As the globe grapples with the urgent need to shift from fossil fuels to sustainable energy sources, solar power stands as a beacon of hope. However, a significant challenge has been to efficiently capture and utilize the full spectrum of sunlight. Traditional photovoltaic (PV) panels convert sunlight into electricity but can't use the entire solar spectrum, especially the infrared part which is often wasted as heat. To address this, photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) systems have been developed. These hybrid systems ...

How mutations impact protein stability and structure dynamics is crucial for understanding the molecular mechanism of the disease and the targeted drug design. However, probing the molecular details of mutation-induced subtle structure dynamics is still challenging. Recently, a research group led by Prof. WANG Fangjun from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences developed a time-resolved native mass spectrometry (TR-nMS) strategy coupled with ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) analysis. This ...

As an important chemical raw material, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is widely applied in various aspects of industry and life. The industrial anthraquinone method for H2O2 production has the serious flaws, such as high pollution and energy consumption. By using ubiquitous mechanical energy, piezocatalytic H2O2 evolution has been proven as a promising strategy, but its progress is hindered by unsatisfied energy conversion efficiency. Bi4O5Br2 is regarded as a highly attractive photocatalytic material due to its unique sandwich ...

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is one of the most dramatically affected regions by global warming. For a long time, the region has been exposed by low temperature and soil moisture, which led to the severe inhibition of the soil biological activities and decomposition enzyme systems. As a result, the soil organic matter in this region decomposes slowly and accumulates in large quantities, underscoring its substantial potential for carbon release. In the face of climate warming, the low-temperature limiting ...

Contact: Nick Wilson 805-235-8008; nwilso28@calpoly.edu An eco-friendly glue product that was created by a California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) chemistry team in partnership with an East Coast company has earned a prestigious innovation award granted by a national industry council. D-Glue — a debondable adhesive platform created by Cal Poly Chemistry Professor Phil Costanzo in partnership with the Massachusetts-based company Geisys Ventures — earned the second runner-up 2024 Innovation Awards honor presented by the Adhesives and Sealants Council (ASC) in Louisville, Ky.  The ...

As the lunar exploration mission evolves from exploration to construction and utilization, in situ lunar construction becomes an imperative requirement. The core lies in regolith solidification and formation, aiming to maximize local resource utilization while minimizing transportation and maintenance costs. Nearly 20 techniques have been employed for preparing regolith-based construction materials, each with distinct requirements and capabilities. Professor Feng from Tsinghua University has conducted a comprehensive review, ...

A new study published in Engineering unveils the remarkable carbon storage potential of shale reservoirs utilizing CO2 fracturing technology. Conducted by a collaborative team from the PetroChina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development (Beijing), the National Key Laboratory of Continental Shale Oil (Daqing), and China University of Petroleum (Beijing), the research signifies a pivotal advancement in China’s pursuit of energy independence and carbon neutrality. Shale reservoirs play a crucial role in China’s ...

A new study from the University of South Australia is putting people’s experiences of pelvic pain at the front of pain education to develop better pain management strategies and improved outcomes.   Persistent pelvic pain is an umbrella term for pain in the pelvic area (below the belly button) which may be accompanied by symptoms suggestive of gynaecological, lower urinary tract, bowel, sexual, and pelvic floor dysfunction.   In Australia, one in two women and people assigned female at birth experience persistent pelvic pain, with one in four reporting that pelvic pain affects their ability to undertake daily activities such as work, study, or exercise.   This ...

Polypharmacy, or the concurrent use of five or more medications, is common in older adults and increases the risk of adverse drug interactions. While deprescribing unnecessary drugs can combat this risk, the decision-making process can be complex and time-consuming. Increasingly, there is a need for effective polypharmacy management tools that can support short-staffed primary care practitioners. In a new study, researchers from the Mass General Brigham MESH Incubator found that ChatGPT, a generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, showed promise as a tool to manage polypharmacy and deprescription. These findings, published ...

The lifetime risk of atrial fibrillation (a heart condition that causes an irregular and often abnormally fast heart rate) has increased from one in four to one in three over the past two decades, finds a study from Denmark in The BMJ today. And among those with the condition, two in five are likely to develop heart failure over their remaining lifetime and one in five encounter a stroke, with little or no improvement in risk evident over the 20 year study period. As such, the researchers say stroke and heart failure prevention strategies are needed for people with atrial fibrillation. Atrial ...

Antipsychotic use in people with dementia is associated with elevated risks of a wide range of serious adverse outcomes including stroke, blood clots, heart attack, heart failure, fracture, pneumonia, and acute kidney injury, compared with non-use, finds a study published by The BMJ today. These findings show a considerably wider range of harms associated with antipsychotic use in people with dementia than previously acknowledged in regulatory alerts, with risks highest soon after starting the drugs, ...

Rates of early death and poor health caused by HIV/AIDS and diarrhea have been cut in half since 2010, and the rate of disease burden caused by injuries has dropped by a quarter in the same time period, after accounting for differences in age and population size across countries, based on a new study published in The Lancet. The study measures the burden of disease in years lost to early death and poor health. The findings indicate that total rates of global disease burden dropped by 14.2% between 2010 and 2019. However, the researchers found that the COVID-19 pandemic ...

Across England, confidence lowest among women and ethnic minorities Tory voters more trusting of police   Across all England’s regions, a study out in the journal Policing & Society spotlights London’s Metropolitan Police as the area where women trust the least.  Researchers surveyed more than 8,000 men and women between July 2022 and September 2023 and found women generally trust police more than men. But among the nine English regions surveyed, compared with men, women’s trust is at its lowest in London. It comes after a 2023 investigation triggered by outrage at the rape, abduction and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer, uncovered ...

