Artificial intelligence (AI) tool ChatGPT displayed lower concern than physicians in 36% of potential developmental delays, according to a new study. The research will be presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2024 Meeting, held May 3-6 in Toronto.  Researchers found ChatGPT made different conclusions about the abnormality of a potential delay than pediatricians 41% of the time. The study investigated how ChatGPT responded to parents’ concerns whether their child’s development was normal or abnormal, including ...

Resident physicians at more than 98% of U.S. training programs aren’t paid enough to afford childcare, according to a new national study. The research will be presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2024 Meeting, held May 3-6 in Toronto.  Childcare remains unaffordable even at most programs that subsidize childcare or offer it onsite, the examination of data from the Labor Department and the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) revealed. “People in the United States from many walks of life struggle to pay for childcare, and resident physicians are no exception,” said Ryan Brewster, MD, resident physician at Boston Children’s ...

Health care providers can more effectively connect parents and other caregivers of children to needed social resources when they present a menu of options rather than using standard screening tools, a recent study found. The research will be presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2024 Meeting, held May 3-6 in Toronto.  According to researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, health care providers typically use risk-based screening to identify families facing food and housing insecurity, financial strain, and unsafe environments. Experts ...

Children in rural areas were more than six times as likely to check into a hospital without pediatric services compared to children in urban areas, a new study found. The research will be presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2024 Meeting, held May 3-6 in Toronto. Researchers studied approximately 80,000 hospital claims for nearly 37,000 children with multiple chronic conditions. The hospitalizations occurred between 2012 and 2017 in Colo., Mass., and N.H. The study found that 41.9% of children in urban areas were first admitted to a children’s hospital for ...

Extending the use of a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment in premature infants by two weeks significantly increases lung volume and lung diffusion capacity, according to a new study. The research will be presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2024 Meeting, held May 3-6 in Toronto.  CPAP treatment is common for preterm infants with breathing issues, but researchers note there is no consensus on optimal treatment length when the preterm infant is doing well. Preterm birth is the most common cause of altered lung development and breathing issues that can last into adulthood, experts say. “Extending CPAP treatment ...

An alternative method of transferring blood cells to weakened newborns through their umbilical cord does not carry long-term neurodevelopmental risks compared to standard practice, a recent study found. The research will be presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2024 Meeting, held May 3-6 in Toronto.  Umbilical cord blood contains oxygen and beneficial nutrients for newborns, experts say. Doctors may delay clamping a newborn’s umbilical cord to pass nutrients through their cord if they have poor breathing or a low heart rate immediately after birth. A study found that umbilical cord ...

Use of an eye ultrasound may quickly and safely identify children with brain drainage tube failure in the emergency department, according to a new study. The research will be presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2024 Meeting, held May 3-6 in Toronto.  A ventricular shunt is a surgically implanted thin, plastic tube that drains extra fluid and relieves pressure on the brain. Children receive ventricular shunts for hydrocephalus, a condition where brain fluid doesn’t drain or reabsorb properly from brain bleeds, tumors, or other causes. Nearly 30% of shunts break, are ...

Youth with high blood pressure are nearly four times more likely to be at long-term risk of serious heart conditions including stroke and heart attack, according to a new study. The research, led by McMaster University, will be presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2024 Meeting, held May 3-6 in Toronto.  Hypertension affects one of every 15 children and adolescents worldwide and is a growing concern, according to researchers. Despite this, it is unclear what happens to these children in the long-term. Researchers compared 25,605 youth diagnosed with hypertension from 1996-2021 in Ontario to peers without the condition. The study found that ...

Rotavirus vaccines do not cause significant outbreaks of the disease in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), according to a new national study. The research will be presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2024 Meeting, held May 3-6 in Toronto.  The findings are important, study authors say, because many NICUs avoid vaccinating against rotavirus due to a theoretical risk of transmission, yet some infants are too old to receive the vaccine once discharged from the NICU. The study conducted at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia evaluated the risk of vaccinated patients transferring rotavirus to unvaccinated ...

Symptoms associated with Long COVID in children differ based on the child’s age, according to a nationwide, multi-site study. The research will be presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2024 Meeting, held May 3-6 in Toronto.  Experts say that the study findings allow clinicians to recognize and manage Long COVID in children more accurately based on common symptoms. The study characterized pediatric Long COVID symptoms and how they differ based on a child’s age. The study identifies symptoms ...

Preterm infants supported with a multicomponent intravenous lipid emulsion saw improved brain development compared to those given a single-fat source, a new study finds. The research will be presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2024 Meeting, held May 3-6 in Toronto.  Soybean-only lipid emulsions traditionally have been used in neonatal intensive care units to provide intravenous nutritional support to preterm infants, according to researchers. This study investigated the effects of newer multicomponent lipid emulsions, with fat sources derived from soybeans, olives, ...

WILMINGTON, Del. (May 1, 2024) – Researchers from Nemours Children’s Health will present findings from a range of studies at the 2024 Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) Meeting, May 2-6 in Toronto. Key presentations will address pediatric mental health, vaccination, autism diagnosis, social determinants of cardiovascular health and treatment of bronchiolitis—one of the most common respiratory illnesses in children that requires hospitalization. “Nemours researchers go well beyond medicine every day to improve children’s health and well-being by connecting to clinical ...

