Reaching sustainability is one of humanity’s most pressing challenges today—and also one of the hardest. To minimize our impact on the environment and start reverting the damage humanity has already caused, striving to achieve carbon neutrality in as many economic activities as possible is paramount. Unfortunately, the synthesis of many important chemicals still causes high carbon emissions. Such is the case of acetylene (C2H2), an essential hydrocarbon with a plethora of applications. This highly ...

In recent years, the world has been experiencing floods and droughts as extreme rainfall events have become more frequent due to climate change. For this reason, securing stable water resources throughout the year has become a national responsibility called 'water security', and 'Aquifer Storage Recovery (ASR)', which stores water in the form of groundwater in the ground when water resources are available and withdraws it when needed, is attracting attention as an effective water resource management technique. The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) announced that a team of Dr. Seunghak ...

Researchers at Trinity College Dublin have recovered remarkably preserved microbiomes from two teeth dating back 4,000 years, found in an Irish limestone cave. Genetic analyses of these microbiomes reveal major changes in the oral microenvironment from the Bronze Age to today. The teeth both belonged to the same male individual and also provided a snapshot of his oral health. The study, carried out in collaboration with archaeologists from the Atlantic Technological University and University ...

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Improved understanding of driver mutations of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has led to more biomarker-directed treatment for patients with advanced stages. The expanding number of drugs targeting these driver mutations offers more opportunity to improve patient’s survival benefit. To date, NSCLCs, especially those with non-squamous histology, are recommended for testing epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations, anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene rearrangements, ROS proto-oncogene receptor tyrosine kinase 1 (ROS-1) rearrangements, B-raf proto-oncogene (BRAF) mutations, rearranged during transfection ...

Rabbits are popular family pets, with around 1.5 million* in the UK and it is important that owners can recognise when their animal is in pain, and know when to seek help to protect their rabbit’s welfare.  New research by the University of Bristol Veterinary School has found the majority of rabbit owners could list signs of pain and could mostly identify pain-free rabbits and those in severe pain, but many lacked knowledge of the subtler sign of pain. The study, published in BMC Veterinary Research today [27 March], provides the first insight into how rabbit owners identify pain and their general ability to apply this knowledge to detect pain ...

A research group led by Japan Women’s University finds that airborne microplastics adsorb to the epicuticular wax on the surface of forest canopy leaves, and that forests may act as terrestrial sinks for airborne microplastics Tokyo, Japan – Think of microplastics, and you might think of the ones accumulating in the world’s oceans. However, they are also filling the sky and the air we breathe. Now, it has been discovered that forests might be acting as a sink for these airborne microplastics, offering humanity yet another ...

The world-leading Dunedin Study is set to launch its age 52 assessments, delving into an understudied but important period of life and time of change. The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study is a longitudinal study that follows the lives of 1037 babies born in Queen Mary Maternity Hospital between 1 April 1972 and 31 March 1973. It is the most detailed study of human health and development in the world. Members have been assessed regularly throughout their lives, most recently at age 45. Study Director, Research Professor Moana Theodore is incredibly excited ...

An opportunistic emergency department stop smoking prompt, comprising brief advice by a trained professional, an e-cigarette starter kit, and referral to local stop smoking services can help smokers quit, with a significant proportion of them still not smoking 6 months later, finds research published online in Emergency Medicine Journal.   Some 6.4 million people in the UK still haven’t stubbed out for good, and of the large numbers of people attending emergency departments, a substantial proportion are more likely to be smokers and have poorer overall health, explain ...

Consistently exercising 2-3 times a week over the long term is linked to a lower current risk of insomnia as well as the ability to clock up the recommended 6-9 hours of shut eye every night, suggests an international 10-year study published in the open access journal BMJ Open.   Regular exercise is associated with better overall health, and several studies have suggested that physical activity promotes better quality sleep and may improve symptoms of chronic insomnia, note the researchers. But it’s not entirely clear how much gender, age, weight (BMI), overall fitness, general health and exercise ...

Peer reviewed – randomised controlled trial - humans  Giving out free e-cigarette starter packs in hospital emergency departments to people who smoke helps more people quit – according to research from the University of East Anglia.   The trial, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), offered advice, an e-cigarette starter pack and referral to stop smoking services to people attending A&E for any reason, to help them to stop smoking.  Six months later, almost one in four people given the starter packs said they had quit smoking. And those who received ...

Implementing a single shared digital prescribing record across the NHS in England could avoid nearly 1 million drug errors every year, stopping up to 16,000 fewer patients from being harmed, and saving up to 22 lives every year, suggests a modelling study, published online in BMJ Quality & Safety. The figures, which are based on the assumption that such a system could reduce medication errors by at least 10%, and by as much as 50%, could also save £millions for the NHS, say the researchers. Previously published research suggests that drug errors cost the NHS £98 ...

Using novel machine learning tools developed at Stanford Medicine, researchers have mapped three distinct cellular configurations that correspond to clinical outcomes for patients with a rare, difficult-to-treat cancer called soft tissue sarcoma. In particular, the technique identified a cellular neighborhood that correlated with a positive response to immunotherapy, which may help physicians make treatment decisions. “These cancers are challenging,” said Everett Moding, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of radiation oncology. “Up to half of patients diagnosed with a primary tumor will develop distant metastases, but we don’t have a good way to predict ...

A team of researchers from Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) and Columbia Engineering has been awarded up to a $38.95 million contract from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) to build a living knee replacement from biomaterials and human stem cells, including a patient’s own cells. ARPA-H is a federal funding agency that funds transformative biomedical and health research breakthroughs, rapidly translating research from the lab to applications in the marketplace.  The Award The award, part of the ARPA-H’s Novel Innovations for Tissue Regeneration ...

