https://phys.org/ en-us Latest news from University of Southern California As the dust settles on another Super Tuesday, Americans are watching with bated breath to see how closely the final tallies align with the latest polls. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-opinion-polls.html Political science Wed, 06 Mar 2024 15:19:05 EST news628960741 Medicare Part D plans significantly increased restrictions on prescription drugs, excluding more compounds from coverage or subjecting more of them to review before patients could access the treatments, according to a new study from USC researchers. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-03-medicare-d-restrictions-drug-coverage.html Medications Medical economics Mon, 04 Mar 2024 17:55:03 EST news628797301 Worried AI is coming for your job? Not so fast … It's more nuanced than that, indicates new research from Nan Jia, the Dean's Associate Professor in Business Administration and an associate professor of strategic management. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-dynamic-duo-ai-people-skills.html Economics & Business Mon, 26 Feb 2024 12:57:16 EST news628174614 Two years of war in Ukraine have caused widespread devastation to the country's citizenry, infrastructure and environment, and new research utilizing publicly accessible satellite imagery lays bare the scope of destruction. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-animated-reveal-true-devastation-ukraine.html Other Mon, 26 Feb 2024 12:30:14 EST news628173006 The first time Elizabeth Ondula thought about using technology to improve public health was when she faced a personal tragedy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her father died and she was unable to travel for his burial due to pandemic restrictions. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-02-ai-pandemic.html Health Health informatics Mon, 26 Feb 2024 12:29:22 EST news628172955 From smart virtual assistants and self-driving cars to digital health and fraud prevention systems, AI technology is transforming almost every aspect of our daily lives—and education is no different. For all its promise, the rise of AI, like any new technology, raises some pressing ethical and equity questions. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-robot-friend-ai-accessible.html Education Fri, 23 Feb 2024 13:21:57 EST news627916913 AI holds the potential to revolutionize health care, but it also brings with it a significant challenge: bias. For instance, a dermatologist might use an AI-driven system to help identify suspicious moles. But what if the machine learning model was trained primarily on image data from lighter skin tones, and misses a common form of skin cancer on a darker-skinned patient? https://techxplore.com/news/2024-02-diversifying-bias.html Machine learning & AI Fri, 23 Feb 2024 12:43:03 EST news627914581 Congressional gridlock over border security talks, controversial proposals to restrict asylum and a looming impeachment trial for the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas paint a stark picture of a nation deeply divided on immigration. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-truths-immigration.html Political science Thu, 22 Feb 2024 15:19:04 EST news627837542 While Americans overwhelmingly agree on the fundamental value of public education, a new study by researchers at USC reveals deep partisan divides on sensitive topics like LGBTQ+ inclusion and racial justice in K-12 curricula. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-americans-controversial-topics-schools.html Education Political science Wed, 21 Feb 2024 17:16:04 EST news627758161 Wild-caught or farmed? If you have no idea how to answer this question, don't worry—you aren't alone. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, most Americans know little to nothing about seafood farming, also known as aquaculture. Those familiar often have negative associations based on the U.S. media's tendency mainly to cover the environmental risks of farming and the health risks of consuming farmed Atlantic salmon. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-analysis-coastal-perspectives-seafood-farming.html Agriculture Tue, 20 Feb 2024 12:33:05 EST news627654781 Cycles of a diet that mimics fasting can reduce signs of immune system aging, as well as insulin resistance and liver fat in humans, resulting in a lower biological age, according to a new USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology-led study. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-02-fasting-diet-lowers-factors-disease.html Gerontology & Geriatrics Endocrinology & Metabolism Tue, 20 Feb 2024 05:00:01 EST news627557598 Maryam Shanechi and her team have developed a new machine learning method that reveals surprisingly consistent intrinsic brain patterns across different subjects by disentangling these patterns from the effect of visual inputs. The work has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-02-algorithm-disentangles-intrinsic-brain-patterns.html Neuroscience Wed, 14 Feb 2024 17:06:03 EST news627152761 Lymph nodes are the canaries in the coal mine of our immune system—firing into gear at the first indication of illness, then sending immune cells where they're needed in the body to fight infection and disease. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-nanoparticles-hitchhike-immune-cells-cancer.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 14 Feb 2024 09:55:05 EST news627126902 Health care providers in developing countries know that oral rehydration salts (ORS) are a lifesaving and inexpensive treatment for diarrheal disease, a leading cause of death for children worldwide—yet few prescribe it. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-02-life-threatening-child-diarrhea-limited.html Pediatrics Health informatics Thu, 08 Feb 2024 14:00:01 EST news626612822 A teacher's gender and comfort with technology factor into whether artificial intelligence is adopted in the classroom, as shown in a new report from the USC Center for Generative AI and Society. