Propane dehydrogenation (PDH), as an efficient catalytic production process to obtain propylene, has developed rapidly in recent years. Previous studies have shown that zirconia exhibited excellent performance in the PDH, with the coordination-unsaturated zirconium (Zrcus) around the oxygen vacancy being the active site in the reaction. However, the critical role of oxygen vacancy is still remaining elusive, and lacked a rationale to establish a relation between structure and performance. Moreover, the strong binding of propene and hydrogen molecules shadowed ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A genetic mutation found in two human patients with schizophrenia also increased schizophrenia-related behaviors in mice with the same mutation, a rare finding of a direct genetic link to psychosis, report researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and colleagues in Massachusetts and Germany. The mutation increases levels of glycine decarboxylase, or GLDC, an enzyme responsible for regulating glycine in the brain. Glycine activates receptors for the neurotransmitter glutamate, called NDMA receptors. “The genetics of schizophrenia is very complex, and it ...

Humanity can farm more food from the seas to help feed the planet while shrinking mariculture's negative impacts on biodiversity, according to new research led by the University of Michigan.  There is a catch, though: We need to be strategic about it. "We can achieve this sustainable mariculture development," said Deqiang Ma, who led the study as a postdoctoral researcher at the U-M School for Environment and Sustainability. "With strategic planning, we can achieve the goal of conserving marine species while meeting the global demand for the ...

Harnessing solar energy to produce hydrogen from water – the photocatalytic water splitting reaction, is a promising approach for the carbon-neutrality future. This process utilizes semiconductor materials to harvest sunlight for the splitting of water into hydrogen fuel with oxygen gas generated as by-product. The solar hydrogen, as a carbon-free energy source, holds immense potential for decarbonizing industries, addressing global energy demands and mitigating environmental challenges. However, realizing practical ...

The continued massive consumption of fossil fuels in modern societies has led to a range of environmental issues, including excessive CO2 emissions. In this regard, electrochemical CO2 reduction can convert intermittent electricity into chemical fuels and other value-added products, which holds the potential to close the carbon cycle. Among the various catalysts, metals are the most extensively studied heterogeneous CO2RR electrocatalysts and can be classified into three categories based on the main products. Containing Bi, ...

New Rochelle, NY, February 19, 2025—A new study in the peer-reviewed Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research (JICR) showed that a specific retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I) agonist RNA (RAR) induces innate immune signaling and death of hepatocellular carcinoma cells in vitro. Click here to read the article now. Michael Gale, Jr., from the University of Washington School of Medicine, and coauthors, evaluated the actions of a specific RIG-I agonist RNA against two distinct human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines. RAR is a synthetic-modified ...

The Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) is pleased to announce that registration is now open for its Annual Meeting, taking place May 28-31, 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona. This premier event is designed to provide healthcare professionals with the latest practical care strategies and scientific advancements in the field of multiple sclerosis and other CNS inflammatory conditions. The CMSC Annual Meeting brings together leading MS specialists, researchers, and healthcare clinicians for a dynamic program featuring cutting-edge research, innovative treatment approaches, and interactive courses. Attendees will have the opportunity ...

A team of researchers from Tsinghua University and Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital has introduced a cutting-edge method to improve the interpretation of electrocardiogram (ECG) data. Their innovative model, called ECG-LM, leverages the power of large language models (LLMs) to interpret complex ECG signals more effectively and accurately. The groundbreaking research was published in Health Data Science, offering a transformative approach that promises to revolutionize heart-related diagnostics.   Electrocardiograms ...

About The Study: In a representative study of adults experiencing homelessness in California, there was a high proportion of current drug use, history of overdose, and unmet need for treatment. Improving access to treatment tailored to the needs of people experiencing homelessness could improve outcomes.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Ryan D. Assaf, PhD, MPH, email ryan.assaf@ucsf.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jama.2024.27922) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, ...

About The Study: The findings of this study suggest that it is possible to predict diagnostic transition to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder from routine clinical data extracted from electronic health records, with schizophrenia being notably easier to predict than bipolar disorder. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Lasse Hansen, MSc, PhD, email lasse.hansen@clin.au.dk. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2024.4702) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions ...

U.S. hospital occupancy after the end of the Covid-19 pandemic is significantly higher than it was before the pandemic, setting the stage for a hospital bed shortage as early as 2032, new research suggests. In the decade leading up to the pandemic, U.S. average hospital occupancy was approximately 64%. In a study to be published in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Network Open, the team of UCLA researchers found that the new post-pandemic national hospital occupancy average is 75% -- a full 11 percentage points ...

About The Study: The U.S. has achieved a new post-pandemic hospital occupancy steady state 11 percentage points higher than it was pre-pandemic. This persistently elevated occupancy appears to be driven by a 16% reduction in the number of staffed U.S. hospital beds rather than by a change in the number of hospitalizations. Experts in developed countries have posited that a national hospital occupancy of 85% constitutes a hospital bed shortage (a conservative estimate). The findings of the current study show that the U.S. could reach this dangerous threshold as soon as 2032, with some ...

About The Study: After more than 10 years of follow-up in the Swiss Multicenter Bypass or Sleeve Study randomized clinical trial, Roux-en-Y gastric bypass demonstrated superiority over sleeve gastrectomy for patient excess body mass index loss.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Ralph Peterli, MD, email ralph.peterli@clarunis.ch. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2024.7052) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author ...

