The war in Ukraine is causing hunger thousands of miles from the battlefields, according to a study released today. Nearly three years of war in the “breadbasket of the world” has left croplands destroyed and forced laborers who grow, harvest and process a bounty of wheat, barley and oats to flee. Combined with export bans from other countries, ripple effects resonated through global trade and upended food supply systems. But understanding how far those disruptions reached, who suffered and who gained has been difficult. Researchers at Michigan State University’s Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability (CSIS) lead a unique effort, relying ...

TORONTO, December 20, 2024 — The unspoken rule for women of colour in academia is to be everything to everyone – mentor, diversity champion, tireless scholar, and silent workhorse, says York University equity studies Assistant Professor Yvonne Su in her recent paper published today in Nature Human Behaviour. “We are expected to carry the banner of inclusion, but we are not truly included. Inclusion, as it’s currently defined, is about optics, not transformation,” observes Su in the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies. “It’s about showing diversity on the surface ...

Leuven, 20 December 2024- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease that affects motor neurons. The average life span after diagnosis of this incurable disease is two to five years. In the relentless pursuit of understanding the cause of motor neuron death, scientists from KU Leuven and the VIB Center for Brain and Disease Research have identified an intriguing new lead: tiny, antenna-like structures 0n cells called primary cilia. Their study, published in Brain, could open a potential new avenue for therapeutic development. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s ...

The aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) system, which uses geothermal heat as a renewable energy source, is one of the solutions to reducing fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emission. This system stores heat underground in aquifers, using groundwater as a heat medium. The heat is then extracted as needed according to the season to efficiently heat and cool buildings. Its use is mainly expanding in Europe, and its widespread introduction is expected in Japan. However, regular inspection is required to utilize ...

A brotherly research duo has discovered that when the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) produces top quarks – the heaviest known fundamental particles – it regularly creates a property known as magic. This finding, published in Physical Review D, has implications for the progression of quantum computing, with magic being a measure that describes how difficult a quantum system is for a non-quantum computer to calculate. “The higher the magic, the more we need quantum computers to describe the behaviour,” explains Professor Martin White, from the University ...

Researchers at the University of Adelaide have discovered that a protein which mediates the transport of alkali metal ions, such as potassium, and halides ions across plant membranes acts similarly to a protein found in animals. The protein is a cation-chloride cotransporter (CCC), and these are present in all cellular life forms. Some CCCs are able to transport two types of ions, both potassium and halide chloride, while others can also transport a third – sodium. The selectivity of plant CCCs has been controversial, and it was previously understood ...

Communities up and down the West Coast of the United States can expect the potent storms known as atmospheric rivers to evolve as the climate warms. But residents in Southern California will see much different changes than residents in more northerly locations like Seattle. New research, led by scientists at the U.S. National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR), found that warming conditions will increase evaporation of ocean waters and significantly alter atmospheric rivers to the south. Farther north, however, atmospheric rivers will be most influenced by rising temperatures in the ocean and atmosphere. While ...

Newly published results from a 2021 experiment led by a University of Alaska Fairbanks scientist have begun to reveal the particle-level processes that create the type of auroras that dance rapidly across the sky. The Kinetic-scale Energy and momentum Transport experiment — KiNET-X — lifted off from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on May 16, 2021, in the final minutes of the final night of the nine-day launch window. UAF professor Peter Delamere’s analysis of the experiment’s results was published Nov. 19 in Physics of Plasmas. “The ...

Patience — like its corollary impatience — has always been a sort of “I know it when I see it” concept. And that didn’t sit well with UC Riverside psychology researcher Kate Sweeny. “Philosophers and religious scholars call patience a virtue, yet most people claim to be impatient,” Sweeny said. “That made me wonder if maybe patience is less about being a good person and more about how we deal with day-to-day frustrations.” For purposes of her research, Sweeny sought to better define what constitutes patience, and impatience, and the factors that determine them. Impatience, ...

A new global analysis reveals that an estimated 61.8 million people in 2021 were autistic —equivalent to 1 in every 127 individuals. Conducted as part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021, the research identifies autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as one of the top ten causes of non-fatal health burden for youth under 20 years old.   Key findings reveal stark disparities: the global prevalence of ASD is significantly higher among males, at 1,065 cases per 100,000 males, almost double of global prevalence among females (508 per 100,000 females). Regions like High-Income ...

The eco-friendly glue company D-Glue, co-created by a Cal Poly chemistry research team with student involvement in partnership with an East Coast company, has joined an international corporate incubator program as of Dec. 1. Plug and Play, a global innovation platform that links startups, corporations, investors, universities and government agencies, has over 60 locations across the world, reaching across 25 industries. Plug and Play’s three-month international program matches startups with business investors among its 45 Japanese corporate ...

In 2022, U.S. grocers wasted 5 million tons of food, with 35% of it going to landfills, according to the food waste nonprofit ReFed. More than half of that waste — 2.7 million tons — was past the labels’ expiration dates. But there’s a potential technological solution to the waste problem, according to new research from Texas McCombs. By moving from paper shelf labels to digital ones, supermarkets can easily lower prices and move older stock from their shelves to consumers’ homes. Using technology to quickly change prices on labels, a process known as dynamic pricing, benefits more than just consumers, says Ioannis ...

