The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently granted the Atlantic Marine Energy Center (AMEC) $12 million to expand research and development in marine energy initiatives. AMEC comprises four universities including the University of New Hampshire, Stony Brook University, the Coastal Studies Institute, and Lehigh University. In total, DOE’s Water Power Technologies Office invested more than $41 million in this latest round of funding using the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) to four university-led National Marine Energy Centers located across the country. The centers will use the funds to support research, infrastructure improvements, strategy, administration, outreach, ...

Burmese pythons can consume prey even larger than scientists realized, according to a new study. That means more animals are on the menu across southern Florida, where the nonnative, invasive snakes have decimated populations of foxes, bobcats, raccoons and other animals. Pythons swallow deer, alligators and other prey whole. What they eat is limited in part by how big an animal they can wrap their flexible, stretchy jaws around. Researchers call this the snake’s gape. University of Cincinnati Professor Bruce Jayne said measurements of snakes captured in and around Everglades National Park show that the biggest pythons have an even bigger gape than mathematical ...

    Image Almost 14 billion years ago, at the very beginning of the Big Bang, a mysterious energy drove an exponential expansion of the infant universe and produced all known matter, according to the prevailing inflationary universe theory.   That ancient energy shared key features of the current universe's dark energy, which is the largest mystery of our time by at least one objective standard: It makes up the majority—roughly 70%—of the universe, but scientists ...

In recent years, advancements in artificial intelligence have enabled intelligent machines to generate visual art, compose music, and create videos. They converse with us, help with homework, and have even begun competing for our jobs. Amid these advances, machines evoke powerful reactions from humans—sparking concerns about control, fairness, and the potential for misuse. Many feel unsettled by the growing presence of intelligent machines when they inadvertently reinforce power imbalances and perpetuate injustices. Amid all of this disruption and mistrust, we are comforted to know that machines can`t have emotions. Yet, recent advancements in language-based AI have demonstrated ...

About The Study: In asymptomatic patients with severe aortic stenosis and myocardial fibrosis, early aortic valve intervention had no demonstrable effect on all-cause death or unplanned aortic stenosis–related hospitalization. The trial had a wide 95% CI around the primary end point, with further research needed to confirm these findings. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Marc R. Dweck, PhD, email marc.dweck@ed.ac.uk. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For ...

Rutgers University’s Graduate School of Education (GSE) has received a $3.3 million grant to increase the number and diversity of highly trained school counselors to help fill the gap in mental health services in New Jersey high-need school districts. The Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration grant from the U.S. Department of Education – part of a federal initiative to expand nationwide student access to school-based mental health services – will fund the GSE-led School Counseling Prevention to Intervention project. “School counseling is often a misunderstood and under-resourced profession,” said Ian Levy, an assistant professor of school counseling ...

WHAT: A highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus, isolated from the eye of a farm worker who became infected through contact with dairy cows, was lethal in mice and ferrets infected in a high-containment laboratory environment, according to a new study in Nature. The study investigators also found that the virus isolated from the worker, who experienced mild inflammation of the cornea (conjunctivitis), could be transmitted through the air between separated ferrets and might be capable of binding to and replicating in human respiratory tract cells. The virus isolated from the worker is called huTX37-H5N1 and has a mutation (PB2-E627K) frequently seen in avian influenza viruses ...

Dhafer Marzougui, Associate Professor, Physics and Astronomy, College of Science, and Cing-Dao Kan, Professor/Director, Center for Collision Safety and Analysis, College of Science, received funding for: “NCHRP Project 03-110-01.” Marzougui and Kan aim to identify and evaluate the crash performance of breakaway sign and luminaire supports and crashworthy work-zone traffic control devices that are non-proprietary and commonly used.  The researchers will examine in-service safety performance, potential failure modes (and, if possible, design modifications that might address ...

Washington, DC –  The 2024 National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) Global Summit and Award Ceremonies for Cancer Research & Entrepreneurship, co-hosted with the AIM-HI Accelerator Fund, convened the world’s top experts across cancer research, biotech entrepreneurship, pharmaceuticals, investment, and patient advocacy. This prestigious event, held at the National Press Club, served as a unique forum for advancing groundbreaking science, fostering innovative collaborations, identifying ...

Parents with babies born preterm or with low birth weight face significant economic and employment challenges, according to new research published in JAMA Pediatrics. The study, led by Erin Von Klein, MD, a neonatology fellow at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, reveals that 30% of parents with a very low birth weight baby (under 1,500 grams or 3.3 pounds) have had to make an employment decision based on their child’s health and the required ongoing care after discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit. "The lower the child's birth weight, the more likely a parent was to make one of these decisions," said Von Klein. "Of parents with ...

About The Study: Results from this contemporary U.S. cohort where prenatal cannabis exposure was common and indicated that exposed children exhibited some differences in aspects of executive function and behavior relevant to long-term academic success and adaptive functioning. These results may be considered in refining clinical recommendations regarding cannabis use during pregnancy. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Sarah A. Keim, PhD, email sarah.keim@nationwidechildrens.org. To ...

About The Study: In this cohort study, elevated body mass index (BMI) was associated with a significantly increased post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection risk in a dose-dependent manner, highlighting the need for targeted care to prevent chronic conditions in at-risk children and young adults.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Yong Chen, PhD, email ychen123@pennmedicine.upenn.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link ...

