The National Science Foundation awarded Grant Shields, assistant professor of psychological science at the U of A, with a prestigious Faculty Early Career Development award to support his research on the cognitive mechanisms and processes underlying inhibitory control under stress. Inhibitory control is the means by which automatic urges, emotions and behaviors, like wanting to tell your boss what you really think about being asked to work Saturday, are controlled to produce (ideally) better outcomes (yes, you’ll work Saturday because the need for a paycheck outweighs the desire ...

On February 7, 2024, BESTMAP marked the end of the four-year project with a significant Final Dissemination Event in Brussels, Belgium. Titled "Research Lessons to Inform Future CAP Reform," the event was coordinated by project partners - RISE Foundation in collaboration with BESTMAP's sister projects within the AGRIMODELS cluster, all under the Forum for the Future of Agriculture initiative. The event addressed concerns about the ongoing decline of biodiversity in Europe and the unmet environmental goals despite annual spending of €12.1 billion on environmentally oriented measures within the CAP. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) plays a crucial role ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Hundreds of robots zip back and forth across the floor of a colossal robotic warehouse, grabbing items and delivering them to human workers for packing and shipping. Such warehouses are increasingly becoming part of the supply chain in many industries, from e-commerce to automotive production. However, getting 800 robots to and from their destinations efficiently while keeping them from crashing into each other is no easy task. It is such a complex problem that even the best path-finding algorithms struggle to keep up with the breakneck pace of e-commerce or manufacturing.  In a sense, ...

Dartmouth researchers report they have developed the first smartphone application that uses artificial intelligence paired with facial-image processing software to reliably detect the onset of depression before the user even knows something is wrong. Called MoodCapture, the app uses a phone's front camera to capture a person's facial expressions and surroundings during regular use, then evaluates the images for clinical cues associated with depression. In a study of 177 people diagnosed with major depressive disorder, the app correctly identified early symptoms of depression with 75% accuracy. These results suggest the technology could be publicly ...

People living in ancient Eastern Arabia appear to have developed resistance to malaria following the appearance of agriculture in the region around five thousand years ago, a new study reveals. DNA analysis of the remains of four individuals from Tylos-period Bahrain (300 BCE to 600 CE) - the first ancient genomes from Eastern Arabia - revealed the malaria-protective G6PD Mediterranean mutation in three samples. The discovery of the G6PD Mediterranean mutation in ancient Bahrainis suggests that many people in ...

PITTSBURGH, Feb. 27, 2024 – Bariatric surgery is more effective than medical and lifestyle modifications for achieving long-term Type 2 diabetes control and remission, according to new research led by a University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine surgeon-scientist and published today in JAMA. In the largest and longest randomized follow-up study to date, the researchers also found that bariatric surgery improved cholesterol and triglyceride levels more effectively than did medical and lifestyle modifications. Since diabetes and cholesterol are important risk factors for heart disease, the management of both may contribute to fewer heart attacks, strokes and other complications. “This ...

About The Study: After 7 to 12 years of follow-up, individuals originally randomized to undergo bariatric surgery compared with medical/lifestyle intervention had superior glycemic control with less diabetes medication use and higher rates of diabetes remission.  Authors: Anita P. Courcoulas, M.D., of the University of Pittsburgh, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jama.2024.0318) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict ...

About The Study: In this study, only health care workers in higher-earning occupations (e.g., registered nurses, physicians, and managers) experienced increases in annual income after state-level Medicaid expansion, which has been shown to improve health care organization finances. These findings suggest that improvements in health care sector finances may increase economic inequality among health care workers, with implications for worker health and well-being.  Authors: Sasmira Matta, M.H.S., of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: ...

About The Study: The findings of this study of 173,000 adult patients who died with cancer suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with amplified socioeconomic disparities in death at home and specialized palliative care delivery at the end of life. Future research should focus on the mechanisms of these disparities and on developing interventions to ensure equitable and consistent specialized palliative care access.  Authors: Camilla Zimmermann, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D., of the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, is the corresponding ...

About The Study: This study of routine screening with fecal occult blood testing found a 14% decrease in colorectal cancer mortality associated with screening. The true association of screening with reduced mortality is expected to be higher due to some coexistence of testing in the control group and colorectal cancer deaths diagnosed more than two years after screening.  Authors: Johannes Blom, M.D., Ph.D., of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, is the corresponding author.  To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The ...

The sunlight received by Earth is a mixed bag of wavelengths ranging from ultraviolet to visible to infrared. Each wavelength carries inherent energy that, if effectively harnessed, holds great potential to facilitate solar hydrogen production and diminish reliance on non-renewable energy sources. Nonetheless, existing solar hydrogen production technologies face limitations in absorbing light across this broad spectrum, particularly failing to harness the potential of NIR light energy that reaches Earth. Recent research has identified that both Au and Cu7S4 nanostructures exhibit a distinctive optical characteristic known as localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) (Fig.1). ...

The American Physical Society’s March Meeting begins next week with presentations on new research in climate science, medicine, biological physics, quantum information, superconductivity, condensed matter, and more. The conference will be in person in Minneapolis and online everywhere March 3-8. Press Kit There are no press conferences planned for this year’s program. However, tip sheets about newsworthy presentations are now available in the March Meeting press kit. Registered journalists and public information officers will also receive emails with press information daily for the duration of the meeting.  Press Room  In-person press registrants ...

