CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Great Salt Lake has lost more than 15 billion cubic yards of water over the past three decades, is getting shallower at the rate of 4 inches a year, and an analysis of its water budget suggests reducing irrigation is necessary for saving it. The study published today in Environmental Challenges shows that 62% of the river water bound for the lake is diverted for human uses, with agricultural activities responsible for nearly three-quarters of that percentage. “The research highlights the alarming role of water consumption for feeding livestock in driving the lake’s rapid depletion,” said co-author ...

A new study published today in IOP Publishing’s journal Environmental Research: Energy shows why new safeguards adopted by the U.S. Treasury Department are necessary to avoid substantial climate impacts and wasted taxpayer resources from a generous hydrogen production tax credit.  The new study illustrates how, absent safeguards, hydrogen producers could potentially claim the highest level of tax credits ($3 per kilogram) for producing "gray" hydrogen from fossil natural gas, by blending in small amounts of biomethane or waste methane. ...

A revolutionary new biological pest control method that targets the lifespan of female insects could significantly reduce the threat of insect pests such as disease-carrying mosquitoes by offering faster and more effective results than current methods. Described today in Nature Communications, the technique developed by researchers in Applied BioSciences and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology at Macquarie University is a new approach called the Toxic Male Technique (TMT). It works by genetically engineering male insects to produce insect-specific venom ...

Sex differences in brain structure are present from birth, research from the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge has shown. While male brains tended to be greater in volume than female brains, when adjusted for total brain volume, female infants on average had significantly more grey matter, while male infants on average had significantly more white matter in their brains. Grey matter is made up of neuron cell bodies and dendrites and is responsible for processing and interpreting information, ...

LOS ANGELES, California, USA, 7 January 2025 - In a comprehensive Genomic Press Interview, Dr. Carrie E. Bearden, Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and Psychology at UCLA, shares transformative insights into the neurobiology of psychosis risk in young people. Her work represents a significant advance in understanding how genetic factors and brain development interact to influence mental health outcomes in adolescents. Growing up in Hawaii, Dr. Bearden's early fascination with mysteries and marine biology evolved into a passionate pursuit of neuroscience's greatest ...

7 January 2025, Leuven – Specific brain cells known as layer 5 pyramidal neurons play a vital role in how our brains process information. Research by the team of Prof. Joris de Wit (VIB-KU Leuven) and colleagues highlights the differences between two types of these brain cells —intratelencephalic (IT) neurons and pyramidal tract (PT) neurons—and how these differences may affect their vulnerability to conditions like autism and schizophrenia. Profiling synapses Among the neural circuits that let our brain process information, brain cells known as layer 5 pyramidal neurons integrate information from various sources ...

Osaka, Japan – Numerous memory types for computing devices have emerged in recent years, aiming to overcome the limitations imposed by traditional random access memory (RAM). Magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM) is one such memory type which offers several advantages over conventional RAM, including its non-volatility, high speed, increased storage capacity and enhanced endurance. Although remarkable improvements have been made to MRAM devices, reducing energy consumption during data writing remains a critical challenge. A study recently published in Advanced Science by researchers from Osaka University proposes a new technology for MRAM ...

In the ongoing battle against climate change, reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions remains a critical challenge. A recent study published in the journal Frontiers in Energy presents a significant breakthrough in CO2 capture technology through the development of a novel biochar material. This research, conducted by a team from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, introduces a core-membrane microstructured amine-modified mesoporous biochar, offering a promising solution for efficient CO2 capture.   The increasing concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere ...

Learning visual speech representations from talking face videos is an important problem for several speech-related tasks, such as lip reading, talking face generation, audio-visual speech separation, and so on. The key difficulty lies in tackling speech-irrelevant factors presented in the videos, such as lighting, resolution, viewpoints, head motion, and so on. To solve the problems, a research team led by Shuang YANG publishes their new research on 15 December 2024 in Frontiers of Computer Science co-published by Higher Education ...

Researchers at the University of Electro-Communications have developed a groundbreaking framework for improving system security by analyzing business process logs. This framework focuses on ensuring that role-based access control (RBAC) rules-critical to managing who can access specific system resources-are correctly implemented. Noncompliance with these rules, whether due to error or malicious activity, can result in unauthorized access and pose significant risks to organizations.   RBAC is a widely used access control model that relies on predefined roles assigned to users. However, as business processes become more complex, ensuring ...

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a severe health threat, being a predominant subtype of esophageal cancer and contributing significantly to cancer-related mortality globally. Despite advancements in combination therapies, patient prognosis remains poor, highlighting an urgent need for novel treatment strategies. In this context, a study explores the potential of dronedarone, an FDA-approved drug, in inhibiting ESCC proliferation through the CDK4/CDK6-RB1 axis, both in vitro and in vivo. The research reveals that dronedarone, ...

Micro/nanorobots hold exciting prospects for executing different tasks in complex microenvironments due to their small size, high flexibility, controllability, and environmental adaptability. However, traditional rigid micro/nanorobots are still difficult to perform different biomedical tasks in complex and unstructured narrow microenvironments due to their limited flexibility and insufficient deformability. To address this problem, in a new paper published in PhotoniX, a team of scientists led by Professor Hongbao Xin from Institute of Nanophotonics, Jinan University, China, has developed a new soft microalga robot (saBOT). They innovatively used microalga, ...

