Science and Technology

Surgery patients now less likely to get opioids -- but decline has slowed

Science Daily - 08/12/2023
Post-surgery pain relief has shifted away from opioid-containing medications over the past seven years, but the downward trend has slowed since 2020, a new study shows. Overall, the rate of surgery-related opioid prescriptions dropped by 36% from 2016 to the end of 2022, and the average amount of opioids in those prescriptions dropped by 46%.

Serotonin loss may contribute to cognitive decline in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease

Science Daily - 08/12/2023
Comparing PET scans of more than 90 adults with and without mild cognitive impairment (MCI), researchers say relatively lower levels of the so-called 'happiness' chemical, serotonin, in parts of the brain of those with MCI may play a role in memory problems including Alzheimer's disease.

Novel stem cell therapy using technology from mRNA COVID-19 vaccines may stimulate natural repair in treatment of chronic and acute liver disease

Science Daily - 08/12/2023
New research has found evidence that a novel stem cell treatment, using mRNA technology encapsulated into nanoparticles (LNP) that was successfully used to produce the COVID-19 vaccines, may boost the natural repair mechanism of the liver to regress the diseased tissue caused by either an acute or chronic liver injury. Researchers identified a specific receptor present on the stem cells which can be recognized and activated by the ligand protein called vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA).

How the first contact of the virus influences the immune response to new SARS-CoV-2 variants

Science Daily - 08/12/2023
Scientists decipher how the antibody response of our immune system reacts to a coronavirus infection and prepares for future infections.

Wasps that recognize faces cooperate more, may be smarter

Science Daily - 08/12/2023
A new study of paper wasps suggests social interactions may make animals smarter. The research offers behavioral evidence of an evolutionary link between the ability to recognize individuals and social cooperation.

Very early treatment of newborns with HIV could result in medication-free remission for many babies

Science Daily - 08/12/2023
An unexpectedly high percentage of children, who were born with HIV and started treatment within 48 hours of life, exhibit biomarkers by 2 years of age that may make them eligible to test for medication-free remission, according to a multinational study.

Sister climate cities, utility data predict future water, electricity demands

Science Daily - 08/12/2023
Modern-day Ciudad Mante, Mexico, could help Tampa, Florida, plan for shifting water and electricity demands due to climate change, according to an international team of researchers. Researchers used utilities data and climate analogs -- contemporary cities with climates close to what other cities are predicted to experience in the future -- to assess how climate change may impact residential water and electricity use across 46 cities in the United States.

It turns out, this fossil 'plant' is really a fossil baby turtle

Science Daily - 08/12/2023
Researchers re-examined a plant fossil found decades ago in Colombia and realized that it wasn't a plant at all: it's a fossilized baby turtle. It's a rare find, because juvenile turtles' shells are soft and often don't fossilize well.

Novel and promising pancreatic cancer organoids for effective screening of anticancer drugs

Science Daily - 08/12/2023
The treatment of pancreatic cancer, an aggressive form of cancer associated with high mortality rates, is challenging owing to limited options and anticancer screening models. High mortality has been attributed to the unique tumor microenvironment (TME). Researchers have now created a pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) organoid model using human-induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) technology, simulating desirable TME properties. Their research findings have far-reaching consequences in the field of cancer biology.

Protein found in brain linked to frontotemporal dementia

Science Daily - 08/12/2023
An international team of researchers has identified a protein found in the brains of people with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), discovering a new target for potential treatments for the disease.

Geoscientists map changes in atmospheric CO2 over past 66 million years

Science Daily - 08/12/2023
An international consortium of geoscientists has reconstructed atmosphereric levels of CO2 going back 66 million years using proxies in the geoloogical record. Today's concenteration, 420 parts per million, is higher than it's ever been in 14 million years.

Ancient stars made extraordinarily heavy elements

Science Daily - 08/12/2023
How heavy can an element be? An international team of researchers has found that ancient stars were capable of producing elements with atomic masses greater than 260, heavier than any element on the periodic table found naturally on Earth. The finding deepens our understanding of element formation in stars.

Soundwaves harden 3D-printed treatments in deep tissues

Science Daily - 08/12/2023
Engineers have developed a bio-compatible ink that solidifies into different 3D shapes and structures by absorbing ultrasound waves. Because the material responds to sound waves rather than light, the ink can be used in deep tissues for biomedical purposes ranging from bone healing to heart valve repair.

Wild birds lead people to honey -- and learn from them

Science Daily - 08/12/2023
A study finds the greater honeyguide can learn distinct vocal signals to help people in Africa locate bee colonies. In parts of Africa, people communicate with a wild bird -- the greater honeyguide -- in order to locate bee colonies and harvest their stores of honey and beeswax. It's a rare example of cooperation between humans and wild animals, and a potential instance of cultural coevolution.

New method is better able to map immune response and paves way for new treatments

Science Daily - 08/12/2023
A new method can identify unique immune cell receptors and their location in tissue, a new study reports. The researchers predict that the method will improve the ability to identify which immune cells contribute to disease processes and open up opportunities to develop novel therapies for numerous diseases.

Catalyst for electronically controlled C--H functionalization

Science Daily - 08/12/2023
Scientists chipping away at one of the great challenges of metal-catalyzed C--H functionalization with a new method that uses a cobalt catalyst to differentiate between bonds in fluoroarenes, functionalizing them based on their intrinsic electronic properties. And their method is fast -- comparable in speed to those that rely on iridium.

New target found for treatment of spinal muscular atrophy

Science Daily - 08/12/2023
Medical researchers have uncovered a novel mechanism that leads to motor neuron degeneration in spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). This discovery offers a new target for treatment that overcomes important limitations of gene therapy and other current therapies for SMA.

Improved drug regimens for TB to cut treatment time

The Hindu:Science - 07/12/2023
The long duration of treatment, and subsequent drug toxicity, leads to patients being unable to tolerate drugs, and also causes non compliance with treatment schedules. This ultimately leads to drug resistant TB

IISc researcher comes up with water pumping system that requires zero electricity

The Hindu:Science - 07/12/2023
Punit Singh, associate professor at the Centre for Sustainable Technologies (CST), has been working on a solution to address the irrigation scarcity in Chhattisgarh for the past 10 years

Sci-Five | The Hindu Science Quiz: On Marsupials

The Hindu:Science - 07/12/2023
This week’s Sci-five science quiz is on marsupials.

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