birds are a result of existing lineages that adapted to their environment tens of millions of years ago and which are the descendants of comparatively recent invaders. Using mitogenome data from nearly all living and recently extinct New Zealand mainland bird species, researchers ...

For years, scientific divers at a research station in the Mediterranean Sea had a problem: at some point in every field season, local fish would follow them and steal food intended as experimental rewards. Intriguingly these wild fish appeared to recognize the specific diver who had previously carried food, choosing to follow only them while ignoring other divers. To find out if that was true, a team from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (MPI-AB) in Germany conducted a series of experiments while wearing a range of diving gear, finding ...

A new psychological therapy designed by a team of UCL-led researchers has been found to reduce rates of violence and aggression among male offenders with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). The study, published in The Lancet Psychiatry and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), investigated whether aggression and antisocial behaviours could be improved by a modified form of mentalisation-based treatment (MBT). Mentalisation-based treatment is a type of therapy that helps people to understand their own thoughts and feelings, ...

The rise in human life expectancy has slowed down across Europe since 2011, according to research from the University of East Anglia and partners. A new study, published today in The Lancet Public Health, reveals that the food we eat, physical inactivity and obesity are largely to blame, as well as the Covid pandemic. Of all the countries studied, England experienced the biggest slowdown in life expectancy. It means that rather than looking forward to living longer than our parents or grandparents, ...

A new at-home telerehabilitation care service for stroke patients will be offered to residents of Cameron County in the Rio Grande Valley as part of a randomized clinical trial led by researchers from across UTHealth Houston. Investigators from UTHealth Houston School of Public Health in Brownsville, UTHealth Houston Institute for Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases, and McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics at UTHealth Houston will create and test software delivered through a website to patients who have recently ...

A recent study published in the Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology explored genetic predictors of prostate cancer progression to help identify its clinical outcomes. Conducted by researchers from the D’Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), the University of São Paulo (USP), and the São Paulo Cancer Institute (ICESP), the study focused on the role of the androgen receptor (AR), its variant AR-V7, and the p160 gene family. Prostate cancer: a complex and deadly disease Prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of death among ...

Obesity surgery (also known as bariatric and metabolic surgery) is one of the most common reasons for people to do so called ‘medical tourism’ – where they travel to another country to have the procedure carried out at usually a much lower price than in their home country. However, such procedures can sometimes be botched and lead to infections, temporary or permanent injuries and/or scarring, and in the worst cases, be fatal. Regarding Europe, there is currently no published data evaluating how to improve the safety of obesity surgery medical tourism. Seeking this type of obesity ...

A new study published in JAMA Network Open finds that low Medicaid telehealth reimbursement in New York State may be exacerbating a workforce crisis at Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), particularly among mental health care practitioners. The challenge compounds existing financial instability at FQHCs and barriers to telehealth access among low-income New Yorkers who rely on safety-net care.  The study, led by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, highlights several possible solutions, including payment parity ...

AUSTIN, Texas -- McCombs’ faculty research leaped 10 spots to No. 10 worldwide in the Financial Times’ release of its Global MBA Rankings for 2025, a historic high for McCombs reaching back to 1999.  The top spot for research went to the University of Pennsylvania, with Columbia University and the University of Chicago tying for second place. Faculty Research is the third weightiest component (10%) of the 21 used in the MBA ranking, behind percentage of salary increase (16%) and salary three years post-graduation ...

    Images   A sponge-like implant in mice helped guide a treatment that slowed or stopped a degenerative condition similar to multiple sclerosis in humans. It also gave University of Michigan researchers a first look at how primary progressive multiple sclerosis, the fastest-progressing version of the disease, attacks the central nervous system early on.    If administered early, the nanoparticle-based treatment prevented mice from developing symptoms such as paralysis. If given after the first symptoms emerged, it reduced symptom scores by half compared to untreated ...

UNIVERSITY PARK , Pa. — Urban versus rural. Penn State versus Michigan. Star Wars versus Star Trek. As social beings, humans gravitate toward groups. But sometimes group living can spur an “us versus them” mentality that causes conflict, especially when two groups are competing for the same limited resources, like money or a championship trophy. In the following Q&A, Anne Pisor, assistant professor of anthropology at Penn State and Social Science Research Institute co-funded faculty member, discussed her recently published paper on the “us versus them” mindset as well as the causes and how to overcome it. Q: What does your research say about ...

Scientists are racing to develop new materials for quantum technologies in computing and sensing for ultraprecise measurements. For these future technologies to transition from the laboratory to real-world applications, a much deeper understanding is needed of the behavior near surfaces, especially those at interfaces between materials.  Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have unveiled a new technique that could help advance the development of quantum technology. Their innovation, surface-sensitive spintronic terahertz spectroscopy (SSTS), provides an unprecedented look at how quantum ...

Vision changes are an inevitable part of aging, but why are some more susceptible to age-related eye diseases and why do some individuals experience more severe decline than others? New research from The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) reveals that genetics play a key role in how the eye ages, with different genetic backgrounds influencing retinal aging in distinct ways. The study, published in Molecular Neurodegeneration, examined age-related changes in genes and proteins of the retinas of nine strains of mice, ...

