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Sewage surveillance proves powerful in combating antimicrobial resistance
Science

Sewage surveillance proves powerful in combating antimicrobial resistance

Waterborne diseases affect over 7 million people in the U.S. every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and cost our health care system over $3 billion. But they don’t impact all people equally. A campuswide collaboration is using sewage surveillance as a vital strategy in the fight against diseases that spread through the water such as legionella and shigella. The ones that are most difficult to combat are diseases with antimicrobial resistance, which means they are able to survive against antibiotics that are intended to kill them. A recent paper in Nature Water offers an encouraging insight: Monitoring ...

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Natural environment is declining: are companies doing their part to save it?
Environment

Natural environment is declining: are companies doing their part to save it?

The natural environment across the globe is deteriorating, leading to crises like climate change, biodiversity loss, and water scarcity. Companies and industries play a major role in this decline, and they are expected to take responsibility for their environmental impact. A recent study by Probal Dutta from the University of Vaasa, Finland, suggests that companies can meet these expectations by openly sharing reliable, credible information about their activities, environmental performance, and effects on nature. Probal Dutta’s doctoral dissertation at the University ...

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Science

New study sheds light on the role of sound and music in gendered toy marketing

A groundbreaking study from Queen Mary University of London reveals that the music and soundscapes used in toy commercials are reinforcing rigid gender norms, shaping the way children perceive masculinity and femininity. The research uncovers how gender stereotypes are not only conveyed through visuals and language but are also deeply embedded in the sound and music used in advertisements targeted at children. For more than 40 years, research has shown how gender polarisation in children’s ...

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Pathogens which cling to microplastics may survive wastewater treatment
Medicine

Pathogens which cling to microplastics may survive wastewater treatment

Wastewater treatment fails to kill several human pathogens when they hide out on microplastics in the water, reports a new study led by Ingun Lund Witsø of the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, published November 6, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE. Wastewater treatment plants are designed to remove contaminants from wastewater, but microplastics persist and can become colonized by a sticky microbial biofilm. Previous research has suggested that these microbial communities, called plastispheres, include potential pathogens, and thus might pose a risk to human health and the environment when treated wastewater and sludge are released. In the new study, researchers ...

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Effects of preterm birth extend into adulthood, study finds
Science

Effects of preterm birth extend into adulthood, study finds

By analyzing all live births in Canada over a six-year period and following children for more than two decades, researchers found that preterm births and the related cognitive, development and physical health impacts of prematurity are associated with lower income, employment and university enrollment Individuals born before 37 weeks of gestation, considered to be preterm infants, have, on average, lower employment income, university enrollment and educational attainment through age 28, according to ...

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Salmon frequently mislabeled in Seattle grocery stores and sushi restaurants
Science

Salmon frequently mislabeled in Seattle grocery stores and sushi restaurants

In a study of salmon samples from Seattle, Washington, grocery stores and sushi restaurants, DNA analysis revealed that 18 percent were mislabeled. Tracie Delgado and colleagues at Seattle Pacific University, WA, U.S., present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on November 6, 2024. Washington State is one of the top suppliers of wild salmon eaten in the United States. The price of salmon depends on the species and whether it is farmed or wild caught. Prior studies have revealed frequent mislabeling of salmon in Washington markets and restaurants. In 2013, the state made it illegal to mislabel salmon, citing negative ...

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15,800-year-old engraved plaquettes from modern-day Germany depict fishing techniques, including the use of nets, not previously known in the Upper Paleolithic
Science

15,800-year-old engraved plaquettes from modern-day Germany depict fishing techniques, including the use of nets, not previously known in the Upper Paleolithic

15,800-year-old engraved plaquettes from modern-day Germany depict fishing techniques, including the use of nets, not previously known in the Upper Paleolithic ### Article URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0311302 Article Title: Upper Palaeolithic fishing techniques: Insights from the engraved plaquettes of the Magdalenian site of Gönnersdorf, Germany Author Countries: Germany, U.K. Funding: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG (Germany) - AHRC (UK) Memorandum of Understanding Grant DFG-Projekt GZ: GA 683/13-1 (AOBJ: 647648); AHRC (UK) AH/V002899/1) Kunst und Haushalt im Paläolithikum: ...

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How plants evolved multiple ways to override genetic instructions
Science

How plants evolved multiple ways to override genetic instructions

Biologists at Washington University in St. Louis have discovered the origin of a curious duplication that gives plants multiple ways to override instructions that are coded into their DNA. This research could help scientists exploit a plant’s existing systems to favor traits that make it more resilient to environmental changes, like heat or drought stress. The study led by Xuehua Zhong, a professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, was published Nov. 6 in Science Advances. Zhong’s new research focuses on DNA methylation, a normal biological process in living cells wherein small chemical groups called methyl ...

