An international team of scientists has built the largest and most detailed bird family tree to date—an intricate chart delineating 93 million years of evolutionary relationships between 363 bird species, representing 92% of all bird families. The advance was made possible in large part thanks to cutting-edge computational methods developed by engineers at the University of California San Diego, combined with the university’s state-of-the-art supercomputing resources at the San Diego Supercomputer Center. These technologies have enabled researchers to analyze vast amounts of genomic data with high accuracy and speed, ...

TAMPA, Fla. (April 1, 2024) – The idea for Fawn Ngo’s latest research came from a television interview. Ngo, a University of South Florida criminologist, had spoken with a Vietnamese language network in California about her interest in better understanding how people become victims of cybercrime. Afterward, she began receiving phone calls from viewers recounting their own experiences of victimization. “Some of the stories were unfortunate and heartbreaking,” said Ngo, an associate professor in the USF College of Behavioral and Community Sciences. “They made me wonder about the availability ...

Researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine are hopeful new research could prevent up to 130,000 unneeded fine-needle aspiration (FNA) biopsies of thyroid nodules and subsequent surgeries each year in the United States by better understanding the genetic risk associated with thyroid cancer. Through an R21 grant from the National Institutes of Health, Nikita Pozdeyev, MD, assistant professor of biomedical informatics, Chris Gignoux, PhD, professor of biomedical informatics, and Bryan Haugen, MD, professor of medicine and head of the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Diabetes, will study new strategies that could pave the way ...

Nearly every modern cellphone has a built-in compass, or magnetometer, that detects the direction of Earth’s magnetic field, providing critical information for navigation. Now a team of researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed a technique that uses an ordinary cellphone magnetometer for an entirely different purpose — to measure the concentration of glucose, a marker for diabetes, to high accuracy. The same technique, which uses the magnetometer in conjunction with magnetic materials designed ...

Frisch To Conduct Research On Healing The Traumatized Body In Second Temple Judaism                                                                                                                                  Alexandria ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, April 1, 2024 Contact: Jillian McKoy, jpmckoy@bu.edu Michael Saunders, msaunder@bu.edu ## Reducing Late-Night Alcohol Sales Curbed All Violent Crimes by 23% Annually in a Baltimore Neighborhood A new study found that reducing alcohol hours of sale for bars and taverns in a Baltimore, Md. neighborhood also reduced homicides by 51 percent within the first month and by 40 percent annually, pointing to possible opportunities for other cities to address excessive drinking and crime. Simply reducing the hours during which alcohol may be purchased can significantly reduce violent crime, ...

“[...] our findings suggest that diminished brain volume and functional connectivity may be linked to menopause-related symptoms caused by the lower sex hormone levels.” BUFFALO, NY- April 1, 2024 – A new research paper was published on the cover of Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science) Volume 16, Issue 6, entitled, “Altered brain morphology and functional connectivity in postmenopausal women: automatic segmentation of whole-brain and thalamic subnuclei ...

Among the many chemicals we use every day, ammonia is one of the worst for the atmosphere. The nitrogen-based chemical used in fertilizer, dyes, explosives and many other products ranks second only to cement in terms of carbon emissions, due to the high temperatures and energy needed to manufacture it.  But by improving on a well-known electrochemical reaction and orchestrating a “symphony” of lithium, nitrogen and hydrogen atoms, University of Illinois Chicago engineers led by Meenesh Singh have developed a new ammonia production processthat meets several green targets.  The process, called ...

In the realm of science and technology, harnessing coherent light sources in the deep ultraviolet (DUV) region holds immense significance across various applications such as lithography, defect inspection, metrology, and spectroscopy. Traditionally, high-power 193-nanometer (nm) lasers have been pivotal in lithography, forming an integral part of systems used for precise patterning. However, the coherence limitations associated with conventional ArF excimer lasers hinder their effectiveness in applications requiring high-resolution patterns, like interference lithography. Enter the concept of the "hybrid ArF excimer laser." ...

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 1, 2024 — The latest issues of three American Psychiatric Association journals, The American Journal of Psychiatry, Psychiatric Services and The American Journal of Psychotherapy are now available online. The April issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry features studies that focus on youth psychopathology. Highlights include: Promising clinical results and neuroimaging findings seen in a double-blind trial of intranasal oxytocin for irritability. (AJP Deputy Editor Danny Pine highlights the study in this video and lead author Soonjo Hwang is the featured guest on April’s AJP Audio podcast episode.) A critical integrative review of irritability ...

Using a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it experiment, researchers from Trinity College Dublin have discovered that individuals differ widely in the rate at which they perceive visual signals. Some people perceive a rapidly changing visual cue at frequencies that others cannot, which means some access more visual information per timeframe than others. This discovery uggests some people have an innate advantage in certain settings where response time is crucial, such as in ball sports, or in competitive ...

As computer vision (CV) systems become increasingly power and memory intensive, they become unsuitable for high-speed and resource deficit edge applications - such as hypersonic missile tracking and autonomous navigation - because of size, weight, and power constraints. At the University of Pittsburgh, engineers are ushering in the next generation of computer vision systems by using neuromorphic engineering to reinvent visual processing systems with a biological inspiration - human vision. Rajkumar Kubendran, assistant professor ...

