URBANA, Ill. – Creating fertilizers from organic waste can help reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and promote sustainable production. One way of doing this is through hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL), which converts biomass into biocrude oil through a high-temperature, high-pressure process. Two studies from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign explore the use of a fungal treatment to convert the leftover wastewater into fertilizer for agricultural crops.  “HTL uses wet biomass from organic sources such as swine manure or food waste. The process yields wastewater, called hydrothermal liquefaction aqueous phase (HTL-AP), which is usually discarded. We ...

There is no difference in live birth rates between time-lapse imaging and other standard approaches used in in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) for embryo incubation and selection prior to implantation, according to the results of the largest trial of its kind.   The randomised controlled trial looked at IVF outcomes in the UK and Hong Kong. The results, published today in The Lancet, provide much-needed evidence that using time-lapse imaging (TLI) does not improve treatment outcomes for someone undergoing fertility treatment. Time-lapse imaging is a technique ...

Early riser! The Sun is already starting its next solar cycle – despite being halfway through its current one Royal Astronomical Society press release RAS PR 24/21 (NAM 7) Embargoed until 00:01 BST on Friday 19 July 2024   The first rumblings of the Sun's next 11-year solar cycle have been detected in sound waves inside our home star – even though it is only halfway through its current one. This existing cycle is now at its peak, or 'solar maximum' - which is when the Sun’s magnetic field flips and its poles swap places - until mid-2025. It affects ...

Subscribe to UCSF News  Note to Editors: Photos and renderings are available in our Media Kit UC Regents sign off on $1.5 billion project to construct a new hospital building at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, securing the future of world-class pediatric facilities in the East Bay. UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals has received final approval on a $1.49 billion hospital building on its Oakland campus that will provide a state-of-the-art, child-centered medical facility for families across the Bay Area. The proposal was approved ...

Rice University’s Emilia Morosan has been selected as one of 11 scientists and engineers for the 2024 Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship (VBFF) to support her work on correlated topological materials. The fellowship is the Department of Defense’s (DoD) most prestigious single-investigator award and supports groundbreaking basic research with the potential to transform various fields. The VBFF, a five-year fellowship with up to $3 million in funding, encourages innovative ideas where researcher creativity intersects with the unknown. Vannevar Bush Fellows represent a cadre of experts who provide invaluable direction to the DoD ...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—In support of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced awards totaling $52 million for a broad range of small businesses in 39 states. The projects will work to solve a wide range of problems—from cybersecurity for electric vehicle charging infrastructure to new ways to detect radiation threats and new ways to manufacture lithium metal for batteries.   “Since Day One, the Biden-Harris Administration has supported small businesses, prompting record ...

Ants are famous for their regimented and complex social behaviors. In the tropics, they are also famous for forming mutualisms with plants. Certain species of trees have conspicuous hollow swellings that house ants, often feeding the ants with specialized ant food. In return, the ants are pugnacious bodyguards, swarming out to aggressively defend the plant against enemies. Scientists have observed these mutualisms for centuries, but an enduring question is how these intriguing interactions evolved in the first place. That remains a mystery, but new research led by University ...

TAMPA, Fla. — The recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of lifileucel, the first commercial tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy for advanced melanoma, marks a significant breakthrough in cancer therapy. In a new commentary published in Cancer Cell, Moffitt Cancer Center scientists provide a comprehensive overview of the therapy’s development and highlight its transformative potential. “TIL therapy represents a major advancement in personalized cancer treatment, offering new possibilities for patients with treatment-resistant cancers,” said Amod Sarnaik, M.D., ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 18, 2024 CONTACT: Camille Jewell, cjewell@vancomm.com or 202-248-5460   COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Neurointerventional surgeons from across the globe will gather at the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery’s (SNIS) 21st Annual Meeting from July 22 through July 25 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to present novel research and innovation in their field.   The conference, held at the Broadmoor Resort, will be a hybrid event with in-person and livestreamed content. Meeting sessions will cover new topics ranging from how living in coal mining areas worsens outcomes ...

Researchers from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine-Knoxville; the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center Office of Research understand the challenges affecting the health and wellness of Tennesseans. A new system-wide collaborative grant program led by UTHSC COM-K is supporting research and scholarly activities to pursue discoveries addressing health issues across Tennessee and beyond. The program will fund six awards totaling more than $450,000 to support teams of clinicians, faculty, and researchers from across the state to innovate in the field of medicine and biomedical research. Robert ...

A team of University of Virginia researchers released the first-ever database of hurricane evacuation orders in the United States. By examining what has worked (and hasn’t) in the face of oncoming hurricanes, leaders and government officials can increase community resilience, create better policy and, ultimately, reduce loss of life. The project, seed-funded by UVA’s Environmental Institute, teamed Majid Shafiee-Jood and Negin Alemazkoor and Harsh Anand, an engineering doctoral candidate, from the School of Engineering and Applied Science. The trio spent countless hours gathering all nationwide public-facing evacuation orders and created a database that can ...

The Center for Applied Biomechanics at the University of Virginia studies the impact of car crashes on the human body, aiming to improve injury prevention. Funded by Toyota’s Collaborative Safety Research Center, CAB’s three newest projects will study rib, lumbar and ankle injuries specifically.  Jason Forman, a UVA Engineering and Applied Science research associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, is the principal investigator on two of the studies.  One study will use ...

A multitude of new genomic sequence data fills major gaps in the fruit fly tree of life, Bernard Kim from Stanford University, US, and colleagues report in the open-access journal PLOS Biology, publishing July 18th. Fruit flies are classic model organisms in biological research and were among the first species to have their whole genome sequenced. With over 4,400 species, the diversity of the fruit fly family could offer insights into evolutionary patterns and processes. But only a fraction of these species ...