  In the next five years, integrating AI into country response systems could save more lives by anticipating the location and trajectory of disease outbreaks.  Global group of researchers call for better collaboration between academia, government and industry, to ensure safety, accountability and ethics in the use of AI in infectious disease research.  A study published in Nature today outlines for the first time how advances in AI can accelerate breakthroughs in infectious disease research and outbreak response.  The study – which ...

In the face of the alarming number of opioid-related deaths in the U.S., there have been national efforts to increase emergency clinician prescribing of buprenorphine, a medication used to treat opioid use disorder. In a new study published in JAMA, UCLA Health researchers report on the extent and success rate of such efforts in California. Opioid-related emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, and deaths have increased markedly since 1999, and the growing number of cases was declared a public health emergency in 2024. Combined ...

Expert sommeliers can take a whiff of a glass of wine and tell you a lot about what’s in your pinot noir or cabernet sauvignon. A team of physicists at CU Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have achieved a similar feat of sensing, only for a much wider range of substances. The group has developed a new laser-based device that can take any sample of gas and identify a huge variety of the molecules within it. It is sensitive enough to detect those molecules at minute concentrations all the way down to parts per trillion. ...

At a glance: Study in mice offers insights into the brain circuitry underlying certain types of reward-based choices. Researchers identified distinct groups of brain cells activated when animals anticipate a reward to be above average or below average for a choice. The findings enhance understanding of human decision-making and how the brain balances risk and reward. Every day, our brain makes thousands of decisions, big and small. Any of these decisions — from the least consequential such as picking ...

Immune therapy has transformed how cancer is treated, but many tumors continue to evade these treatments, thanks to their resemblance to healthy tissue. Now, researchers at UC San Francisco have found that some cancers, like deadly brain cancer (glioma), make unique, jumbled proteins that make them stand out. These newly recognized cancer-specific proteins, or antigens, could speed the development of potent immunotherapies that recognize and attack hard-to-treat tumors. The study, which was supported through grants from the National Institutes of Health, appears in Nature on ...

Introduction First identified by Stevens and Johnson in 1922, SJS and TEN are now recognized as disorders with a continuum of severity, from milder forms (SJS) to the most severe (TEN). SJS/TEN is associated with multiple etiological factors, most notably drug-induced liver injury (DILI), making the identification of the responsible agent crucial for patient management. However, previous studies have lacked uniformity in diagnostic approaches, limiting the ability to draw clear conclusions about causality. Epidemiology The incidence of SJS/TEN varies across regions, with notable differences between studies. For instance, ...

Any patient suffering from new or worsening medical symptoms hopes for a relatively quick and accurate diagnosis. However, for many people with episodic disabilities — periodic or intermittent conditions like migraines, lupus, Crohn’s disease and epilepsy, in which the presence and severity of symptoms fluctuate — a swift diagnosis is not guaranteed. New research from Michigan State University focuses on diagnostic delays experienced by people with one such condition: epilepsy, a neurological disorder characterized by unpredictable seizures that affects over 3 million people in the United States and 50 million worldwide. “Epilepsy ...

Introduction Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) remain a significant health burden in tropical and subtropical regions, with limited treatment options and diagnostic capabilities. These diseases are often neglected in research and policy, yet they contribute to high mortality and morbidity worldwide. Nanotechnology, particularly the conjugation of nanomaterials with drugs, presents an innovative approach to improving both the diagnosis and treatment of these diseases. Nanomaterials have unique properties that allow for enhanced drug delivery, ...

INDIANAPOLIS – It is important that a healthcare team is aware of and understands a patient’s goals of care, both medical and personal. But that information, if documented, typically is not placed in a standardized location and is difficult to find within a patient’s voluminous electronic health record (EHR). A new study by researchers from Regenstrief Institute, the Indiana University School of Medicine and Indiana University Health presents the standardized goals of care note they developed, deployed and evaluated as a quality improvement initiative at ...

New research found that supplementing maternal diet with α-tocopherol, a form of vitamin E, can reduce the development of food allergy and anaphylaxis in newborn mice.   The prevalence of food allergy in children increased 50% from 2007 to 2021 in the United States (US), with the incidence of peanut allergy tripling in that time. This new study, published in The Journal of Immunology, shows the potential for α-tocopherol in prenatal vitamins during pregnancy and lactation to address this alarming increase and reduce development of food allergy early in life.  The study found that ...

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping workplaces by streamlining routine tasks and boosting efficiency, particularly in retail, where innovation is essential for maintaining a competitive edge. Beyond automation, AI supports employee creativity by offering valuable insights and allowing them to focus on innovative tasks. However, research is limited on how AI service quality impacts employees in retail industries, making this an important area to explore. Researchers from Florida Atlantic University and Hanyang University in Seoul, South Korea, examined how perceived AI service quality influences retail employees’ ...

One in five older adults gets an infection up to six months after heart surgery — with women far more likely to develop one, according to studies led by Michigan Medicine. The two studies examined thousands of cases involving Medicare beneficiaries who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting, also known as CABG or heart bypass, or aortic valve replacement. Women had 60% greater odds of developing postoperative infections, the three most common being urinary tract, pneumonia and sepsis. Black patients also had higher rates of overall infection (28%) ...