The names might not be familiar—Cowee Creek, Brabazon Range, Upper Pederson Lagoon—but they mark the sites of recent lake tsunamis, a phenomenon that is increasingly common in Alaska, British Columbia and other regions with mountain glaciers. Triggered by landslides into small bodies of water, most of these tsunamis have occurred in remote locations so far, but geologist Bretwood Higman of Ground Truth Alaska said it may just be a matter of time before a tsunami swamps a more populated ...

On an October morning in 2023, a chemical explosion detonated in a tunnel under the Nevada desert was the launch of the next set of experiments by the National Nuclear Security Administration, with the goal to improve detection of low-yield nuclear explosions around the world. Physics Experiment 1-A (PE1-A) is the first in a series of non-nuclear experiments that will compare computer simulations with high-resolution seismic, tracer gas, acoustic and electromagnetic data gleaned from underground explosions and atmospheric experiments, said Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researcher Stephen Myers ...

New study challenges one-size-fits-all approach to vitamin D supplementation guidelines Researchers believe their findings have significant implications for the development of tailored recommendations for vitamin D supplementation A new study from Trinity College Dublin scientists, sheds light on the complexities of achieving optimal vitamin D status across diverse populations. Despite substantial research on the determinants of vitamin D, levels of vitamin D deficiency remain high. The study was recently published in the journal Clinical Nutrition [Thursday, 2nd May 2024]. Dr Margaret ...

WOODS HOLE, Mass. -- Nipam Patel, director of the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) and a professor at the University of Chicago, was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) this week in recognition of his distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Election to the Academy is a widely accepted mark of excellence in science and is considered one of the highest honors that a scientist can receive. Patel will be formally inducted at the Academy’s Annual Meeting in 2025. Patel is a leading scholar in modern developmental ...

When the Center for Digital Agriculture (CDA) launched in 2018, they were looking forward to the future. Like many other areas of commerce and big tech, agriculture is a rapidly changing industry. Advancements in technology have transformed farming. In the five-plus years since its launch, CDA has risen to meet those needs by creating adaptable, interdisciplinary curriculums, research programs, industry partnerships and training opportunities for scientists and students. This year, CDA is celebrating its successes and more at the annual ...

In the shadow of Washington State’s Mount Rainier, about 90,000 people live in the path of a potential large lahar—a destructive, fluid and fast-moving debris flow associated with volcanic slopes. At the Seismological Society of America (SSA)’s 2024 Annual Meeting, U.S. Geological Survey volcano seismologist Seth Moran described how he and his colleagues have expanded and made upgrades to a detection system that would inform alerts to those living near the Seattle-area volcano in the event of the next lahar. Volcanic eruptions usually cause lahars by rapidly melting ...

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world’s largest multidisciplinary scientific society. Its mission is to “Advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all.” The AAAS publishes a number of prestigious scientific journals through their Science family of titles. The organization recently held elections for its leadership positions. This year, NCSA’s director, Bill Gropp, was elected as Council Member of the Section on Information, Computing, and Communication. Gropp began his term on March 15 and will continue to serve as Council Member for the remainder ...

George Mason University researchers have received a $1,176,645 grant in federal funding from the U.S. Department of the Army to revolutionize Lyme disease detection and diagnosis with urine testing. The College of Science and  College of Public Health aim to harness the many advantages of urine testing over other methods and increase mainstream adoption.   “We have developed a urine test for Lyme disease that detects the bacteria (Borrelia species) that causes Lyme disease, making it a direct test to confirm ...

NASA, on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has selected BAE Systems (formerly known as Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation) of Boulder, Colorado, to develop an instrument to monitor air quality and provide information about the impact of air pollutants on Earth for NOAA’s Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) satellite program.   This cost-plus-award-fee contract is valued at approximately $365 million. It includes the development of one ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Some of the ocean’s tiniest organisms get swept into underwater currents that act as a conduit that shuttles them from the sunny surface to deeper, darker depths where they play a huge role in affecting the ocean’s chemistry and ecosystem, according to new research. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and based on fieldwork during three research cruises spanning 2017 to 2019, the study focuses on subtropical regions in the Mediterranean Sea. It uncovered how some microscopic single-celled organisms that are too light to ...

HOUSTON – (May 2, 2024) – Rice University’s Ramamoorthy Ramesh and Frank Reese Harvey are among 120 new U.S. members elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) “in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research,” according to a statement from the organization. Members are elected by their peers based on their contribution to one of six areas of scientific inquiry following an extensive vetting process. Established in 1863 through an act of Congress, NAS serves as a source of independent, objective advice on science ...

AMHERST, Mass. – The global demand for palm oil—the most widely consumed vegetable oil on the planet, in everything from instant noodles to lipstick—is driving worldwide tropical deforestation. While many studies have shown the loss of biodiversity when rainforests are converted to oil palm plantations, researchers at the University of Massachusetts of Amherst are the first to show far-reaching and wide-ranging disturbances to the watersheds in which such plantations occur. Because many Indigenous peoples rely on water downstream from the plantations for their daily needs, the marked decrease in water quality has ...

A research team at Pitt led by Alexander Star, a chemistry professor in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, has developed a fentanyl sensor that is six orders of magnitude more sensitive than any electrochemical sensor for the drug reported in the past five years. The portable sensor can also tell the difference between fentanyl and other opioids. Their work was published in the journal Small. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid and one of the main drivers in overdose deaths in the United States, Star said. It’s often mixed with other drugs, but because ...