Even in tech-heavy Washington state, the numbers of students with access to computer science classes aren’t higher than national averages: In the 2022-2023 school year, 48% of public high schools offered foundational CS classes and 5% of middle school and high school students took such classes. Those numbers have inched up, but historically marginalized populations are still less likely to attend schools teaching computer science, and certain groups — such as Latinx students and young women — are less likely than their peers to be enrolled in the classes even if the school offers them. To reach a greater diversity of grade-school ...

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — The Association for Psychological Science (APS), the leading organization serving psychological researchers, practitioners, teachers, and students from around the world, has announced a new partnership that will expand the training and career development resources available to its members.   APS has partnered with Instats, a virtual learning platform offering live and on-demand research training seminars, courses, and workshops. Instats provides its PhD-level programming through its global network of ...

A recent study from the lab of Dr. Hugo J. Bellen, distinguished service professor at Baylor College of Medicine and investigator at the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (Duncan NRI) links the FRYL gene to a new neurodevelopmental disorder in humans. They used fruit flies to establish that the loss of a functional copy of the FRY-like transcription coactivator (FRYL) gene is the underlying cause of this new disorder in fourteen individuals. The study was published in the American Journal of Human Genetics. FRYL ...

A person’s age, sex and location are correlated with the chance that they have a bloodstream infection that is resistant to antibiotics, according to a new study published March 14th in PLOS Medicine by Gwenan Knight of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, and colleagues. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), in which infections cannot be treated with antibiotics, is a major global public health threat. Little has been known about how the prevalence of resistance varies with age and sex even though antibiotic usage, changes in immune function, and exposure to high-risk settings are all linked to age and sex. In the new study, researchers analyzed ...

Coronavirus envelope protein is a drug target for new platform for the identification and optimization of peptides against SARS-CoV-2   ##### In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available paper in PLOS Biology:   http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002522 Article Title: Developing inhibitory peptides against SARS-CoV-2 envelope protein Author Countries: United States Funding: This work was supported by Columbia University Dean’s ...

Our nervous systems are naturally wired to sense fear. Whether prompted by the eerie noises we hear alone in the dark or the approaching growl of a threatening animal, our fear response is a survival mechanism that tells us to remain alert and avoid dangerous situations. But if fear arises in the absence of tangible threats, it can be harmful to our well-being. Those who have suffered episodes of severe or life-threatening stress can later experience intense feelings of fear, even during situations that lack a real threat. Experiencing this generalization of fear is psychologically damaging and can result in debilitating long-term mental health conditions ...

Materials that are incredibly thin, only a few atoms thick, exhibit unique properties that make them appealing for energy storage, catalysis and water purification. Researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, have now developed a method that enables the synthesis of hundreds of new 2D materials. Their study has been published in the journal Science. Since the discovery of graphene, the field of research in extremely thin materials, so-called 2D materials, has increased exponentially. The reason is that 2D materials have a large surface area in relation to their volume or weight. This ...

Previously undescribed human gut bacteria that aid in the digestion of plant cellulose are scarce in urban societies but abundant in ancient and hunter-gatherer microbiomes, according to a new study. The findings provide insight into the poorly understood cellulosome-producing bacteria that inhabit the human gut and their response to modern urban diets and lifestyles. Like all mammals, humans rely on the gut microbiome to digest cellulose – the main component of plant fiber and a common element in diets that include plant-based material. Fermentation of dietary fiber via cellulosome-producing ...

In a Policy Forum, Diane Hoffman and colleagues argue that direct-to-consumer (DTC) microbiome tests lack analytical and clinical validity and require more federal regulation to prevent consumer harm. A growing body of research has suggested the potential for improving human health by better understanding the microbiome, leading to the emergence of a global industry selling DTC microbiome services. However, despite its impact on the lifestyle health and wellness market, regulation of the DTC microbiome testing industry has been virtually ignored. According to Hoffman et al., these companies’ claims of having ...

Researchers have developed a more sustainable method to do the work required to make plastics that are comparable to widely used low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plastics. They  say their method is industrially viable. LDPE is a soft, flexible, and lightweight plastic material that is widely used in a variety of commercial applications, including plastic films, bottles and other pliable products. LDPE’s unique properties are derived from its tree-branch-like molecular structure, bestowing flexibility. The material is also ductile due to its lower crystallinity. These properties set it apart from other, more linear varieties of polyethylene. ...

Researchers report they have boosted the performance of a thermoelectric device using an approach that doesn’t require tellurium. The findings reveal a path toward more efficient and sustainable commercial applications of thermoelectric cooling based on Earth-abundant compounds. Efficient and sustainable cooling is crucial to modern living, particularly in our warming world. However, current cooling strategies require substantial energy, which can exacerbate anthropogenic climate impacts. Thermoelectric cooling is an attractive solid-state heat-pump technology that could reduce energy consumption ...

BALTIMORE, March 14, 2024: Scientific research has linked a person’s microbiome to everything from gut and mental health to immunity and predisposition to cancer. This research comes at a time when there is a burgeoning interest in wellness and alternative medicine, which has fueled consumers’ curiosity about the composition of their own microbiomes. This curiosity has led to a growing demand for direct-to-consumer (DTC) microbiome testing services. While the companies marketing these services claim to tell customers whether their microbiomes (gut, vaginal, skin…) are “healthy,” ...