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – As cannabis is legalized and is more accessible in various forms across the country, there is increasing concern among health care providers about potential impact on children. Researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital have new findings to add to the existing evidence that cannabis exposure before birth can negatively impact children. In a study published today in JAMA Pediatrics, researchers found prenatal cannabis exposure was associated in early childhood with poorer thinking skills and behaviors such as impulse control, paying attention, planning ability, and more aggressive behavior, all of ...

Philadelphia, October 28, 2024 – CRISPR/Cas9 is a gene editing tool that has revolutionized biomedical research and led to the first FDA-approved CRISPR-based gene therapy. However, until now, the precise mechanism of exactly how this tool works and avoids creating detrimental off-target effects was not well understood. Now, using state-of-the-art technology, researchers from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have identified several specific steps needed for CRISPR to become active and perform its gene editing function. These preclinical findings could lead to improved designs for CRISPR-based ...

Background and objectives The prevalence and fatality rates of cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) have been rising, particularly among the elderly. This study analyzes CMM incidence trends in the United States elderly population from 1987 to 2016 to inform prevention and management strategies. Methods Using incidence data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database spanning 1989 to 2008, we calculated the age-adjusted standardized population incidence rates for CMM in elderly individuals. The Joinpoint ...

MINNEAPOLIS, MN [October 28, 2024] — Today, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) is presenting preliminary data from a study evaluating the usability of the Health Equity Report Card (HERC) tool during the American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting and Expo. The HERC was created by the Elevating Cancer Equity collaboration between NCCN, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), and the National Minority Quality Forum (NMQF) and updated by a subsequent working group. It features 19 practice evaluation and change recommendations designed to help providers and healthcare organizations identify and address disparity and bias in care ...

SAN ANTONIO — October 28, 2024 —Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has added a semi-anechoic shielded enclosure for electromagnetic compatibility and interference (EMC/EMI) testing for spacecraft. The test chamber is the next step in SwRI’s plans to create a turnkey spacecraft integration and test center within its 74,000-square-foot Space System Spacecraft and Payload Processing Facility. The 400-square-foot EMC/EMI Chamber is semi-anechoic, or free of echo, and shielded from electromagnetic interference. It supports performance of standard emissions and susceptibility testing with an upper frequency limit of 40 gigahertz ...

Background and objectives Tumor molecular analysis using next-generation sequencing (NGS) is the standard of care for guiding lung cancer treatment. Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) is a minimally invasive technique used to sample mediastinal lymph nodes for diagnosing and staging lung cancer. This study aimed to determine if EBUS-TBNA provided adequate tissue samples for NGS. Methods We evaluated EBUS-TBNA samples from adult advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients who had both ...

CLEVELAND—The National Institutes of Health awarded a four-year, $2.6 million grant to researchers at Case Western Reserve University to study how high blood-pressure drugs affect patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). More specifically, they want to study whether such medications increase the risk of kidney and cardiovascular disease in CKD patients. More than one in seven Americans suffer from CKD, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CKD is a condition where ...

Marijuana has emerged as one of the most commonly used illicit substances among adolescents in the United States. Given the rising number of states legalizing recreational marijuana for adults and the decreasing perception of risk among adolescents, tracking trends in youth marijuana use is more crucial than ever. Researchers from Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt College of Medicine conducted a comprehensive study using data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey between 2011 and 2021, which surveyed 88,183 adolescents in grades nine through 12. Researchers focused on the overall time trends in use of marijuana ...

Researchers from Peking University Third Hospital have developed a novel collaborative framework that integrates various semi-supervised learning techniques to enhance MRI segmentation using unlabeled data. This new approach, published in Health Data Science, leverages advanced deep learning models to significantly improve segmentation accuracy, even when labeled data is scarce. MRI segmentation plays a crucial role in medical imaging, aiding in the precise partitioning of MR images into different regions or structures. While deep learning-based ...

About The Study: In this network meta-analysis of patients with asthma, inhaled corticosteroids combined with formoterol and inhaled corticosteroids combined with short-acting β agonists were each associated with reduced asthma exacerbations and improved asthma control compared with short-acting β agonists alone. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Derek K. Chu, MD, PhD, email chudk@mcmaster.ca. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jama.2024.22700) Editor’s ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Thin, stretchy skin — like that of a pig or human — significantly lessens the underlying damage that occurs when it’s punctured. Pig skin even outperforms synthetic materials that are designed to mimic skin, a new study finds. Its special qualities, in particular its ability to dissipate the energy of a puncturing object, greatly reduce the damage to deeper tissues, researchers report. Their findings appear in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface. Philip Anderson, a professor of evolution, ecology and behavior who led the study with postdoctoral researcher Bingyang Zhang at the University of Illinois ...

“Out of meat, how do you get thought? That’s the grandest question.” So said philosopher Patricia Churchland to Robert Lawrence Kuhn, the producer and host of the acclaimed PBS program, Closer to Truth. Now Kuhn, a member of FQxI’s scientific advisory council, has published a taxonomy of proposed solutions to, and theories regarding, the hard problem of consciousness. He produced the organizing framework in order to explore their impact on meaning, purpose and value (if any), AI consciousness, virtual immortality, survival beyond death, and free will. Kuhn's ‘landscape of consciousness’ ...

There are, without a doubt, two broad technological fields that have been developing at an increasingly fast pace over the past decade: artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). By excelling at tasks such as data analysis, image recognition, and natural language processing, AI systems have become undeniably powerful tools in both academic and industry settings. Meanwhile, miniaturization and advances in electronics have made it possible to massively reduce the size of functional devices capable ...