Microsatellites are valuable tools for studying inheritance, genetic diversity, and population dynamics across a wide range of organisms including bacteria, plants, animals, and fungi. These short, repeating sequence motifs are a common feature of both coding and non-coding DNA and have been observed in all genomes studied to date. Their repetitive nature leads to “slippage” in the DNA replication machinery, resulting in the addition or subtraction of repeats that causes microsatellites to grow or shrink in length. Because of this, there is considerable variability ...

LOS ANGELES  – Today, Michelson Medical Research Foundation (MMRF) and the Human Immunome Project (HIP) opened the application period for the 2024 Michelson Prizes: Next Generation Grants. The annual prizes award $150,000 research grants to early-career scientists advancing human immunology, vaccine discovery, and immunotherapy research for major global diseases.  The international prize supports high-risk, high-reward research poised to tackle global health crises and address current roadblocks in human vaccine development and our understanding of key immune processes.  “Securing funding for innovative research is a significant hurdle for young scientists, ...

ATLANTA – Chemical Insights Research Institute (CIRI) of UL Research Institutes is examining what it means to support human health in the face of many environmental stressors, including extreme heat, extreme precipitation and wildfires through the upcoming webinar "Protecting Human Health While Adapting to Extreme Climate Conditions."   The webinar takes place on Wednesday, April 3, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. ET.   The webinar will begin with a brief overview of resilience for health in the built environment, followed by a discussion among expert panelists ...

Supercapacitors have the superb ability to capture and store energy. Researchers can use different materials and fabrication methods to make them flexible, thin and appropriate for use in wearable or implantable electronics, like smart watches or pacemakers, but those approaches tend to be intricate and costly. Now, however, a team from Jilin University in China has developed a kind of all-in-one adhesive electrode that solves one of the major issues facing advancing flexible 2D supercapacitors - making the ...

Trichoderma spp. are globally distributed and are considered significant fungal resources. They are widely studied and applied due to their economic and ecological importance, offering numerous benefits, such as producing enzymes and antibiotics, aiding in plant growth, and protecting them from pathogens.   This study led by Prof. Chu-Long Zhang (Fungal Resources Utilization and Plant Protection Research Group, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China) presents the discovery of eleven new species of Trichoderma. The team obtained a total of 618 Trichoderma ...

WASHINGTON, April 1, 2024 — Adding milk to an alcoholic drink and then curdling that milk is a 300-year-old preservation technique that was used by none other than Ben Franklin. Join George as he discovers the chemistry that makes this technique so useful, and learn how to make the best espresso martini you’ll ever taste. https://youtu.be/ef0heKtiuvQ?si=W5uDUccoh_bOWtZy Reactions is a video series produced by the American Chemical Society and PBS Digital Studios. Subscribe to Reactions at http://bit.ly/ACSReactions and follow us on Twitter @ACSReactions. The American ...

About The Study: In this quality improvement study of 35 health care facilities in Orange County, California, using quasi-experimental design, chlorhexidine bathing and nasal decolonization were associated with significantly lower multidrug-resistant organism prevalence and incident clinical cultures. Infection-related hospitalizations, associated costs, and deaths among nursing home residents also decreased.  Authors: Susan S. Huang, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of California Irvine School of Medicine in Irvine, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The ...

About The Study: The findings of this study suggest that smartphones could offer a feasible, reliable, valid, and scalable solution for remote evaluations of frontotemporal lobar degeneration, a neurodegenerative pathology causing early-onset dementia syndromes, and may improve early detection. Smartphone assessments should be considered as a complementary approach to traditional in-person trial designs. Future research should validate these results in diverse populations and evaluate the utility of these tests for longitudinal monitoring.  Authors: Adam ...

UCSF-led research shows smartphone cognitive testing is comparable to gold-standard methods; may detect FTD in gene carriers before symptoms start. A smartphone app could enable greater participation in clinical trials for people with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a devastating neurological disorder that often manifests in midlife. Research into the condition has been hampered by problems with early diagnosis and difficulty tracking how people are responding to treatments that are only likely to be effective at the early stages ...

About The Study: In this nationally representative cohort study, polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) exposure was significantly associated with an increased risk of cancer mortality. Since the 1970s, PBDEs have been used as flame retardants in a wide array of consumer products, such as building materials, furnishings, and electronics. Further studies are needed to replicate the findings and determine the underlying mechanisms.  Authors: Wei Bao, M.D., Ph.D., and Buyun Liu, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, Anhui, China, ...

About The Study: In this survey study, binge drinking in both men and women was reported at greater frequency among sports wagering individuals compared with nongamblers and non–sports gamblers.   Authors: Joshua B. Grubbs, Ph.D., of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, is the corresponding author.  To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/  (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.5473) Editor’s Note: Please see the ...

In the field of environmental and climate science, researchers have developed the Comprehensive Mechanistic Light Response (CMLR) gross primary production (GPP) dataset. Derived from the TROPOMI satellite's solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) observations, this global dataset offers unprecedented insights into Earth's GPP, the process through which plants convert carbon dioxide and sunlight into essential resources. Gross Primary Production (GPP), the process through which plants convert carbon dioxide and sunlight into glucose and oxygen, is the Earth's largest carbon flux. Accurate quantification ...

The great gray owl has long been thought of as a sentinel of the Alaska wilderness, keeping watch over snow-laden forests as far north as the Brooks Range, well away from human populations. In a study published last week with Nature Scientific Reports, a team of University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers upends the notion that the iconic bird — known as the phantom of the North — lives far from cities, towns and other markers of human density. “We like to think of our wildlife, especially in Alaska, as existing in pristine wilderness untouched by humans,” said Falk Huettmann, professor ...