Nerve cells (neurons) are amongst the most complex cell types in our body. They achieve this complexity during development by extending ramified branches called dendrites and axons and establishing thousands of synapses to form intricate networks. The production of most neurons is confined to embryonic development, yet few brain regions are exceptionally endowed with neurogenesis throughout adulthood. It is unclear how neurons born in these regions successfully mature and remain competitive to exert their functions within a fully formed organ. However, understanding these processes holds great potential for brain repair approaches during disease. A team ...

The results of a pioneering study support the safety of the bioimplants called PeriCord, made from stem cells of the umbilical cord and pericardium from a tissue donor, which aid in the regeneration and revascularisation of the affected area. The study has monitored 7 interventions of this pioneering tissue engineering surgery over three years, noting excellent biocompatibility and no rejection in patients. The therapy has been developed by the research group ICREC (Heart Failure and Cardiac Regeneration) at Germans Trias i Pujol Research ...

About The Study: Supply chain issues associated with drug shortages increased at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic according to the results of this national cross-sectional study. Ongoing policy work is needed to protect U.S. drug supplies from future shocks and to prioritize clinically valuable drugs at greatest shortage risk.  Authors: Katie J. Suda, Pharm.D., M.S., of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, is the corresponding author.  To access the embargoed study: Visit our For ...

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center showed that altering the sequence of breast cancer treatment to administer radiation before mastectomy allowed for concurrent breast reconstruction surgery, which reduced the number of operations required, minimized treatment delays and improved patient satisfaction. The Phase II trial results, published today in JAMA Network Open, evaluated 49 patients who received radiation therapy followed by mastectomy with immediate breast reconstruction. There were no complete flap ...

A research group centered at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine has drilled deep into a dataset of over 3 million individuals compiled by the direct-to-consumer genetics company 23andMe, Inc., and found intriguing connections between genetic factors influencing alcohol consumption and their relationship with other disorders. The study was recently published in the Lancet eBioMedicine. Sandra Sanchez-Roige, Ph.D., corresponding author and associate professor at UC San Diego School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry, explained that the study used genetic data to broadly classify individuals as being European, Latin American ...

The CHEOPS space telescope, whose scientific operations centre is based at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), is providing new information on the mysterious exoplanet WASP-76b. This ultra-hot giant is characterised by an asymmetry between the amount of light observed on its eastern terminator - the fictitious line that separates its night side from its day side - and that observed on its western terminator. This peculiarity is thought to be due to a ‘‘glory’’, a luminous phenomenon similar to a rainbow, which occurs if the light from the star - the ‘‘sun’’ around which the ...

(SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS) — UTSA has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), the City of San Antonio, and CPS Energy to develop and promote energy technologies that could potentially decarbonize the aviation sector. The ambitious project will pursue a range of research and development objectives, including sustainable aviation technologies, battery technologies and battery storage solutions, enhanced electric vehicle charging technologies and power-related technologies. The MOU will position San Antonio as an innovation center for these new energy solutions, accelerating their development ...

The detection of gravitational waves stands as one of the most significant achievements in modern physics. In 2017, gravitational waves from the merger of a binary neutron star were detected for the first time which uncovered crucial information about our universe, from the origin of short gamma-ray bursts to the formation of heavy elements. However, detecting gravitational waves emerging from post-merger remnants has remained elusive due to their frequency range lying outside the range of modern gravitational wave detectors (GWDs). ...

About The Study: The results of this systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that integrating magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in prostate cancer screening pathways is associated with a reduced number of unnecessary biopsies and overdiagnosis of insignificant prostate cancer while maintaining clinically significant prostate cancer detection as compared with prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-only screening.  Authors: Shahrokh F. Shariat, M.D., D.Dr.(hc), of Medical University Vienna in Vienna, is the corresponding author.  To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/  (doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2024.0734) Editor’s ...

The sense of smell is highly influenced by the cues from other senses, while the sense of sight and hearing are affected to a much lesser extent, shows a new study in Journal of Neuroscience. A popular theory of the brain holds that its main function is to predict what will happen next, so it reacts mostly to unexpected events. Most research on this topic, called predictive coding, has only focused on what we see, but no one knows if the different senses, such as smell, work in the same way. To figure out more about how smell relates to how we ...

Certain RNA molecules in the nerve cells in the brain last a life time without being renewed. Neuroscientists from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) have now demonstrated that this is the case together with researchers from Germany, Austria and the USA. RNAs are generally short-lived molecules that are constantly reconstructed to adjust to environmental conditions. With their findings that have now been published in the journal Science, the research group hopes to decipher the complex aging process of the brain and gain a better understanding of related degenerative diseases. Most cells in the human ...

Despite vaccine shortages, many younger people  in New York City accessed vaccines ahead of schedule, particularly in high-income areas, according to new research at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Low-income areas with high proportions of older people demonstrated lower coverage rates than wealthier areas in the first three months of vaccine rollout, and higher mortality over the year. The findings are published in the Journal of Urban Health. “A vaccine program that prioritized those at greatest risk of COVID-19-associated morbidity and mortality would have prevented more deaths than the strategy that was implemented,” said Nina Schwalbe, adjunct ...

Hear the words E. coli or salmonella and food poisoning comes to mind. Rapid detection of such bacteria is crucial in preventing outbreaks of foodborne illness. While the usual practice is to take food samples to a laboratory to see the type and quantity of bacteria that forms in a petri dish over a span of days, an Osaka Metropolitan University research team has created a handheld device for quick on-site detection. Led by Professor Hiroshi Shiigi of the Graduate School of Engineering, the team experimented with a biosensor that can simultaneously detect multiple disease-causing bacterial species within an hour. “The palm-sized device for detection ...