A large-scale genome-wide association study (GWAS) using data from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Million Veterans Program (MVP) – one of the largest US-based biobanks – fills crucial gaps in our knowledge of the relationships between genes, traits, and disease across diverse populations, according to a new study. The findings underscore the importance of diversity in genetic studies and the need for expanding representation in future GWAS investigations. GWAS studies have provided foundational knowledge about the genetic basis of disease ...

When at the edges of their geographic ranges, fruit-eating birds favor foods that more closely match their beak size, researchers report, suggesting that foraging niches (the diversity of food resources a species uses) become more specialized toward the periphery of a species range. The findings may help explain geographic variation in species’ fitness and are important for accurately predicting species’ responses to continued environmental change, which is forcing many populations to live near or outside their historic range limits. Animals feed on a subset of available resources within their environment. Optical ...

In a Perspective, Daniel Drucker highlights the growing body of evidence that hints at the potential of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1)-based medications in treating conditions other than diabetes and obesity, including cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative disorders. GLP-1 is a hormone released from the gut after eating that enhances glucose-dependent insulin secretion. Pharmacological GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R) activation reduces glucagon secretion and slows gastric emptying, making it an effective treatment for type 2 diabetes. Later studies found that GLP-1 administration also inhibited food intake through ...

Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) have become the cornerstone of malaria treatment and control. However, the recent emergence and spread of artemisinin-resistance (ART-R) in malaria-causing Plasmodium falciparum parasites in eastern Africa has compromised the efficacy of these crucial treatments. In a Policy Forum, Mehul Dhorda and colleagues argue that urgent action is needed to prevent a surge in malaria-related sickness and death in the region. “Success in containing ART-R in the Greater Mekong Subregion in Asia, where ART-R was first reported in 2008, suggests that a multipronged approach is needed ...

Physical exercise is associated with fewer depression symptoms in people with osteoarthritis, even - and especially - in those who experience the most pain, per Australian study. #### Article URL: https://journals.plos.org/globalpublichealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgph.0003129 Article Title: Physical activity and depression symptoms in people with osteoarthritis-related pain: A cross-sectional study Author Countries: Australia, Canada Funding: This work was supported by the Victorian Higher Education State Investment Fund (IL., AP., MM., VA., RL, MW.). ...

Unlocking the power of nanopores Poking holes through membranes with atomic accuracy to build pocket-sized ‘molecule detectives’ Brussels/Washington 19/07/2024 - Transmembrane β-barrel pores (TMBs) are extensively used for single-molecule DNA and RNA sequencing. They enable the miniaturization of a wide array of sensing and sequencing applications into portable USB-size devices and point-of-care technologies. A team of Belgian and American researchers has now described a general approach to design TMB pores from scratch with custom shapes and properties, opening up new opportunities for single-molecule analytics. Their results were published ...

PHILADELPHIA— The majority of genetic studies focus on people of European descent, which limits the understanding of how genes influence health in other populations. Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center, have partnered with a team of researchers at the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Energy Oak Ridge and Argonne National Laboratories to conduct large-scale studies with diverse groups to better ...

Persistently unhealthy sleep, either not enough or too much, is associated with a significantly increased risk of Type 2 diabetes in a racially and economically diverse adult population, an international team of researchers has reported.   While previous research has linked suboptimal sleep durations to increased diabetes risk, the current report, published in the journal Diabetologia, extended these findings to a large cohort of primarily low-income, middle- to older-age Black and white adults in the southeastern United States.   “Our study contributes new information to support the importance of sleep health in midlife, particularly maintaining ...

NEW ORLEANS, La. –  For the second consecutive year, Ochsner Health, the leading nonprofit healthcare provider in the Gulf South, has been named one of America’s Greatest Workplaces for 2024 by Newsweek and Plant-A Insights Group. Ochsner’s inclusion on this year’s list highlights the health system’s dedication to delivering excellence in inclusivity, employee empowerment and innovative culture. Newsweek and Plant-A Insights Group recognize the America’s Greatest Workplaces in the United States by conducting a large-scale employer ...

Temperature extremes, becoming increasingly frequent due to growing global climate change, are associated with higher rates of missed primary care appointments, according to a recently published study from Drexel University researchers in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The researchers found that rates of missed appointments increased by 0.72% for every 1°F decrease in daily maximum temperatures below 39°F and increased by 0.64% for every 1°F increase above 89°F. Patients 65 and older and those with ...

Oil drops from underwater oil spills can break into tinier droplets at the surface that remain suspended in the water, according to research from the University of Illinois Chicago. That means cleanups after disasters like the Deepwater Horizon spill may be removing less oil from the environment than was thought. Because oil is lighter than water, it rises through the ocean after spills, which are usually caused by leaking underwater pipelines or sometimes by natural processes. It was believed that when these ...

Scimitar syndrome, a rare congenital heart disease, involves an anomalous pulmonary venous return where the right pulmonary veins return to the inferior vena cava instead of the left atrium. It is mainly diagnosed in infants, with an estimated prevalence of 1–3 per 100,000 births. Delayed treatment can lead to pulmonary hypertension, right heart failure, respiratory failure, heart arrhythmia, and growth disorders. This syndrome is characterized by anomalous pulmonary venous drainage to the inferior vena cava, and the usual surgical repair involves re-implanting the right pulmonary veins (scimitar vein) to the left atrium or creating an intra-atrial tunnel to ...