Could pumping oxygen-rich surface water into the depths of lakes, estuaries, and coastal ocean waters help ameliorate dangerous dead zones?
Month: March 2020
Researchers develop app to determine risk of preterm birth
An improved mobile phone app will help identify women who need special treatments at the right time and reduce emotional and financial burden on families and the NHS. A team of researchers from the Department of Women & Children’s Health,…
Egg stem cells do not exist, new study shows
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have analysed all cell types in the human ovary and found that the hotly debated so-called egg stem cells do not exist. The results, published in Nature Communications , open the way for research…
Exposure to ‘fake news’ during the 2016 US election has been overstated
Study finds untrustworthy websites only account for a small portion of news diets
Technology provides a new way to probe single molecules
Precision measurements can aid understanding of disease, infection and vaccines
Discovery of GABAergic synaptic regulations inside the brain for a new epilepsy treatment
DGIST joint research team identified the roles of ‘Somatostatin,’ which mediates the functions of GABAergic synaptic protein
Coastal wetlands and storm damage
US counties with more wetlands experienced significantly less property damage from hurricanes and tropical storms over a recent 20-year period, according to a study. For low-lying coastal communities, wetlands are a natural buffer against sea-level rise and increasing storm intensity…
Scientists pair machine learning with tomography to learn about material interfaces
In systems from batteries to semiconductors, edges and interfaces play a crucial role in determining the properties of a material. Scientists are driven to study places in a sample where two or more different components meet in order to create…
Domain-specific organization in infant brains
A study using resting-state functional MRI scans of domain-specific brain networks, namely sets of cortical regions specialized for tasks such as recognizing faces and scenes, in 30 infants aged 6-57 days old, finds that infant brains show domain-specific patterns of…
Women paid less than men even at highest levels of academic medicine, study finds
Women who chair clinical departments at public medical schools are paid an average of 88 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts, or about $70,000 to $80,000 less per year, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine…
Kin selection and host manipulation
In a study of the parasitic lancet fluke Dicrocoelium dendriticum , which can manipulate its ant host to facilitate transmission to a mammalian host, researchers tested genetic relatedness between flukes in ant brains and flukes in the ants’ abdomens and…
Signs of international trade in Chinese porcelain
Blue pigment in Chinese porcelain reveals signs of international trade, according to a study. Blue-and-white porcelain made in Jingdezhen, China during the Yuan and Ming dynasties is associated with imported cobalt pigment. However, it is unclear whether a pigment color…
Engendering trust in an AI world
SMU Office of Research & Tech Transfer – Can you imagine a world without personalised Spotify playlists, curated social media feeds, or recommended cat videos on the sidebars of YouTube? These modern-day conveniences, which were made possible by artificial intelligence…
Swamp wallabies’ reproductive strategy
Researchers report evidence suggesting an unusual mode of reproduction in swamp wallabies. In kangaroos and wallabies, young are born immature and complete development during an extended period of lactation. Females, which possess two uteri that are alternately used for conception,…
Avian influenza and live poultry trade in China
Researchers report an association between China’s live poultry trade and avian influenza spread. The highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HP AIV) H5N1 has spread to more than 60 countries since its identification in 1996, with an estimated 50-60% fatality rate…
Youth exposure to tobacco outlets and cigarette smoking
Is daily exposure to tobacco outlets related to youth cigarette smoking and the number of cigarettes smoked that day?
Re-thinking ‘tipping points’ in ecosystems and beyond
When a grassland becomes a desert, or a clearwater lake shifts to turbid, the consequences can be devastating for the species that inhabit them. These abrupt environmental changes, known as regime shifts, are the subject of new research in Nature…
Andrew Butler receives prestigious Weintraub Award for outstanding graduate research
NEW YORK, NY (March 2, 2020) – Andrew Butler, a PhD student at New York University and member of Rahul Satija’s lab at the New York Genome Center and New York University, has received the 2020 Harold M. Weintraub Graduate…
Sleeping sheep may offer clues to human brain disease
A specific brain wave type shared by sheep and humans could help researchers study human brain disorders
2016 US election result preceded fall in proportion of boys born in Canada
Sex ratio at birth fell in politically liberal areas, but not in conservative ones
UK MPs with extra work roles may be nearly three times as likely to be ‘risky’ drinkers
Those with ‘probable’ mental health issues may also be at heightened risk, survey suggests
Study links frequent tooth brushing to lower risk of diabetes while dental disease and missing teeth associated with increased risk; stronger effect of tooth brushing in younger adults and women
Brushing teeth three times a day or more is linked to an 8% lower risk of developing diabetes, while presence of dental disease is associated with a 9% increased risk and many missing teeth (15 or more) is linked to…
Study finds ‘far-reaching’ impact from Affordable Care Act
Ten years after taking effect, law continues to be contested
OHSU-led evidence review shows new therapy for Hepatitis C is highly effective
Review informs new recommendation for universal screening
The world faces an air pollution ‘pandemic’
Researchers say people’s lives are shortened by an average of nearly three years from different sources of air pollution
The GDP fudge: China edition
SMU Office of Research & Tech Transfer – For all its shortcomings, the gross domestic product (GDP) of a country remains an important barometer of its economic health, strongly influencing both private and public spending. Though conceptually simple as the…
How quickly do flower strips in cities help the local bees?
