In two commentaries, researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine say combining modeling methods—and ethically sharing health data—could transform treatment With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), predictive medicine is becoming an important part of healthcare, especially in cancer treatment. Predictive medicine uses algorithms and data to help doctors understand how a cancer might continue to grow or react to specific drugs—making it easier to target precision treatment for individual patients. While AI is important in this work,…
New study published in BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies A new study from University Hospitals Connor Whole Health found that it was feasible to conduct a hybrid music therapy intervention for patients with heart failure and patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Participants reported positive effects on their mental health, and the pilot uncovered solutions to improve future research with this population. The findings from this study were recently published in BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies. Patients with chronic…
New study uses modern molecular and evolutionary techniques to reassess a foundational, 67-year-old study in warblers A spat between birds at your backyard birdfeeder highlights the sometimes fierce competition for resources that animals face in the natural world, but some ecologically similar species appear to coexist peacefully. A classic study in songbirds by Robert MacArthur, one of the founders of modern ecology, suggested that similar wood warblers — insect-eating, colorful forest songbirds — can live in the same trees because…
An international team led by the University of Geneva (UNIGE) has discovered the most distant spiral galaxy candidate known to date. This ultra-massive system existed just one billion years after the Big Bang and already shows a remarkably mature structure, with a central old bulge, a large star-forming disk, and well-defined spiral arms. The discovery was made using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and offers important insights into how galaxies can form and evolve so rapidly in…
Psychology: Publication in PNASAre there areas of the brain, which regulate prosocial, altruistic behaviour? Together with colleagues from the universities in Lausanne, Utrecht and Cape Town, researchers from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) have studied a very special group of patients and established that the “basolateral amygdala” (part of the limbic system) plays an important role in this. In the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), they describe that this region calibrates social behaviour. Prosocial behaviour,…
Neural networks are one typical structure on which artificial intelligence can be based. The term ›neural‹ describes their learning ability, which to some extent mimics the functioning of neurons in our brains. To be able to work, several key ingredients are required: one of them is an activation function which introduces nonlinearity into the structure. A photonic activation function has important advantages for the implementation of optical neural networks based on light propagation. Researchers in the Stiller Research Group at…
A new study by neuroscientists at the German Primate Center (DPZ) – Leibniz Institute for Primate Research in Göttingen shows that our brain deals with different forms of visual uncertainty during movements in distinct ways. Depending on the type of uncertainty, planning and execution of movements in the brain are affected differently. These findings could help to optimize brain-computer interfaces that, for example, help people with paralysis to control prostheses or computers with their thoughts alone (Nature Communications). Imagine waking…
Imagine if phones never got hot no matter how many apps were running. Picture a future where supercomputers use less energy, electric cars charge faster, and life-saving medical devices stay cooler and last longer. In a study published in Nature Materials, a team of engineers at the University of Virginia and their collaborators revealed a radical new way to move heat, faster than ever before. Using a special kind of crystal called hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), they found a way…
Is sauerkraut more than just a tangy topping? A new University of California, Davis, study published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology suggests that the fermented cabbage could help protect your gut, which is an essential part of overall health, supporting digestion and protecting against illness. Authors Maria Marco, professor with the Department of Food Science and Technology, and Lei Wei, a postdoctoral researcher in Marco’s lab, looked at what happens during fermentation — specifically, how the metabolites in sauerkraut compared to those…
New AI model explains the basis for its decisions and the intention behind actions The Titanic sunk 113 years ago on April 14-15, after hitting an iceberg, with human error likely causing the ship to stray into those dangerous waters. Today, autonomous systems built on artificial intelligence can help ships avoid such accidents, but could such a system explain to the captain why it was maneuvering a certain way? That’s the idea behind explainable AI, which should help human actors…
The sun may rise every morning, but the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth’s surface can substantially vary over decades, according to a perspectives article led by an international research team. The article, published on March 15 in Advances in Atmospheric Science, suggests that stages of “dimming” and “brightening” correspond with increased air pollution and implementation of clean energy solutions, respectively. “The amount of sunlight — which is solar radiative energy — we receive at the Earth’s surface is not…
Scientists urge mattress manufacturers and governments to act Babies and young children may breathe and absorb plasticizers called phthalates, flame retardants, and other harmful chemicals from their mattresses while they sleep, according to a pair of peer-reviewed studies published today from the University of Toronto in Environmental Science & Technology and Environmental Science & Technology Letters. These chemicals are linked to neurological and reproductive problems, asthma, hormone disruption, and cancer. “Sleep is vital for brain development, particularly for infants and toddlers. However, our…
Hantavirus recently made news headlines as the cause of death for Betsy Arakawa, the wife of actor Gene Hackman, but little is commonly known about it other than its connection to rodents. Virginia Tech researchers have gained a better understanding of this insidious virus by studying its rodent hosts in North America. Using National Science Foundation data, they found three hotspots of hantavirus circulation in wildlife – Virginia, Colorado, and Texas – and identified 15 rodent species as carriers, including…
Bioinformatics: Publication in Science Bioinformaticians from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) and the university in Linköping (Sweden) have established that the genes in bacterial genomes are arranged in a meaningful order. In the renowned scientific journal Science, they describe that the genes are arranged by function: If they become increasingly important at faster growth, they are located near the origin of DNA replication. Accordingly, their position influences how their activity changes with the growth rate. Are genes distributed randomly along…
To ensure the quality of recyclates, the Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF is planning a new joint research project with partners from industry to optimize polyolefin recyclates for sustainable solutions. New analytical methods and user-friendly evaluation strategies should enable cost-efficient quality control and improvement of recycling processes. The project promotes the transformation to a circular economy and invites partners to collaborate. More information will be provided in a free online seminar on May 6, 2025. National…
Team from the University of Tübingen and the German Center for Infection Research discovers a substance that inhibits signaling pathways of pathogens as they invade a cell Pathogenic Salmonella injects effector proteins into the cells of the gastrointestinal tract to penetrate and multiply within them. The bacteria are usually ingested with contaminated food. They can cause serious gastrointestinal inflammation and even systemic infections. Now, an international research team led by Professor Samuel Wagner of the University of Tübingen Cluster of…
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