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| Newly identified cell type could be the key to restoring damaged salivary glands Posted: 12 Apr 2022 01:16 PM PDT Scientists have discovered a special type of cell that resides in salivary glands and is likely crucial for oral health. |
| Solution to world’s largest waste stream: Make sand Posted: 12 Apr 2022 01:16 PM PDT After water, sand is the most exploited natural resource on the planet. However, its extraction from seas, rivers, beaches and quarries has an impact on the environment and surrounding communities. A new study has found that a step-change in mineral processing could drastically reduce mineral waste -- the world's largest waste stream -- while creating a sustainable source of sand. Coined 'ore-sand' this material has the potential to address two global sustainability challenges simultaneously. |
| Bioprinting for bone repair improved with genes Posted: 12 Apr 2022 01:16 PM PDT Given enough time and energy, the body will heal, but when doctors or engineers intervene, the processes do not always proceed as planned because chemicals that control and facilitate the healing process are missing. Now, an international team of engineers is bioprinting bone along with two growth factor encoding genes that help incorporate the cells and heal defects in the skulls of rats. |
| Permanent birth control methods for women have up to six percent failure rates Posted: 12 Apr 2022 01:16 PM PDT Hysteroscopic sterilization, a nonincisional procedure, was found to be as effective as minimally invasive laparoscopic sterilization in preventing pregnancy, but both methods had higher than expected failure rates, according to a new study. |
| Researchers generate high-quality quantum light with modular waveguide device Posted: 12 Apr 2022 01:16 PM PDT Researchers have successfully generated strongly nonclassical light using a modular waveguide-based light source. By combining a waveguide optical parametric amplifier (OPA) module created for quantum experiments and a specially designed photon detector, researchers were able to produce light in a superposition of coherent states. The achievement represents a crucial step toward creating faster and more practical optical quantum computers. |
| Scientists find 'knob' to control magnetic behavior in quantum material Posted: 12 Apr 2022 01:15 PM PDT Magnetism, one of the oldest technologies known to humans, is at the forefront of new-age materials that could enable next-generation lossless electronics and quantum computers. Researchers have discovered a new 'knob' to control the magnetic behavior of one promising quantum material, and the findings could pave the way toward novel, efficient and ultra-fast devices. |
| Epigenetic regulator explains why some lung cancer patients become resistant to common therapeutics Posted: 12 Apr 2022 01:15 PM PDT Cellular biologists discover why some patients become resistant to standard treatments for nonsmall cell lung cancer. |
| You've heard of water droughts. Could 'energy' droughts be next? Posted: 12 Apr 2022 01:15 PM PDT Drawing on 70 years of historic wind and solar-power data, researchers built an AI model to predict the probability of a network-scale 'drought,' when daily production of renewables fell below a target threshold. Under a threshold set at the 30th percentile, when roughly a third of all days are low-production days, the researchers found that Texas could face a daily energy drought for up to four months straight. Batteries would be unable to compensate for a drought of this length, and if the system relied on solar energy alone, the drought could be expected to last twice as long -- for eight months. |
| Maladaptive daydreaming may be a better diagnosis for some than ADHD, study finds Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:11 AM PDT Maladaptive daydreaming (MD) may be a better diagnosis for some people than ADHD, according to a new study. MD is a condition whereby people slip into involved highly detailed and realistic daydreams that can last hours at the cost of normal functioning. |
| How mussels maintain adhesion underwater Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:10 AM PDT A research team lrevives surface adhesion in proteins by adding cysteine-rich protein of mussels. Adding cysteine-rich protein to conventional underwater adhesives will increase their adhesion. |
| Some see Antarctica as ‘last chance’ destination; for others, it’s a backdrop Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:10 AM PDT Travel to nature-based destinations to socialize -- to celebrate anniversaries, honeymoons or to spend time with family for a holiday -- is a growing trend in tourism, and it was a significant motivator for travel to Antarctica before the pandemic, researchers found in recent study. |
| Behavioral treatment for deficits of facial affect recognition in multiple sclerosis Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:10 AM PDT A recent study has demonstrated efficacy for the behavioral intervention, EMOPRINT, for treating deficits of facial recognition in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). The study provides Class I evidence supporting the efficacy of an intervention to treat these deficits in MS. |