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Nasal swab tests predict COVID-19 disease severity, Emory study finds
Medicine

Nasal swab tests predict COVID-19 disease severity, Emory study finds

A wide variety of COVID-19 symptoms exist, ranging from mild to severe, and while current strains of the virus generally cause milder symptoms, those with co-morbidities are still at an exponentially greater risk of severe disease. Now, new research from Emory University is providing a more precise prediction of COVID-19 severity that can be found by looking at autoantibodies in the nasal cavity, leading to more personalized treatment plans. For high-risk individuals, this could provide critical information to inform immediate treatment options, including ...

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'Shallow' sports and 'deep' social hierarchies: Not all pecking orders are created equal
Social Science

'Shallow' sports and 'deep' social hierarchies: Not all pecking orders are created equal

University of Michigan researchers have added a new dimension to the mathematics used to predict the outcomes of all manner of competitions, including sports, games and social hierarchies in both humans and animals. This dimension, which they call "depth of competition," can be integrated into a variety of important and lucrative fields. It could, for instance, help project winners of match-ups in sports, forecast consumer preferences, rank universities and evaluate hiring practices. But it also ...

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Science

New PFAs testing method created at UMass Amherst

AMHERST, Mass. — University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers have discovered a new way to detect per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in water. This marks an important step forward in creating testing devices that are simpler, more cost-effective, faster and generally more accessible than existing methods. PFAS, the so-called forever chemicals, have been recognized as a concerning pollutant. These chemicals persist in the environment because they resist breaking down and pose significant health threats. Exposure to these chemicals is linked to various cancers ...

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Asteroid grains shed light on the outer solar system’s origins
Environment

Asteroid grains shed light on the outer solar system’s origins

Tiny grains from a distant asteroid are revealing clues to the magnetic forces that shaped the far reaches of the solar system over 4.6 billion years ago. Scientists at MIT and elsewhere have analyzed particles of the asteroid Ryugu, which were collected by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Hayabusa2 mission and brought back to Earth in 2020. Scientists believe Ryugu formed on the outskirts of the early solar system before migrating in toward the asteroid belt, eventually settling into an orbit between Earth and Mars. The team analyzed Ryugu’s particles for signs of any ancient magnetic field that might have been present ...

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Grant supports finding brain-inspired ways to develop low-energy computing
Medicine

Grant supports finding brain-inspired ways to develop low-energy computing

The human brain is an astonishing organ, as any neuroscientist can attest. And its ability to collect, store, analyze and use information is intriguing to physicists, engineers and computer scientists, too. Benjamin Jungfleisch, associate professor of physics at the University of Delaware, is among them. Jungfleisch, who joined UD’s faculty in 2018, is an expert in magnon spintronics. He uses lasers to explore the dynamics of magnetic nanostructures — tiny magnets that can be used to ...

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Social Science

People engaging in self-harm find support on Reddit. But is that community helping them?

A new study from the University of Georgia suggests people posting in Reddit’s r/selfharm community are likely seeking support for negative emotions. While sharing traumatic events online can be cathartic, the researchers caution that subreddits can’t provide the same type of mental health help and support face-to-face interactions and professional help can. “We don’t know the accuracy of the information that’s being shared in these communities about nonsuicidal self-injury,” ...

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The egg or the chicken? An ancient unicellular says egg!
Medicine

The egg or the chicken? An ancient unicellular says egg!

Chromosphaera perkinsii is a single-celled species discovered in 2017 in marine sediments around Hawaii. The first signs of its presence on Earth have been dated at over a billion years, well before the appearance of the first animals. A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) has observed that this species forms multicellular structures that bear striking similarities to animal embryos. These observations suggest that the genetic programmes responsible for embryonic development were already present before the emergence of animal life, ...

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Technology

Coping and resilience aids parents of disabled children, study says

OXFORD, Miss. – For parents of children with disabilities, finding time to focus on themselves may be difficult. However, a new study finds that the right coping strategies and resilience can significantly help manage the challenges of raising children with special needs. That is the key finding from research published in the International Journal of Developmental Disabilities that studied families with neurodevelopmentally disabled children in Ghana to see what helps parents cultivate healthy, happy lives for themselves and their children. “Our main interest ...