Insects rely on a mix of floral resources for survival. Populations of bees, butterflies, and flies are currently rapidly decreasing due to the loss of flower-rich meadows. In order to deal with the widespread loss of fauna, the European Union…
Researchers identify protein critical for wound healing after spinal cord injury
Plexin-B2, an axon guidance protein in the central nervous system (CNS), plays an important role in wound healing and neural repair following spinal cord injury (SCI), according to research conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and…
Federally protected lands reduce habitat loss and protect endangered species, study finds
Significantly greater habitat loss occurs on private lands, indicating a need for more uniform conservation efforts
The world faces an air pollution ‘pandemic’
Researchers say people’s lives are shortened by an average of nearly three years from different sources of air pollution
Discovery of GABAergic synaptic regulations inside the brain for a new epilepsy treatment
DGIST joint research team identified the roles of ‘Somatostatin,’ which mediates the functions of GABAergic synaptic protein
Scientists pair machine learning with tomography to learn about material interfaces
In systems from batteries to semiconductors, edges and interfaces play a crucial role in determining the properties of a material. Scientists are driven to study places in a sample where two or more different components meet in order to create…
App detecting jaundice may prevent deaths in newborns
A smartphone app that allows users to check for jaundice in newborn babies simply by taking a picture of the eye may be an effective, low-cost way to screen for the condition, according to a pilot study led by UCL…
Carbon chains adopt fusilli or spaghetti shapes if they have odd or even numbers
Helical shapes are very familiar in the natural world and, at the molecular level, of DNA, the very blueprint of life itself. Scientists at the University of Bristol have now found that carbon chains can also adopt helical shapes, but,…
Women paid less than men even at highest levels of academic medicine, study finds
Women who chair clinical departments at public medical schools are paid an average of 88 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts, or about $70,000 to $80,000 less per year, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine…
Engendering trust in an AI world
SMU Office of Research & Tech Transfer – Can you imagine a world without personalised Spotify playlists, curated social media feeds, or recommended cat videos on the sidebars of YouTube? These modern-day conveniences, which were made possible by artificial intelligence…
Study links frequent tooth brushing to lower risk of diabetes while dental disease and missing teeth associated with increased risk; stronger effect of tooth brushing in younger adults and women
Brushing teeth three times a day or more is linked to an 8% lower risk of developing diabetes, while presence of dental disease is associated with a 9% increased risk and many missing teeth (15 or more) is linked to…
UK MPs with extra work roles may be nearly three times as likely to be ‘risky’ drinkers
Those with ‘probable’ mental health issues may also be at heightened risk, survey suggests
Scientists find functioning amyloid in healthy brain
Researchers at the Department of Genetics and Biotechnology of St Petersburg University have discovered a functioning amyloid in a healthy brain.
The flagship of the International Winter School 2020 is the ‘Two Capitals’ joint course
The ‘Two Capitals’ joint course of SPbPU and RUDN
‘Digital disruption’ a game-changer for climate: Future Earth report
Scientists, innovators turn to digital sector for transformative ‘systems change’ on climate; ‘Digital Disruptions for Sustainability (D^2S): A Research, Innovation, and Action Agenda’
‘Smart water’ may aid oil recovery
Rice engineers survey crude variety to see how water can maximize reservoir production
Re-thinking ‘tipping points’ in ecosystems and beyond
When a grassland becomes a desert, or a clearwater lake shifts to turbid, the consequences can be devastating for the species that inhabit them. These abrupt environmental changes, known as regime shifts, are the subject of new research in Nature…
Translational Research Day in Boston to highlight broadly engaged team science
Experts to discuss how to build authentic partnerships for research collaboration
Sleeping sheep may offer clues to human brain disease
A specific brain wave type shared by sheep and humans could help researchers study human brain disorders
The Lancet Oncology: Targeted treatments for pancreatic cancer may help eligible patients live an extra year
Results from 46 patients given treatments that target specific molecular changes in tumour cells suggest that these therapies could help patients with pancreatic cancer whose tumors harbor those changes survive an extra year
2016 US election result preceded fall in proportion of boys born in Canada
Sex ratio at birth fell in politically liberal areas, but not in conservative ones
The GDP fudge: China edition
SMU Office of Research & Tech Transfer – For all its shortcomings, the gross domestic product (GDP) of a country remains an important barometer of its economic health, strongly influencing both private and public spending. Though conceptually simple as the…
USPSTF recommendation expands screening for hepatitis C
Bottom Line: The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) now recommends that adults ages 18 to 79 be screened for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The USPSTF routinely makes recommendations about the effectiveness of preventive care services and this statement updates its…
Blood test method may predict Alzheimer’s protein deposits in brain
NIH-funded study reports advance in blood-based detection of ptau181, a biomarker of Alzheimer’s disease