| Increased aortic diameter raises risk of heart attack, stroke Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:10 AM PDT The diameter of the thoracic aorta is a biomarker for heart attacks and other adverse cardiovascular events in women and men, according to a new study. |
| New platform optimizes selection of combination cancer therapies Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:10 AM PDT Researchers have developed a new computational tool to select optimal combination therapies for patients with cancer based on the co-occurring alterations in a given tumor. |
| 4 billion-year-old relic from early solar system heading our way Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:10 AM PDT An enormous comet -- approximately 80 miles across, more than twice the width of Rhode Island -- is heading our way at 22,000 miles per hour from the edge of the solar system. Fortunately, it will never get closer than 1 billion miles from the sun, and poses no danger to us. |
| Greater diversity in genetic studies helps researchers uncover new insights Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:10 AM PDT Increasing the diversity of genomic samples can improve researchers' ability to identify important genetic markers for health conditions. |
| Breakthrough measurement elucidates neutrino interactions Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:10 AM PDT Physicists studying ghost-like particles called neutrinos from the international MicroBooNE collaboration have reported a first-of-its-kind measurement: a comprehensive set of the energy-dependent neutrino-argon interaction cross sections. This measurement marks an important step towards achieving the scientific goals of next-generation of neutrino experiments--namely, the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). |
| Lack of marshaling ports hindering offshore wind industry Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:10 AM PDT A new study finds that the nation's existing and planned marshaling ports, the assembly areas critical to building and deploying offshore wind turbines, will be insufficient by 2023 to meet commitments and will fail to meet projected demand through 2050. |
| How to find anti-cancer agents Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:10 AM PDT Researchers have developed a novel substance that disables a protein in the cell skeleton, leading to cell death. In this way, substances of this type can prevent, for example, the growth of tumors. To accomplish this, the researchers combined a structural biological method with the computational design of active agents. |
| A small mutation can make Zika virus even more dangerous Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:10 AM PDT Researchers have found that Zika virus can mutate to become more infective -- and potentially break through pre-existing immunity. |
| Simulating supernova remnants, star formation in earthbound lab Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:10 AM PDT When triggered by some external agent, shockwaves can propagate through molecular clouds of gas and dust to create pockets of dense material. At a certain limit, that dense gas and dust collapses and begins to form new stars. Researchers modeled this interaction using a high-power laser and a foam ball. The foam ball represents a dense area within a molecular cloud. The high-power laser creates a blast wave that propagates through a surrounding chamber of gas and into the ball, where the team observed the compression using X-ray images. |
| Modeling Earth's magnetosphere in the laboratory Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:10 AM PDT Scientists report a method to study smaller magnetospheres, sometimes just millimeters thick, in the laboratory. The new experimental platform combines the magnetic field of the Large Plasma Device with a fast laser-driven plasma and a current-driven dipole magnet. The LAPD magnetic field provides a model of the solar system's interplanetary magnetic field, while the laser-driven plasma models the solar wind and the dipole magnet provides a model for the Earth's inherent magnetic field. Motorized probes allow system scans in three dimensions by combining data from tens of thousands of laser shots. |
| How biomolecule mixtures communicate, interact and adapt to their environment Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:10 AM PDT New research breakthrough bridges a complexity gap between chemistry and biology and provides a new methodology that uses designed mixtures to engineer adaptive properties that are normally only associated with living systems. |
| Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:10 AM PDT The rate of overdose deaths among U.S. teenagers nearly doubled in 2020, the first year of the COVID pandemic, and rose another 20% in the first half of 2021 compared with the 10 years before the pandemic, even as drug use remained generally stable during the same period. |
| Poverty, crime linked to differences in newborns' brains Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:10 AM PDT Scanning the brains of newborns, researchers have found that maternal exposure to poverty and crime can influence the structure and function of young brains even before babies make their entrances into the world. |
