Researchers have linked a decade-long decline in the blood lead levels of American Indian adults to long-term cardiovascular health benefits, including reduced blood pressure levels and a reduction in a marker associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and heart failure. The research team, supported by the National Institutes of Health, found that adults who had the greatest reductions in blood lead levels saw their systolic blood pressure fall by about 7 mm Hg, an amount comparable to the effects of blood pressure-lowering medication. Lead exposure is known to harm the health of children by damaging the brain and nervous system and slowing growth and development. It has also been associated ...

Through the Strong Heart Family Study, National Institutes of Health-supported researchers found that small declines in blood lead levelswere associated with long-term cardiovascular health improvements in American Indian adults. Participants who had the greatest reductions in blood lead levels saw their systolic blood pressure fall by about 7 mm Hg, an amount comparable to the effects of blood pressure-lowering medication.   The findings as reported from researchers at Columbia ...

A multi-national team of scientists (China, USA, New Zealand, Italy, and France) analyze the temperature of the Earth annually. These scientists have found a fever that increases every year. For the past decade, each year has been hotter than the prior year in the ocean. And there are other changes in the ocean that also matter. The ocean is an important part of the Earth's climate system – it covers 70% of the planet and absorbs about 90% of the heat from global warming. The ocean helps control the atmosphere – a warmer ocean leads to a warmer and moister atmosphere with wilder weather. The ocean also controls ...

In a new study, environmentally benign inverse-perovskites with high energy conversion efficiency have been reported by Tokyo Tech scientists with potential for practical application as thermoelectric materials (TEMs). Addressing the limitations typically faced with TEMs, such as insufficient energy conversion efficiency and environmental toxicity due to heavy elements, the new TEMs provide a suitable alternative to TEMs based on toxic elements with better thermoelectric properties than conventional eco-friendly TEMs.  Thermoelectric materials (TEMs) capable of converting thermal energy to electrical energy and vice versa have become an essential part of our world, which needs ...

Humans learn which behaviors pay off and which don’t from watching others. Based on this, we may draw conclusions about how to act – or eat. In the case of the latter, people may use each other as guides to determine what and how much to eat. This is called social modelling and is one of the most powerful social influences on eating behavior. In a new study, researchers in the UK investigated whether observing others’ facial expressions while eating raw broccoli influenced young women’s liking and desire to ...

Osaka, Japan – Approximately 5% of global carbon emissions are attributable to producing the chemicals that are essential to modern life. Creating a sustainable solution to one chemical reaction in particular – the autoxidation of aldehydes – has challenged researchers for decades. Now, in a study recently published in Green Chemistry, researchers from Osaka University, Shizuoka Institute of Science & Technology, and collaborating partners have solved this problem. Through reaction kinetics and mathematical ...

Controlling the direction of magnetization using low electric field is necessary for developing efficient spintronic devices. In spintronics, properties of an electron’s spin or magnetic moment are used to store information. The electron spins can be manipulated by straining orbital magnetic moments to create a high-performance magnetoelectric effect. Japanese researchers, including Jun Okabayashi from the University of Tokyo, revealed a strain-induced orbital control mechanism in interfacial multiferroics. In multiferroic material, the magnetic property ...

Study Finds Hospital Surfaces Can Harbor Harmful Microbes Even After Routine Disinfection Microbial contamination, including harmful pathogens, was found on bed rails, workstations, and other frequently-touched surfaces Arlington, Va. — January 11, 2024 — A new study published today in the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC) reports microbial contamination — including pathogenic and potentially pathogenic bacteria — on high-touch hospital surfaces despite compliance with recommended disinfection protocols. The findings shed light on the persistent challenge of reducing healthcare-associated infections ...

In a study published in Nature Biotechnology, GAO Caixia's group from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a series of new prime editors based on the Cas12a protein, further expanding the targeting scope and applications of precision genome editing. Prime editing (PE) enables precise, targeted DNA insertions, deletions, and replacements. To date, all efficient prime editors have been based on Cas9. However, the Cas9 has certain disadvantages that limit the broad application of prime editors. For example, it is too large, experiences higher levels of off-target editing, and has limited effectiveness ...

Exploring advanced combustion mode with high efficiency and low emissions has been the dream of successive generations of researchers. Conventional diesel engines have high compression ratios thus with thermal efficiencies of 35%–45%, but the diffusion combustion characteristics of diesel make NOx and soot emissions high. Gasoline compression ignition (GCI) is an advanced combustion mode in the field of internal combustion engines, which combines the advantages of the high efficiency of diesel engines and the low emissions of gasoline engines.  Although the GCI mode ...

Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) have matured to commercial level. Yet, their widespread market adoption is hindered due to high costs and complicated device architecture. Researchers are actively exploring innovative device engineering strategies to circumvent these issues. Narayanan Unni and co-workers have tried to address the above challenges by exploiting a concept called exciplex. Exciplex emission is possible at the interface of two different materials which may not be luminescent themselves. This provides an opportunity to use relatively cheaper materials instead of costly fluorescent or phosphorescent emitter materials. They ...

OAKLAND, CA – The California Energy Commission (CEC) has selected PSE Healthy Energy to support their development of social cost and non-energy benefit metrics for the deployment of clean energy resources. These metrics will be used to evaluate scenarios for achieving California’s clean energy goals, including through California’s 100 percent clean energy target, as defined in Senate Bill 100 (SB100). “Transitioning to 100 percent renewable and zero-carbon electricity resources by 2045 will reshape California’s energy systems,” ...