Philadelphia, March 14, 2024 – Dairy cows receive a huge amount of care during their lives on a farm, but procedures, especially restraining during procedures, can be stressful for some animals. Positive reinforcement training—or training with a reward to achieve a desired behavior—has shown promise to reduce this fear in other species. In a recent study in the Journal of Dairy Science, published by the American Dairy Science Association and Elsevier, a team of researchers set out to understand whether ...

We are all aware of the dangers of pollution to our air, water, and earth. In a letter recently published in Nature Human Behavior, scientists are advocating for the recognition and mitigation of another type of environmental pollution that poses equivalent personal and societal dangers: information overload. With the internet at our fingertips with smartphones, we are exposed to an unprecedented amount of data far beyond our ability to process. The result is an inability to evaluate information and make decisions. Further, it can lead us to limit our social activities, feel unsatisfied with ...

URBANA, Ill. – Early childhood is an important time for learning about nutrition and establishing healthy eating behaviors. Young children rely on parents to provide food options, and the availability of food in the home affects their dietary choices. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign looks at changes in home food availability and nutrient intake for children from 2 to 4 years old. “It's important to understand how the environments that children are in can influence their diet and nutrition. What types of foods and beverages are available in the home, and how accessible ...

Cell division is the generative spark of nearly every lifeform on Earth. But if healthy growth goes unchecked, cell division can turn lethal, overwhelming the organism. Such is the case with so-called oncogenes. When altered by a mutation, these growth-moderating genes go haywire, producing a geyser of cancer cells as a result. Oncogenes are also insidiously adept at generating tumors that over time become genetically “independent” from their origin, so it has been exceedingly difficult for scientists to shut down their replication ...

Clay Wright, assistant professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ Department of Biological Systems Engineering, was awarded a prestigious Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health. The funding is aimed at providing the investigator, versus a specific project, enhanced stability and flexibility for further discovery, enhancing scientific productivity and the chances for significant breakthroughs outside the initial scope of the project. This recognition supports Wright's innovative work in understanding ...

Increasing shade cover over coffee plants can increase biodiversity and provide new ways to combine agriculture and conservation, a new study has revealed.  Coffee grown in high shade, with more than 30% canopy cover, provides a home to more plant and animal species than coffee grown in the sun or on low shade farms with less than 30% canopy cover, the study found.  Preserving biodiversity is good news for farmers as it means better natural pest control, and improved soil ...

Building on what was learnt to one's cost during the pandemic to improve health management in the future. This motivation has led scholars and researchers to take up the topic and investigate various aspects beyond the emergency phase. Just recently, an article by the first signatory and corresponding author, Giuseppe Alessandro Veltri of the Department of Sociology and Social Research of the University of Trento, focused on the public health guidelines adopted during the pandemic. The research team assessed the effect perceived ...

WASHINGTON  –  U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) researcher, Lawrence Rosenblum, Ph.D., was elevated to the prestigious grade of Fellow of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in the class of 2024 for leadership in developing mobile augmented reality, visualization and visual analytics of complex data. Fellow is IEEE’s highest member grade and is awarded through a rigorous review process only to candidates with extraordinary accomplishments.   Rosenblum joined NRL’s Acoustics Division ...

Sparks fly when a female nematode meets her mate in a Petri dish. Tracking him by smell, she beelines over and is pregnant within moments of physical contact. But for the hermaphroditic version of these tiny roundworms, it’s a very different story. Anatomically female but capable of self-fertilizing with their own supply of sperm, hermaphrodites remain emphatically uninterested in mating—until their sperm supply runs dry. Only then will they seek out males.  Within such previously unknown details about microscopic mating rituals ...

NEWPORT NEWS, VA – Superconducting radiofrequency (SRF) technology allows particle accelerators to efficiently produce powerful electron beams. Physicists use these beams to study the building blocks of matter at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. But these research machines also have a promising list of industrial applications. Now, some researchers are figuring out how to get SRF accelerators out of the lab and into industry. One potential industrial use is in water treatment plants. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are present in many products, including certain non-stick cookware, water-resistant ...

Mounting evidence suggests that FDA-approved weight loss medications, such as Wegovy, not only help patients lose weight but also protect against complications from obesity such as cardiovascular disease. In 2021, 40 percent of patients enrolled in Medicaid had obesity. The high cost of these drugs has raised concerns about affordability, both for patients and public insurance programs.   Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member of Mass General Brigham, studied state Medicaid coverage policies for anti-obesity medications from 2011 through the first quarter of 2023, finding that 10 out of 47 states covered at least ...

Aston University is working with an engineering company to make industrial gas burners less environmentally damaging It has entered a knowledge transfer partnership (KTP) with Lanemark Combustion Engineering A KTP is a three-way collaboration between a business, an academic partner and a highly qualified researcher. Aston University is working with an engineering company to make industrial gas burners less environmentally damaging.  The University has entered a knowledge transfer partnership (KTP) with Lanemark Combustion Engineering to ...

PHILADELPHIA – Antibody responses to new SARS-CoV-2 variant infections and vaccinations are powerfully shaped by prior exposures to earlier SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, according to a new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. In the study, published today in Immunity, the researchers analyzed antibody responses in people infected with or vaccinated against the relatively new SARS-CoV-2 variants BA.5 and XBB. They found that even though BA.5 and XBB are very different from the original “ancestral” ...