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-teachers-ethical-judgments-ai-classroom.html Education Mon, 05 Feb 2024 12:47:34 EST news626359649 A wave of layoffs at high-profile legacy media outlets such as the Los Angeles Times and Time magazine has rippled across the news industry just as journalists at other major outlets are engaged in union negotiations with their employers. The industry seems to have reached a pivotal point amid a confluence of financial, political, social and technological challenges. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-mass-layoffs-social-media-bias.html Economics & Business Thu, 01 Feb 2024 16:39:04 EST news626027941 You might think age-related dementia has been with us all along, stretching back to the ancient world. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-01-ancient-greeks-romans-alzheimer.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Wed, 31 Jan 2024 17:23:04 EST news625944181 People doing jobs once considered non-controversial—public health workers, librarians, election workers, school board officers—are increasingly bullied online, threatened and swept into the vortex of partisan vitriol. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-hyperpartisan-bullying-threatens-democracy.html Political science Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:45:24 EST news625931121 While the U.S. has become more racially and ethnically diverse over the last decade, the pace of voter turnout among Latinos, Asian Americans and Blacks continues to lag behind that of white non-Latinos, creating a substantial voter participation gap. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-persistent-voter-turnout-people.html Political science Tue, 30 Jan 2024 16:05:03 EST news625853102 Chinese citizens who rarely voice open criticism of their government reveal stronger negative views when they can answer questions anonymously, according to a new study published in The China Quarterly. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-chinese-citizens-surveyed-anonymously-party.html Political science Mon, 29 Jan 2024 16:53:03 EST news625769582 Statewide broadband adoption remains high with 91% of households in California enjoying high-speed internet access at home, according to new survey results released today by USC, the California Emerging Technology Fund and the California Department of Technology. https://techxplore.com/news/2024-01-survey-digital-narrowing-california-income.html Internet Telecom Tue, 16 Jan 2024 15:51:52 EST news624642707 The City of Los Angeles' plan to rely entirely on renewable electricity sources by 2035 won't have a significant effect on the local economy, according to new research from the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy. https://techxplore.com/news/2024-01-los-angeles-renewable-energy-wont.html Business Energy & Green Tech Tue, 16 Jan 2024 10:40:53 EST news624624050 Insects and spiders often receive little attention from people, except when we're swatting them away. However, as arthropods—creatures distinguished by a hard exoskeleton and jointed legs— they play an essential role in sustaining the ecosystems humans rely on. Remarkably, arthropods make up approximately 84% of all known animal species. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-bugs-bugging-humans-reveals.html Ecology Sat, 13 Jan 2024 11:12:14 EST news624366721 Physicians who are notified that a patient has died of a drug overdose are more judicious in issuing controlled substances if the notification includes a plan for what to do during subsequent patient visits, according to a study published today in Nature Communications. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-01-safer-doctors-patients-pain.html Medications Addiction Fri, 12 Jan 2024 13:24:03 EST news624288241 It's astonishing to reflect on the swift technological progress that has reshaped the educational landscape in just the past year. In this age of creativity and innovation, the incorporation of AI into classrooms has emerged as a vital conversation. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-qa-ai-reshape-experts-opportunities.html Education Mon, 08 Jan 2024 14:25:06 EST news623946301 Hearing loss affects approximately 40 million American adults, yet only one in 10 people who need hearing aids use them, research shows. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-01-aids-loss-longer-analysis.html Gerontology & Geriatrics Biomedical technology Wed, 03 Jan 2024 18:30:01 EST news623504459 A previously unidentified genetic mutation in a small protein provides significant protection against Parkinson's disease and offers a new direction for exploring potential treatments, according to a new USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology study. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-01-newly-genetic-mutation-parkinson-disease.html Genetics Parkinson's & Movement disorders Tue, 02 Jan 2024 20:00:01 EST news623434969 There is not a typical day in an admissions office according to Ryan Motevalli-Oliner ME '20, associate dean for enrollment operations at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. As a small private school, Kenyon receives approximately 8,500 applications a year with a 29% acceptance rate in 2023. Motevalli-Oliner's department processes and imports college applications for review. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-potentials-pitfalls-ai-college-admissions.html Education Tue, 02 Jan 2024 10:13:27 EST news623412797 Artificial intelligence, coupled with data from an iPad coloring game, could assist in early diagnosis of autism, a new USC study shows. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-12-ai-early-diagnosis-autism.html Neuroscience Autism spectrum disorders Wed, 20 Dec 2023 13:37:19 EST news622301832 A new technique invented by researchers at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Science may revolutionize the field of synthetic biology. Known as CReATiNG (Cloning Reprogramming and Assembling Tiled Natural Genomic DNA), the method offers a simpler and more cost-effective approach to constructing synthetic chromosomes. It could significantly advance genetic engineering and enable a wide range of advances in medicine, biotechnology, biofuel production and even space exploration. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-synthetic-chromosomes-faster-cheaper.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 20 Dec 2023 08:37:03 EST news622283821