HOUSTON, January 22, 2025 — Marcus Freeman, head coach at the University of Notre Dame, was named college football Coach of the Year at the American Heart Association’s Paul “Bear” Bryant Awards, presented by Marathon Oil. The 39th annual awards program benefits the American Heart Association, the world’s leading voluntary health organization devoted to a world of longer, healthier lives for all. “We are honored to award Coach Freeman this year’s Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award, recognizing his exemplary efforts ...

Cancer is vicious. In 2025, it is expected to cause more than 618,000 U.S. deaths — nearly twice the combined populations of Merced and Modesto. Each year, almost half of this nation, young and old, is touched by the disease through personal diagnosis or an afflicted loved one. Jeff Yoshimi joined the 50% when his wife, Sandy, learned she had breast cancer. The blighted cells had spread to some lymph nodes. Alongside Sandy during one of many overnight hospital stays, Yoshimi drifted in and out of sleep, sifting through ideas ...

“Fight-or-flight” is not an option for plants, unfortunately, when it comes to pathogen attacks. Instead, plants opt for “do-or-die.” A deeper insight into the genetic mechanisms that enable plants to resist pathogen infections has equipped researchers with tools to tackle the most devastating pathogens in agriculture. Using advanced RNA sequencing, researchers have recently uncovered how varieties of soybean respond to different types of soybean cyst nematodes (SCNs), with potential implications for developing more resilient crops and reducing reliance on chemical treatments. Published ...

ITHACA, N.Y. – When a grocery store starts selling beer, its sales grow beyond just six-packs and cases: Households, and beer-purchasing households in particular, visit the store more frequently and increase their total monthly grocery expenditures, according to new Cornell research.  The finding has important implications for the intensely competitive grocery business, which operates on razor-thin profit margins between 1 and 3%, well below other retail sectors. One approach to boosting profits is employing “loss leaders,” specific products sold below cost to attract customers to a store and encourage them to buy other, more profitable ...

Key takeaways: Pulmonary fibrosis in patients with COVID-19 tends to resolve, while idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis always progresses Scientists believe key immune elements – cells and genes – may explain resolution versus progression of the disease “Both diseases are caused by injury to alveolar epithelial cells in the lungs. In the case of COVID-19, the injury is viral and acute and in the case of IPF, the injury is unknown but repetitive and chronic — so that may explain the different patterns of pulmonary fibrosis progression.’’ TAMPA, Fla. (Jan. 23, 2025) ...

Bronx, NY—In the global effort to combat climate change, large-scale, plant-based strategies such as planting forests and cultivating biofuels are an increasingly important part of countries’ plans to reduce their overall carbon emissions, but a landmark new study in the journal Science finds that well-intended strategies could have unforeseen impacts on biodiversity and that, in general, restoring forests has the most beneficial effect on wildlife. The authors, including New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) Assistant Curator Evelyn Beaury, Ph.D., argue that policy makers and conservation officials should consider impacts on biodiversity when evaluating the ...

A new statistical tool that combines multiple clinical and pathologic factors with a patient's 21-gene Oncotype DX Breast Recurrence Score® result provides more accurate estimates about that patient’s breast cancer prognosis and their potential benefit from chemotherapy than either the Recurrence Score® result or clinical factors alone.  The tool could be used in counseling patients with hormone receptor-positive (HR+), HER2-negative breast cancer that has spread to the lymph nodes, and could improve shared decision-making ...

Chirality refers to objects that cannot be superimposed to their mirror images through any combination of rotations or translations, much like the distinct left and right hands of a human. In chiral crystals, the spatial arrangement of atoms confers a specific "handedness", which, for example, influences their optical and electrical properties. The Hamburg-Oxford team focused on so-called antiferro-chirals, a type of non-chiral crystals reminiscent of antiferro-magnetic materials, in which magnetic ...

By definition, robots can’t feel empathy — it requires being able to relate to another person’s human experience, to put yourself in their shoes. But according to new U of T Scarborough research, artificial intelligence (AI) can create empathetic responses more reliably and consistently than humans, even when compared to professionals whose job relies on empathizing with those in need.  “AI doesn’t get tired,” says Dariya Ovsyannikova (HBSc 2023 UTSC), lab manager in Professor Michael Inzlicht’s lab at U of T Scarborough ...

Quantum dots are tiny semiconductor nano materials with color-tunable and high-efficiency photoluminescence, which have been successfully applied in different display technology such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs), organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), and micro light-emitting diodes (Micro-LEDs). In 2023, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry rewards the discovery and development of quantum dots. Perovskite quantum dots (PQDs) are emerging display materials with high absorption coefficient, low cost and easy processability, and less environmental impact. ...

Researchers at Rutgers University have found that adverse childhood experiences can make people more sensitive to potential threats from others, which in turn increases their risk of engaging in defensive gun use in adulthood. Their study, published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, used cross-sectional data from a subsample of 3,130 adults with firearm access drawn from a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults. Those surveyed were asked about their childhood experiences with abuse and neglect, their levels of social distrust and sensitivity to perceived threats, depressive symptoms and their self-reported use of a gun for self-defense. The authors first assessed the association ...

BUFFALO, N.Y. — In the quest to take the “forever” out of “forever chemicals,” bacteria might be our ally.  Most remediation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) involves adsorbing and trapping them, but certain microbes can actually break apart the strong chemical bonds that allow these chemicals to persist for so long in the environment. Now, a University at Buffalo-led team has identified a strain of bacteria that can break down and transform at least three types of PFAS, and, perhaps even more crucially, some of ...

