WASHINGTON — Researchers have developed a new type of optical memory called a programmable photonic latch that is fast and scalable. This fundamental memory unit enables temporary data storage in optical processing systems, offering a high-speed solution for volatile memory using silicon photonics. The new integrated photonic latch is modeled after a set-reset latch, a basic memory device used in electronic devices to store a single bit by switching between set (1) and reset (0) states based on inputs. “While optical communications and computing have seen significant progress over the past decades, data storage has been predominantly implemented using electronic memory,” ...

A case report published in Eurosurveillance on an adult with an imported case of leprosy in Ireland shows that there are notable challenges in tackling the disease in settings where it is rare. The affected individual was one of five individuals with leprosy reported in Ireland in the past decade. The authors report challenges faced in the public health response due to a delayed recognition of the symptoms by healthcare providers, a lack of specific Irish and European guidelines, and contact tracing in a congregate setting. Ahead of World Leprosy Day, this case study highlights ...

Despite South Florida’s reputation as paradise, the reality for many is stark. In the 2023-24 school year, Broward County reported more than 6,027 homeless children. The community also faces challenges like chronic absenteeism, mental health issues, poor nutrition, and limited access to quality early learning programs. These factors perpetuate a cycle of poverty and low educational attainment, hindering social mobility and the path to stronger communities. To help address these issues, Florida Atlantic University has been selected as the recipient of a $21 million multi-year grant from the United States Department of Education Promise Neighborhoods ...

The Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) on January 9th to collaborate on key carbon-neutral technologies such as solar energy, hydrogen, and energy storage. The MOU was signed virtually via electronic signatures, with KIER President Chang-Keun Yi and NREL Director Dr. Martin Keller serving as the official signatories. * NREL is a DOE national laboratory focused on the research and development of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies, energy system integration, and sustainable transportation. NREL ...

Chicago, January 23, 2025 —JAMA today announces a new cohort of ten academic physicians and nurses selected for the JAMA Editorial Fellowship Program, designed to engage early career clinical or health services researchers with JAMA’s editorial team to learn about editorial decision-making and enhance skills in scientific communication.   Fellows were chosen based on their demonstrated interest in medical publishing, medical education or research, or a career in academic medicine, as well as their communication skills and knowledge of medical research and study design.   The 2025 JAMA editorial fellows are:   Hannah ...

A recent study1 from Purdue University scientists reveals following a consistent dietary pattern that features lean red meat can contribute to gut microbiota balance and support cardiovascular health.  Balanced Diets with Lean Red Meat Support Gut and Heart Health  Researchers in the study assessed the effects of adopting and then intermittently stopping a healthy U.S.-style dietary pattern that included three ounces of lean red meat (beef and pork) daily in healthy young adults, a process called, “dietary pattern cycling.”  The ...

It is a result of his ERC Consolidator Grant-funded project POPCRYSTAL, with which Paolo Falcaro from the Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry at TU Graz has now acquired an ERC Proof of Concept Grant (PoC). The new project called FRESCO, which is being funded to the tune of 150,000 euros over a period of 18 months, aims to increase food safety and reduce food waste. This is made possible by a microporous crystalline composite developed as part of the POPCRYSTAL project, which detects toxic chemical compounds that are produced when ...

Marketers today increasingly rely on online platforms like mobile apps, social media, and direct email to deliver promotional content, drawn by their cost-effectiveness and extensive reach. However, despite these advantages, traditional offline promotion, such as printed coupons, might still outperform their digital counterparts in driving consumer behavior.     Offline media are reported to enhance consumers’ ability to recall promotional content and improve their perception of the advertised products. Yet, a direct comparison of how offline and online promotional media affect consumer behavior has remained largely unexplored.   To ...

In the quest for stronger, more resilient buildings and infrastructure, engineers are turning to innovative solutions, such as concrete-filled steel tube columns (CFST) strengthened with carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP). These advanced composite structures combine the robust load-bearing capabilities and strength of CFST columns with the lightweight, corrosion-resistant properties of CFRP. The result is a cutting-edge construction material that not only enhances structural performance but also offers increased durability and reduced maintenance. Given the potential of ...

Climate change is making extreme weather events worse, empowering meteorological phenomena such as storms, hurricanes, heatwaves, and droughts. Against this backdrop, numerical weather predictions (NWPs), which use complex mathematical models that simulate atmospheric conditions, have become critical to protect people and businesses from these events and other weather-borne disasters. Unsurprisingly, NWP models need a massive amount of daily data to make accurate predictions. While some of this data comes from satellite images and ground-based stations, a fine atmospheric vertical structure ...

Silicon (Si) is one of the most abundant elements on Earth, found in large quantities in soil. While Si is not essential for land plants, many plants, such as rice and grasses, have used Si to develop powerful defense mechanisms against various environmental stresses. Si accumulates in plant leaves and aerial organs as amorphous silica (SiO2), which offers protection against pathogens, herbivores, and environmental challenges like drought. Understanding the processes through which plants manage this beneficial element could enhance crop resilience and productivity, especially in the face of climate change. In a breakthrough study, ...

An international collaboration has achieved an important breakthrough in understanding the genetic mechanisms that allow bacteria to build resistance to drugs. Bacteria have multiple defence mechanisms they can use to build resistance to antibiotics, one of the major problems facing public health globally.  One of these mechanisms involves plasmids, small DNA molecules in bacterial cells, which have their own independent genome and carry antibiotic resistance. If we can work out the roles plasmids play inside bacteria, then we can use the information to develop a new generation of therapeutics that can target drug resistant infections. John ...

