New INFORMS Journal Manufacturing & Service Operations Management Study Key Takeaways: As Medicare Advantage (MA) beneficiaries become sicker, health plans spend disproportionately less on their care relative to the payments received, with evidence suggesting this is partially due to illegal strategic cross-subsidization. For each one-point increase in a patient’s risk score, their annual “spending-cost difference” (the gap between what MA plans spend on a patient vs. what they receive in payments) decreases by more than $9,000. Strategic cross-subsidization could exacerbate socioeconomic inequalities in healthcare access and outcomes. Rigorous oversight ...

(New York, NY, Oct. 8, 2024) – New York City-based biotechnology company Applied Biological Laboratories has been selected to present research and data from a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial of Biovanta and research on pipeline products at the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Clinical Virology Symposium in Long Beach, California on October 8, 2024. Applied Bio is part of NYU Biolabs, a collaborative research facility and biotech incubator affiliated with New York University’s Langone Medical Center. Biovanta is the company’s line of over ...

The role of universities in the fight for a fairer and more sustainable planet is increasingly significant. A team of researchers from ESPOL decided to examine how academia contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by analyzing scientific publications on a global scale. Using tools such as ArcGIS, Biblioshiny, R, and VOSviewer, they conducted an in-depth review of scientific databases such as Web of Science and Scopus, tracking hundreds of articles addressing topics related to service-learning and community engagement. The results show a positive trend in scientific production on these topics, with a notable growth since 2009 and a peak in publications through 2022. ...

Researchers at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science were recently awarded $2.8 million of a $5.8 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Program Office to support a groundbreaking four-year project aimed at developing best practices for decision-ready climate projection information. This work will address increased demand by public and private sectors for reliable, long-term extreme weather climate information. This initiative, led by the Rosenstiel School and including partners from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Colorado State University, and Florida International ...

Researchers from Western University, Stockton University, and University of Massachusetts Amherst published a new Journal of Marketing article that examines if firms benefit from adopting popular nicknames in their branding efforts.  The study, forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing, is titled “BMW is Powerful, Beemer is Not: Nickname Branding Impairs Brand Performance” and is authored by Zhe Zhang, Ning Ye, and Matthew Thomson.  Many brands have popular nicknames that have become a part of ...

The expectations humans have of a pleasurable sensation asymmetrically shape neuronal responses and subjective experiences to hot sauce, according to a study published October 8th, in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Yi Luo from East China Normal University, Kenneth Kishida from Wake Forest School of Medicine, U.S., and colleagues. Expectations shape our perception, profoundly influencing how we interpret the world. Positive expectations about sensory stimuli can alleviate distress and reduce pain through what’s ...

In a rare, longitudinal study, researchers from Aalto University and the University of Oulu tracked one person’s brain and behavioral activity for five months using brain scans and data from wearable devices and smartphones.  ‘We wanted to go beyond isolated events,’ says research leader Ana Triana. ‘Our behaviour and mental states are constantly shaped by our environment and experiences. Yet, we know little about the response of brain functional connectivity to environmental, physiological, and behavioral changes on different ...

LA JOLLA (October 8, 2024)—The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has selected Salk Associate Professor Nicola Allen to receive a 2024 NIH Director’s Pioneer Award. The award recognizes exceptionally creative scientists pursuing highly innovative research and groundbreaking approaches to major challenges in biomedical, behavioral, or social sciences. Allen will receive $3.5 million over five years to support her latest research, which investigates how plasticity in the adult brain could be enhanced. ...

Proteins control most of the body’s functions, and their malfunction can have severe consequences, such as neurodegenerative diseases or cancer. Therefore, cells have mechanisms in place to control protein quality. In animal and human cells, chaperones of the Hsp70 class are at the heart of this control system, overseeing a wide array of biological processes. Yet, despite their crucial role, the precise molecular mechanism of Hsp70 chaperones has remained elusive for decades. Using a cutting-edge nanopore single-molecule technique, a team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), in collaboration with EPFL, has now made a significant breakthrough in determining how Hsp70 chaperones ...

DataSeer and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) are pleased to announce two new pilot programs designed to support high-quality reporting across scientific disciplines. The first will generate pre-filled MDAR reports for authors – saving them time and boosting the quality of methods reporting – for AAAS’ flagship journal Science. The second will establish an Open Science Indicators baseline dataset, quantifying how and when authors at Science share their ...

Students don’t have to be friends, but they should be friendly. In other words, they should learn to be respectful of one another while sharing the same space. For Chad Rose, a nationally renowned bullying prevention expert at the University of Missouri, this idea is central to his efforts to reduce school bullying, and in turn, school violence. Bullying is a risk factor for violence, said Rose, the director of Mizzou’s Bully Prevention Lab who has spent the past 18 years researching the subject. “After the Safe Schools initiative was launched in 1999 by the U.S. Department of Education, we began to see that children and teens who have experienced prolonged ...

Researchers at Concordia have developed a novel method of 3D printing that uses acoustic holograms. And they say it’s quicker than existing methods and capable of making more complex objects. The process, called holographic direct sound printing (HDSP), is described in a recent article in the journal Nature Communications. It builds on a method introduced in 2022 that described how sonochemical reactions in microscopic cavitations regions — tiny bubbles — create extremely high temperatures and pressure for trillionths of a second to harden resin into complex ...