People taking medical cannabis for chronic pain have a slightly increased risk of arrhythmia, according to research published in the European Heart Journal [1] today (Thursday). Arrhythmia is when the heart beats too slowly, too quickly or irregularly. It includes conditions like atrial fibrillation.   Recreational use of cannabis has been linked to cardiovascular disease but there has been very little research on the side effects of medical cannabis.   Researchers say the new study is important as a growing number of countries now permit medical cannabis as a treatment for chronic pain.   The study was ...

Researchers from The University of Queensland have launched the world’s biggest drug survey, to gain insight into drug use around the globe. The Global Drug Survey was founded by Professor Adam Winstock from University College London and has been running annually since 2012. This year the survey is led by Dr Cheneal Puljevic from UQ’s School of Public Health. “The aim of the Global Drug Survey is to make drug use safer for people, regardless of the drug’s legality,” Dr Puljevic said. “We hope to gain insight ...

Sixty percent of US physicians serving as panel and task force members for the American Psychiatric Association’s official manual of psychiatric disorders received payments from industry totalling $14.24m, finds a study published by The BMJ. Because of the enormous influence of diagnostic and treatment guidelines, the researchers say their findings “raise questions about the editorial independence of this diagnostic manual.” Often referred to as the ‘bible’ of psychiatric disorders, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition, text revision (DSM-5-TR) ...

Women who suffer depression during or after pregnancy have a higher risk of death by both natural and unnatural causes, a new study of childbirth in Sweden published in The BMJ reports. The increased risk peaks in the month after diagnosis but remains elevated for as long as 18 years afterwards. Women who develop perinatal depression, which is to say depression during pregnancy or shortly after childbirth, are generally twice as likely to die of natural or, as in most cases, unnatural causes. They are six times more likely to commit than women without this form of depression. The increase ...

Study shows that combining whole genome sequence and clinical data together at scale supports the delivery of precision cancer care, where cancer diagnosis and treatment is tailored to the individual patient Results support increased use of genomic testing in cancer care via the NHS Genomic Medicine Service The research shows the value of data from the ground-breaking 100,000 Genomes Project to improve understanding of cancer and help researchers to develop new treatments. In the largest study of its kind, scientists today report how combining health data with whole genome sequence (WGS) data in patients with cancer can help doctors provide more tailored care for ...

A Rutgers biophysical chemist and his brother, a political scientist on the West Coast, have joined intellectual forces, realizing a long-standing dream of co-authoring an article that bridges their disciplines involving cells and society. In their paper, they have proposed that powerful parallels exist between the microscopic, natural world of cells and molecules and the human-forged realm of organizations and political systems. Taking it a step further, the brothers – eminent scholars who have served as top leaders of their respective institutions – have proposed that humankind can draw lessons from what the microscopic and macroscopic worlds have in common. Ideally, ...

A new wave of communication technology is quickly approaching and researchers at UBC Okanagan are investigating ways to configure next-generation mobile networks. Dr. Anas Chaaban works in the UBCO Communication Theory Lab where researchers are busy analyzing a theoretical wireless communication architecture that will be optimized to handle increasing data loads while sending and receiving data faster. Next-generation mobile networks are expected to outperform 5G on many fronts such as reliability, coverage and intelligence, explains Dr. Chaaban, an Assistant Professor ...

MIAMI, FLORIDA (Jan. 10, 2024) – Researchers with Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have received funding to better understand how personalized nutrition and exercise programs can improve quality of life after cancer treatment. The three-year, approximately $700,000 grant from the Applebaum Foundation with added support by Sylvester, will fund the On Precision Oncology Interventions in Nutrition and Training (OnPOINT) clinical study to develop individualized diet and activity programs ...

January 10, 2024, New Orleans, LA - College students interested in pursuing a career in cancer research are urged to apply to The Louisiana Cancer Research Center’s 8-week Summer Undergraduate Cancer Research Experience, SUCRE. Selected students can explore and develop their interests by working in a research lab with an assigned faculty mentor from member institutions Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center - New Orleans, Tulane School of Medicine and Xavier University of Louisiana.   The program runs from Thursday, June 3 through Friday, July 26, 2024. ...

Beta Pictoris, a young planetary system located just 63 light-years away, continues to intrigue scientists even after decades of in-depth study. It possesses the first dust disk imaged around another star — a disk of debris produced by collisions between asteroids, comets, and planetesimals. Observations from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope revealed a second debris disk in this system, inclined with respect to the outer disk, which was seen first. Now, a team of astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to image the Beta Pictoris system (Beta Pic) has discovered a new, previously unseen structure. The ...

Texas A&M AgriLife Research received more than $5.2 million in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture for a project to address multiple aspects of the southern U.S. onion harvest system.   Subas Malla, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Research associate professor at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Uvalde, will serve as director for a short-day onion project. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Paul Schattenberg) The director for the “Ensuring Future Economic Viability of U.S. Short-Day ...

Key points: According to two trials of 11,000 pregnant women in India and in Tanzania, low-dose calcium supplementation (500 milligrams per day) appears as effective at reducing the risk of preeclampsia and preterm birth as high-dose calcium supplementation (1,500 milligrams per day). The World Health Organization currently recommends high-dose calcium supplementation—equivalent to three calcium pills a day—for pregnant women in contexts with low-calcium diets, predominantly low- and middle-income countries. Lowering the pill burden to one 500mg ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. – The U.S. health care response during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic unveiled challenges in public health reporting systems and electronic clinical data exchange. A new study led by John (Xuefeng) Jiang, Eli Broad Endowed Professor of Accounting in MSU’s Broad College of Business, examines U.S. hospitals’ experiences in public health reporting, accessing clinical data from external providers for COVID-19 patient care, and their success in reporting vaccine-related ...