Authorities in Mauritius will begin combatting illegal fishing with satellite technology thanks to a partnership between the University of Surrey and the Mauritius Research and Innovation Council (MRIC).   The Nereus project combines satellite images with other ship location data. It uses artificial intelligence (AI) to detect anomalies, spotting ships of interest and working out where they are headed. Authorities can then check whether illegal fishing is taking place.   Dr Raffaella Guida, Reader in Satellite Remote Sensing at the Surrey Space Centre, at the University of Surrey, said: "Catching vessels illegally fishing off an island ...

Opioid dependence in Scotland remains high but largely stable, according to a new University of Bristol-led analysis published in Addiction today [18 April] and by Public Health Scotland. The study is the first to estimate the number of people dependent on opioid drugs (such as heroin), and who are in or could benefit from drug treatment, among Scotland’s population since 2015/2016 estimates were published. Scotland has one of the highest rates of drug-related deaths in Europe, with the number of these more than doubling between 2011 and 2020. At 250-300 per million population in 2021-22, Scotland’s rate of drug-related deaths was ...

LA JOLLA (April 17, 2024)—One in every 10 individuals above the age of 65 develops an age-related neurological disorder like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, yet treatment options remain sparse for this population. Scientists have begun exploring whether cannabinoids—compounds derived from the cannabis plant, like well-known THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol)—may offer a solution. A third, lesser-known cannabinoid called CBN (cannabinol) has recently piqued the interest of researchers, who have begun exploring the clinical potential of the milder, less ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State researchers may have uncovered another layer of complexity in the mystery of how diet impacts aging. A new study led by researchers in the Penn State College of Health and Human Development examined how a person’s telomeres — sections of genetic bases that function like protective caps at the ends of chromosomes — were affected by caloric restriction. The team published their results in Aging Cell. Analyzing data from a two-year study of caloric restriction in humans, the researchers found that people who restricted their calories lost telomeres at different rates ...

Silicon-based electronics are approaching their physical limitations and new materials are needed to keep up with current technological demands. Two-dimensional (2D) materials have a rich array of properties, including superconductivity and magnetism, and are promising candidates for use in electronic systems, such as transistors. However, precisely controlling the properties of these materials is extraordinarily difficult. In an effort to understand how and why 2D interfaces take on the structures they do, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a method ...

Soft skin coverings and touch sensors have emerged as a promising feature for robots that are both safer and more intuitive for human interaction, but they are expensive and difficult to make. A recent study demonstrates that soft skin pads doubling as sensors made from thermoplastic urethane can be efficiently manufactured using 3D printers. “Robotic hardware can involve large forces and torques, so it needs to be made quite safe if it’s going to either directly interact with humans or be used in human environments,” said project lead Joohyung Kim, a professor of electrical & computer engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. ...

HOUSTON – (April 17, 2024) – Rice University alumna Minjung Kim is one of 30 recipients of the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans, a merit-based graduate school program for immigrants and children of immigrants. The highly selective award recognizes fellows “for accomplishments that show creativity, originality and initiative [and for] the potential to make meaningful contributions to the United States” in their field of study. Each awardee receives up to $90,000 in funding to support their graduate studies at institutions across the U.S. “This fellowship is a unique experience from the very start — not only did it require me to think ...

A consortium made up of researchers from more than ten countries, including Brazil, the United States and some European nations, is running simulations of the past and future climate in South America with unprecedented resolution. The aim is to create a computer visualization model that more accurately represents the hydroclimatic processes that occur in the region to help decision-makers implement more effective measures to adapt to the impacts of climate change. The work was presented at a panel discussion on climate on April 10, during FAPESP Week Illinois, in Chicago (United States). “We’re ...

Key Takeaways Peripartum cardiomyopathy is a rare form of heart failure that occurs in women during late pregnancy or early postpartum, and one in which the cause remains largely unknown In a new study, Mass General researchers and colleagues show that elevated levels of proteins related to cellular senescence, or aging, in the blood and the placenta are linked to this form of heart failure Targeting aging-related placental proteins improved heart function in a lab model of peripartum cardiomyopathy, suggesting a potential new approach for therapeutic development BOSTON—A form of heart failure that occurs during late pregnancy ...

Coffee beans in a jar and piles of rice or sand are examples of granular matter: materials composed of large numbers of macroscopic—rather than atomic scale—particles. Although granular matter is extremely familiar in everyday life, it represents an unexpected frontier in fundamental physics: Very little is understood about it. In a new study published recently in the European Physical Journal E, Onuttom Narayan and Harsh Mathur, theoretical physicists at the University of California at Santa Cruz and Case Western Reserve University, respectively, shed some light on the propagation of sound through granular materials ...

The world’s top prize in forestry research has been awarded to University of Wisconsin–Madison biochemistry professor John Ralph for work that has led to new uses for one of the world’s most abundant natural resources. The Marcus Wallenberg Foundation on Wednesday awarded the 2024 Marcus Wallenberg Prize to Ralph and collaborator Wout Boerjan, a professor at Ghent University in Belgium, for their groundbreaking research on the molecular structure of lignin, one of the main components of plant cell walls. Dubbed ...

Reston, VA—A novel SPECT/CT acquisition method can accurately detect radiopharmaceutical biodistribution in a convenient manner for prostate cancer patients, opening the door for more personalized treatment. Utilizing lead-212 (212Pb), the new imaging technique has the potential to change practice and increase access for patients around the world. The first-in-human images from this method were published in the April issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. There is significant interest in the development of 212Pb-PSMA–based ...