1. NIMS, Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. (based in Minato City, Tokyo), N.E. CHEMCAT CORPORATION (based in Minato City, Tokyo) and Priways Co., Ltd. (a NIMS-founded startup based in Tsukuba, Ibaraki) have jointly developed a thick-film, electrically conductive ink suitable for printing electronic circuits and sensors on the surfaces of films and other substrates to manufacture printed electronics. Sumitomo Metal Mining and Priways displayed the ink during the 38th Nepcon Japan exhibition to be held from January ...

There’s a lot of research about moving away from carbon as an energy source, but what if instead the carbon that is being used is applied to its full capacity?   The importance of carbon as an energy source is not to be downplayed. Unfortunately, the reliance on these carbon-based materials has proven to be disastrous for the environment, especially in the quantities they are consumed on a global basis. Therefore, alternative means have to be researched. Superstructure carbons (SCC) are a possible way to use carbons in a more efficient and “green” way that can exceed the current performance and longevity ...

The International Vaccine Institute (IVI), an international organization with a mission to discover, develop, and deliver safe, effective, and affordable vaccines for global health, and the Ministry of Health of Rwanda announced today that IVI will open its Africa Regional Office in Kigali this year. The IVI Board of Trustees (BOT) confirmed Rwanda as the location for IVI’s Africa Regional Office at a meeting in February, following a detailed evaluation of proposals from five countries to host the regional office.   Dr. Jerome Kim, Director General of IVI, said: “We are ...

1. A NIMS research team has developed a new technique to image grain boundaries obstructing lithium-ion migration in solid-state batteries—a promising type of next-generation battery. 2. Solid-state batteries—next-generation rechargeable batteries—are intended to be safer and have higher energy densities than conventional lithium-ion batteries by replacing liquid organic electrolytes with solid electrolytes. A major issue in current solid-state battery R&D is the obstruction of ...

Digital Science is pleased to announce that ReadCube, an award-winning leader in literature management and full-text document delivery, has launched a new solution for research-driven organizations – known simply as Literature Review by ReadCube. Literature Review seamlessly integrates with ReadCube's premier literature management platform, trusted by over 650 research organizations globally. Known for its best-in-class user experience and robust literature workflows, ReadCube's newest solution delivers a turnkey end-to-end workflow for teams tasked with monitoring and analyzing published literature related ...

Every year, over 100 million people worldwide suffer a stroke. Ischemic strokes (cerebral infarction) are the most common, but they can also occur "silently" and therefore often go undetected. This can result in serious illnesses such as dementia, depression or even suicide. In order to determine the risk of stroke at an early stage, Prof. Dr. Olga Golubnitschaja, head of the research group for 3P (predictive, preventive and personalized) medicine at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), together with the University of Bonn and other authors from 25 institutions from 11 countries, has developed a holistic approach to health ...

OAK BROOK, Ill. – As artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used in radiology, researchers caution that it’s essential to consider the environmental impact of AI tools, according to a focus article published today in Radiology, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Health care and medical imaging significantly contribute to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions fueling global climate change. AI tools can improve both the practice of and sustainability in radiology through optimized imaging protocols resulting in shorter scan times, improved scheduling ...

February 27 — Five of the world’s leading research and education (R&E) networking organizations have joined forces to form MetrANOVA, a consortium for Advancing Network Observation, Visualization, and Analysis. Together, founding members Energy Sciences Network (ESnet), GÉANT, GlobalNOC at Indiana University, Internet2, and Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) operate and connect a dizzying number of national, regional, and local R&E networks — yet representing a portion of the decentralized fabric linking scientific researchers in hundreds of countries ...

Patients who have drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) have a similar microbiological response to bedaquiline-based second-line medications as patients with drug-sensitive TB taking first-line regimens, according to researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York and GHESKIO Centers in Haiti. Second-line medications are those that are given when one or more of the drugs given first for the disease are not effective. The research could have implications for shortening the duration of treatment for drug-resistant TB, which currently ...

In an effort to expedite its life-saving work, the Colorectal Cancer Alliance (Alliance) Project Cure CRC initiative is excited to open its Request for Proposals (RFP). Tens of millions of dollars will be available to researchers from around the world whose work aims to expedite colorectal cancer (CRC) research to a curable science. Beginning March 1, the program is accepting applications for one to three-year projects from qualifying professionals at research-based institutions and private companies. Priority will be given to proposals that focus on high-risk/high-reward projects to accelerate new CRC therapies and technologies from bench to bedside.   The ...

First-of-its-kind study suggests increasing the percentage of youth in the United States who participate in sports to meet a Healthy People 2030 goal could improve children’s physical and mental health and save $80 billion. Achieving the Healthy People 2030 youth sports participation goal could save the United States $80 billion in direct medical costs and productivity losses and deliver over 1.8 million more quality years of life to Americans, according to a study that will be published on Feb. 27 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Every decade since 1980, Healthy People has provided science-based, 10-year national objectives and ...

Current lithium-ion battery technology does not have the energy density necessary to meet the demands for renewable energy. In theory, lithium-sulfur batteries could be a viable alternative with a higher specific capacity and energy density. However, sulfur has disadvantages that currently limit its practical adoption. A comprehensive review published in Nano Research on February 8 outlines how metal organic frameworks-based cathode materials could improve the performance of lithium-sulfur batteries, making them a practical alternative to lithium-ion batteries.  “The ...

Imagine technology as a race car speeding down a track – it can only go as fast as its engine allows. But just when it seemed like organic solar cells hit a roadblock, along comes 3PNIN, a game-changing molecule shaped like a propeller, ready to turbocharge their progress and break through barriers.   Organic solar cells (OSCs) represent the pinnacle of renewable energy, yet certain components have fallen significantly behind the trajectory of ongoing development. Particularly, cathode interfacial materials (CIMs) have failed to sustain ...