Proteins are life’s engines, powering processes like muscle movement, vision, and chemical reactions. Their environments—water, lipid membranes, or other condensed phases—are critical to their function, shaping their structure and interactions. Yet many modern protein-design methods, including AI-based tools, often ignore how these surroundings influence proteins. This gap limits our ability to create proteins with new functions, slowing progress in medicine and bioengineering. One group of proteins working in such specialized ...

Bethesda, MD (Jan. 22, 2025) — The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) has unveiled an updated clinical practice guideline in Gastroenterology addressing the prevention and management of hepatitis B virus reactivation (HBVr) in patients on immunosuppressive drugs. The use of immunosuppressive drugs has increased significantly since 2013, according to data gathered via the National Health Interview Survey. New tailored risk assessments can help health care providers and patients navigate challenges posed by the newer immunosuppressive therapies used for oncology, rheumatology, and gastrointestinal diseases. As the ...

Adults who have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may be living shorter lives than they should, finds a world-first study led by UCL researchers. The research, published in The British Journal of Psychiatry, analysed anonymised primary care data from 30,029 adults across the UK with diagnosed ADHD. They then compared this group with 300,390 participants without ADHD, who were matched by age, sex, and primary care practice. The researchers found an apparent reduction in life expectancy for men with diagnosed ADHD of between 4.5 and 9 years, and between 6.5 and 11 years for women. Senior author, ...

The fossilised neck bone of a flying reptile unearthed in Canada shows tell-tale signs of being bitten by a crocodile-like creature 76 million years ago, according to a new study published today [23 January] in the Journal of Palaeontology. The juvenile pterosaur vertebra, discovered in Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, bears a circular four-millimetre-wide puncture mark from a crocodilian tooth. Researchers from the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology (Canada), the University of Reading (UK) and the University of New England (Australia) say this rare evidence provides insight into predator-prey dynamics ...

The results of cowslip observations carried out with the help of citizen scientists from 32 countries in over 5,200 locations shed light on the well-being of insect-pollinated plants under changing climate and land use conditions. The study was made possible thanks to the contribution of European science enthusiasts. It revealed some surprising results recently published in the Journal of Ecology, one of the longest-standing top-level journals in this field.  The cowslip (Primula veris) is considered a model species for studying insect-pollinated plants. Cowslips can have two types of flowers: long-styled (L-morph) and short-styled (S-morph). In L-morph flowers, ...

Photomechanical materials made of photochromic crystals, which change their molecular structure reversibly in response to light, have the potential to impact fields from semiconductors to pharmaceuticals. For the first time in the world, an Osaka Metropolitan University team has developed a crystal patterning method demonstrating that it is possible to control the orientation of photochromic crystals known as diarylethenes. Diarylethene crystals not only change color when exposed to UV light, but also undergo various shape changes as the molecular structure ...

Quantum entanglement – a phenomenon where particles are mysteriously linked no matter how far apart they are – presents a long-standing challenge in the physical world, particularly in understanding its behaviour within complex quantum systems. A research team from the Department of Physics at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) and their collaborators have recently developed a novel algorithm in quantum physics known as ‘entanglement microscopy’ that enables visualisation and mapping of this extraordinary phenomenon at a microscopic scale. By zooming in on the intricate ...

Evolution is the basis of biological diversity, driven by mechanisms that allow organisms to adapt and survive. One such mechanism is polyploidy, where organisms carry extra copies of their genomes. While polyploidy provides genetic redundancy by allowing mutations without affecting survival, it can also slow evolutionary progress by diluting beneficial mutations. This paradox has intrigued scientists for many years now, and a recent study from Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at Institute of Science Tokyo offers new insights into polyploidy's role in evolution. Led by ELSI’s ...

A new study published today in the scientific journal Addiction has found that opioid smoking appears to be associated with lower mortality risk compared with opioid injecting. The authors, however, caution that opioid smoking still carries a substantial overdose risk and that these results should not be interpreted as suggesting that opioid smoking is safe. The study analysed substance use treatment data from 2006 to 2021, comparing 287,481 individuals who reported smoking opioids as their primary form of substance use and an equal weighted number of individuals who reported ...

Deep learning techniques are drawing more and more attention to Web developers. A lot of Web apps perform inference of deep neural network (DNN) models within Web browsers to provide intelligent services for their users. Typically, GPU acceleration is required during DNN inference, especially on end devices. However, it has been revealed that GPU acceleration in Web browsers has an unacceptably long warm-up time, harming the quality of service (QoS). To solve the problems, a research team led by Yun MA published their new research on ...

Ovarian cancer, a deadly gynecologic malignancy, has seen a significant shift in its treatment paradigm with the introduction of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors, which are now standard in the maintenance setting following first-line chemotherapy. This retrospective cohort study investigates the real-world effectiveness and safety of olaparib, a PARP inhibitor, in patients with newly diagnosed advanced-stage, high-grade serous ovarian cancer who are HRD positive but BRCA wild-type, a demographic less extensively explored in previous research. The primary goal was to assess the 1-year progression-free ...

Camel milk udderly good alterative to traditional dairy       In addition to being hypoallergenic, camel milk could potentially protect the gut from harmful enzymes and create healthier digestion.   New research from Edith Cowan University (ECU) has found that camel milk contained more naturally occurring bioactive peptides when compared to its bovine counterpart.   “This is a good thing. We now know that camel milk has the potential to be hypoallergenic compared to cow’s milk, but also that it has higher potential to yield bioactive peptides which can have antimicrobial ...

We humans excel at generalization. If you taught a toddler to identify the color red by showing her a red ball, a red truck and a red rose, she will most likely correctly identify the color of a tomato, even if it is the first time she sees one. An important milestone in learning to generalize is compositionality: the ability to compose and decompose a whole into reusable parts, like the redness of an object. How we get this ability is a key question in developmental neuroscience – and in AI research. The earliest ...