Uncovering the relationship between structure (connectivity) and function (neuronal activity) is a fundamental question across many areas of biology. However, investigating this directly in animal brains is challenging because of the immense complexity of their neural connections and the invasive surgeries that are typically needed. Lab-grown neurons with artificially-controlled connections have the possibility of becoming a useful alternative to animal testing, particularly as we learn how to accurately characterize their behaviour. A research team at Tohoku University used microfluidic devices to reveal how directional connections shape the complex dynamics ...

Canine hookworms are becoming increasingly resistant to drugs across Australia, according to new research. Scientists at The University of Queensland and The University of Sydney have identified widespread resistance to benzimidazole-based dewormers which are commonly used to treat gastrointestinal parasites in dogs. Dr Swaid Abdullah from UQ’s School of Veterinary Science said almost 70 per cent of the hookworm samples studied showed genetic mutations that can cause drug resistance. “This is a big problem, as hookworm infections ...

A team of researchers led by UC Santa Cruz recently released a sophisticated new map that reveals, for the first time, the unique “geologic fingerprints” for most of the African continent.  The map will help archaeologists, conservation scientists, and forensics experts match artifacts and plant, animal, and human remains found at locations around the world back to their most likely region of origin within Africa, offering new insights on issues ranging from the history of the transatlantic slave trade to modern wildlife trafficking and human migration patterns.  The research team’s ...

People who care for both their children and older family members – also known as ‘sandwich carers’ – suffer from deterioration in both their mental and physical health over time, finds a new study by UCL researchers. The research, published in Public Health, analysed data from around 2,000 sandwich carers and 2,000 non-sandwich carers from the UK Household Longitudinal Study between 2009 and 2020. Sandwich carers juggle the responsibilities of caring for ageing parents or older relatives while raising dependent children ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- When a new species is introduced into an ecosystem, it may succeed in establishing itself, or it may fail to gain a foothold and die out. Physicists at MIT have now devised a formula that can predict which of those outcomes is most likely. The researchers created their formula based on analysis of hundreds of different scenarios that they modeled using populations of soil bacteria grown in their laboratory. They now plan to test their formula in larger-scale ecosystems, including forests. This approach could also be helpful in predicting whether probiotics or fecal microbiota treatments (FMT) would successfully combat infections of the human GI tract. “People ...

A change in the weather in the U.S. Corn Belt Intensive farming and shallow groundwater affect precipitation patterns The sweeping land use changes and irrigation of the U.S. Corn Belt, along with the influence of the area’s shallow groundwater, have significantly altered precipitation patterns in that vital agricultural region, new research shows. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, focuses on “precipitation recycling” — a process in which the moisture released to the atmosphere by plants, soils, lakes, and other features of the landscape returns to the same area in the form of rain. By using advanced ...

Common methods of communicating flood risk may create a false sense of security, leading to increased development in areas threatened by flooding. This phenomenon, called the “safe development paradox,” is described in a new paper from North Carolina State University. Lead author Georgina Sanchez, a research scholar in NC State’s Center for Geospatial Analytics, said this may be an unintended byproduct of how the Federal Emergency Management Agency classifies areas based on their probability of dangerous flooding. Known as flood mapping, this classification system describes areas in terms of their likelihood of being flooded each year. These ...

People with diabetes who were taking GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs such as tirzepatide and semaglutide had significantly lower rates of hospital readmission, wound re-opening and hematoma after surgery, according to a large study led by investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and NewYork-Presbyterian. The study, published online in advance of print on Dec. 20 in the Annals of Surgery, analyzed de-identified hospital records covering 74,425 surgical procedures in 21,772 patients with diabetes over a three-and-a-half-year period ending in July 2023. The investigators found that patients taking GLP-1 receptor agonists, known informally ...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Physicists have proposed a solution to a long-standing puzzle surrounding the GD-1 stellar stream, one of the most well-studied streams within the galactic halo of the Milky Way, known for its long, thin structure, and unusual spur and gap features.  The team of researchers, led by Hai-Bo Yu at the University of California, Riverside, proposed that a core-collapsing self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) “subhalo” — a smaller, satellite halo within the galactic halo — is responsible for the peculiar spur and gap features observed in the GD-1 stellar stream.  Study ...

Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 6 January 2025    @Annalsofim          Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not only on their own behalf, but also on behalf of the organization they represent.          ----------------------------       1. ...

    When children have a place to play outside, programs aimed at reducing their screen time use are more successful, according to a University of Michigan study.   The study also found that such programs are less successful in neighborhoods where children have less access to green spaces, which include areas such as forests, shrubland, open spaces and grassland, according to lead author Ian-Marshall Lang, a researcher at U-M's School of Kinesiology and first author of the study.    "Because prior studies have shown differences in the effectiveness of community ...

WASHINGTON (January 6, 2025) - A new study from the George Washington University found a significant increase in the number of U.S. young adults seeking permanent contraception, specifically tubal sterilization and vasectomy, following the Supreme Court's June 2022 decision which overturned Roe v. Wade.  “Our study shows that the Dobbs decision has had a profound effect on young adults’ reproductive choices, leading many to opt for permanent contraception in the months following the decision,” said Julia Strasser, director of the Jacobs Institute ...

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (1/06/2025) — Published in Annals of Family Medicine, a University of Minnesota Medical School research team found that implementing point-of-care ultrasounds (POCUS) to assess the viability and gestational age of pregnancies in the first trimester enhanced care for pregnant patients and cut emergency visits by 81% for non-miscarrying patients. Previously, early pregnancy care was provided through separate appointments for ultrasound, risk assessment and patient education. This new integrated approach allows patients who are under 14 weeks pregnant to receive comprehensive care ...