“ATT may be more sensitive to age-related decline than CBF, and therefore useful for early detection and management of cerebrovascular impairment.” BUFFALO, NY- October 8, 2024 – A new research paper was published in Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science), Volume 16, Issue 18 on September 18, 2024, entitled, “Determinants of cerebral blood flow and arterial transit time in healthy older adults.” This research paper highlights that brain health deteriorates with ...

The cells in your pancreas, like people, can only handle so much stress before they start to break down. Certain stressors, such as inflammation and high blood sugar, contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes by overwhelming these cells. Researchers at The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) have now discovered that DNA sequence changes known to increase a person’s risk for diabetes are linked to how well pancreatic cells can handle two different kinds of molecular stress. In people with these DNA changes, the insulin-producing ...

About The Study: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, aerobic physical activity was associated with modest short-term and long-term reductions of depression among adults with cancer. Future studies should discern the effectiveness of aerobic physical activity in combination with other strategies for managing depression across various populations of patients with cancer. Corresponding author: To contact the corresponding author, Sapna Oberoi, M.D., M.Sc., email soberoi@cancercare.mb.ca. To access the embargoed study: ...

About The Study: In this cohort study of a large primary care population served by an integrated health system, alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) hospitalizations were common, especially in male patients, younger age groups, and individuals with high-risk alcohol use. During hospitalizations, the burden of AWS was similar to or exceeded complications of other chronic diseases that receive greater medical attention. Corresponding author: To contact the corresponding author, Tessa L. Steel, M.D., M.P.H., email tessita@uw.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/  (doi: ...

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) challenges long-held assumptions about human cooperation. Traditionally, behavioral scientists and economists have primarily studied cooperation in public good contexts through repeated interactions, where individuals can build trust and reciprocal relationships, adjusting their behavior based on the actions of others. However, many real-world, naturally occurring situations, such as volunteering or donating ...

Tsukuba, Japan—Maintaining soil health is crucial for sustainable agriculture. Recently, soil volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have emerged as promising indicators for assessing soil health. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of soil VOC profiles as indicators of soil health in soybean fields. Soil samples were collected from soybean fields in Fukushima Prefecture, which exhibited diverse soil conditions, over the past three years. These samples were analyzed for VOC content in conjunction with data on soil physical properties, soil metabolome, soil ionome, and soil microbiome as well as rhizosphere chemicals ...

Researchers at Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI), Kanazawa University, demonstrate how morphogens combined with cell adhesion can generate tissue domains with a sharp boundary in an in vitro model system. Recent advances that have enabled the growth of tissue cultures into organoids and embryoids have heightened interest as to how tissue growth is controlled during the natural processes of embryo development. It is known that the diffusion of signaling molecules called morphogens directs patterned tissue growth ...

October 8, 2024 (Chicago) — The JAMA Network today announces the launch of JAMA+ AI, an engaging, interactive channel that amplifies the best of the JAMA Network’s content exploring the science of artificial intelligence and digital medicine and its application in health and health care.   JAMA+ AI is a window into the premier scientific content, educational reviews, and commentary on AI and medicine published across JAMA, JAMA Network Open, and the 11 JAMA specialty journals.  JAMA+ AI builds on that content with new multimedia materials, including interviews ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – An international coalition led by Oregon State University scientists concludes in its annual report published today that the Earth’s worsening vital signs indicate a “critical and unpredictable new phase of the climate crisis” and that “decisive action is needed, and fast.” The collaboration directed by OSU’s William Ripple and former postdoctoral researcher Christopher Wolf outlines areas where policy change is needed – energy, pollutants, nature, food and economy – in “The 2024 State of the Climate Report: Perilous Times on Planet Earth,” published ...

A new report published in BioScience warns that the world is facing a climate emergency of unprecedented magnitude. The "2024 State of the Climate Report," by an international team of scientists led by Oregon State University's William Ripple and Christopher Wolf, presents alarming evidence that climate change is worsening at a dangerous pace. In the report, the authors update 35 annually reported "planetary vital signs," which provide ongoing timeseries of human climate-related activities ...

Measuring tiny magnetic fields, such as those generated by brain waves, enables many new novel opportunities for medical diagnostics and treatment. The research team led by Dr. Jan Jeske at Fraunhofer IAF is working on a globally innovative approach to precise magnetic field measurements: Laser Threshold Magnetometry. The researchers have now combined an NV diamond and a laser diode in a resonator, successfully demonstrating the sensor system with two active media for the first time. This outstanding paper has been published in Science Advances and represents a significant progress in the BMBF-funded research project NeuroQ. Quantum ...

CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina — A growing reliance on industry-sponsored cancer clinical trials in the United States is a reason for concern, say researchers from the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. In a Journal of Clinical Oncology editorial, Yara Abdou, MD, and Norman E. Sharpless, MD, responded to a new study by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle that found enrollment in industry-sponsored cancer clinical trials doubled between 2008 and 2022 while federally supported trial enrollment remained flat. From 2018 to 2022, cancer clinical trial enrollment was eight times greater in industry-sponsored studies compared to federal studies. Abdou and Sharpless called ...

Washington, D.C.  — A new national survey shows that, despite intense marketing, most Americans do not want the new weight-loss injectables, such as Wegovy and Ozempic. The survey was conducted by Morning Consult for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a non-profit organization with more than 17,000 physician members, on Sept. 5, 2024, and included 2,205 adults. Asked to respond to the statement, “If I wanted to lose weight, I would rather take an injectable weight-loss drug, rather than make a diet change,” only 23% agreed or strongly agreed, while 62% disagreed or strongly disagreed and another 14% said they were not ...