Researchers have measured the thinking time of London taxi drivers - famous for their knowledge of more than 26,000 streets across the city - as part of a study into the future of AI route-mapping. Unlike a satnav, which calculates every possible route until it gets to the destination, researchers at the University of York, in collaboration with University College London and the Champalimaud Foundation, found that London taxi drivers rationally plan each route by prioritising the most challenging areas first and filling in the rest of the route around these tricky points. Current computational models to understand ...

Rising carbon dioxide levels affect more than just the climate; they also affect the chemistry of the oceans. When saltwater absorbs carbon dioxide, it becomes acidic, which alters the aquatic animal ecosystem. But how exactly does ocean acidification impact animals whose genetic makeup can shift depending on environmental cues? A study published in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology addresses this question through the “eyes” of oysters. Oysters, unlike mammals and birds, do not have chromosomes that dictate their sex at the ...

        Images   More than a third of Detroit residents (36%) can't get from place to place in a safe or timely manner.    This is the main finding of a new study led by Alexandra Murphy, associate director of social science research at Mcity and assistant research scientist at U-M's Poverty Solutions, and first author Lydia Wileden, a U-M alum and assistant research professor at the University of Connecticut.    They measured this with a tool created by Murphy and her team called the Transportation Security ...

Researchers led by electrical engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a better way to perform the comparative analysis of entire genomes. This approach can be used to study relationships between different species across geological time scales.  This new approach is poised to unlock discoveries regarding how evolution has shaped present-day genomes and also how the tree of life is organized. The new method, named CASTER, is described in a paper published in Science on 23 January 2025.  CASTER ...

Researchers at the Crick have uncovered which genes on the Y chromosome regulate the development of sperm and impact fertility in male mice. This research could help us understand why some men don’t produce enough sperm and are infertile. Males typically have one copy of the Y chromosome and one copy of the X chromosome, whereas females typically have two X chromosomes. Scientists know that the Y chromosome is essential for male fertility, but which genes are the most important and how they work is less clear. In research published today in Science, a research team at the Crick resolved this question by generating thirteen different ...

Male ruff sandpipers engaging in the act of mating typically fall into one of three groups, with variations in how aggressive they are and how showy their plumage is, among other factors. Now, a new study reports a single gene – HSD17B2 – drives these dramatic differences among male ruff sandpiper morphs. The findings show how evolutionary changes in a single gene's structure, sequence, and regulation can drive significant diversity within a single species. The androgen testosterone plays a key role in male reproductive development. It influences ...

In a new study involving whole-genome data, researchers present “CASTER,” a tool that uses arrangements in DNA sequences known as site patterns to infer “species trees,” which are diagrams that depict the evolutionary relationships among species. The tool, which performs with exceptional accuracy and scalability and overcomes the limitations of traditional phylogenetic methods, offers transformative potential for evolutionary research. The growing availability of genomic data has revitalized efforts to construct precise species trees and model gene tree variations. However, the methodology for utilizing genome-wide data lags behind data availability. While traditional ...

Reforestation is a win-win for climate and wildlife, but large-scale afforestation and bioenergy cropping may do more harm than good, according to a new study of land-based climate mitigation strategies (LBMS) for over 14,000 species. The findings emphasize the need to ensure well-intentioned climate action does not exacerbate biodiversity loss. While reducing greenhouse gas emissions is critical, increasing atmospheric carbon removal is equally essential to effectively combat climate change. LBMS considered among the most scalable ...

The vertical migration of Antarctic krill may play a smaller role in oceanic carbon storage than previously believed, according to a year-long study in the Southern Ocean. The findings challenge conventional assumptions about the animal’s role in deep ocean carbon sequestration and underscore the need for more nuanced biogeochemical models incorporating ecological complexity. “Antarctic krill play an important role in the biological carbon pump, but without observational data, we risk using inaccurate and misleading assumptions about behaviors that influence carbon export and ...

While child deaths in England fell temporarily during the COVID-19 pandemic, they have now risen to new heights, a new study from researchers at the University of Bristol and based on unique National Child Mortality Database (NCMD) data has found. The study, published in PLOS Medicine today [23 January], has shown that children were less likely to die during the pandemic lockdown (April 2020–March 2021) than at any time before or since, with 377 fewer deaths than expected from the previous year.  The number of deaths in the following year (2021-2022) was similar to before the pandemic, but in 2022−2023, there were 258 more deaths than expected from the pre-pandemic ...

A single gene that regulates testosterone levels in a “crazy” species of shore bird controls the development of three wildly different types of males, an international study involving researchers at Simon Fraser University has found.   Ruffs have long fascinated scientists for their three types of males, known as morphs, that differ radically from each other in appearance and mating behaviours.   A new study published on the cover of the journal Science this month has discovered that these morphs are produced by a super enzyme (HSD17B2) ...

Two-thirds of people with post-COVID-19 syndrome have persistent, objective symptoms – including reduced physical exercise capacity and reduced cognitive test performances – for a year or more, with no major changes in symptom clusters during the second year of their illness, according to a new study published January 23rd in the open-access journal PLOS Medicine by Winfried Kern of Freiburg University, Germany, and colleagues. Self-reported health problems following SARS-CoV-2 infection ...

Researchers from Hohai University, Northwestern University, and Politecnico di Milano have introduced a pioneering mesoscale mechanical discrete model, LDPM-MicroF, to simulate the fracture behavior of micro fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC), as reported in Engineering. Microfibers, with diameters less than 100 µm, are crucial in preventing early shrinkage cracking and reducing pore pressure during fires. However, formulating an accurate mechanical constitutive law for micro-FRC has been challenging due to difficulties in understanding ...