CORNELL UNIVERSITY MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE FOR RELEASE: Feb. 17, 2025   Kaitlyn Serrao 607-882-1140 kms465@cornell.edu    ‘False’ springs, long summers mean uncertainty for NY grape growers   ITHACA, N.Y. – Warmer autumns and more “false” springs are disrupting the signals grapevines rely on to gain cold hardiness for the winter and blossom effectively in the spring, according to new research from Cornell University.   “In New York, we are right at the coldest ...

A better understanding of inflammation and lung immunity over the past two decades has led to new, innovative treatments for asthma, including biologic therapies. This is especially true for a subtype known as eosinophilic asthma—asthma that’s related to the recruitment and overactivation of white blood cells in the lungs called eosinophils. However, a different type of asthma called neutrophilic asthma has fewer treatment options and doesn’t respond as well to first line asthma therapy. As a result, people with this type of asthma, which ...

Researchers led by Zhentao Zhang at Wuhan University, China have discovered a cholesterol metabolite that plays a critical role in the development of Parkinson’s disease in mice. Published in the open-access journal PLOS Biology on February 18th, the study shows that this metabolite is responsible for the formation of Lewy bodies and the death of dopaminergic neurons in the brain—the two major hallmarks of Parkinson’s disease. Blocking its activity or preventing it from being made by the body could therefore be effective strategies for treating the disease. Parkinson’s disease develops when the protein alpha-Syn forms clumps of tiny pathological fibers ...

In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available paper in PLOS Biology: https://plos.io/42Ly2Pr   Article title: Capsid transfer of the retrotransposon Copia controls structural synaptic plasticity in Drosophila Author countries: United States Funding: This work was supported by NIH Grant R01NS112492 to TT. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. END ...

Researchers tempted grazing cattle with sweet molasses feed to discover whether cows would roam far and wide to graze or stick close to the herd, water supplies and feed stations. The findings by animal scientists at the University of California, Davis, and published in the journal Scientific Reports, offer a low-cost way for ranchers and others to identify the best cows for their landscapes to optimize grazing while meeting the nutritional needs of cattle.  This is the third in a series of papers about research seeking to better understand the grazing personalities of cattle. The first studies ...

MONTRÉAL and VARENNES, QC, Feb. 18, 2025 /CNW/ - Professor Fabio Boschini is among the 126 recipients announced today by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in seven fields. Sloan Fellowships support outstanding early-career scientists who demonstrate creativity, ambition, and dedication to advance discovery. These rising stars of research come from American and Canadian schools and are definitely names to watch. Many Sloan Fellows have gone on to become Nobel prize winners.   INRS Professor Fabio Boschini has just received a prestigious ...

University of Queensland researchers have for the first time introduced genetic material into plants via their roots, opening a potential pathway for rapid crop improvement. Professor Bernard Carroll from UQ’s School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences said nanoparticle technology could help fine-tune plant genes to increase crop yield and improve food quality. “Traditional plant breeding and genetic modification take many generations to produce a new crop variety, which is time-consuming and expensive,” Professor Carroll said. “We have succeeded in having plant roots absorb a benign nanoparticle which ...

DALLAS, Feb. 18, 2025 — Five regions in the U.S. have been selected to implement a new preventive health initiative to improve care for people with a cluster of chronic conditions known as cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome. Through the initiative the American Heart Association, devoted to changing the future to a world of healthier lives for all, aims to increase awareness and screening for CKM syndrome and facilitate collaboration among health care professionals. CKM syndrome is a clinical term that describes the combined health effects of heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes and obesity, which puts people at high risk for heart ...

Accurate assessment of the land surface damage (such as small-scale fracturing and inelastic deformation) from two major earthquakes in 2023 can help scientists assess future earthquake hazards and therefore minimize risk to people and infrastructure. However, attaining precise extensive measurements in earthquake zones remains challenging. The two earthquakes that struck on 6 February 2023 were devastating: they were of magnitude 7.8 and 7.6 and occurred in quick succession near the border between Syria and Turkey. They caused widespread infrastructure destruction and resulted in tens of thousands of deaths across multiple provinces. Using ...

About The Study: This cross-sectional study found a statistically significant increase in abortions for Colorado residents in association with the implementation of Texas SB8. This aligns with reports from area clinicians who experienced dramatic increases in patient demand after SB8, also reported by the media, resulting in delayed appointments for everyone. Corresponding author: To contact the corresponding author, Kelly A. DeBie, J.D., email kelly.debie@colostate.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For ...

About The Study: In this survey study, disparities in tobacco use existed across cumulative disabilities. Despite declines in tobacco use over time, differences in use across cumulative disabilities persisted or worsened, especially among those with 3 or more disabilities. Targeted prevention, screening, and cessation efforts inclusive of multiple products are needed. Corresponding author: To contact the corresponding author, Michael J. Parks, Ph.D., email Michael.parks@nih.gov. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/  (doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.60471) Editor’s ...