Camellia ptilophylla, a low-caffeine or decaffeinated tea, is increasingly being recognized for its potential health benefits. However, there is intraspecific diversity in purine alkaloid and catechins components in C. ptilophylla populations. Analyzing the mechanisms behind the accumulation of these metabolites is important for improving tea quality. Beverage Plant Research published online a paper by Associate Professor Binmei Sun and Shaoqun Liu’s team at South China Agricultural University entitled “Differential accumulation mechanisms of purine alkaloids and catechins in Camellia ptilophylla, a natural theobromine-rich ...

Milan, Italy: For the first time, researchers have shown it is possible to repair damaged lung tissue in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) using the patients’ own lung cells.   The European Respiratory Society International Congress in Milan, Italy [1], heard that 17 patients who took part in a phase I clinical trial were able to breath better, walk further and had better quality of life after receiving the experimental treatment.   COPD kills approximately three million people worldwide every year. It is a severe respiratory disease that involves progressive damage to lung tissue. The affected tissue cannot be repaired ...

Milan, Italy: A study of nearly 500,000 people has shown that smoking shortens the end fragments of chromosomes in the white blood cells of our immune systems. The length of these end fragments, called telomeres, is an indicator of how quickly we age and our cells’ ability to repair and regenerate.   In her presentation to the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Milan, Italy [1], Dr Siyu Dai, who is an assistant professor in the School of Clinical Medicine, Hangzhou Normal University, and also an honorary postdoctoral researcher in the department of paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, said: “Our study shows that smoking status and ...

https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.15212/CVIA.2023.0056 Announcing a new article publication for Cardiovascular Innovations and Applications journal.  Durable left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) offer a viable option for patients with advanced heart failure and have been demonstrated to be superior to optimal medical therapy in terms of both mortality and quality of life, in selected patients. However, durable LVADs can be associated with severe morbidity. Because the rates of cardiac ...

STARKVILLE, Miss.—How can positive experiences seem like the opposite for some? A doctoral student in Mississippi State University’s Clinical Psychology program believes this phenomenon is true, and his recent research is featured in an upcoming issue of The Journal of Behavioral Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry. Michael R. Gallagher’s article “A network analytic investigation of avoidance, dampening, and devaluation of positivity” focuses on how behaviors related to processing positive experiences may play a role ...

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a pervasive endocrine disorder that affects millions of women globally, impacting their hormonal balance, fertility and overall well-being. It is notoriously difficult to treat, with widely varying symptoms and mysterious, complex underlying causes. Researchers at the University of Chicago recently unveiled a potential new PCOS treatment that may improve multiple PCOS symptoms by regulating body systems and reducing inflammation. Recently published results demonstrate the promise ...

DURHAM, N.C. – For much of the last century, many cities across the United States and Canada burned their trash and waste in municipal incinerators. Most of these facilities were closed by the early 1970s due to concerns about the pollution they added to the air, but a new Duke University study finds that their legacy of contamination could live on in urban soils. “We found that city parks and playgrounds built on the site of a former waste incinerator can still have greatly elevated levels of lead in their surface soils many decades after the incinerator was closed,” ...

HOUSTON – (Sept. 11, 2023) A new material that packs deadly heat for viruses on its outer surface while staying cool on the reverse side could transform the way we make and use personal protective equipment (PPE), cutting down the pollution and carbon footprint associated with current materials and practices. The composite, textile-based material developed by Rice University engineers uses Joule heating to decontaminate its surface of coronaviruses like SARS-CoV-2 in under 5 seconds, effectively killing at least 99.9% of viruses. Wearable items made from the material can handle hundreds of uses with the potential for a single pair of gloves to prevent nearly ...

LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Sept. 11, 2023 — A machine-learning algorithm demonstrated the capability to process data that exceeds a computer’s available memory by identifying a massive data set’s key features and dividing them into manageable batches that don’t choke computer hardware. Developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory, the algorithm set a world record for factorizing huge data sets during a test run on Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Summit, the world’s fifth-fastest supercomputer. Equally efficient on laptops and supercomputers, ...

Researchers at the University of Arizona Cancer Center discovered a new class of iron-targeting compounds that hamper the proliferation of cultured malignant cells in a laboratory setting. The results of the study were published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. “Cancer cells are what we call ‘addicted’ to iron, and so we are making compounds that are able to interfere with the availability of iron in cancer cells,” said Elisa Tomat, PhD, professor in the Department of Chemistry ...

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — Experimental physicist David Weld’s experimental research interest lies in a question that has been around for a long time, but which we’re only now approaching the ability to investigate.   “There’s a really old interest in the quantum act of measurement,” he said. “It’s something that’s at the foundations of quantum mechanics and has been puzzling people for more than a century.”   Called the “measurement problem” and famously illustrated by Erwin Schrödinger’s ...

The Department of Energy’s Office of Science has selected three Oak Ridge National Laboratory research teams to receive funding through DOE’s new Biopreparedness Research Virtual Environment, or BRaVE, initiative. BRaVE, announced earlier this year, aims to build on biopreparedness research that delivered high-impact results in the fight against COVID-19. In the height of the pandemic, DOE national laboratory scientists combined fields such as biology, high-performance computing and manufacturing to bolster the national supply of personal protective equipment and improve virus testing and treatment. “The advances made ...

Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 11 September 2023 Annals of Internal Medicine Tip Sheet @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. Self-reported “night owls” more likely to have ...