Clever trick to cook stars like Christmas puds detected for first time Royal Astronomical Society press release  RAS PR 24/33 Embargoed until 00:01 GMT on Friday 20 December 2024 The missing ingredient for cooking up stars in the same way you might steam your Christmas pudding has been spotted for the first time by astronomers. Much like a pressure cooker has a weight on top of its lid to keep the pressure in and get your festive dessert dense, moist and ready to eat, merging galaxies may need magnetic fields to create the ideal conditions for star formation. Until now, however, the existence of such a force had only been ...

Teeth are essential for helping people break down the food they eat, and are protected by enamel, which helps them withstand the large amount of stress they experience as people chew away. Unlike other materials in the body, enamel has no way to repair damage, which means that as we age, it risks becoming weaker with time. Researchers are interested in understanding how enamel changes with age so that they can start to develop methods that can keep teeth happier and healthier for longer. A research team at the University of Washington and the ...

When a volunteer supports a patient, a special and often rather unequal relationship can develop between the helper and the person receiving the help. Researchers have now investigated this relationship and offer guidance on finding the right balance. When people get sick, they often depend on family or friends to help them out. In Norway, there are also public services that usually support people who need it. “But public services or family and friends are not always enough. Volunteers and non-profit organizations are increasingly being used to provide care to the population,” says Associate Professor Gunhild Tøndel at ...

There’s a well-established link between greenspace and health benefits, including lower rates of heart disease risk factors, such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Now, according to a recently published study, rates of deaths from heart disease — especially among men — are lower in neighborhoods with more greenspace. The findings, from researchers at Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health, were recently published in the journal Health and Place. Studying heart disease deaths in Philadelphia from 2008 to 2015, the researchers also found that, ...

People who suffer from continued symptoms of concussion should seek a referral to physical therapy as soon as possible, new research from Oregon Health & Science University suggests. Even though most people naturally recover from concussions within four weeks, the study revealed people who delayed physical therapy had lingering deficits related to their reaction times for balance, motor function — or body movements to perform tasks — and the use of sensory information — as in sight and touch — for balance. The research published this week in the Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Journal. “It means they’re ...

A study from University of Michigan researchers may provide an explanation for why some patients with Crohn’s disease continue to experience symptoms, even in the absence of inflammation. The resulting paper, “Why Symptoms Linger in Quiescent Crohn’s Disease: Investigating the Impact of Sulfidogenic Microbes and Sulfur Metabolic Pathways,” appeared in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Even in cases of quiescent inflammatory bowel disease—i.e. without the presence of inflammation—nearly one-third of all patients report persistent symptoms.  The problem is especially common ...

BUFFALO, N.Y. — There’s a good chance you owe your existence to the Haber-Bosch process. This industrial chemical reaction between hydrogen and nitrogen produces ammonia, the key ingredient to synthetic fertilizers that supply much of the world’s food supply and enabled the population explosion of the last century.  It may also threaten the existence of future generations. The process consumes about 2% of the world’s total energy supply, and the hydrogen required for the reaction ...

A team of chemists from Scripps Research and Rice University has unveiled a novel method to simplify the synthesis of piperidines, a key structural component in many pharmaceuticals. The study, published in Science, combines biocatalytic carbon-hydrogen oxidation and radical cross-coupling, offering a streamlined and cost-effective approach to create complex, three-dimensional molecules. This innovation could help accelerate drug discovery and enhance the efficiency of medicinal chemistry. Modern medicinal chemists face increasing challenges as they target complex molecules to address difficult biological targets. Traditional methods for synthesizing ...

December 18, 2024 (Toronto, Canada) – In the first study of its kind, research led by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) sheds light on the ethical complexities and systemic barriers facing scientists conducting cannabis research funded by the for-profit cannabis industry. Recently published in the journal Social Science & Medicine, the qualitative study titled Canadian cannabis researcher perspectives on the conduct and sponsorship of scientific research by the for-profit cannabis industry reveals that while researchers are driven by a commitment to public health and high-quality ...

A University of Arizona Health Sciences-led program that provides schools with asthma inhalers to help students experiencing respiratory distress will be expanded and improved thanks to a $3.4 million grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, a division of the National Institutes of Health. In 2021, 38.7% of children ages 18 and younger who had asthma reported having one or more asthma attacks in the past year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Even though asthma is controllable, research from the National Asthma Control Program estimated that 44% of children with asthma have uncontrolled asthma. “Respiratory ...

This roundup highlights a promising early screening method identifying precancerous esophageal disease, recommendations to improve cancer-focused community outreach, details on how aging breast cells can be used as valuable biomarkers for early cancer detection, and an innovative infusion catheter that could improve health outcomes. To learn more about research at City of Hope, one of the largest and most advanced cancer research and treatment organizations in the U.S. with its National Medical Center named top 5 in the nation for cancer by U.S. News & World Report, subscribe to City of Hope Research Spotlight.   Scientists develop first blood test for ...

AMHERST, Mass. – Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have designed a new technology that takes inspiration from WWI fighter aircraft machine gun and propeller synchronization to manipulate cell behavior by precisely modulating the pH of the cell’s environment in real-time. As described in Nano Letters, their findings provide a new pathway for creating therapeutics for cancer and heart disease and expanding the field of tissue engineering.    “Every cell is responsive to pH,” explains Jinglei Ping, associate professor of mechanical and industrial engineering at UMass Amherst ...

New research from the University of Massachusetts Amherst finds a pervasive low-quality diet among pregnant and postpartum individuals, reflecting “an urgent need for widespread improvement.” The study, recently published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and co-led by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, assessed diet quality in the same individuals from the beginning of pregnancy through one year postpartum. Few studies have analyzed diet quality in pregnancy ...