Take a puff of nicotine for the first time, and your DNA plays an important role, alongside social and environmental factors, in shaping what happens next.  In recent years, scientists have identified thousands of genetic variants believed to influence everything from when people first try smoking to how good that first cigarette feels to how often they light up and how hard it is to quit. Some variants influence how quickly we metabolize nicotine, while others underlie how sensitive we are to it.  But little is known about how they interact with each other and with other genetic differences. A new University of Colorado Boulder study sheds unprecedented ...

NORMAN, OKLA. – Binbin Weng, Ph.D., an engineering professor at the University of Oklahoma, has been awarded a National Science Foundation CAREER Award presented to early-career faculty with the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education. The $497,370 grant will fund his project “Enabling New States of Light in Mid-Wave Infrared Photonics for Gas Sensing Applications.” Weng says there is a growing demand for distributed gas sensing networks capable of continuously monitoring gas threats on a broad scale. However, current technologies face significant challenges in size, power consumption ...

Researchers have used advanced sequencing technology to determine how the mix of microbes present in patients with healthy eyes differs from the mix found in patients with dry eye. The new work could lead to improved treatments for various eye problems and for diseases affecting other parts of the body.   Microbial communities in and on our body — collectively referred to as the human microbiota — play an essential role in keeping us healthy. Although many studies have focused on microbial communities in our gut, understanding the microbiota present in other body sites is critical for advancing our knowledge of human health and developing targeted interventions ...

Bacteria that could help one of Africa’s staple crops resist a major pest have been identified by researchers at the University of California, Davis. Their findings, published March 26 in Cell Reports, could improve yields of sorghum, a mainstay of food and drink in West and East African countries. About 20 percent of Africa’s sorghum crop is lost due to witchweed (Striga hermonthica), a parasitic plant that steals nutrients and water by latching onto the plant’s roots. In the new study, UC Davis researchers show that soil microbes induce changes in sorghum roots that make the plant more resistant to infection by witchweed. They ...

Delaying surgical inguinal hernia repair in preterm infants until after discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) appears to reduce the likelihood of serious adverse events, according to researchers at UTHealth Houston.  A study led by first and corresponding author Martin L. Blakely, MD, MS, MMHC, professor of surgery and pediatrics with McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, analyzed the safety of early versus late surgical repair for preterm infants born with an inguinal hernia. The findings were published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).  “The biggest question we wanted ...

*Note - This is an early press release from the European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2024) Venice 12-15 May. Please credit the Congress if using this material* Two plant compounds with potential as GLP-1 agonist weight loss pills have been identified in an AI (artificial intelligence)-based study, the European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2024) (Venice 12-15 May), will hear. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists such as semaglutide and tirzepatide are highly effective at helping people lose weight.  By mimicking the action of a hormone ...

East Hanover, NJ – March 26, 2024 – The shifting landscape of post-COVID-19 employment highlights a reduction in the gender employment gap among individuals with disabilities, a trend not observed among those without disabilities, according to last Friday’s National Trends in Disability Employment (nTIDE) Deeper Dive Lunch & Learn Webinar. While men and women with disabilities have similar rates of employment, the data do not address whether women with disabilities in the workforce have lower-quality ...

Since its breakthrough development more than a decade ago, CRISPR has revolutionized DNA editing across a broad range of fields. Now scientists are applying the technology’s immense potential to human health and disease, targeting new therapies for an array of disorders spanning cancers, blood conditions and diabetes. In some designed treatments, patients are injected with CRISPR-treated cells or with packaged CRISPR components with a goal of repairing diseased cells with precision gene edits. Yet, while CRISPR has shown ...

URBANA, Ill. – Most organic household waste ends up in landfills where it generates methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Composting food and garden waste instead of sending it to landfills can significantly reduce methane emissions and help mitigate global warming. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign explores the effects of curbside compost collection programs in New South Wales, Australia. “Governments around the world are interested in composting organic waste and reducing their methane emissions, and they are looking for ways to make ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 26, 2024 Contact: Jillian McKoy, jpmckoy@bu.edu Michael Saunders, msaunder@bu.edu ## Job Flexibility and Security Promotes Better Mental Health A new nationwide study indicates that workplace policies that provide stability and flexibility to employees boosts overall well-being and encourages workers to seek health services when they need it. Employment is a recognized determinant of health, and different aspects of a job can be beneficial or deleterious to mental health. Job flexibility and job security, in particular, are key factors that contribute to employees’ ...

While Wyoming is home to some of North America’s most abundant populations of pronghorn that have largely been stable in recent years, a new analysis shows that many herds are experiencing long-term declines in fawn production. Those declines are primarily a result of oil and gas development and encroachment of trees, according to researchers from the University of Wyoming, the University of Florida, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the University of Arkansas and the Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory. Their findings have been published in the journal Global Ecology and ...

University of Wyoming researchers have gained further insight into how tardigrades survive extreme conditions and shown that proteins from the microscopic creatures expressed in human cells can slow down molecular processes. This makes the tardigrade proteins potential candidates in technologies centered on slowing the aging process and in long-term storage of human cells. The new study, published in the journal Protein Science, examines the mechanisms used by tardigrades to enter and exit from suspended animation when faced by environmental stress. Led by Senior Research Scientist Silvia Sanchez-Martinez in the lab of UW Department of Molecular Biology Assistant Professor Thomas Boothby, ...