| Research pioneers new frontiers in plant-based food science Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:09 AM PDT Modern methods of creating plant-based meat can yield high optical similarities and targeted molecular-sensory methods, but on a molecular scale, it appears completely different from the food it tries to mimic. Scientists investigate the molecular function and effects of vegetable proteins of different origins to identify sensory weak points in plant-based substitutes, employing rheology and tribology and bringing greater insight than pure sensory analyses. They said muscle proteins emulsify fats and oils in a very different way while lending to a different biting behavior. |
| Cell-derived therapy may help repair abnormal heart rhythm Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:09 AM PDT Vesicles secreted from human heart cells may repair damaged tissue and prevent lethal heart rhythm disorders, according to a new study. |
| Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:09 AM PDT A study indicates that SARS-CoV-2 spreads extensively in households, with children being a significant source of that spread. Approximately 50 percent of household members were infected from the first-infected individual during the study period. Although kids were less likely to spread the virus compared to adults, children and adults were equally likely to become infected from the first-infected individual. |
| What is causing the rise in black lung disease? Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:09 AM PDT Silica exposure is a driving force behind rising rates of coal workers' pneumoconiosis, according to a new study that compared the pathology and mineralogy of the disease across generations. The study offers scientific evidence explaining why progressive massive fibrosis, the most severe form of black lung disease, is occurring more frequently and among younger coal workers in West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky. |
| Study finds top reviews, not average ratings, sway consumer decision-making Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:09 AM PDT Collective wisdom dictates that online shoppers gravitate toward the highest-rated products. But new research debunks this and shows top reviews carry more sway in a customer's final buying decisions when they are comparing products. |
| Potential to reduce reliance on non-renewable fertilizers in agriculture Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:09 AM PDT An enzyme that can help release phosphorus from its organic forms has been identified. |
| Immunologists unravel battle plans of deadly coronaviruses Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:09 AM PDT Researchers have unraveled new secrets behind coronaviruses' battle plans -- providing new insights into how these deadly viruses sometimes win the war against human immune systems. The immunologists have discovered how SARS and MERS proteins block the induction of antiviral proteins, which prevents us from mounting a strong innate immune response against infection. |
| Recognizing an impending stroke Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:09 AM PDT Subarachnoid hemorrhage is a type of bleeding stroke which can lead to a delayed ischemic stroke after just a few days. Researchers have shown that massive electrochemical waves in the brain act as a marker announcing an impending ischemic stroke. Electrodiagnostic monitoring of these waves enables clinicians to identify the signs of an impending stroke early, particularly in comatose patients receiving intensive care following a subarachnoid hemorrhage. |
| Sunscreen doesn’t protect as well as it could: Here is what is missing Posted: 12 Apr 2022 11:09 AM PDT A new article finds a strong link between the actions of free radicals and free iron in the skin -- a link that causes skin to age prematurely after exposure to the sun. The researchers have also identified antioxidants that can be added to skin products to mop-up the harmful iron, thereby minimizing sun damage. |
| Sunlight’s healing effects help imperiled green sea turtles with tumors Posted: 12 Apr 2022 06:54 AM PDT Helping green sea turtles suffering with large debilitating tumors may be a simple as sunlight. Turtles with fibropapillomatosis are treated at rehab facilities where the tumors are surgically removed. Many do not survive or the tumors regrow. Researchers compared vitamin D levels in green sea turtles with and without evident tumors to see if sunlight exposure would influence vitamin D levels and other health parameters. Turtles receiving treatment were housed in tanks exposed to higher or lower levels of sunlight. Results showed that turtles exposed to greater sunlight showed greater increases in plasma vitamin D and a more successful recovery. Turtles kept in the sun tanks also experienced less regrowth of tumors compared to those exposed to low UV light conditions. |
| Researchers outline need for new approach to COVID-19 vaccine testing Posted: 12 Apr 2022 06:54 AM PDT Researchers present reasons to assess the effectiveness and safety of vaccines with both conventional and challenge trials and argue that pandemic preparedness should include groundwork for both trial types. |