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Engineering

Lupus Research Alliance announces inaugural recipients of Translational Bridge Award

New York, NY. November 6, 2024. The Lupus Research Alliance (LRA) is excited to announce the first-ever recipients of the Translational Bridge Award (TBA), established this year to accelerate the translation of groundbreaking research into potential treatments and diagnostics for lupus. The award aims to propel high-potential projects from LRA-funded foundational discoveries with strong commercialization potential or an opportunity for clinical evaluation. Five exceptional researchers have been awarded the 2024 Translational Bridge Award to tackle pressing ...

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Medicine

Brain stars hold our memories

A study published in Nature by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine changes the way we understand memory. Until now, memories have been explained by the activity of brain cells called neurons that respond to learning events and control memory recall. The Baylor team expanded this theory by showing that non-neuronal cell types in the brain called astrocytes – star-shaped cells – also store memories and work in concert with groups of neurons called engrams to regulate storage and retrieval of memories. “The prevailing idea is that the formation and recall of memories only involves neuronal engrams that are activated by certain ...

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Imaging nuclear shapes by smashing them to smithereens
Energy

Imaging nuclear shapes by smashing them to smithereens

UPTON, N.Y. — Scientists have demonstrated a new way to use high-energy particle smashups at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) — a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science user facility for nuclear physics research at DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory — to reveal subtle details about the shapes of atomic nuclei. The method, described in a paper just published in Nature, is complementary to lower energy techniques for determining nuclear structure. It will add depth to scientists’ understanding of the nuclei that make up the ...

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AI-driven mobile robots team up to tackle chemical synthesis
Technology

AI-driven mobile robots team up to tackle chemical synthesis

Researchers at the University of Liverpool have developed AI-driven mobile robots that can carry out chemical synthesis research with axtraordinairy efficiency. In a study publishing in the journal Nature, researchers show how mobile robots that use AI logic to make decisions were able to perform exploratory chemistry research tasks to the same level as humans, but much faster. The 1.75-meter-tall mobile robots were designed by the Liverpool team to tackle three primary problems in exploratory chemistry: performing the reactions, ...

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New haptic patch transmits complexity of touch to the skin
Science

New haptic patch transmits complexity of touch to the skin

A Northwestern University-led team of engineers has developed a new type of wearable device that stimulates skin to deliver various complex sensations. The thin, flexible device gently adheres to the skin, providing more realistic and immersive sensory experiences. Although the new device obviously lends itself to gaming and virtual reality (VR), the researchers also envision applications in healthcare. For example, the device could help people with visual impairments “feel” their surroundings or give feedback to people with prosthetic limbs. The ...

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Medicine

Safety of simultaneous vs sequential mRNA COVID-19 and inactivated influenza vaccines

About The Study: In this randomized clinical trial assessing simultaneous vs sequential administration of mRNA COVID-19 and inactivated influenza vaccines, reactogenicity was comparable in both groups. These findings support the option of simultaneous administration of these vaccines. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Emmanuel B. Walter, MD, MPH, email chip.walter@duke.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.43166) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other ...

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Medicine

Long-term risk of autoimmune and autoinflammatory connective tissue disorders following COVID-19

About The Study: This retrospective cohort study with an extended follow-up period found associations between COVID-19 and the long-term risk of various autoimmune and autoinflammatory connective tissue disorders. Long-term monitoring and care of patients is crucial after COVID-19, considering demographic factors, disease severity, and vaccination status, to mitigate these risks. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Solam Lee, MD, PhD, email solam@yonsei.ac.kr. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website ...

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Mount Sinai researchers have uncovered the mechanism in the brain that constantly refreshes memory
Medicine

Mount Sinai researchers have uncovered the mechanism in the brain that constantly refreshes memory

Mount Sinai researchers have discovered for the first time a neural mechanism for memory integration that stretches across both time and personal experience. These findings, reported in Nature, demonstrate how memories stored in neural ensembles in the brain are constantly being updated and reorganized with salient information, and represent an important step in deciphering how our memories stay current with the most recently available information. This discovery could have important implications for better understanding adaptive memory processes ...

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Breakthrough in energy-efficient avalanche-based amorphization could revolutionize data storage
Energy

Breakthrough in energy-efficient avalanche-based amorphization could revolutionize data storage

The atoms of amorphous solids like glass have no ordered structure; they arrange themselves randomly, like scattered grains of sand on a beach. Normally, making materials amorphous — a process known as amorphization — requires considerable amounts of energy. The most common technique is the melt-quench process, which involves heating a material until it liquifies, then rapidly cooling it so the atoms don’t have time to order themselves in a crystal lattice. Now, researchers ...

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