The number of suicides among US college student athletes has doubled over the past 20 years, finds an analysis of data from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Suicide is now the second most common cause of death after accidents in this group of young people, with rates highest among cross-country competitors, the findings show. US suicide rates rose by around 36% across all age groups between 2001 and 2021, note the researchers. But the evidence ...

The Lancet: Prostate cancer cases expected to double worldwide between 2020 and 2040, new analysis suggests Annual prostate cancer cases are projected to rise from 1.4 million in 2020 to 2.9 million in 2040, and annual deaths to increase by 85% to almost 700,000 over the same timeframe, mainly among men in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). The Lancet Commission on prostate cancer argues that the ‘informed choice’ programme for prostate cancer screening with PSA testing, which is common in high-income countries ...

Britain was already well on its way to an industrialised economy under the reign of the Stuarts in the 17th century – over 100 years before textbooks mark the start of the Industrial Revolution – according to the most detailed occupational history of a nation ever constructed. Built from more than 160 million records and spanning over three centuries, the University of Cambridge’s Economies Past website uses census data, parish registers, probate records and more to track changes to the British labour force from the Elizabethan era to the eve of World War One. The research shows that 17th century Britain saw a steep decline ...

Testing for tumour DNA in the blood can successfully identify advanced bladder cancer patients who will not relapse following surgery, new research shows. This could allow doctors to target treatments more effectively to those who need it, and spare those patients for whom further treatment is unnecessary, researchers say. The findings from the screening phase of the IMvigor011 Phase III trial are presented today [Friday 5 April] at the European Association of Urology Congress in Paris. They show that just over 90% of muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) patients with a ...

New research from CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, and the University of Toronto in Canada, estimates up to 11 million tonnes of plastic pollution is sitting on the ocean floor.    Every minute, a garbage truck’s worth of plastic enters the ocean. With plastic use expected to double by 2040, understanding how and where it travels is crucial to protecting marine ecosystems and wildlife.    Dr Denise Hardesty, Senior Research Scientist with CSIRO, said this is the first estimate of how much plastic waste ends up on the ocean floor, where it accumulates before being ...

Researchers have shown that dangerous cysts, which form over time in polycystic kidney disease (PKD), can be prevented by a single normal copy of a defective gene. This means the potential exists that scientists could one day tailor a gene therapy to treat the disease. They also discovered that a type of drug, known as a glycoside, can sidestep the effects of the defective gene in PKD. The discoveries could set the stage for new therapeutic approaches to treating PKD, which affects millions worldwide. The study, partially funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is published in Cell Stem Cell.   Scientists ...

EL PASO, Texas (April 4, 2024) – Psychology researchers at The University of Texas at El Paso are making progress towards understanding the biological underpinnings of depression, a leading cause of disability that affects approximately 280 million people around the world. In a study published this April in the Journal of Affective Disorders, UTEP psychologist Sergio Iñiguez, Ph.D., and his co-authors make the case that prairie voles, small rodents that are found throughout the central United States and Canada, can be effectively used as animal models to further the study of ...

Human activity is changing the way water flows between the Earth and atmosphere in complex ways and with likely long-lasting consequences that are hard to picture. Land use change is altering where clouds form and how precipitation is distributed. Meanwhile, weather modification activities like cloud seeding are shifting how nations plan for water use in the face of climate change. These and other changes to the planet’s atmospheric water cycle were once hard to imagine but are increasingly part of modern water management on the planet. Colorado State University Assistant Professor Patrick Keys is an expert ...

Reston, VA—A new radiotheranostic system has the ability to detect and treat ovarian cancer noninvasively, according to new research published in the April issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Combining the highly specific huAR9.6 antibody with PET and therapeutic radionuclides, this theranostic platform may provide more personalized treatment to improve health outcomes for ovarian cancer patients. Ovarian cancer causes more deaths than any other gynecologic malignancy, with a five-year survival rate below 30 percent for patients diagnosed at advanced stages. The current standard of care for ovarian cancer consists of surgery followed by platinum-based chemotherapy; however, ...

Research today doesn't only occur in a lab; indeed, many university researchers extend their work into the community with the goal of inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers. And some government agencies, like the National Science Foundation, provide the funding to do so. Most recently, Xiayun Zhao, assistant professor of mechanical engineering & materials science at the University of Pittsburgh, completed such outreach at the Carnegie Science Center (CSC). Zhao ...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- NeuroHIV refers to the effects of HIV infection on the brain or central nervous system and, to some extent, the spinal cord and peripheral nervous system. A collection of diseases, including neuropathy and dementia, neuroHIV can cause problems with memory and thinking and compromise our ability to live a normal life.  Using a mouse model of neuroHIV, a research team led by biomedical scientists at the University of California, Riverside, studied the effects of interferon-β (IFNβ), a small protein involved in cell signaling and integral to the body’s natural defense mechanism against viral infections. The researchers found that higher or lower than ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Public policies blocked many families of Mexican descent living in the U.S. from accessing vital services such as food and mental health care during the COVID-19 pandemic, even though these communities experienced some of the highest infection and mortality rates. Thirty-eight perinatal women and mothers of young children were interviewed about the challenges they faced during the pandemic and proposed solutions to better meet the needs of their communities during future large-scale crises in a study led by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign kinesiology and community health ...