| LED lights developed from rice husks Posted: 12 Apr 2022 06:54 AM PDT Milling rice to separate the grain from the husks, produces about 100 million tons of rice husk waste globally each year. Scientists searching for a scalable method to fabricate quantum dots have developed a way to recycle rice husks to create the first silicon quantum dot LED light. Their new method transforms agricultural waste into state-of-the-art light-emitting diodes in a low-cost, environmentally friendly way. |
| New 3D printing technique: A game changer for medical testing devices Posted: 12 Apr 2022 06:54 AM PDT Researchers have developed a 3D printing technique to fabricate microfluidic devices for biomedical applications at a microscale not previously possible. |
| Ultrasound gave us our first baby pictures can it also help the blind see? Posted: 12 Apr 2022 06:54 AM PDT While there are no successful non-invasive therapeutics currently available for the treatment of vision loss, researchers at have come up with a new idea to address this growing problem. Currently, ophthalmologists use electronic technology to directly stimulate retinal neurons by implanting electrode devices inside the eye, a technique that requires expensive and invasive surgery. A research team is now exploring a non-surgical solution that could restore sight by using another of the five senses: Sound. |
| Bacteria generate electricity from methane Posted: 12 Apr 2022 06:53 AM PDT Generating power while purifying the environment of greenhouse gases should be achievable using bacteria. Microbiologists have demonstrated that it is possible to make methane-consuming bacteria generate power in the lab. |
| Posted: 12 Apr 2022 06:53 AM PDT Medical imaging is an important part of modern healthcare, enhancing both the precision, reliability and development of treatment for various diseases. Artificial intelligence has also been widely used to further enhance the process. However, conventional medical image diagnosis employing AI algorithms require large amounts of annotations as supervision signals for model training. To acquire accurate labels for the AI algorithms -- radiologists, as part of the clinical routine, prepare radiology reports for each of their patients, followed by annotation staff extracting and confirming structured labels from those reports using human-defined rules and existing natural language processing (NLP) tools. The ultimate accuracy of extracted labels hinges on the quality of human work and various NLP tools. The method comes at a heavy price, being both labour intensive and time consuming. An engineering team has now developed a new approach which can cut human cost down by 90%, by enabling the automatic acquisition of supervision signals from hundreds of thousands of radiology reports at the same time. It attains a high accuracy in predictions, surpassing its counterpart of conventional medical image diagnosis employing AI algorithms. |
| Omicron: Number of vaccine breakthroughs in cancer patients on the rise, study finds Posted: 12 Apr 2022 06:53 AM PDT For cancer patients, COVID-19 poses a particular risk due to their often compromised immune systems. Now, a study shows that, due to Omicron, there is an increasing number of breakthrough infections in people with cancer, especially while they are undergoing cancer therapy. |
| Long-term in vivo imaging technique developed to better understand and treat spinal cord injury Posted: 12 Apr 2022 06:53 AM PDT A research team has developed an innovative technology for in vivo imaging of the important biological processes involved in the injury and repair of spinal cords, paving the way for a better understanding of the pathology and potential treatment of spinal cord injury (SCI). |
| Posted: 12 Apr 2022 06:53 AM PDT When looking at images of the magnetism generated by nano-magnets, researchers revealed the phenomenon of 'edge magnetism': the magnetic material only retained magnetism on its edge -- in fact only within 10 nanometers of the edge. |
| Microscaffolds: A new strategy in tissue engineering Posted: 12 Apr 2022 06:53 AM PDT A new strategy in tissue engineering has been developed: Tiny spherical microscaffolds are created in a high precision 3D printer. They are cultivated with living cells and then assembled. The cells keep multiplying, creating a tissue, the scaffolds are eventually degraded. |
| Machine learning predicts conduct disorder in kids Posted: 12 Apr 2022 06:53 AM PDT Conduct disorder (CD) is a common yet complex psychiatric disorder featuring aggressive and destructive behavior. Factors contributing to the development of CD span biological, psychological, and social domains. Researchers have identified a myriad of risk factors that could help predict CD, but they are often considered in isolation. Now, a new study uses a machine-learning approach for the first time to assess risk factors across all three domains in combination and predict later development of CD with high accuracy. |
| Discovery reveals new way to inhibit key cancer driver, other mutated genes Posted: 12 Apr 2022 06:53 AM PDT Scientists have discovered a new way to inhibit the most commonly mutated gene underlying human tumor growth, paving the way for new treatments for cancer and a host of other diseases. |