Virginia Tech researchers in the College of Natural Resources and Environment are assessing the efficacy of shark sanctuaries by developing a modeling system that utilizes publicly accessible fishing data to determine shark catch and mortality rates. Published in the journal Science Advances, their findings represent an important step in utilizing data science to tackle oceanic conservation challenges. “Shark sanctuaries are coastal areas designated by countries as places where the targeted ...

Even the best treatment approaches for Parkinson’s disease are inadequate if they do not address patients’ feelings of social rejection, isolation, loneliness and other psychosocial effects of stigma, according to a report from experts specializing in Parkinson’s and other movement disorders. A new report co-authored by UCLA Health neurologist and researcher Dr. Indu Subramanian says many misconceptions and biases cause patients with Parkinson’s to be stereotyped, devalued and shunned, which, along with a progressive loss of functionality and independence, often lead to “self-stigma,” with declining self-esteem and increasing anxiety and depression. The ...

New Orleans, LA – Research led by Nicolas Bazan, MD, PhD, Boyd Professor, Ernest C. and Yvette C. Villere Chair for the Study of Retinal Degeneration, and Director of the Neuroscience Center of Excellence at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, suggests that age-related macular degeneration (AMD) decreases an essential fatty acid, preventing the formation of a class of protective molecules and reducing repair potential. The discovery may also open new therapeutic avenues for AMD. The findings are published in Experimental Eye Research, ...

A Virginia Tech professor has an integral role in the establishment of a new center to study earthquakes in the Cascadia Subduction Zone off the coast of Oregon. The project will create an earthquake center to study subduction zones — fault lines where one tectonic plate slips beneath another — to enable collaborative research and community connections for increased hazard awareness. The Division of Earth Sciences in the Directorate for Geosciences at the National Science Foundation has awarded a $15 million grant over five years to establish the Cascadia Region ...

Coffee can do a lot of things: Wake you up, warm you up and lessen that existential dread. According to a new study, it could also help reduce the waste from 3D printing.  That’s the vision behind a new project led by Michael Rivera, an assistant professor in the ATLAS Institute and Department of Computer Science at the University of Colorado Boulder. He and his colleagues have developed a method for 3D printing a wide range of objects using a paste made entirely out of old coffee grounds, water and a few other sustainable ingredients.  The team has already experimented with using coffee grounds to craft jewelry, pots for plants and even, ...

Corporate scandals have been on the rise for the past decade. In 2019, Strategy& (the strategy consulting business unit of PricewaterhouseCoopers) found that for the first time in the history of its annual survey, more CEOs were dismissed for ethical concerns than for poor firm performance or internal board struggles. There has been no shortage of highly publicized scandals, including the BP oil spill in 2010, the Target data breach in 2013 and abuses of financial incentives at Wells Fargo in 2016. A number of CEOs have resigned following alleged inappropriate relations, including Brian Krzanich at Intel, Leslie Moonves at CBS, ...

University of Houston atmospheric science researchers have found that while local emissions play a role in the rise of ozone levels in Houston, most of the pollutants can be carried in from other regions across the country, leading to excess ozone pollution. Their findings offer insights into strategies to mitigate future ozone pollution for the region. The research team focused on two ozone episodes in September 2021 (Sept. 6 – 11 and Sept. 23 – 26). The month of September is the typical annual ozone peak due to high temperatures, lack of rain and air circulation patterns that transport polluted air from the north. Their analysis revealed that roughly 63% of the excess ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Air pollution poses well-established risks to physical health, but an emerging body of research says that it may also have adverse effects on mental health. New research co-written by a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign economist examining the relationship between air pollution via drifting wildfire smoke exposure and suicide risk found large-scale evidence that air pollution disproportionately elevates the risk of suicide among rural populations in the U.S. Each 10% increase in airborne particulate matter in rural counties causes monthly suicide rates ...

Many of today’s artificial intelligence systems loosely mimic the human brain. In a new paper, researchers suggest that another branch of biology — ecology — could inspire a whole new generation of AI to be more powerful, resilient, and socially responsible.  Published September 11 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the paper argues for a synergy between AI and ecology that could both strengthen AI and help to solve complex global challenges, such as disease outbreaks, loss of biodiversity, and climate change ...

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (September 11, 2023) –  As an increasing number of improved asthma treatments are developed, a greater number of people with asthma are finding their symptoms under control. Their improved status raises an important question for healthcare providers (HCPs) who treat this condition: “What qualifies as clinical remission in the treatment of asthma?” A panel of 11 experts in asthma care came together to review available literature to create a working definition. The panel included six allergists, three pulmonologists and two pediatricians. The paper outlining their recommendations is published in Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, ...

Improving food literacy positively influences diet quality and reduces the risk of chronic diseases; however, interpreting the evidence of its effectiveness has been limited. Results of a new study in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, published by Elsevier, found that Foodbank Western Australia’s Food Sensations for Adults (FSA) food literacy program is effective in producing positive changes across a range of food literacy and dietary behaviors in participants ages 18 and older. Lead author Andrea Begley, DrPH, School of Population Health, Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia (WA), says, “Behavior change takes time to establish. Participants ...

Effective treatment for lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in men aged 50 or older is associated with a lower risk of death over the next few years reports a study in the October issue of The Journal of Urology®, an Official Journal of the American Urological Association (AUA). The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.  "We found a small but significant decrease in mortality risk for older men who received medications for treatment of LUTS," comments lead author Blayne Welk, MD, MSc, of Western University ...