| Measuring endocrine disruptors in wastewater Posted: 12 Apr 2022 06:53 AM PDT Treating pollutants, such as endocrine disruptors, is an effective way to protect the environment. Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that alter the hormonal systems and the development of organisms that are exposed to them, even in small quantities. Scientists are working on an effluent analysis tool to predict their harmful effects. |
| Collision hotspots for migrating birds revealed in new study Posted: 11 Apr 2022 05:23 PM PDT New research highlights the areas in Europe and North Africa where the construction of wind turbines or power lines is likely to increase the risk of death for migrating birds. |
| Global estimates of headaches suggest disorder impacts over 50 percent of the population Posted: 11 Apr 2022 05:23 PM PDT A new review of the evidence suggests 52 percent of the global population are affected by a headache disorder every year, with 14 percent reporting migraines. |
| Decoy particles trick coronavirus as it evolves Posted: 11 Apr 2022 03:43 PM PDT Decoy nanoparticles mimic cells, attracting viruses to bind to them rather than infecting healthy cells. Researchers tested the strategy against the novel coronavirus and five of its variants, finding it was consistently effective. |
| How to rejuvenate the immune system of elderly people and reduce their risk of infectious disease Posted: 11 Apr 2022 03:43 PM PDT A new study identifies a reason for why older adults are significantly more susceptible to infectious diseases than younger people, a critical societal issue most recently exemplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| Posted: 11 Apr 2022 03:43 PM PDT A new study finds that exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) - a large and diverse group of industrial chemicals found in many everyday products - is associated with an increased risk of developing diabetes in midlife women. |
| Critical benefits of snowpack for winter wheat are diminishing Posted: 11 Apr 2022 03:42 PM PDT Scientists are studying the complex effects of climate change on winter crops. Warming winters may sound like a welcome change for some farmers because the change in temperature could reduce freezing stress on plants and create more ideal conditions for growing overwinter cash crops and winter cover crops. However, when looking at climate change from a cross-seasonal perspective and accounting for declining snowpack, researchers are finding that the whole picture isn’t so sunny. |
| Researchers map lung development after birth into late childhood Posted: 11 Apr 2022 01:05 PM PDT How do the lungs develop after taking their first breaths outside the womb? What cellular events and changes early in life give rise to lung malfunction and disease? To help answer these questions, scientists have constructed the first single-cell atlas of postnatal lung development in humans and mice. The research could help provide a more detailed understanding -- at the level of individual cells -- of which genetic and epigenetic factors affect lung health across the human lifespan, starting from birth. |
| Lead as a social determinant of child and adolescent physiological stress and behavior Posted: 11 Apr 2022 01:05 PM PDT Lead is an environmental neurotoxicant that causes neurocognitive deficits and cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. It also disproportionately affects socially disadvantaged communities. The association between lead exposure and children's IQ has been well studied, but few studies have examined the effects of blood lead on children's physiological stress and behavior. Three new studies shed light on how lead can affect children and adolescents' physiological stress and emotional/behavioral development. |
| Scientists crack egg forging evolutionary puzzle Posted: 11 Apr 2022 01:05 PM PDT Scientists have solved one of nature's biggest criminal cases, an egg forgery scandal two million years in the making. Their findings suggest that the victims of this fraud may now be gaining the upper hand. |
| Rhesus monkeys can perceive their own heartbeat Posted: 11 Apr 2022 01:05 PM PDT Rhesus macaques are able to perceive their own heartbeats, according to a new study. The research creates a first-of-its-kind animal model of interoception, the ability to sense the internal state of one's body. The findings provide an important model for future psychiatric and neuropsychiatric research as dysfunctions in interoception are associated with anxiety, depression, and Alzheimer's disease. |
| Climatic variability might not drive evolutionary change as much as previously thought Posted: 11 Apr 2022 01:05 PM PDT A new study combining records of climate change during the last 3.5 million years with fossil evidence of mammals in Africa reveals that times of erratic climate change are not followed by major upheavals in evolution. |
| UMass Amherst ensemble model most accurate for predicting COVID-19 deaths Posted: 11 Apr 2022 11:24 AM PDT The U.S. COVID-19 Forecast Hub, a collaborative research consortium, has generated the most consistently accurate predictions of pandemic deaths at the state and national level, according to a new paper. Every week since early April 2020, this international effort has produced a multi-model ensemble forecast of short-term COVID-19 trends in the U.S. |
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